Last Time, the Charleston party faces its first obstacle in Donner Pass and managed to scrap by. Now, the party continues on their voyage east.

I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. All story characters belong to Rick Riordan and Haley Riordan. Please support the books.

Chapter 10: Garden of the Gods

After a brief inspection of the vehicle and some TLC for the pegasi, the party took off from Donner Pass and crossed the Sierras into Nevada. No one was hungry after that fight with the cannibals, so they skipped lunch plans.

"So what's the Garden of the Gods?" Cary asked. They were halfway across the American West over the Great Basin and flying with haste.

"It's just a simple mortal landmark. There are some campgrounds around where we can camp for the night. But it's also a haven for gods and demigods. There won't be monsters there hunting us," Reyna answered.

"Cool, so are we going to make it before it gets dark?" Cary asked. After today's fight, he just wanted to make camp.

"I think so. The southern winds feel different from the western wind, but I think the weather is cooperating well with us. We should reach our destination before nightfall," Jason assured. The centurion had mentioned that his wind powers allowed himself to act as a compass. The map they brought along certainly helped, but Jason assured it wasn't necessarily unless he himself was out of commission.

"Over there, that our stop for the night!" Reyna pointed out the landscape that described the Garden of the Gods. It was fitting for the impressive rock formations dotting the ground.

"Alright, I'll set us down nice and gently this time," Jason confidently landed the party just out of sight of several human camps.

"Are we going to camp at the official campsite?" Cary asked. As much as he would like to be around people again, he wasn't sure that bringing a wagon and two pegasi would be a good idea.

"Don't worry, Cary. Remember what I said about the Mist? The mortals won't think twice about a presence. To us, it's just four unsupervised teens bringing a camper drawn by wingless horses, or something like that," Jason answered confidently.

"Alright, let's get set up before sun goes down," Reyna answered. The party unpacked the gear from the utility trailer. They set up a kitchen with a portable stovetop and a propane tank to cook and light a gas lantern. They also set up a tarp to set up a tent, but they quickly realized that they had tossed the tent at the Laistrygonians and left it behind along with a shovel. "Shoot, we're missing some gear. Sorry, my bad," Cary apologized since it was his decision to distract the maneaters with them.

"It's alright, beside Romans like sleeping under the stars," Jason assured.

Cary felt a nagging feeling about the situation back in the Sierras. Although Reyna had ordered him and Reyna to leave her behind and continue to Charleston, he did not hesitate to change his mind about following orders and ask Jason to help save her. After most the gear was unpacked, Cary walked up to Reyna to apologize while Jason unpacked the camping mattress and chairs.

"Praetor, can I speak to you about something?" Cary asked, "I wanted to apologize for disobeying you. I know Amber didn't want this, but I think I'm the one who should take the blame-" he was interrupted before he could finish.

"It's fine. I know you meant well. From what Jason had told me, you were following his lead, meaning Jason is taking responsibility," Reyna continued on, "You and Amber followed my orders, and you followed his orders. You're not from legion, so you don't need to worry about punishment." After that sentence, Cary wanted to continue to subject they had back at Donner Lake.

"Is that why you won't take my suggestions about the Legion back in the mountains?" Cary asked.

"You're still not dropping the subject," Reyna said aloud, "The legion was founded by Julius Caesar's loyal soldiers and has continued to be run by his descendants or the descendants of the gods. We can only receive the blessings from our gods and raise heroes of their blood, we're not the United Nations."

"But your gods are just those from Greek myths with new names," Cary argued.

"Not all of them. We've also incorporated gods from Egypt, Middle East, Northern Europe, etc. What we do is interpret other gods in a manner that suits them more professionally than their hose culture. The Greeks view their gods differently; theirs were more emotional and acted as individuals with selfish goals. But the Romans pantheon, united gods from different culture under a single cause of upholding the Roman culture and protecting its people," Reyna answered.

"If by protecting you mean conquering everything you see just to make yourself rich," Cary spat out. After that talk about the Opium War with Norman, Cary stopped by the camp library to learn about the history of the Twelfth Legion. When Cary read through them, it seemed that the Romans had been around for some of history's major injustices: Crusades, Spanish Conquest of the Americas, 1800s imperialism.

