Chapter 19

"Everyone!" Alexandros boomed from the stage. "Please quiet down!"

The acoustics of the room carried his voice all the way to the back. Even the sneaky Hermes kids in the rear turned to pay attention.

When the room was silent, the son of Ares continued on. "I know this is sudden. We've brought everyone in from all sections of the city into this tiny, cramped room. It's not ideal. But we need as many people as we can gather here tonight. Tonight marks the night where we begin our conquest, to regroup and fend off the Romans."

A few people jeered, cursing the Romans and cheering for their deaths.

"Thanas, Xanthe and Leon!" Alexandros announced. "Come up here."

Leon hesitated, but decided to follow Xanthe as she made her way over. Thanas was already at the front of the room. He stepped up onto the stage, his expression serious and focused. Over the past little while, he'd gotten to know the old campers better. One thing that he'd found out was that most of them were actually afraid of Thanas. Maybe being the son of Hades gave him that kind of reputation. But he could feel the crowd hold its breath as everyone's eyes focused on him.

Xanthe stood next to Thanas, and Leon flanked her other side.

He could see Percy and Irene standing in the shadows, watching them expectantly. He wondered what they were thinking.

"These three," Alexandros told the crowd, gesturing to him, Thanas and Xanthe, "took down an entire legion!"

A cheer went up from the audience, led by the Ares kids.

"Granted, they were injured from their battle with us, but that makes it no less of a feat."

More cheering. More applause.

"But they also bring unfortunate news."

Alexandros looked at them expectantly, as if waiting for one of them to say it.

Xanthe put a hand on Thanas' shoulder. When they locked eyes, she gave him a firm look and a nod. Thanas turned to Leon, catching him off-guard. Was the son of Hades looking for affirmation from him? For a moment, he felt proud, like he had been accepted by the leader of the group. He shot Thanas an assuring smile. Not happy enough to ignore the truth, but not sad enough to kill his spirits.

Thanas set his mouth in a hard line and lifted his head to address the crowd.

"Ionna, daughter of Athena, left several months ago on a secret mission to help us win the war. This mission was not commissioned by Chiron. Nor was it mentioned to Alexandros or Viviana. I know many of you would have had your own thoughts about where she had gone. But, put simply, she was given a quest by the Roman goddess Minerva."

A wave of whispers came over the crowd.

"Xanthe knew more about it than I did. Xanthe was the only one Ionna trusted with the news. She went on a journey to find the lost statue of Athena, the Athena Parthenos. That particular legend... is true."

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. A hush fell over the crowd as many seemed to come to the realization of what happened.

"Ionna was... unsuccessful." Thanas' voice wavered, and he took a brief pause before continuing. "Her body was given to us by... by Thanatos. She could not obtain the Athena Parthenos."

Ionna must have been a respected figure at the camp. Leon couldn't see a single person who wasn't sad or angry. A couple of the Athena kids were in tears, even ones that had heard the news before. The unclaimed were scattered amongst the others, but even they seemed to respect what she had done for the camp. The newcomers, who must have joined in the months after she left, hung their heads in sorrow. He wondered if they felt the same way he did; Ionna must have been a good person to have touched all the older campers in the way that she did.

Thanas looked like he was on the verge of breaking down again. He turned away from the crowd, looked up at the ceiling, and began to blink the tears out of his eyes.

Both Alexandros and Viviana went over to try and comfort him. Xanthe looked defiant and angry, like she was ready to kill a contingent of Romans.

Leon could see the angry people in the crowd, likely muttering curses under their breath, vowing to destroy the Romans and avenge Ionna's death.

Percy, Irene and Chiron were all staring at him, as if waiting to see what his reaction would be.

Swallowing his fear, he took a step forward and raised his hand.

A good portion of the audience turned their gazes toward him, watching hesitantly and suspiciously. He was the new guy around, and he knew he had to earn their trust. He wasn't sure if he could do it, but he would try his best.

Even though not everyone was listening, Leon started to speak. "Hi, everyone. I'm... not sure if all of you know me. I don't think I've been able to meet everybody, actually. Anyway, for those of you that don't know, my name is Leon. I'm a son of Zeus. If you remember the sudden thunder and lightning that day the camp was attacked, that would've been me."

More heads turned his way. He could even feel Xanthe and Thanas turn their attention toward him, even though he couldn't see them.

"I'm new here, much like many of you were at one point," he continued. "I'm not sure I understand the full extent of the hatred between you guys and the Romans. As we were fighting the Eleventh Legion, I had moments where I hesitated. Was I really supposed to be fighting them? Were they as evil as I thought they were?"

