A/N: I'm back until next week, when I'll work on The Bloodied Rose.

Chapter 35- The Start of a War

Percy's POV

The Romans were supposed to arrive later today, which meant the Hunt and I were hiding in the strawberry field. Earlier in the day, the campers had buried a spiderweb of Greek Fire charges, and now the whole camp was in a phalanx. Even I had to admit, an army of bronze plated campers holding pikes looked impressive.

Then the Roman Legion marched over the hill, and surveyed the forces before them. The Greeks were outnumbered by maybe fifty guys, but they had the Hunters. Now was the time to try for peace, before things got out of hand.

"Artemis, can you magnify my voice?" I whispered, and she nodded, "Will you? This may be the last chance for peace."

I stepped out of the bushes, then sent a bolt of fire up into the sky, making sure I had everyone's attention.

"There is no need for war between your two camps!" I shouted, my voice rolling across the field, "But you Romans do not respect words, only actions. So I say this: Come to me, my brothers and sisters. Show them people who do not want this war!"

With that, twenty Romans broke ranks and started running towards me. At the same time, eleven Greeks ran out of the phalanx. My family, who I took to the camps, was returning to me. The Hunters stepped out of the bushes, and formed up beside me. The Legion stopped in it's tracks, unsure what to do. Now, all around me, I had sixty four demigods. Not a force to be sneezed at.

Then I heard a shrill voice in the Roman's ranks. Octavian's voice, "Attack, Romans!"

A louder voice drowned him out, "No, Octavian. You do not have power here on the battlefield. You will follow my orders."

It was Jason, and he spoke with unquestionable authority, "Hold, Romans!"

Forty Romans charged forward. The First Cohort, lead by Octavian.

"As your praetor, I am ordering you to hold!" Jason shouted. Thirty-nine of the demigods hesitated, but Octavian kept running. Now, the formations of Greeks and Romans were about a hundred meters apart. The First Cohort was thirty meters ahead of the rest of the Legion, and I was about halfway.

The Legion was all strung out now, and one of the worst imaginable things happened. Dozens of dracaenae, Laestrygonians, hellhounds, and other monsters charged out of the forest, smashing into the First Cohort.

I swore, then called the rest of my family, "Let's go!"

I led the charge forward, crashing into the ranks of the monsters. This work was going to get up close and personal, so I drew Storm and Shadow. The Greeks in my family had dropped their pikes in favor of swords, and the Romans with me drew their gladius.

I chopped the head off a dracaenae, then stabbed a Laestrygonian in the chest. Both of them crumbled to dust, and I kept pressing forward. An arrow whizzed over my shoulder to hit a hellhound, turning it to dust. The Greeks had driven their phalanx into the left side of the monster force, and the Romans were cutting through them on the right. The Hunters behind me were volleying arrows into the horde.

After minutes of desperate fighting, we reached what remained of the First Cohort. At least half of their number was down, and the remaining twenty were being pounded by rocks, spears, and arrows.

"Form up behind me!" I shouted, carving my way through to the front of half-cohort. Behind me, what was left of the First Cohort linked up with the Romans in my family, and formed a shield wall. Then I realized we were completely surrounded.

"Hastas!" I called, "Throw!"

Forty Roman spears arced into the monsters ranks, causing panic. I ran forward, stabbing an unfortunate empousa, then ducked as an axe swished over my head.

"You know, Beefhead, I'm really getting tired of killing you." I taunted the Minotaur, who charged forward. I rolled under his axe as swung, then brought Storm down on it's head while Shadow blocked a dracaenae that was swinging for my head.

Grimly, we fought on, protecting the Roman's flanks and rear, while they stabbed their way towards victory. I waded through the monsters, slaughtering them at will. After half an hour of hard fighting, I heard the tramp of boots, then a wall of monsters completely evaporated, with bronze spear-points covered in dust taking their place. Then, on the other side, large rectangular shields started to break through the lines of monsters.

We had won.

Line Break

Percy's POV

"Romans!" Jason's voice rolled across the battlefield now that all the monsters were piles of dust, "Set up camp. There will be no war with the Greeks now."

"The Senate called for war!" Octavian's shrill voice screeched back.

I could see Jason now, and he gestured to the piles of dust, "And I call this war. As the commander of the Legion today, I am calling an end to hostilities with the Greeks. But the spear has already been cast, and we must fight. So we will fight the monsters who nearly slaughtered the First Cohort!"

Around him, the Romans began cheering, and Octavian could see he'd have no support, "Of course, Praetor."

Just seeing him again made me want to break his neck. But I reined in my temper. I needed the Romans on my side, and killing one wouldn't curry any favors from the rest.

"Go." I instructed the Romans who were part of my family. They turned and tramped off with their comrades. With help from other Romans, they carried the dead and wounded off the battlefield. There were too many of those. Only the legionnaires in the First Cohort had taken serious losses, but a good number of my family were badly wounded.

The Greeks in my family re-joined their camp, too, leaving me with the Hunters. I quickly healed the injuries they had, then moved onto Saracen, Arin, and Gwen. Saracen, of course, was spotless. Arin had an ugly cut that ran all the way down her forearm, but that healed quickly. Gwen had a few small cuts on her arms and legs, but those were minor and easily fixed.