"Don't talk about us like we're the bad guys. Not like your ancestors were any better," Reyna refuted. "Excuse me. I don't hear anything about Chinese dynasties expanding into Europe, your empire extended as far as Persia," Cary argued.

"What seems to be the problem, guys?" Jason jumped into the conversation after finishing set up.

"Reyna thinks the legion's going to fight with only the blessings of the Roman gods. I mean if you're bringing in mortals from the town for the auxiliary, we should pray to gods from our cultures: Chinese, African, Latino. I can go on."

"They can't help in this fight, this is not their domain," said Reyna.

"Their domain?! Romans aren't even native to America!" Cary yelled.

"Guys, guys, enough. You're going to draw attention from the other camps. Besides we can talk more about war plans after we return to camp. Sound good?" Jason placated.

Reyna and Cary looked at each other with hesitant acceptance and shook hands. After giving some brief apologies, the two decided to give each other some distance. Jason followed Cary to talk and defuse the situation.

"Hey there, about what you said with regards to culture clash with Romans and the locals. I agree with you there," Jason added. This grabbed Cary's attention as he let Jason continued, "I wanted to have things in Camp Jupiter change. It appreciates so much of its past, that it neglects to adapt to the future. And worshipping gods of the campers' mortal heritage is something I plan to do. Especially when I become praetor."

"You're going to become praetor?" Cary had never asked about Jason's dreams and goals. Jason had always been this leader who would only spare the time when he could in Cary's head. He never tried to pry open.

"Not yet. To become praetor, you need to receive a popular vote from the Legion. If most of them approves, then the results are passed down to the praetors, and both of them must approve. However, if one or both praetors refuse to pass down the title, the campers must override their decision with two-thirds of the voting body."

"I see, do the praetors approve," even if Reyna was elsewhere, Cary was still calling her praetor.

"I think so. Sullivan has been pretty receptive and Reyna listens to my idea a lot. The issue is our augur, Octavian. You know…"Jason gestured on. "Say no more, I get what you're saying of him. Has he ever caused problem with Amber?" Cary asked.

"Yeah, too many times. When Amber was brought to camp, Octavian coerced most of my cohort to stay silent for her. She would have been kicked out if Maylene didn't speak up for her. And I suspect Primo goes after her under Octavian's orders." Jason grimly answered.

"Why?" Cary asked. "I don't know. Probably because she doesn't know her biological parents. Those who can't inherit their family name have no future, according to him. It sickens me," Jason added.

"I really hope you do become praetor. I may not be Roman, but I am just as human as everyone else is there," Cary asserted, "Actually, I've been meaning to ask. Did you do something wrong to be assigned to the Fifth Cohort?"

"Why do you say that?" Jason asked. It was a bold question, but nothing too intrusive. "It's just, I've heard that the other cohorts are ranked higher in esteem and quality than the Fifth, so I wondered how you ended up here." Cary mentioned. Jason paused a little bit to think about his words.

"Cary, you know that many of the campers are the children of gods, or descended from them, right?" Jason asked. Cary nodded his head. "Well, you see. Most of the First Cohort is made up of Romans who are descended from Rome's favorites gods: Mars, Bellona, Jupiter, too many to list. That esteem dips with each passing cohorts."

"And what about you? Who's your parentage?" Cary asked.

"Jupiter, king of all the gods," Jason bluntly answered. Cary was surprised that someone like him would be leading the Fifth Cohort. If he was the son of Jupiter, he should be qualified at another cohort. Before he could ask more questions, Jason continued, "The reason I'm here is because I wanted to be here. I didn't want to be pampered or received praise simply because of my father. I wanted to prove myself through merits and honor. I wanted to work my way up from the bottom and bring back honor to the Fifth Cohort."

Cary looked down with shame. He had always kept himself at a distance with Jason and knowing about his father made him want to see him as a king. However, that would be the last thing Jason wanted. Then he realized that the best thing to handle this is to just see him just like a mortal. "So, I guess you just want to be treated like another camper and not be forced into a leader," Cary answered.

