UPDATE: Hey, so I came back after a few days and realized that I was missing the last page of the chapter in the upload. My proof-reading skills are non-existent, LOL.

Chapter 27

Circa 550 CE
Justinian Dynasty
Constantinople

Percy felt like he was a little kid again, swinging his legs back and forth as he stared at the dark night sky from the roof of the Greek hideout building. It had been a few days since they returned from Thessalonica. Had it not been for the war being waged around him, he would've thought it to be a peaceful night.

The city was dark. Lamps scattered here and there illuminated corners and walkways, but it had long passed the time when honest folk disappeared from the streets.

Next to him, his own lamp flickered with light. It was practically the only thing he could see, though his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to make out shadows here and there. His other senses kept him alert, and he was able to picture what was going on around him.

There were footsteps below him. They were soft and near silent, but enough to prickle his ears. A dim shadow moved with the sound, sliding to the side of the building and climbing up to the roof.

Percy leaned back on his hands as Irene joined him.

She sat on the opposite side of the lamp and gave him a smile. "Enjoying the darkness?"

He shrugged. "I always appreciate time alone to ponder."

He'd been thinking about what Leon's mother had said earlier. He never thought of himself as evil, but he had to admit that he'd been cold and distant for centuries in order to accomplish what he had been able to do.

Seeing Leon's guilty expression every time he looked at his mother made him wonder about the life he lived. Percy wanted Apollo to suffer. He wanted revenge. He would tear down others' happiness to do it. But the reason he wanted to tear everything down in the first place was because he had no place in the world. No one wanted him. That was why he'd been tossed aside so easily. Despite living for hundreds of years and meeting countless new faces, few ever looked at him with any loving expression.

The gods didn't want to kill him either. They could have done it a long time ago. But, if they didn't kill him after what he did to the Thirtieth Legion, they wouldn't kill him for anything. It didn't matter that his continued prolonging of the war kept them split between their Greek and Roman forms. Zeus only needed a moment of clarity to strike him down.

Recently, things had started to change. He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed it until three years had passed, but Irene was the one constant that had never changed.

"I enjoy clear skies better," Irene said, looking at the dark clouds above. "You don't get a good view of the stars this way."

Percy smiled. "You sure enjoy the stars, don't you? Always a stargazer, I suppose."

Irene laughed. It was a quiet laugh, but in the deafening silence of the night it sounded loud and clear. Her voice resonated with warmth. "Every clear night, especially on nights where we could see the moon, Zoë would always bring me out to stargaze. You can blame her for that."

"You went to stargaze?" he asked.

She shot him a grin. "You would always go to sleep after training me. Did Achilles have that sort of impact on you? After she returned to the palace near the end of the war, Cassandra told me that, whenever you weren't fighting or eating, you were either taking quiet walks on the beach or sleeping."

He recalled the old memories and couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. Pretty much. Dealing with Achilles and Agamemnon was infuriating at times. Achilles was always so impulsive and arrogant that it always seemed like all the time I spent trying to train him the art of patience went to waste. And Agamemnon... He was a good leader, looking back on it, but he was incredibly selfish and self-serving. Perhaps not so different from Achilles. But, at least with Achilles, he was under my influence. I hated not having control."

"I find it hard to believe that you had an easy time controlling arguably the greatest Greek warrior of all time."

"Not arguably." Percy shook his head and thought hard about all the heroes he'd seen over his years. "The greatest Greek warrior of all time. The others all did great things, but no one fought in a war like he did except Leonidas. Heracles is undoubtedly the best Greek hero, but he wasn't a warrior. He was just... powerful."

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call Achilles the greatest Greek warrior of all time." She leaned over and poked his shoulder. "Even though we collectively wiped your name from history, I think you would beat Achilles. You did teach him. And, despite him only having one weak spot, you outlasted him in the war."

"I think you could make the argument that I'm the greatest Greek villain," he joked. "Not a single evil soul could come close to me. Tantalus tried to feed the gods his cooked son? I've fed the innards of friends and brothers to each other while they're still alive. Sisyphus tried to cheat death and stay alive forever? I've abused my ability to live forever by causing mass destruction. Minos tossed young children into a maze to watch them go insane and be devoured by a half-man, half-bull creature that happened to be a child of his wife? I've forced Roman kids to slowly kill each other, bit by bit. I've done more myself than all these idiots combined."

"First of all, you never fed the innards of Romans to their friends and brothers. That must've only happened to those who violated Mei. Second, you haven't abused your ability to live. You earned that right with the work you put in before making Zoë a Hunter. And third, you forced Romans to kill each other by pitting them against each other. You don't do any of the actual killing yourself."

