A/N: Battle Part 2. Real plot development to return after this. I just enjoy writing the battles. In an answer to the review asking why Percy did not use his earthshaker abilities: the first part is simply such an attack would have made the battle shorter and I enjoy writing them, the second part is I would like to think that Demosthenes' comments about fight like a man versus fighting like a god is still in his mind.
Thermopylae, The Hot Gates
Javelin, the voice said and Percy calmly intercepted it with his sword. He used the momentum of the motion, left to right, to carry Riptide through the helmet of the legionary attempting to pull him from his horse. The horse spun at the Roman's efforts however. Arrows at your back. A leather strap ensured that his shield was kept close to his body. Using his left arm he forced it over his right shoulder. The strap kept it tight against him and he felt the arrows impact harmlessly as it rotated all the way around to his left hand again. He spun in the saddle and saw Zoë Nightshade nock two arrows and with her bow angled slightly release both. The two archers that had nearly hit him fell dead.
Percy dismounted and his momentum carried the Roman he had planted his foot against to the ground as Percy crushed his throat under his heel. Two Roman's rushed at him. He dropped to a knee, severing one's calf below the knee and hamstringing the other before thrusting his sword into the second's kidneys. He left the one with only half a leg bleeding on the ground. A Roman fell, an arrow in his neck, Percy identified the fletching. Two black feathers and a storm gray one, his blood daughter. He turned again and saw his daughter guiding her horse with her knees and spinning in the saddle to release arrow after arrow into the Roman ranks. Behind you, Percy spun Riptide in his hand and thrust backwards. The xiphos penetrated the centurion's armor in the center of his chest and cut through his sternum before exiting his back. Left, the voice said and with his sword out of position Percy adjusted the angle on his shield and using his bodyweight brought the rim down on the knee of the charging Roman. The joint flexed in the wrong the direction and the man collapsed.
To his right Annabeth slashed with the sword in her hand. It had been modeled to the exacting standards of an architect after the drakon bone sword she had carried from Tartarus. With ease it cut through the chest piece of Roman armor. Blood spurt from the wound and she felt it cover her face and torso. She watched Percy cut off the cries of pain from the man he had just crippled with a casual thrust of this sword. He's accepted her blessing, the goddess of destruction has her destroyer. This is worse than the Curse of Achilles. Above her the former Hunters of Artemis maintained their positions on horseback and with the Amazons kept a constant barrage of arrows. A full legion had made it across the creek of Greek fire and was marching forward. She watched Percy deflect one man's sword into a comrade and then dispatch him while he stared at this former friend in shock. She deflected a gladius strike with a backhand parry and struck out. The blade sliced through the soft skin of the legionary's throat and again blood blossomed into the air. Annabeth was not sure if it was a blessing from her mother or merely a hardening of the heart, but here in the midst of a maelstrom of blood and iron, she felt calm. At Camp Half Blood it would have horrified her to have to fight another demigod or mortal, now she watched as her hands ended their lives as if by subconscious movement.
"Ah!" She suddenly cried out and looked down to see blood oozing from a slash to her though. No spurts of blood, no waves with each heartbeat, the major blood vessels were not severed. She spun and nearly completed her strike when she saw the Roman who had wounded her. He was a child, admittedly as she grew older her definition of child grew with her, but Annabeth was convinced he was no older than fifteen. She could not complete the strike. The boy seemed to have no moral holds on his actions and drew back the gladius for another attack.
A blur filled her vision and the boy vanished for an instant before Phoebe stood in his place. She wiped his blood from her twin hunting knives. Her mare raced away, attempting to escape the carnage. She jumped from a moving horse to save me, thought Annabeth. Phoebe seemed to understand her thoughts and gave her a simple nod of the head. "Matér," she said with another nod and disappeared into the chaos.
Annabeth watched her husband rotate on a single leg to dodge the blade aimed at this leg. He rewarded the man's attempt by bringing his sword across his neck and separating it from their body. The five Romans had tear trails down their face, they were protecting their friends and killing their countrymen at the same time. She watched Frank plunge an arrow into a man's deck before drawing it along his bowstring and loosing it toward another Roman. Behind them a formation of Theban hoplites was formed and pressing forward. They were the full replacement for the broken Corinthians. Percy's cavalry charge had halted the breakage in the line, as she had planned but the ground was now nearly covered with the dead and dying.