"Exactly, I'm glad you get it. But I also wanted to see the things that Camp Jupiter needs to fix. I don't want to just ignore the problems like the First or Second Cohort.

Cary thought long about what he said and stared into the horizon. Looking around the landscape, Cary admired the rock formations and thought about visiting places like these more. He remembered those family vacations back home. It made him a little homesick and he wanted to take his mind off China Ridge. "Such a beautiful place, I'm going to wander around a little bit," Cary departed off as Jason reminded him to come back in an hour to get ready for dinner.

Down the Road

Cary walked down a designated trail to look around. When he made a turn into a canyon, he saw Amber and Reyna having a sparring match with bare hands. He slid out of sight of the two to avoid detection.

"Come on, Amber. Show me your will and worth in this camp," Reyna took a sparring stance and raised her arms. Amber was a little dirtied up, while Reyna hadn't broken a sweat. Amber threw a kick that Reyna quickly intercepted and countered with a leg sweep, sending Amber to the floor. "Oof, ohhhh," Amber groaned.

"No napping, get up!" Reyna dived down to pin Amber down on the ground by the leg. Amber begged mercy and slapped the ground repeatedly. Out of patience, Reyna decided to release her immediately. "Come on, you're a Roman, act like one!" Reyna was frustrated with the lack of progress since they started traveling, "Your friend is braver and a better fighter than you and he's not even a legacy!" Amber tilted her head down in shame as Reyna's words cut like a hot knife.

"You can come out, Mr. Chang! I know you've been watching," Reyna ordered. Cary moved out of hiding to awkwardly show himself, "I just wanted to take a stroll before dinner started up," Cary gestured to his wristwatch saying there's half hour left.

"No problem. Anyways, since you're here. I want you to come up here and demonstrate to Amber how to fight. You do know how to fight?" Reyna asked.

"Of course, I'm attending Tae Kwon Do afterschool classes." Cary took a stance to get ready. Amber moved out of the way to watch without much enthusiasm.

At Reyna's signal, the two began their fight. Cary threw some kicks to test the water. Reyna simply blocked them and went for another leg sweep. However, Cary instinctively backed away before her leg could connect. Reyna sprung back on her feet and proceeded to pummel him with her fists. Cary kept dodging back as she unleashed her flurry while waiting for the right moment. The opportunity came when Reyna threw a right jab. In response, Cary let her arm fly past his left ear before grabbing her wrist. Immediately, Cary swung his leg behind hers to perform a takedown that he learned. Normally, this would work on the other students, but Reyna was no student. She grabs Cary's right shoulder with her arm and pinned him down with her. She immediately wrapped her legs over her torso and flipped herself on top. Now, Cary was on the ground with the praetor pummeling her.

Cary proceeded to block her punches. Due to her speed, he couldn't fight back, and he didn't have the strength to push Reyna off himself. As he blocks, Cary swung his fist blindly into her torso. This blow forced Reyna to release Cary allowing him to get up. Reyna placed her hand over her gut feeling winded by his punch. Cary could see that she looked irritated and raised his hands, "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you down there, I just…" "It's fine." Reyna walked up to him to offer a handshake, signaling the end of battle. Cary reached for her hand, but as soon as he grabbed it, Reyna proceeded to twist his arm and perform a takedown move of her own. Cary was on his back, clenching his teeth to resist the pain while Reyna twisted his arm. "As you can see Amber, this is how you fight," she announced amusingly. She released Cary and proceeded to end the lesson, "Well guys, we should make our way back to camp."

Dinner service was delectable. After regrouping with Jason, every party member went to pull kitchen duty. Amber was preparing the burner and boiling water, while Cary chopped up meats and veggies. Jason prepared the instant rice and bread mix, and Reyna prepared the bowls and dressed the table.

"Alright guys, eat up! Dinner is served!" Jason announced. It was a delicious rice pilaf with a side of chili. There was also a side of flatbread to dip into the sauce.

"This looks good, let's dig in!" Cary eagerly bites into his dinner. The stress from earlier today was gone from their minds. They enjoyed their meal in silence, something that was absent back in the mess hall. They were halfway through their meal when they decided to discuss their plans tomorrow.

