Chapter 7

Xanthe had never seen anything like it.

It was an amazing display of power. With a yell she was sure even the evacuees could hear, the son of Zeus named Leon let loose a massive blast of lightning. Blue light arced down from the sky, crackling and flickering around him. Thunder shook the air, echoing across the valley with each blast. The sky lit up, flashing a mixture of magnificent blue and dazzling violet.

Nobody said a word. Nobody moved a muscle.

Tendrils of electricity reached out, grabbing every giant eagle and killing them instantly. The eagles dropped like flies.

Xanthe looked across the valley toward the western hills. The Romans who had crested the hills stared disbelievingly at the show of power.

Thanas was the first one to recover. He looked the least surprised out of everyone beside Mother and Chiron. He moved to the fire pit, where they had set up the trap, and began to pull on the strings.

"What are you doing?" Alexandros snapped to attention. He stepped forward in alarm. "The trap is close-range!"

Thanas shot him a glare. "I'm not activating it, you nitwit. I'm triggering it."

"How is that any different?" Xanthe muttered under her breath.

"How do you know it will activate when the Romans get here?" Alexandros demanded, seeming to know what he meant. "How do you know they will even come here?"

Thanas pointed up at Leon. "He'll be here. He'll be their target. He doesn't know about this trap. If we can get him to defend—"

"No!" Mother called out. "You cannot sacrifice him like that."

"We hardly even know him," Thanas shot back. His eyes seemed darker than usual, and Xanthe couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking about Ionna heading off to Rome. "What matters are the lives of those we're evacuating."

Xanthe watched Mother carefully. Over the past few years, she'd seen a side of Mother she'd never expected. Back when she was young, her mother always wanted to live the simple life. She worked, shopped, ate, slept. It was ordinary, like the lives of all those annoying women in the markets. She had always given way to the desires of others. She was pacifistic and agreeable. Now, she remained steadfast and stubborn. It took her a few years, but she realized that this was her real self. She was not a meek woman.

She looked back up at the sky, where giant eagles fell freely, unmoving as they hit the ground. The son of Zeus started to come back down, looking tired and drained. She knew the feeling. When she summoned the lake to bend to her will, it made her feel tired from using up her energy. Also, the nagging from the naiads afterward only made it worse. If she was a boy, they wouldn't have complained, but no... she just had to be a girl.

Part of her agreed with Thanas' sentiment. If they could use him to escape, everything would be alright. At the same time, it seemed like such a waste to let such a powerful demigod die like that. She thought of the tendrils of lightning flickering in the sky and the fallen eagles. If they could get more and more of that...

Xanthe looked at her mother. That was probably what she wanted. Mother wanted this Leon boy to fight with them.

"No, Thanas," she said, stepping forward. "We need to keep him alive. He'll be a useful ally."

Thanas glared at her as if she'd punched him.

Leon landed and fell to his knees. He breathed heavily, as if he'd just run a marathon.

Xanthe couldn't help but feel strongly for the boy. She remembered vaguely that they'd met before. Back when Mother was taking her to camp, they'd run into a son of Zeus. Their last interaction had been a quick 'Stay safe' before never seeing each other for years. Plus, it helped that he was tall and handsome.

She rushed over to him and knelt by his side. "Are you okay?" she asked, putting a hand on his back.

Leon looked up and gave her a weary smile. "I feel really tired. But otherwise I'm okay."

"That was smart, taking out their eagles," Viviana said, looking at the empty skies. "There will be a few headed toward our convoy, especially since we sent them south. It'll be a difficult journey to Thessalonica, but destroying their main contingent makes our archers' jobs much easier."

"They will no doubt send some units around to encircle the convoy," Alexandros agreed, "but our cavalry units should prevent an attack from getting out of hand."

"Although I now see why there were Romans to the south," Viviana pointed out.

Thanas was still staring at Xanthe, and the daughter of Poseidon couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to figure out a plan.

Their intention was to spring the trap just before the Romans reached the center. While not all of them would attack, reports were that the Romans wanted to burn the camp down as a symbol of victory, regardless of how many actual Greek demigods were harmed in the process. With that, they would escape in four waves: Alexandros' siblings; the archers and Cyril; then Alexandros and Viviana with Chiron; and finally herself and Thanas on the last two pegasi.

Her mother's appearance made their plan fall apart.

Clearly, she was in no condition to fight. Xanthe was worried about what had happened to her, but she knew this wasn't the time. By the looks of things, there were a lot fewer Romans attacking the heart of camp than the reports suggested. If there were roughly two-hundred fifty members of the Eleventh Legion, maybe only twenty-five at the max were actually attacking through the hills. Xanthe didn't know how many had died in the traps in the hills, but not enough, it seemed.

"Fifty Romans are chasing us," Leon said. He pointed in the direction that he'd come from. "They're cresting the hill. I... I took down their scouting eagle. They don't know where the evacuees went."