He saw a few angry faces in the crowd.

"But what I do know is that they found me, where I was hiding and training, and intended to kill me. Even though I'd had little to no exposure to the Greco-Roman rivalry. I'd never had a demigod tutor or instructor. And they still wanted to kill me."

He saw Chiron's unreadable expression. Was the centaur judging him? Did the centaur trust him? Was Chiron wondering where he was going with the speech? In all honesty, Leon had no idea himself. He just felt like speaking, getting the weight off his chest. He wanted to let them know about himself and his journey.

"Alexandros made it sound like we fought triumphantly and valiantly, like we're heroes for killing over a hundred people. It wasn't that easy. We didn't charge in there and cut them down. We had plenty of help from Percy, who was the one that delivered many of the final strikes in the end. Truthfully, had it not been for the fact that the Romans had suffered significant losses when attacking the camp, and the fact that they idiotically split up to chase us, and the fact that they had set up their encampment on the shore of an enormous lake, we wouldn't have destroyed them. Without all the puzzle pieces falling into line, we wouldn't have won.

"So, when tragedy strikes, and one of your loved ones is taken from you, be careful that you don't overreact. Don't believe you can march in and kill all the Romans yourself. Most of us will make that mistake as this war continues on. Including myself. You can hate the Romans, but you don't have to be stupid. If you act only based on emotion, you increase the risk of getting yourself killed. And, in doing that, you subjugate the loved ones you leave behind to the same cruel fate you endure now.

It wasn't meant to be a grand speech. He was just speaking from his heart. There was no moral to that speech. Just a genuine plea.

There was some applause from the crowd.

He caught Percy's gaze. He couldn't tell what the immortal warrior was thinking, but he held his gaze. He didn't want to back down. He knew Percy wanted them to follow his lead. Leon wanted Percy to know that they would work together. They wouldn't blindly follow orders.

Percy turned and left, leaving a resigned-looking Irene to chase after him.

Chiron watched Percy leave with a conflicted expression.

"Don't worry, Leon," Alexandros told him, clapping Leon's shoulder. "We're not going to charge out blindly. We have a plan in place."

"Then the stage is all yours."

Alexandros stepped to the front and began to explain the plan, but Thanas spoke up before he had a chance to listen in.

"Thanks, Leon." Thanas took a shaky breath. "Thanks. That's good advice."

Leon nodded sadly. "I wish I could follow my own advice."

"You're pretty level-headed. You won't crack so easily."

"If only..."

Xanthe grabbed their hands to comfort them. "Hey, we're in this together. That's got to count for something, right?"

The three of them smiled at each other.

There's no need for you to worry, Percy, Leon thought. Maybe we won't attack the legions right now, but we'll prepare. We'll fight them one day. But we have to be ready first. I won't go out on your terms.

Leon hugged both of his new friends.

I'll go out on my own.

"Percy!" Irene called out after the son of Poseidon. "Stop!"

She followed him as he marched up toward the prison.

He went inside without a single glance at the guards. Not that they would bar him from entering, of course. Still, he looked like he was ready for a rampage. She cursed, twisting the ring on her finger and preparing to summon her sword, the original version of Leon's blade Koptos.

Percy descended the steps and stopped in front of one of the cells in the private area.

"Let me in," he told the guards.

"Percy, wait!"

They opened the cage, and Percy stepped inside. She shot the guards a glare as she followed him into the cell.

Sitting on the floor was a helpless Roman, perhaps in his early twenties, dressed in prison attire and chained to the corner of the room. He looked up bleakly at Percy.

Without warning, Percy drew the dagger form his belt and drove it through the Roman's neck.

The Roman's eyes bulged. Percy tore the weapon free, and the Roman fell to the floor, as good as dead.

"What in Athena's name...?" Irene stared at Percy incredulously. "What was that?"

"Eliminating what is no longer useful," Percy said. He knelt down and closed the Roman's eyes. "I'm okay with Leon wanting to wrestle control away from me. Soon, he'll realize that his methods will be fruitless."

"I thought you said you'd stay here as long as you could."

He clenched his jaw. "Three years. That's the longest I'll play along."

"Percy..."

"That's final."

She felt a wave of disappointment wash over her, followed by another wave of frustration and anger. "Why do you have to think you need to have control of everybody? You don't own them. They're their own selves!"

"Then what do I do?" he shot back angrily. He took a threatening step toward her. "Let the Fates control everything I do? Haven't you seen enough by now to realize that they all want me to suffer for eternity? I'd rather piss them all off and let them kill me than bow down and surrender!"