"I did when it came to the Thirtieth."

"You were cornered."

"It was the perfect opportunity to kill them."

"And you took the opportunity that was presented to you. In a war, that's smart."

He looked away from her. "Weren't we talking about stargazing? How did we get to the topic of war?"

"Probably because our lives practically revolve around it." Her voice was laced with a hint of sadness. "I wish it wasn't this way."

They sat in silence for a moment, absorbing the night.

Then, Percy broke it, saying, "So if you got your stargazing habit from Zoë, what did you pick up from me?"

Irene pursed her lips in thought. "Hmm... That's a good question. I guess... it would be sarcasm."

He stared at her again. "You are definitely not sarcastic. Did you hit your head or something? Head injuries can be really scary, you know, if you aren't treated correctly."

She laughed again. "I was joking. I know I'm not good at sarcasm. I just figured I'd say something because nothing was really coming to my head. With you, I have no idea what I adopted from you. Because all I ever wanted was to fight by your side."

Percy looked into her eyes. For a moment, her expression was wistful, longing for old times before his exile, before their lives went to shit. But it was gone quickly, replaced with flickering amusement.

"Perhaps it was the earnestness," she suggested, calming and subduing herself. "Just trying to be a genuine person."

"As opposed to a fake person."

"Yeah. Though I'm not exactly sure what a fake person would be."

"Aphrodite."

The two met eyes and burst into laughter.

"Sorry... mom..." she gasped between breaths. "He's right... though..."

After a moment, they settled back down into silence. There was a break in the clouds, and the full moon shone through.

"So I was earnest, eh?" Percy mused.

"You still are."

He didn't respond. He wasn't sure how to react.

"Although you're misguided now, you're still sincere and genuine. You might hide your pain from others, but anyone who sees you knows exactly what you stand for. Whether they agree with your conviction or not is another story. Still, you trying to fight for what you think is right is very... you. That has never changed."

Percy pressed his lips together tightly. "I don't know if what I'm currently fighting for is right. I think it's fair, in a sense."

"What you believe is right isn't necessarily to the benefit of everyone else as a whole," she pointed out. "Remember those years you said you spent helping Zoë become a Hunter? You went through all the hassle... just for her. You didn't care about what happened to your future. You fought those monsters for her sake. Because helping her become a Hunter was what you thought was right. Just like how you gave your time, helping me heal and training me to be a fighter. Because that was what you felt was right."

"With that logic, even murderers and lunatics can be earnest."

"Yeah. I think they can. No one ever said being earnest was only a good thing."

He smiled to himself. "Guess I'm not on that 'good' side of earnestness."

"Maybe not. But I understand why you're so angry at Apollo and at the gods. I would be too. I just think that killing innocent people along the way isn't the path I'd choose."

Percy sighed. "I know. I've heard it a million times."

He fully expected Irene to continue the conversation, but she pressed her lips together and looked away. She swung her legs. "It's nice, though. The darkness might be eerie to some, but I like it. Of course, I prefer daytime, but night is also cool."

"Night is underrated," he joked. "I bet Nyx would love to hear that."

"We're day creatures, I guess." Irene smirked. "Well... most of us."

"If you could spend a significant period of time underwater, you would see that the whole notion of night and day is trivial," he grinned. "Actually, you wouldn't see at all, considering the sunlight doesn't reach that far underwater."

"I like changing weather, thank you very much. Plus, how would I ever get to see the stars from underwater?"

"You wouldn't. That's the point."

"Right. I forgot that you just spend all your time fighting and sleeping."

"Sure. That's what I spend all my time doing."

Irene smiled. "Do you remember the time you tripped and fell off that cliff?"

He shuddered. "Don't remind me." He held his hands about shoulder-width apart. "I was this close to hitting my head on the rocks below and killing myself. If I wasn't a son of Poseidon, that would've been the end of me."

"And for what? To show Zoë and I the view?"

"There was a snake!"

"A snake scared you."

"Yes, a snake scared me! You got a problem with that?"

"Nothing ever scares you anymore."

"Tons of things still scare me. I'm afraid of crowded places, of being high up in the sky, of jump scares. Snakes, too. I still hate those things. I can't understand why Hermes keeps them company. I'm fortunate and have never been bitten by a super poisonous one, but their teeth sinking into my skin hurts like hell. It's like being stabbed. But worse."

"How is a snake bite worse than being stabbed?" she exclaimed. "One consists of sharp teeth barely longer than a fingernail, at least for the smaller ones, and the other consists of a metal blade the length of your forearm."

"Snakes just scare me. A human with a knife doesn't."