Frank drew another arrow from his quiver. His only thought was to protect Hazel and their child, if that involved killing Romans, so be it. The arrow was released and he received no pleasure watching it strike the throat of a decurion. Beside the dying man, the red headed former hunter spun to avoid being bashed by a scuta and released one of her knives. It lodged itself in a legionary's thigh and the man screamed as she ripped it out and severed his femoral. The six Daughters of Perseus were sights to behold.
Whether with bow or blade they moved across the battlefield protecting their parents' flanks and rear. Even Zoë, the youngest left a wake of destruction as she carved through men twice her size with a dagger and kopis. Nightshade, Hunter, and Naomi were archers of a caliber he could not comprehend even with his natural gift at archery. Thalia Grace was as at home in the phalanx as she was out of it. Her copy of Aegis caused even her allies to flinch as she used her spear to murderous effect.
Reyna looked up from the Roman soldier she had just killed with a thrust from a Greek spear. She wheeled her horse about but heard it whinny and shriek as a Roman arrow brought the beast down. It collapsed to the ground and took her down with it. As she shook her head to clear the cobwebs she began to hear the near rhythmic cadence of the Thebans marching past their position to seal the breach.
Step. Ring of iron spear heads striking armor. Squelch of a soldier's body being penetrated by the heavy dory. Scream of pain. Step. Repeat. The legion had beaten phalanxes with flexibility and extending the front beyond the ability of the spear formation. A legion constrained by land and sea did not possess that ability. A part of her brain, probably from her mother, screamed that she needed to protect the legions. The other part of her countered she needed to remove herself from the horse.
Reyna attempted to remove herself from under the slain horse. Behind the Theban phalanx, lighter soldiers pulled away Greek wounded and dispatched wounded Romans. Given the nature of the spear and sword wounds, the killing was most likely a mercy. The horse was too heavy to free her leg. Suddenly the sun was blocked out as Michael through himself over her with a shield. She heard the Roman arrows landing amongst them. Screams of pain and panic were swiftly out thundered by a painful howl. She rotated her head to see one of Percy's daughters, the one with shockingly white hair, laying on the ground. An arrow had missed her armor and struck her behind the clavicle before penetrating her lungs. The steep arc of trajectory allowed the Roman archers to aim behind the front lines and strike at the rear echelons of the Greeks. It was a copy of Annabeth's plan with arrows instead of Greek fire.
Michael grunted as he pulled her from the slain horse. She saw a Roman arrow protruding from his shoulder. The Theban hammer was driving the Legio XII veterans back. Percy was still at their lead. It was a macabre show to watch him kill. Frank had summed it up best the night before when the five Romans gathered to affirm their decision to fight for Percy: "The man was born to end lives." In his younger days those lives were solely of Giants, Titans, and monsters. Now, it was other men.
"Gods!" shouted Gwen. They followed her eyes. Percy had closed with Jason and his body language showed no signs of stopping now. The xiphos in Percy's hand deflected the stab of a Roman gladius into one of his compatriots even as the hilt of Percy's sword crushed his windpipe. As he fell to his knees gasping Percy pulled the gladius from the Roman's hand and thrust it through his neck. Beside them Thalia heeled her horse into a gallop and took off toward them.
"Thalia no!" Reyna shouted but the Daughter of Zeus ignored her. Riptide flashed in Percy's hand and a spray of blood exploded from another Roman as he attempted to staunch the blood pulsing from his severed carotid artery. Percy whipped the sword across the stomach of the Roman wounded by a compatriot.
A final Roman stood between Percy and Jason. Publius Cornelius Sulla was a promising soldier. His grandson would one day become the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix and the example of power through force that Julius Caesar would follow. He would never receive the chance now. Sulla was a formidable soldier from her experience watching him fight against the Carthaginians, Illyrians, and Macedonians and she knew he had fought in Gaul with Jason as well. His gladius was raised and his scuta ready. He had positioned himself in the defensive. Too conservative, Reyna thought, though she also knew it would be no use regardless of his stance. He struck out. Percy dodged the blade and planted his foot against the shield. He kicked out and Publius stumbled backward. Percy took three steps forward. The first feinted right. The next seemed to make him slide to the left, while the third propelled him into the air and he stabbed down. The leaf shaped blade penetrated through Publius's trapezius muscle. Nearly a foot of Percy's blade was coated in blood having sliced through his right lung and then his heart.
