Chapter 25

Gwen

She could sense it…the sun was rapidly descending below the horizon…soon the stars would shine brightly…silent guardians forever keeping watch over a dreaming world. The skies would be clear and the moon would luminescent…it was as ideal a night as she had ever experienced…the perfect night to lay to rest nine young but valiant heroes. She sat wondering if the serene weather was the gods' way of mourning their lost children. Nine lives sacrificed…

It all felt so surreal. As she sat thinking…the experiences of the past several days sped by lingering on the periphery of her memory, and still there would be more to experience. This time tomorrow she would be journeying across the Pacific…to participate in something she had been forbidden to be a part of since her thirteenth birthday. She was filled to bursting with anxiety and exhilaration. Silently she thanked the gods for the solitude her position afforded her. A solitude she must now relinquish.

Gwen sighed.

She hoped that dinner and the cremation ceremony would go smoothly tonight.

"Well I can't keep hiding in here." Gwen spoke into the empty chamber. Then she rose and left her office in the Valetudinarium.

As she moved ever closer to her private apartment…she went over the list of materials she had packed for the adventure soon too come.

Four changes of clothes, a set of light leather armor that could be worn beneath a persons clothes, and even though some money would be provided she had decided to bring some of the gold denarii her father had given her, and of course she would bring her medical kit. That just left the gifts her Aunt Diana had given her…the silver ring and matching brooch. Finally she had a reason to take them out of her jewelry box.

Gwen grinned, she was going on a quest.

After freshening up Gwen arrived at the officers' table located inside the Praetorium. Much to both her relief and dismay there were three notable absences: Lupa… "Thank the gods.", Reyna…which was strange, and Percy…which wasn't surprising, like most centurions he preferred to eat with the members of his century.

Though the atmosphere was smothering, with all the sideways glances directed her way, the meal ended peacefully enough. No one had spoken much and she was grateful for that. As the minutes passed she couldn't help think about what was to come following the meals conclusion…she wasn't hungry, nor were her companions at the dinner table.

The appointed time arrived and as one the gathered officer's of the First Legion rose from their seats and filed silently, two-by-two, out of the Praetorium to gather with the main body of the Legion. Once all had gathered on the Via Principalis nine demigods stepped forward and assembled at the steps of the Principia. Each individual was a close friend and child of the same godly parent as those who had fallen during the battle. That's when the Prefect descended the steps dressed in her most resplendent armor.

Gwen, like many others, wished she could honor the dead by wearing her dress uniform as well. Regretfully the sound made by more than two-hundred demigods marching in full battle armor would draw the attention of any enemy that might still be prowling the grounds of the camp. So instead everyone wore their best tunics.

Like a shadow stretching across the land they marched. Across the campus they marched. Through the rough and untamed land beyond the campus they marched. Until after what seemed an eternity they arrived at the consecrated ground hidden within the forest that lined the outer edges of the barrier.

Torches had been prepared and erected in a perfect circle along the brink of the meadow. Slowly the procession spread out and divided into its individual units. As each century arrived at its designated position the torches, one-by-one, were set alight. The ghostlike light lent the secluded site an air of reverence that further added to the gravity of the night's ceremony.

Once all was settled...Reyna, who had stopped after entering the meadow, began walking toward the center of the circle. She proudly stepped into the unoccupied space between each of the pyres on which the fallen heroes had been laid to rest earlier in the day. At her prompting the Nine stepped forward with a lit torch in hand. They gathered at the feet of their fallen siblings, and as one set the pyres ablaze.

This was an experience all to familiar…as many friends had given their lives the previous summer during the height of the Titan War. And despite the somber nature of moment she knew that each and every person gathered was filled with pride. And on some level Gwen hoped that she too could be lain to rest in such a time honored fashion.

The Legion stood in silence as the flames slowly burned down to embers and then ash. Then a wine, as was the fashion of their ancestors, was poured over the ground cooling any lingering fire lying hidden beneath the earth. Finally nine urns which had been placed at the head of the pyres were picked up, and slowly the nine family members gathered the ashes. Once completed Reyna, followed by the Nine, began the return march back to the camp. There the urns would be placed within special chambers beneath the inner edge of the fort's walls. That way the fallen warriors would join the numbers of others who had fallen before them. Together they would act as eternal guardians…forever looking over the generations of demigods still to come.

With the night no longer young and many still not fully recovered from the previous day. The Legion, after the placing of the urns, fell out for a hard earned night of rest.

Nary a word was spoken…but tears uncounted were surely shed.