"You're so weird."

Percy puffed his chest out. "So what?"

Irene just scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"If I could stop being afraid of snakes, I would," he argued. "But hey, I'm not immortal, so if a poisonous one bites me, I'm fucking dead."

"And the world would be a better place." Irene gave him a sideways smile. "Free from a devilish monster!"

"Ha ha, very funny," he said dryly.

"I do think it's quite funny."

"Who has a twisted sense of humor now?"

"I said you're weird, not that you have a twisted sense of humor."

"Same thing."

"It's obviously not the same thing!"

"Close enough."

She punched his shoulder lightly. "Such a weirdo."

Percy smiled. It had been a long time since he'd had a moment of peace. He'd forgotten how pleasant they were.

In the distance, he heard the sound of a galloping horse, and the desperate call from its rider. The stallion was racing down the street, coming around the bend and toward the demigod neighbourhood. The rider was holding his torch high and waved it frantically, as if to pass on an urgent message.

Irene's breath hitched. He turned to her, and she gave him a look of dread.

"The king's guards are coming!" he heard the rider shout. "Wake! We have to go!"

Percy was up to his feet in an instant. This wasn't his plan. It was still a couple months out before the deadline. It must have been Marcus. Irene had come to the same conclusion.

"Wake everyone up and help them escape," Percy told her. "Send everyone back to Hellas. Have Alexandros and Viviana lead them. You, me and the Trio need to head down to Tyre, through Syria."

"Into enemy territory?" she questioned.

"Three years is up," he reminded her. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Though this isn't exactly how I'd envisioned it."

"Five of us? In enemy territory? I don't like the sound of that."

"It's the only way we'll defeat them. Trust me."

Irene hesitated. For a second, he thought she was acting again, like they were doing one of their feints, but her expression tightened and she nodded. "I'll get everyone to safety. Meet up across the strait?"

He nodded in affirmation. "Where we spoke that day."

Irene slipped off the roof and burst off toward the barracks. Percy glanced in the direction of the castle. If the messenger was telling the truth, it wouldn't be long before the king's guards were within sight.

He killed the light and began to navigate across the rooftops toward the main street, where he figured the king's men would charge from. He readied Anaklusmos for battle as he came toward the main intersection. Slipping down to ground-level, he turned toward the wooden structure and immediately tried to set it alight. After several unsuccessful attempts, he finally got it to work just as he heard the rumble of cavalry advancing on his position.

He summoned a tripwire arrow and fired it across the intersection with his bow. He tied it to the column of the now ignited building. He hoped it would hold steady until the king's troops arrived. He did the same thing across the other street. The first soldiers to arrive would be met with a wire to the face.

Somewhere behind him, he could hear the Greek demigods evacuating, stirred from their sleep by the sudden alarm. Ahead of him, the king's men were almost on his position. He just needed to distract them with more fires.

He crossed the street toward the other houses. He brought a burning stick of wood and tossed it into the front of the home.

"Fire!" he shouted, hoping to stir the residents from their slumber, before climbing up to the roof of an unaffected building. "Fire!"

It hadn't rained in weeks, which made the houses the perfect fuel for the fire. The flames spread quickly, looking for something new to devour. He heard panicked shouting from inside the homes, just as the king's men came within sight.

Residents started to evacuate the properties. Women and children gathered in the street while men tried to put out the fire.

The king's men came to a stop as they reached the intersection.

"My God," the lead guard muttered. He turned to his men. "Half of you, help with the fire. The rest, on me!"

"Yes, sir!" a couple guards said.

Percy summoned his bow and fired a few flaming arrows at the neighbouring buildings.

They joined the growing inferno as the wooden structures began to fall apart. As the king's men discovered the trip wires, the plume of smoke rising into the sky grew larger and thicker. The first building he'd ignited collapsed as the wood burned away.

The residents screamed as a cloud of dust rose from the wreckage. If there was still anyone inside, they were as good as dead.

Percy looked down at the wreckage. Alarm bells were sounding off all across the neighbourhood. The king's men looked trapped. A few had gone on to chase down the fleeing Greek demigods, but the majority were stuck trying to figure out how to deal with the growing fire.

Good enough, Percy thought.

He silently slipped away and went off to the rendezvous point.

Xanthe was stunned and angry at the events that had just conspired. She knew the end was coming, given all of Irene's hints and actions, but she hadn't expected it to come so soon. After escaping to the other side of the strait in Constantinople, Percy and Irene brought the three of them to Nicaea to regain their bearings.