"Why can't you just take a break for once?" she snapped. She took a step toward him, reciprocating his advance. "Do you want the Hunters to hunt you down that badly?"

"They can try to hunt me if they want. They'll never catch me."

"I hate this side of you! How many times do we have to have this argument?"

"Blame Apollo!"

"I already do! That doesn't excuse you from all the pain and suffering you've caused!"

Percy stepped forward, his eyes red with rage. He grabbed her by the throat and pushed her back against the grates of the cell. A painful flash went off in her head, like the missing memory of her past exploding. He spat words at her, likely a string of curses, but she couldn't hear anything other than a muffled buzz.

She blinked and, when she opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of the cell, chest heaving like she was out of breath, staring at a stunned Percy. There was a dagger embedded in his shoulder, blood oozing from the wound. The guards outside the cell were staring at the two of them, dumbfounded.

"Oh, gods..." The anger and fury dissipated immediately as she rushed forward. "Percy, I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Percy didn't look angry anymore either. He wasn't even looking at the dagger in his shoulder. He was staring at her face as if he'd broken out of a trance.

He stepped forward and embraced her. He struggled to move his bad shoulder, but he held her close. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. After what you went through with Dei—"

"Don't say his name," she interrupted, feeling her chest seize up. "Not right now. I..."

"Sorry..." he said breathlessly. "I'm sorry."

She put her forehead to his other shoulder, leaning on him for support and trying to catch her breath.

She hated these episodes. It felt wrong. She didn't want to hurt Percy in blind rage. She was afraid that she would accidentally kill him, or he would kill her to defend himself. Unlike Percy, she wasn't a magic user. And Hecate hadn't been so kind as to remove the whole memory. Her toes curled every time she remembered how that man had pinned her so that she'd been unable to fight back, how he'd numbed her senses using exotic herbs and plants. In these episodes, she could never control herself. She'd killed several people because of them. Fortunately, Thanas wasn't one of them.

Irene pulled away and looked at his injured shoulder. "You're not going to be in any shape to fight anytime soon."

"I was planning on training the Trio," he said, giving her a pointed look. "Thanks for this."

"Well, you should know by now that I... I—"

"Snap?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Yeah..."

Percy pursed his lips and sighed. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger with his free hand and slowly slid the blade out from his shoulder. "It's okay. I'm used to it. I overreacted as well."

She helped him wrap up his wound.

There were many things that she wanted to say to him. Some of them were related to the guilt she felt about stabbing him. Other things weren't quite so pleasant. But, regardless of how she felt about his actions, she didn't want to provoke him.

"I meant what I said, though."

Irene looked up at him. His expression was grim.

"I have a plan. Three years is all I'll give them. If the Trio can't do it in three years, then I'll do it myself."

She clenched her fists, restraining herself. She couldn't afford to fight back. Not if she wanted to keep his tentative trust.

"I might have to push back the meeting given my condition." He gestured to his shoulder. "But we're going to meet up with Antonius. The one I told you about."

Irene's anger turned into confusion and curiosity. "The ex-praetor?"

Percy nodded.

"Are we going to... act again?"

He smiled. "Just like old times."

She recalled the last time they'd gone undercover. They'd played old rivals during the Macedonian War, uniting as "spies" for the Romans because they were "sick and tired of their rulers." She watched him carefully. It was hard to discern any hidden intent in his expression. Percy had worked hard to remain unreadable. He had to be good at acting in order to do the things he had done. It wasn't impossible to read his expression, but she couldn't figure it out this time.

Antonius was a former praetor of the Fourteenth Legion, who now worked as a member of Justinian's advisory council. The ex-praetor was based out of Tarsus, down by the old home of the Phoenicians. She could tell where he was going with the meeting. He must have heard it from the other Roman that he'd killed the other day, the son of Apollo.

Irene took another look at the dead Roman at their feet. A pity. A life wasted because of the stupid war.

"Let me get fixed up," Percy said. "Then I'll gather the Trio and we can have a brief meeting. It'll be their first mission. How well can they act? I'll let you know where and when we meet."

"You're going to make this as messy as you can, aren't you?"

He gave her an ominous smile. "The more chaotic, the better."

After he disappeared up the stairs, Irene took another look at the dead Roman and then up at the ceiling.

"I swear, Apollo. You better apologize to Percy soon. Don't be such a little bitch. You're making me hate you as much as the Hunters hate men. And this even considers all the terrible shit Percy's done. Man up. Or you're going to kill us all."