"So tomorrow, we're going to get up before the sun breaks the horizon. If the weather agrees, we'll make it the Charleston by lunchtime and complete the mission. Now, we can't stay there overnight, so we leave the city no matter the time of the day. Even if it's late, we'll travel overnight and take the red eye," Reyna listed out the itinerary.

"Can the pegasi handle flying the whole night?" Cary asked.

"They should be good, if we let them rest up before heading out," Jason assured.

"And the ghosts?" Amber asked. On the way to the Gardens, the Romans have explained about the civil war ghosts that may show up and impede the quest.

"Reyna and I can handle them. Some of the confederate soldiers are legion descendants or members," Jason answered.

"So, what do we do? Watch over the horses?" Cary asked. "Pretty much. We shouldn't have any trouble," Reyna answered, "But there's something I wanted to ask you two?" Cary gestured her to continue.

"Can we talk about today's fight? The way the ground just swallowed up that Laistrygonian did not come from any of us. Jason and I can't do any of it, so it has to be one of you," Reyna asked.

"I don't have any powers, I'm just a mortal with a purely Chinese family tree and Amber is still unclaimed," Cary answered. Amber pondered the questions in silence as Cary had the discussion with the Romans. What happened in the Donner Pass happened so quickly.

After being knocked out by that explosion, Amber heard a voice telling her how to help her friends.

Amber's Mindscape, Back in Donner Pass

When she opened her eyes, she was in a black void. In front of her, there was a woman wearing a headdress and a white shawl for a top and a robe that stretched past her legs. The woman levitated and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Who… who are you?" Amber asked. There was something about the woman that didn't feel human. The woman spoke, but her mouth did not move.

"I am all that begins and all that ends," said a disembodied feminine voice.

"What's happening? How do I wake up?" Amber asked her questions. She shouldn't be here.

"Your friends are fighting for their lives. Do not worry. Time works differently in the mind; what feels like hours in here is only seconds out there," the woman manifested a portrait of the situation outside. It was a still image of Jason and Reyna posing against the cannibal while Cary kept watch over her.

"Why are you talking to me?" Amber asked.

"I am here to help you and your friends," the woman answered, "But in order to do so, you must awaken your roots and powers."

"Some powers I have. I'm good with horses, and I can read well. But I can't use magic correctly. I ended up making this mess," Amber gestured to the portrait.

"Then you can fix this," the woman raised her hands to the sides of Amber's cranium. Light glowed in the exchange, "When you wake up, you will be able to commune with spirits and nature. You shall take life or give it. I will help you here, but you must learn to carve your own path," The woman slowly faded out of existence.

"Wait, who are you? Do you know my family?" but before she could get her answers, Amber felt herself return to face reality and use her powers.

Back to the Present

"Amber, any thoughts?" Amber snapped back to the present as Jason asked his question again, "Amber, do you know how that Laistrygonian got dragged to the underworld."

She didn't want to explain that vision and become to center of attention. Amber shook her head.

"Well, that mystery's not going to be solved tonight. Let's wrap up for tonight and get ready for tomorrow," Jason cleaned his plate with the bread soaking up the chili.

The party cleaned up after dinner and bagged all the trash and leftovers. While monsters weren't a threat, there were still wild animals that they didn't want to attract. They set up two sleeping grounds: one for the girls, one for the boys.

While getting ready for bed, Jason decided to ask Cary something, "You know Cary, you seem rather proud of your heritage. May I ask why?"

"Honestly, its… I just feel like if there's a camp that hides away the existence of the Western gods, then what does that mean for someone with Eastern heritage like me. I grew up thinking of them as myths and stories, but now that I know they're real, what about the gods and myths that my parents grew up with. What about the Eastern pantheons?" Cary wondered out loud, "If your gods influenced history, then what have the Eastern gods done when things go to hell?"

"Just to correct you. It's the gods and their children that shape history altogether, and while Western civilization has been shaped by them, they haven't done it all on its own. If I remember my history, my Roman ancestors and your Chinese ancestors learned about each other existences over 2000 years ago."