Except it didn't seem like Irene had been expecting the sudden attack. Several Greek demigods had died trying to help the younger ones evacuate. Xanthe wanted to stay and fight, but Irene was adamant that they needed to leave.

Percy stared at the map in front of him as he tried to concoct some sort of plan. Or, at least, revise the plan he'd been keeping in reserve. The way he was focusing on certain areas of the map made her think that he'd already had a contingency plan in place. This sudden event must've changed some of the variables in play, though.

Thanas swiped his hand through the Mist, ending a chat with Alex and Viviana. He nodded grimly. "They made it safely to Lemnos."

Percy glanced up for a moment and smirked. "Better watch out for the women."

Xanthe recalled Thanas' telling the story of Percy's journey with the Argonauts. Lemnos was one of the stops on the journey. In the past, it had been solely occupied with women. Now, the mythical Lemnos existed as a separate island somewhere out in the Sea of Monsters, distinct from its mortal world counterpart.

"They will need to sail to Skyros and then to Chalcis for the best possible chance at avoiding Roman eyes," Irene said. She glanced at Percy. "Is the camp at Gortyn set up?"

"Last I heard, Chiron founded both sites," Percy said, looking back at the map. "One near Dystos and the other just outside of Gortyn. I'd say all the young ones should probably flee to Crete. The Romans may move quickly, but the cost of scouring Crete for the few they'll find is too great."

Irene gave him a quizzical look.

He glanced up and shrugged. "Hey, when they cornered me on Crete, they knew they were hunting someone of extreme value."

Irene shook her head and took a seat next to him, and they began to discuss a plan of action.

Leon was quieter than usual as he stared blankly in front of him. Fortunately for him, both Irene and Percy had decided to send his mother away from Thessalonica and Constantinople. She was in Athens now, safe from the fighting. For now. Still, it hadn't been that long since they'd left her. He must've been worried.

Thanas looked stressed. He paced back and forth, muttering to himself about the evacuation, cursing himself for not doing a better job.

Right when it seemed like they were due for some peace, this sudden evacuation just had to happen. Xanthe couldn't help but resent the Emperor. After everything Theodora went through to protect them, he had to throw it away.

But she didn't envy his position. Regardless of what decision he made, he would be criticized. Being the Emperor, even with all its perks, must have been a difficult job. She wondered what tipped him over to the other side. Was it the Romans?

Thinking about the Romans only made her heart ache. The bastard, Marcus, gave her hope that Florian was still alive. She knew that they would likely meet as enemies on the battlefield, but that didn't mean she was afraid to find him. She'd tried her best to live and ignore her own sins and to live a happy life with Leon. But the guilt was still there, hidden under layers of masks, for being a murderer.

"Do you really think they're behind this?" Percy was asking Irene.

She nodded. "It has to be. The Romans are still down in Syria. The Romans in the Emperor's council weren't influential enough to start this. And your people weren't the ones who did it either. That leaves the Hunters. You know how Phoebe feels about you."

Percy cursed. "It won't be all of them, will it?"

"I doubt it," Irene said, shaking her head. "Unless Zoë had a sudden change of heart, she wouldn't hunt you down like this. Based on my last conversation with her, she hasn't changed. And that wasn't all that long ago."

"If the Hunters were already in Constantinople, we don't have much time before they find us," he pointed out. "They're Artemis' companions for a reason."

"Do we stand and fight?"

"We would fight back if we had the tactical and strategic advantage. But neither of us know where they are at the moment. They could be right on our heels and ready to strike at a moment's notice. We're not prepared. Even half of the Hunters would be able to defeat us in an ambush. Deflecting arrows with swords and spears is impractical. You'll be hit nine times out of ten. And against the Hunters? Make that ninety-nine out of one hundred."

"Look at you. The demigod who can destroy an entire legion is scared of half a dozen Hunters."

Percy stared at her. "I'm not worried about myself."

There was a brief moment of silence as the two stared at each other. Both of them cast sidelong glances at her, Leon and Thanas.

"You're the only target, Percy," Irene reminded him.

He pressed his lips together in a tight line. "It doesn't matter. We should advance. To Tarsus. Forget the Hunters. It's now or never. We need to strike the Romans."

"And you're going to leave the Twelfth to Baduila?"

"For now."

Suddenly, Thanas snapped to attention and stared at the window. It was the only source of fresh air and natural light in the room with both the front and back doors closed. His eyes slowly widened, as if a chill was crawling up his spine.

"My hands!" he shouted, extending them forward.

Instinctively, Leon reached out to grab him. Xanthe found herself reaching out for Leon. On Thanas' other side, both Percy and Irene grabbed a hold of his other arm.