Percy stood in front of Jason. Behind him the Thebans had reset the Greek line and Roman commanders were attempting to reset their own troops. Reyna felt the ground shudder as Percy walked forward. The earth's movement fixed the Greeks in position and they held firm. Jason was not moving. Reyna saw Percy's hand curled into a claw. His blood, he's actually controlling the blood in Jason's body. The gods themselves, what the fuck?
Thalia's horse had neared the front. She saw Jason's mouth move and settle in a sneer. With his back toward them, Percy raised his hand slowly and she saw him close the claw into a fist. Jason began to convulse and shake. What appeared to be a mist escaped from him and flew away into the mountains. Percy released his hand and Jason collapsed to the ground.
Mount Olympus
Olympus was in turmoil. Jupiter stood in front of his throne screaming at an armored Poseidon. Mars and Athena were in each other's faces. Aphrodite could not be distinguished from Venus, while Hephaestus existed in Greek form just to annoy Juno. Apollo watched his family in annoyance while Mercury played with George and Martha. Bacchus was too drunk to care while Demeter sorted the tray of grain in front of her. Hestia's flame was low. When Artemis entered it shrank more.
"YOUR SON JUST KILLED MINE! Thousands of Romans lay dead!"
"Your son is possessed and killing thousands of Greeks!" Rumbled the sea god in return.
"Do not forget the thousands of worshippers in Macedon killed or forced to change religion for his anti-Greek crusade, father," Athena hissed. She knew the insult the Romans brought to her name.
"Casualties of war," retorted Mars.
"Do you have nay idea how many maidens have cried out to me during his crusade?" Asked Artemis, "How many begged for salvation before their voice was cut off from me?" Jupiter ignored her.
"Your son must pay for the life of my son, Poseidon. To strike down the son of the king of the gods cannot be allowed." He began to raise his bolt. Poseidon's trident was aimed at him.
"Your son was not your own anymore. He had become a monster, bother." Athena had raised Aegis and Mars drew his sword. "And what of your daughter? The one that he adopted because she had no family of her own?"
"Or the Hunters you forbade me to assist that he claimed as daughters to provide to them what I once did?" asked Artemis, an arrow aimed at her father.
"Whatever he has done, it does not justify killing my champion," Juno said coldly.
"What he has done, he has done for family." Eyes turned to Hestia by her hearth. "Just as what he is doing now is for family."
Thermopylae, The Hot Gates
As Thalia urged the horse forward, she raised her spear toward to the sky and willed an arc of lightning to fall from the clouds. The direction of her path led her toward Percy and he turned to her approach. In front of them the Roman's were advancing and pila were being aimed. He stabbed Riptide into the ground and loud rumble predicted the shaking that threw Romans and Greeks to their knees. Thalia leapt from the galloping horse and brought her spear down across her target's chest. Percy watched its approach and did not flinch. He did not heed the voice that told him to move. The electricity from the lightning arced from the spear to the body. Thalia was thrown ten feet away, towards the Romans. They had regained their feet and their advance began to the beat of a drum.
Annabeth saw the three demigods laying between the armies. Annabeth the mother and wife wanted to rush out to them. Annabeth the daughter of Athena knew a phalanx could not cover the distance quickly enough. Tears rushed unbidden to her eyes. Damn these fucking hormones she thought.
"Queen, do we?" She turned to Miltiades, a Theban commander named after the Athenian who defeated Darius at Marathon. Her face hardened.
"We have the king's orders, commander. We hold the line. What happens between our formations is for the gods to decide." Beside her several of her daughters began to voice their objections. "Silence!" she hissed. "Your father made this decision. Your sister agreed. Their battle is out of our hands. The future of Greece is in them. We hold here." She felt their hatred of her order. She felt it herself. But it was what must be done.