"That's right, the Silk Road," Cary hummed, "But even if we knew each other, could we have cooperated if we actually made contact than just trade silk and precious metals. Who's to say we didn't end up fighting each other like the Opium War?"

"Can't say, But the way I see it, you and I are working with each other, aren't we? It's possible that your Eastern gods may have interacted with ours" Jason pondered.

"Yeah, I guess I owe Reyna an apology for lashing out like that," Cary sheepishly asked.

"Perhaps. Do you have any cool stories about your family?" Jason curiously asked. He was a bit of a bookworm and dabbled in history. Some days, Jason wished he was a simple scholar instead of a centurion.

"Well… I have an ancestor who was the prime minister of the Han Dynasty," Cary added.

The conversation continued into the night until they were tired enough to go to sleep.

Amber's Mindscape

Amber was back into the void in her dreams. After dreaming of returning home to her adoptive parents and leaving it all behind, was back in the last place she wanted to be. She was face to face with the mysterious woman who wanted to have a chat.

"Why didn't you tell them?" the woman asked

"Because I didn't think they would appreciate what I did. Sure, I saved their lives, but the fearful look on their faces at dinner made me hesitate to answer," Amber refuted, "I don't want to go through the effort of having to prove myself and fall short of their expectations, just like my first day at camp." Amber remembers the first day at camp when she became a probatio. No one would vouch for her, except Jason and Maylene. She gotten bitten by basilisks, had poor performance in sparring classes, and worst of all, gotten bullied around by Primo. No one believed she would amount to anything.

"You can't keep hiding from them, they will eventually know. Please trust them." the woman answered.

"Then tell me, who are my parents so that I can truly know myself?" Amber pleaded.

"The answer can only come when you've truly embraced your identity. Now then, you should wake up early. Your praetor is going to wake you up," the woman snapped her finger and send her back.

Morning

Amber opened her eyes seconds before Reyna announce roll call. The party woke up to have breakfast: Simply toast and spread with oatmeal. They've made lunch to go with sandwiches and prepared to head out when they realized something.

"Has anyone seen Jason?" Reyna asked. He had helped with the wagon before disappearing. The two shook their heads, so Reyna ordered them to look for Jason. They trailed down a path to look for him. They followed up to the part where he was looking at a rock face.

"Hey Jason, admiring the geology?" Cary asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I was just wondering why this rock face looked different from the surrounding rock," Jason gestured to the maroon rock that was surrounded by extremely red facies. Cary probably thought it was a volcanic intrusion of some kind, but Amber saw something differently.

"Can't you see it?" she asked, "See what?" the two guys asked.

The rock was just an abnormally colored face, up to the part where a golden outline of a square lit up when Amber touched the rock.

The door crumbled away to reveal steps leading down a dimly lit passage, "How did you…" Cary asked. Amber shrugged her shoulders, but Jason had other ideas. "Guys, we should check this out?" The two looked at him. "No way we're about to leave," they refuted, but Jason insisted they go though. "We may not get another chance; besides we'll be quick."

The party went in following Jason's lead. The passage wasn't difficult to traverse, but then the hallway led to a room cluttered with fallen rocks and broken tables. Papers around were crumbling like chips. The windows allowing sunlight to come through were broken. It looked like an earthquake had come through and devastated everything here.

"Whoa, this is a workshop?" Jason said aloud, "But who's?"

Cary looked around to find what appeared to be a pocket compass if the needle was any indication on the table. There was something about it that he wanted to grab it, "Hey Jason, finder's keepers?" he gestured to the table.

"Not yet, why don't we…" Jason didn't get to finish that sentence, when a door from a different side of the room opened, to reveal a teenager with two pale-skinned females with flaming hairs and artificial legs. The teenager was holding a long sword while the flaming hair woman held whips and spiked maces.

"Finally, let's raid this workshop and…" the lanky teen, who had brown hair and green eyes, trailed off in his conversation when he realized his party wasn't alone.

The two parties had an awkward stare down as they realize the other party was armed.

Jason flipped his coin to get his sword, while the teen simply drew out his.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy, we mean no harm!" Cary tried to pacify.