Just before they slipped into the tiny shadow of the table on the floor, the room exploded with a flash of blinding green light. Greek fire.

The sheer force of the explosion sent her flying through the darkness, and the only thing she could feel was Leon's hand holding hers. They were in a tunnel of shadows, the wind racing past them.

"Urgh!"

As if dropped from the bough of a tree, she landed face-first and got a mouthful of dirt. She groaned in pain, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She blinked and looked around to gather her bearings.

Leon was next to her, looking just as disoriented.

But Thanas, Percy and Irene were nowhere to be found.

She slowly got to her feet, brushing the dirt off her clothes.

They were underneath a lonely tree standing at the side of a road. South of them was a small river, large enough for agricultural viability but small enough that a military fleet wouldn't be able to sail through. To the east, buildings poked over the terrain, spread out in an urban sprawl. Judging by the air around her, she could tell they were somewhere inland. She couldn't sense the sea breeze that was present in cities near the coast.

"Ankyra," Leon muttered, walking to her side. "I think we slipped out of Thanas' grasp when the explosion rocked the room. We must've slipped out of the shadow tunnel before they did."

Ankyra was at the far edge of their new territory. The last reports that had come from the garrison were of advance Roman scouts harassing their position. She cursed. This was a bad place to be caught in. But it made sense. Percy had wanted to go to Tarsus. From Nicaea, Ankyra was somewhere in between. If they flew out of the shadow tunnel, this was a possible destination.

Screech!

High above them, several eagles soared past. They were, unnaturally, together. Typically eagles were lone hunters, or at least in small packs, and seldom did she ever see them glitter in the sunlight as they were. As the majority of the eagles continued forward, two pulled away from the group and immediately began to dive.

"Oh shit!" Leon exclaimed. He summoned Koptos and pointed at the two eagles. "Romans."

He blasted the two golden eagles out of the sky like they were nothing. One eagle died instantly. She could see the body and the wings go limp. The other shook erratically as its body tried but failed to regain control of itself. Both slammed into the ground with hideous thuds.

"We have to get to the river," Leon told her. "Get an Iris message to Thanas."

She nodded and grabbed her spear. "We're going to have company, though."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but if we can get to the river before they find us..."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small group of soldiers running along the riverside. The unmistakable shape of their shields gave their identities away.

"We're too late," she said, pointing at the soldiers headed their way.

Leon cursed. He glanced toward the city. "What about the garrison? They'll have a spring or a fountain or something."

Xanthe eyed the soldiers. There were around a dozen of them. "This is our best chance to fight them. If we retreat, they'll trap us."

"Getting back to Thanas, Percy and Irene is our priority," he argued. "If we get caught up in a battle, we could end up getting killed."

"We've faced a bunch of Romans in battle before!"

"Under different circumstances." They began to retreat down the road. "We were literally just flung from the fucking shadow realm after the room we were in exploded with Greek fire. This isn't exactly an ideal place to be."

He was right. Xanthe's thoughts were swirling like a whirlpool. She had questions about why the room exploded in the first place, and about how Thanas was able to sense something was wrong. She was glad everyone had the gut instinct to reach out for him. Otherwise another attack would've killed them.

"To the city?" Leon suggested, though it sounded more like a command.

She nodded reluctantly and followed him down into Ankyra.

They approached the garrison building, which looked relatively quiet. They lost their Roman tails by taking a detour, winding around the far side of the city before turning back toward the headquarters. Leon cracked the door open and led with Koptos.

Stepping inside the building, it was eerily quiet. As Leon continued farther into the compound, Xanthe noticed scratch marks on the walls. She ran her fingers across the scarred wood. The marks felt like they'd been made with blades. A fight had gone down, but she couldn't tell if it was recent or old. There was no blood, fresh or dried, which temporarily soothed her nerves.

"Xanthe!" Leon's shout echoed. "Come here!"

She tightened her grip on her spear and ran toward his voice.

Down in the common area were four downed Greek soldiers. One of them was moving, but the other three were as still as wooden planks.

"We need nectar and ambrosia," Leon said urgently as he leaned on the moving Greek's wound. He pointed to a side room off to their left. "Damianos said there's some in the food storage."

Xanthe glanced at the squirming young man, who looked like his abdomen had been sliced open. She recognized him from one of their earlier operations in Nicaea. He was a scout, a son of Hermes, who'd helped them hold the town from an attacking Roman force. There was a growing pool of blood on his wounded side. His skin was pale already, and she feared they were already too late.

She dropped her spear and sprinted to the storage room. The nectar and ambrosia was front and center in the cabinet, like it was meant to be. She grabbed a container of ambrosia cubes and a jar of nectar.