Artemis was talking with Thalia before I butted in with a question, "Where should we set up camp, my lady?"

Artemis glanced at me, a relieved look on her face. I couldn't guess what she was relieved about, but she gestured to the ground, "Here. We need to be between the Romans and the Greeks."

"Of course, my lady." I sketched a quick bow before returning Saracen, Arin, and Gwen.

Together, we all set up our tents a small distance from where the rest of the tent had theirs, then we all gathered in my tent. From there, I 'ported us all down to my house in the Underworld, into a the war room. It had a collection of maps and a large table that the maps could go on. I spread out a map of Camp Half-Blood on it, then stepped back.

"The Romans were here." I pointed, then set down ten little figures, one for each half-cohort. I did the same for the Hunters and the Campers, "And this is how the battle played out."

I moved a Roman piece and a Greek piece over to the Hunter pieces I had set up. Then moved two Roman pieces down until they were about in the middle. The monster force, which was about twenty pieces with dracaenae, Laestrygonians, empousai, and other monsterous designs on them.

"Now, why send in a force that could beat both of the camps?" I asked. I didn't know the answer, and I was hoping they could figure one out.

"Why would a commander send an inadequate force in?" Saracen wondered aloud.

"Either to delay an enemy force/perform hit and run tactics." Arin said, "Which wasn't the case here. Or the commander misjudged the opposing force, and sent in a too small army."

"Why would he or she send in a small army, knowing both camps and the Hunters were gonna be here?" It was Gwen this time.

An idea popped into my head, "Maybe he thought the forces here would be significantly less. That he or she wouldn't need that big a force to completely wipe us out or at least, cripple us."

"So, what could reduce the size Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter that dramatically? It'd have to be all out . . . . . oh." Saracen groaned, "Time to feel like an idiot."

"They expected a war between the camps." I explained, "But why charge out at the First?"

"Maybe they saw the rest of the Legion wasn't gonna fight, so they decided to do as much damage as possible." Arin suggested, and I nodded. If they had succeeded in wiping out the First, a fifth of the Legion would be gone, not to mention a tremendous blow to morale.

Then I heard someone calling out, "Percy! Where are you?"

It was Pheobe, "Bottom level!"

Minutes later, Pheobe arrived, along with Artemis and Thalia. Artemis glared at me, "Why didn't you tell me you were going to run off here?"

I raised my hands, "Sorry. But I needed to try and figure out the monsters with them fresh in my mind, If I wait a few days, I might forget some important information."

I turned around to where there was a large map of the US. Quickly, I updated it, moving the Legion to Long Island, along with the Hunt. Then I pinned a small piece of paper saying "Coeus" in San Francisco.

"Coeus?" Artemis asked, "The Titan of intellect. He's in San Francisco?"

"Yeah." Saracen spoke, "I know the exact building, and I think he was behind this."

"We need to go and eliminate him." Artemis stated, "Thalia, gather the Hunters after I-"

"No." I said.

Artemis' head whipped around and she glared at me, "I am the goddess of the Hunt. Males do not tell me what to do."

I shook my head sadly, "And I thought you were beginning to trust me. We aren't ready for a war, Artemis. What are there, thirty-something Titans? And only twenty or so gods powerful enough to fight them if they attack right now?"

Artemis nodded, "So we have to strike quickly and take down as many as we can while we can."

"And get killed very quickly." I noted, "We came perilously close to a disaster today. We didn't know anyone was interested in a war. We thought the Titans were in hiding. We were wrong. I would suggest that you hear me out, as I have, in the past four years, studied extensive military history. It's taught me one very important thing: Preparation. Those who rush into a war are the first to die. The side with the training, the experience, the battle plan and the choice of battlefields are the ones triumphant."

Artemis sighed, "Fine. What's your plan?"

"The Coeus and whatever his allies are'll bust out the other Titans quickly. We can't stop them, so we don't try. Instead, we send Tyson and other Cyclops loyal to us to join their army. We steal plans, we steal locations. Then, once we know where all of their forces are, we strike and crush them, one base at a time."

"Convincing the rest of the council this will be your job, Percy." Artemis glanced at me, "After this, though, it won't take much."

"Noted." I replied, "Oh, and this is what Saracen, Arin, Gwen, and I think happen: Coeus, or whatever Titan's in charge expected the Romans and Greeks to slaughter each other, which is why it was a relatively small army of monsters. So the Romans and Greeks would be fighting, then the monsters would sweep out of the woods and sweep up whatever's left. They must've realized must of us weren't going to fight after the First Cohort charged, alone, so they took the opportunity to try and wipe out a cohort. The rest you know."

"Hmm. Sounds plausible. Come back to the camp once the council agrees." Artemis ordered.

"You say that like it's a certainty." I chuckled, "Zeus has a an annoying tendency to ignore inconvenient wars."

"It is a certainty." Artemis looked at me, "You'll be the one threatening them."

A/N: Thus chapter one of this string ends. A few of you requested Octavian to get punished and a showdown between Percy and Annabeth. Sorry to disappoint, but this is war. Percy's too pragmatic to focus on them yet. But don't worry, those things'll happen. Just not right away.

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