"Yeah right, why else would other demigods be in Daedalus's old workshop," said the teen.

'Daedalus? Other demigods?' Jason and Cary pondered, "Who are you guys?" Amber asked

"Name's Alabaster, my two compatriots are Sarah-Lynn and Molly-Jane. They're empousai," Alabaster introduced. He noticed that they wore purple shirts, not orange ones, but he didn't care, "But that doesn't matter because none of you are getting out of here alive!" the demigod rushed into battle.

Jason intercept Alabaster in battle. The two exchanges stabs at each other while the empousai dived after Cary and Amber.

"Shoot, take cover," the two barely avoided the monsters' claws as they swiped at them. Cary flipped a table over to block Sarah-Lynn fireballs while grabbing a chair as a makeshift weapon. He wasn't issued a sword alongside Amber, so he started throwing tools and glass at the monsters hoping to stagger her. 'Could really use Reyna here?' Meanwhile, Amber was throwing books from a dilapidated shelf at Molly-Jane. She wasn't faring any better.

"Damn it, just our luck!" she yelled.

"Oh, you demigods will make a delicious treat before we join up with Kronos's army!" Molly-Jane yelled out. Amber grabbed a book that was easily swatted out of her hands as the empousai pinned her to the wall licking her lips.

"Hang on, Amber. I'm coming," Cary shoved Sarah out of the way and ran toward Amber only to run into a wall. Cary slammed face first and staggered. 'What the… wasn't Amber just…?"

"Perfect, looks like I was able to cast illusion on this demigod," Sarah gloated. 'She doesn't know I'm not a demigod.' Cary turned to face Sarah, only to find clones of her in front trying to slash him. "Which one's the real one? You'll never figure it out," gloated the empousa.

Cary staggers a bit before bumping into Jason. The centurion was taken some cuts from Alabaster, who wielded his sword in one hand and a book on another. "Now that all three of you are cornered. I can finish you off with this sword. This sword is Crocea Mors. It's no celestial bronze, but this substitute works well against demigods. Jason perked up at the sword's name.

'We need to get that sword.'

However, they were surrounded by illusions of empousai that forced them to stand back-to-back. Amber was still pinned to the wall, struggling to get herself free. Every time Jason tried to slice the empousa, the illusion faded out and he was treated with a claw to his arms. It was a bad situation with no apparent way out.

"STOP!" Amber yelled. At her words, the illusions dissipated leaving Sarah-Lynn alone, "What the, how did that runt dispel my magic?"

The empousai was answered with a stab from Jason, who turned her into dust. "Cover our escape, I'm going after Amber," Jason pursued the empousa pinning Amber to the wall while Cary retraced his steps back to his entrance. However, his path was blocked by Alabaster himself.

"You're not leaving here alive, demigod," Alabaster swung Crocea Mors at him. Cary instinctively dodged the blow, despite what Jason had told him about Imperial Gold, "Stop dodging and fight back," Alabaster was frustrated with the lack of contact and body checked Cary to the ground.

"Ackkk," Cary looked up to see Alabaster raising his sword. On impulse, Cary grabbed a lamppost, or what's left of it to block the swing at the wrist. "Cary, hold on!" Jason ran up to Alabaster after killing Molly-Jane and swung his gold sword at the 'correct' demigod. Alabaster released Cary and went to fight Jason. The Son of Jupiter perform better against Alabaster and kept him on the ropes.

"Grab Amber and get out of here!" Jason ordered his friend. Cary grabbed Amber by the hand, but she refused to budge. "Amber what's up," Cary tugged at his friend's arm and peeked at her. However, her eyes were glowing and staring at the fighters. "We need to help them," she answered with a regal second voice merging with hers.

Jason put Alabaster on the backburner until the son of Hecate grabbed a handful of sand from a worktable and tossed it into Jason's eyes. Alabaster swung horizontally, leaving a cut across his right forearm. Jason tripped back to avoid a deeper cut. Alabaster was pointing his sword at his neck. He was ready to execute.