Running back as fast as she could, she dropped to her knees beside Damianos and opened the jar.

Damianos shook his head weakly. "No," he managed to say. "Not for me."

"But—"

"For the survivors," the son of Hermes croaked. "A few escaped. Headed back to Constantinople."

Xanthe and Leon looked at each other.

"The Romans..." Damianos continued. "They wanted to make a show of force. I knew we would be outmatched, so I reinforced Dorylaion. They won't... pass that city."

Xanthe pressed her lips together. "Constantinople... our stronghold... is gone."

Damianos blinked in disbelief. "What... do you mean? The Romans haven't left Tarsus. I—I swear!"

"We don't know what happened either," Xanthe said. She grabbed the jar of nectar again. "Let's get you fixed up and send you to the rendezvous. We can talk about this later."

"Ankyra is far from the sea," Leon told her. "It'll be nearly impossible to send him to Dystos or Gortyn."

"We can't just leave him here to die!"

"Xanthe, we don't even know who's out there. The Romans are going to find out where we are any minute. Even if we transported him to Nicaea and then out to sea, the Romans could have been behind what happened in Constantinople."

"With Greek fire?" Xanthe shook her head adamantly. "Leon, the Romans wouldn't attack us with Greek fire. They consider themselves honorable. They'll use their own equipment and their own tactics to strike us down. The ones who triggered whatever happened in Constantinople are different."

"Who else could track us down within a day from Constantinople to Nicaea?"

"Don't you realize that there's something fishy? Why us? Why not the bigger, more susceptible group that escaped to Lemnos?"

Leon frowned. She knew she got him.

The air suddenly shimmered next to them.

An image appeared of a young man leaning on the bulwark of a boat cutting through the sea. Behind him were several others, either helping row or organizing everyone so that the evacuation ran as smoothly as possible.

Alexandros' eyes widened as the image became clearer.

"Good to see you, Alex," Damianos said painfully.

"What in Zeus' name happened?" Alexandros' eyes flickered toward her and Leon. "What are you two doing in Ankyra? I thought you were in Nicaea with Thanas, Percy and Irene!"

"Long story," Xanthe said. She looked at Damianos. "Romans attacked Ankyra."

"So that's why the garrison at Dorylaion said they're waiting for reinforcements," Alexandros muttered. His eyes were full of grief and concern. "How many are dead?"

"Soon to be six," Damianos reported. His voice was getting shallower. "Ankyra has fallen. But that doesn't matter if Constantinople has fallen."

Alexandros nodded grimly. "I suppose my evacuation order is no longer applicable here."

"Tell me we're the last ones," Damianos said. "Don't tell me I sent troops to Attaleia last week for nothing."

"Ankyra was the last one," Alexandros confirmed.

Damianos let out a soft chuckle and rested his head back. "Good," he whispered. "Good."

There was a brief moment of silence as the three of them watched him die.

Xanthe's heart grew heavy, and she set the jar of nectar down softly. Leon let go of the man's wound and lightly fell back so that he was sitting on his knees. He hung his head in a brief moment of silence.

"Fucking hell," Alexandros muttered. "Another one gone."

Xanthe heard a shout in the distance. Too lost in her grief, she thought it had come from the Iris message. The way Leon didn't react either only reaffirmed her instinct.

Alexandros looked at the other two. "While I have you here, I might as well tell you. I was going to report to Percy, but I asked every single garrison we have about the status of Romans in their region. None of them reported any significant threat. We've known there are Romans in counsel of the Emperor, but their presence was weak. Based on all the reports, it's unlikely that the Romans were behind what happened unless they were smart enough to hide from us. Doubtful, considering how Percy and Irene essentially rid Thrace and Hellas from Romans. I don't know what's going on, but Percy and Irene might have insights."

Xanthe and Leon shared another look. Her suspicions were confirmed.

"Wait!" Leon shouted, before Alexandros could end the call. "Actually, we didn't travel to Ankyra together. Or on purpose. We were escaping an attack, likely supported by whoever was behind the Constantinople incident. We're not with Thanas, Percy or Irene right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Send them an Iris message. Tell them where we are! Tell them to get ready for an Iris message to signal transport."

There was another shout, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Xanthe looked up toward the entrance. It was like her mind was playing tricks on her. It was the same shout, but this time it hadn't come from the Iris message.

"Don't worry, I'll send the Iris message," Alexandros promised.

"If they don't receive an Iris message within the next little while, we need an emergency extraction," Leon continued.

Right then, two Roman soldiers burst around the corner, swords drawn and ready for combat.

"Leon!"

He snapped to attention.

Xanthe ran toward her spear and scooped it up just as one of the Romans threw his javelin toward her. She dove out of the way. On the other side of the room, Leon was scrambling to grab Koptos. He sent a blast of lightning at the Roman chasing him.

"Cut the connection!" Leon shouted at Alexandros. "Cut it now!"

More Romans ran into the room as the Iris message dissipated.

"Don't separate!" Leon yelled at her.

Xanthe shook her head. "Vivian!"

Leon hesitated for a moment before nodding in understanding. Vivan's plan to escape a fight typically involved causing as much chaos and havoc as possible. Unlike Alex's, which was usually to fortify and fight, Vivian coined the plan 'The Coward's way out'. Unfortunately, that sometimes meant getting innocent bystanders involved.

Xanthe turned and ran for the nearest exit. She found it in a window and began to run into the city streets. She saw Leon running down the opposite way, but they'd been to Ankyra before, so she knew they still had a chance to meet up before losing their tail.

Using the crowd as a distraction, she weaved through the city center to evade the Romans. She could hear screaming and shouting coming from behind her, but she didn't dare turn around and look. Racing past a market stand, she grabbed a cloth and wrapped it around her face. She shed her cloak and grabbed a new one with a different color and pattern.

She tried to imagine where she and Leon would rendezvous. It had to be the river. There was nowhere else they could escape to and send an Iris message. Perhaps the bathhouse, but it was risky.

As she reached the outskirts of the city, a figure burst out of the building in front of her and raised his sword. Xanthe rolled to the side as the Roman stabbed forward with his weapon. His broad shoulders and thick arms were frightening enough. The mail mask covering his mouth and his shimmering golden chestplate only made it worse. She summoned a blast of water from the well nearby, but there was only enough volume to drench him in water.

She bolted away toward the river, hoping she could reach the little grove by its edge, where the Romans had originally marched from. The Roman kept pace with her, despite the fact that he was wearing armor.

When she finally reached the grove, she turned and raised her spear.

The Roman slowed to a jog, readying his sword for the inevitable duel. She didn't see anyone behind him, which meant he had no reinforcements. Xanthe glanced toward the river. It was close enough for her to use in battle. She grinned behind her cloth face mask and initiated contact.

Since they were both out of breath, she needed to attack immediately. Despite his size, she could overwhelm him with the power of the river and cut him down. The longer she waited, the more disadvantageous a duel would become.

But the Roman was a lot quicker than she expected.

He deflected her strike and countered immediately. He pressed forward, giving her no chance to use a free arm and summon the river to follow her exact commands. His strikes were quick and strong, rattling her teeth each time she parried with the shaft of her spear.

Tyche was on her side when he overexerted himself on a six-strike combo, leaving an opening just wide enough for her to stab him with her spear. As she lunged forward, he tumbled to the ground and narrowly avoided being skewered.

Xanthe summoned the river to knock him to the ground as he struggled to his feet, but it left her weary. Her lungs were screaming for a break, for some air. Several minutes of fighting, of intense exertion, left the two of them heaving for air.

The Roman stood up slowly and stared at her. His eyes were wide, not in fear but in recognition.

Movement flickered in the corner of her eyes as another figure burst onto the scene. The Roman, as if following her eyes, immediately rolled backward. A tendril of lightning hit the spot right where he'd been standing, temporarily blinding Xanthe.

"Xanthe!"

Leon rushed to her side, and the first thing she noticed was the wound on his arm. Her eyes went wide with concern.

She grabbed his arm. "Leon, what happened?!"

It was a bad cut. The wound looked fresh and deep, and he was bleeding badly. Fortunately, it was on his non-sword arm, but that he was wounded in the first place meant that they were on their last legs. Within moments, the other Romans caught up with them, trapping them in the grove. They could try to flee, but it looked like the Romans still had their javelins. They hadn't been stupid and wasted them while chasing Leon through Ankyra.

The Roman she'd duelled took a step toward them. He was still a good twenty or thirty paces in front of his fellow legionnaires, but suddenly he didn't seem like an easy kill.

"Don't summon the river," Leon told her as they slowly backed up. "You look weak."

The Roman continued to advance. He pulled down the mail covering his mouth.

"Xanthe...?"

Xanthe stared at the legionnaire standing in front of her. She lowered her spear.

"I can't believe my father was right," Florian said. He tightened his grip on his sword. "How... how could you kill all my friends?"

"Florian..."

Xanthe couldn't believe it. Her brother was alive.

"You... you really are a Greek demigod."

The Romans behind Florian looked confused, but they didn't intervene. For the moment. Perhaps they knew about the situation. Perhaps Marcus had told them the story. Were they curious? Amused?