"You demigods are stupid. Serving the divine mafia," Alabaster growled and swung, but Cary intercepted him with his lamppost-quarterstaff catching him in the chest. Alabaster staggered back and prepared to fight, but then he gestured at Amber. "Hang on, what's that magic coming from her?"

Jason and Cary looked back to see Amber levitating a bit as she raised her hands. Her eyes glowed orange as she conjured a fireball and fired at Alabaster. Alabaster blocked with Crocea Mors, but rather than being dispelled, the fireball enters the sword. the handle heated up to the point that he was forced to release Crocea Mors to avoid burning his hand.

"Damn you!" Alabaster prepared to perform a spell, but Cary swung at him with the lamppost to interrupt the process. Instead of casting a curse, Alabaster was only able to achieve a magic blast that hit a support column, shaking the room.

"You fools, you've destroyed this workshop!" Alabaster cursed as he ran the way he came in while leaving Crocea Mors behind. Without that sword, the chance of Camp Half-Blood winning the war went up a little. The ceiling shuddered as the column crumbled bits by bits. "Shoot we got to go!" Cary sweeps the sword up with a rag and ran with Jason and Amber back toward the entrance.

Back at the horses

'Twenty minutes and still not back,' Reyna's patience was being seriously tested by the probatio and her friend. She was having second thoughts on leaving the two alone with Jason and was going to look for them in a couple seconds.

"Scipio, Sulla, watch each other's back while I go look for…" a rumbling and a cloud of dust from ways down the trail interrupted her. Out of concern, she prepared to go look for them, but it was soon a moot point.

Running towards her was the rest of her party. Jason was a little worse for wear with his arms bleeding a bit, while Amber and Cary were dirtied up, but otherwise unharmed.

"What happened?!" Reyna asked. The whole party explained the whole thing up to the part about retrieving the Crocea Mors. "Wait a second. Did you say Crocea Mors? As in Julius Caesar's sword that he lost in battle over Britain legendary Crocea Mors?" Reyna eyes widened at such a find.

"Yeah, pretty much," Cary unwrapped the sword and the moment he grabbed the handle, he felt a jolt of intense electricity run through his body, sending him curling and spazzing on the ground, "Crap!"

"Cary are you alright?!" Jason grabbed Crocea Mors out of his reach and checked up on their friend, "What's going on?"

"I don't know! I just grabbed the sword and it just cause me pain!"

"Was it still hot?"

"No, it was like the sword didn't want me to hold it," Cary answered.

Jason touched the sword but felt nothing of that sort. Instead, the sword felt like it was imbuing him with godly strength. "I think I know what's going on. This sword was blessed with divine power that allows a demigod to invoke his or her true potential. However, the power will run wild unless tempered by the body. That's why you had an adverse reaction to holding it, Cary." Jason concluded.

"So then, does that mean only you or Reyna can hold it?" Cary asked

"We can, but we already have our own weapons. Now since you can't even hold it, that leaves Amber," Reyna entered the conversation.

"Wait me?" Amber asked in shock.

"Yes, Miss Autumne, Jason and Cary explained that while you were down there, you awakened something that allowed you to dispel the empousai' illusions and fend off this rogue demigod, one who served Saturn, or Kronos," Reyna explained.

It was rather peculiar to meet someone who called the king of Titans by the Greek name.

"Anyways, even though you seemed to excel more with magic rather than the sword, I still wish you hold one. That knife is barely usable against stronger monsters."

"Okay, then," Amber cautiously reached out to grab Crocea Mors. When her hand griped the blade, she felt a warm sense of comfort wrapping her body. It gave her the feeling of acceptance that was lacking in her camp experience, like she was chosen for something more. "You are embracing yourself," the mysterious female voice echoed in her head. From the outside, it appeared Amber was glowing as her hair stood on its ends before the strands fell back down.

The theatrics died out as Amber opened her eyes and looked down at the blade. 'My very own sword. This is where my story can begin.'

"Congratulations, Amber, you've got yourself a sword!" Cary cheered.

Longest chapter ever! Crossing paths with someone from Kronos army will give them a scare. Next Time, finally to Charleston. Feel free to message or review what needs to be in line with continuity.