"Florian..." Xanthe blinked hard. She felt Leon's hand in hers, squeezing tightly for comfort. "Your legion... They killed Mother."

Florian stared at her like she was a barbarian. The members of the 13th and 14th Legions behind him stirred impatiently. They were waiting for the last remaining legionnaire of the Eleventh to strike down his foes, and it seemed they were ready to do it if he wouldn't.

"We can fight all day if you want," Xanthe begged, "but I'm not lying. I swear it, Florian."

"She's a Greek!" a legionnaire shouted at Florian. "Don't trust her. They're all deceptive, those blasted Greeks. We should just kill them all."

"Killing me won't solve any problems, Florian," Xanthe countered. She stared at her brother and tried to show him the truth through her eyes. His own eyes looked pained, as if he couldn't decide which side to take. "Florian, please. I... I don't want to hurt you."

She nearly jumped when Leon put a hand on her shoulder. The son of Zeus gave her a hard look. "We can't appease them much longer. We have to get back to Thanas and Percy as soon as possible. They're not going to be able to keep the giant eagles at bay, especially given the terrain we're in."

She nodded and looked back at her half-brother.

"It's your turn to make a call," she called out to him. "Fight me or part. We don't have to do this, Florian."

One of the legionnaires growled and drew his gladius. "We don't have time for this. Let's just kill them!"

"Wait!" Florian shouted, but his cries were useless. He'd already proven himself weak in front of the other legionnaires, and his status as the only remaining member of the Eleventh Legion didn't put him in good standing.

The Romans advanced.

Leon stepped in front of her, holding Koptos with his non-dominant hand. The wound on his arm looked worse and worse as time passed. They wouldn't survive if the Romans moved quickly. She was weak from her duel with Florian, and she knew Thanas would only be able to appear once to get them out. She needed mist to send the Iris-message, though, and to do that she needed time.

That was a luxury she was sorely missing.

At that moment, Florian rushed forward.

Leon raised his blade to strike, but just before Florian reached them, he turned and faced the bewildered legionnaires. Raising his own sword, he turned on his fellow Romans.

No one saw it coming.

The legionnaires broke their march and stared at Florian, completely stunned. The expressions on their faces seemed almost like they couldn't even fathom a traitor being amongst them. Leon dropped the tip of his sword too, and he quickly turned to her and gave her the signal.

Xanthe turned and summoned a blast of hot water from the river nearby. The water rushed toward her and exploded, creating a ball of mist in front of her. The sunlight passing through made a faint rainbow in the mist, and she quickly fished for a golden drachma.

She flipped it into the rainbow. "O goddess, accept my offering."

The mist shimmered.

"Athanasios, son of Hades!"

There was a scream from behind her. She whipped her head to see Florian charging in and taking on three legionnaires at once. Florian gored straight through one soldier's mail chest armor. Leon stared, flabbergasted, at the whole situation.

In the mist, a flickering image of Thanas appeared. It looked like he was racing through the woods on horseback.

"Xanthe!" Thanas shouted. "You're okay?"

"Yes!" she yelled back. "We're just west of Ankyra! By the river near the main road!"

Thanas turned to Percy. "I'll see you in Attaleia!"

"Don't be late," Percy warned.

Thanas turned back to her. "Cut the connection."

Xanthe nodded and swiped her hand through the image, dissolving it into fine vapour. Within the time it took to snap her fingers, Thanas morphed out of the shadow of a nearby tree. He extended his arm and yelled at them.

"Leon!" Xanthe shouted.

The son of Zeus snapped to attention and sprung to action. He ran over toward Thanas, grabbing her arm and dragging her with him.

"What's that?" Thanas asked.

Xanthe watched her brother, and she felt a strange sense... as if she'd watched something like this before. Helplessly, and unable to do anything, she watched Florian take three blades. One to his thigh, another to a gap near his armpit, and the last to his shoulder. In his valiant effort, he managed to defeat three of the eight legionnaires. But what could one mortal man do against a unit of Roman warriors?

Florian hadn't even said a parting word to her. Like her mother.

As Thanas began to bring them into shadow travel, Xanthe let out a silent cry. Her brother's sacrifice wouldn't be made in vain. She would end this war, no matter what it took. To stop this endless bloodshed. To stop these needless sacrifices.

She understood, now, their purpose in the war. When Percy showed her the marks on his arm, signifying his service to the Twelfth Legion, all the weird puzzle pieces seemed to fit. But for now, all she could do was cry out in pain... in sorrow... in guilt.

"I love you, Florian."