Just as he pointed out, a group of Roman soldiers appeared atop the hill leading down to the southern path they'd originally planned to use.

"And they have the standard," Mother said. She clenched her teeth and paused, looking like she was in pain. "If they use it in battle, everyone will die except Xanthe."

Chiron looked even more worried. "This does not bode well."

"Why?" Leon asked. He'd managed to pull himself to his feet. Xanthe slowly stood up next to him. The son of Zeus gripped the sword in his hand. "What's wrong with the standard?"

"A legion's standard is a symbol of power," Mother explained. Everyone gathered back near the fire pit, preparing to line up their defenses. "Many of them are gifts from the gods. Roman legionaries fight with renowned power when they have their eagle standard. The Sixth Legion Ferrata was one of Rome's most powerful legions. The Ironclad Sixth had the She-Wolf as their symbol. Could scare opponents and devour them."

"Fourth Legion Flavia Felix," Chiron said morosely. "Vespasian's lucky fourth had a lion as their emblem, much like the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Gemina twin legions. Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix had a boar as their emblem, the symbol of Mars. Twenty-first Legion Rapax, blessed by Mars and Diana, were predators on the battlefield. But the legions that were most dangerous, perhaps not to mortals, but to anyone who knows our world, were the Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirtieth."

"Claudia, Fulminata and Ulpia Victrix," Mother nodded.

"Trajan's victorious Thirtieth?" Alexandros asked. "Was that what it was called?"

A shadow passed over Chiron's face. "They became irrelevant as the Eastern Roman legions began to reform. Their last task was in southern Greece. Few demigods are aware of this fact, and even fewer mortals. Some two hundred years ago, there was a massive earthquake and tidal wave on Crete. Despite the power of Jupiter harnessed in their eagle standard, they were wiped out in the destruction."

"Then why is it so dangerous for us?" Leon asked.

Thanas, who had finally turned his attention away from Xanthe, spoke up. "Because those legions were the ones that were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Greek demigods over the past few hundred years. More than thousands, even. If you saw the carnage and death ratios, you wouldn't like your chances either."

"It is not impossible to defeat them," Chiron added. "Just terribly unlikely."

"Which is why we haven't been able to defeat them for hundreds of years," Thanas agreed. He stood tall. "But that changes today."

"No, you are not ready," Mother warned.

Thanas snarled. "Try me."

"Claudia!" came a distant shout.

And for a moment, the world stopped moving.

Then, in a show of power as amazing as Leon's, the world began to shake. The winds around them picked up, spinning like a funnel. The air smelled salty, as if they were near the ocean, and Xanthe realized they had summoned a sea storm and an earthquake with just an eagle standard.

Everyone became disoriented, squinting and helplessly trying to use their arms to block the wind. The ground left them unstable, and a few of Alexandros' siblings fell to the ground. The only one who wasn't affected by this... was her.

It was almost as if the storm decided it wouldn't attack her. The ground around her shook, but the ground remained stable exactly where her two feet were planted. The Lord of the Sea, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Everyone will die except Xanthe, her mother had said. At that moment, she knew what gift the Eleventh Legion had been given.

"Neptune!" she yelled. "Their emblem!"

"For Rome!" came a cheer from the twenty-five or so Romans left at the western hills.

Xanthe tried to quickly think of a plan. From what she knew about the legions' standards, each of them granted their respective legions different powers. Some were given powers of destruction. Some were given powers of enhancement. The Eleventh clearly used theirs as a distractor. While their power could kill enemies, it wasn't nearly as lethal as something like a lightning strike of Fulminata. But the point wasn't for them to incinerate their enemies. The Eleventh threw their enemies off-balance and disoriented them. The legion itself would then come in for the kill.

"Thanas!" Xanthe shouted. An idea formed in her head. "Summon a cohort!"

The son of Hades, gritted his teeth. He nodded in acknowledgement, although it seemed he was struggling to fight against the wind and earth-shaking. He pointed toward the twenty-five at the western hills. She smiled. Xanthe was thankful that Thanas loved a daughter of Athena. He knew exactly who to target.

"Go!" she nodded.

Thanas went off to defend the hills.

Suddenly, Xanthe felt powerful. She'd never been in control before. She'd always followed orders. After all, she was one of the youngest of the leaders at camp. Turning to Leon, she shouted, "Use your wind powers!"

Leon turned to look at her. "What?"

"Use your wind powers!" she shouted again. She pointed toward the line of advancing soldiers to the south. A dozen of them had broken off the line and advanced. "We're going to meet them halfway!"

"I don't know how!" he shouted, struggling like the others against the wind.

"But you just flew!" she exclaimed.

Leon laughed. "Trust me, I have no idea how I did that!"

"Well... do it again!"

He no longer held the sword Mother had tossed to him in his hands. The ring was still on his finger, but his hands were preoccupied with holding the wind away. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate.

Xanthe was getting antsy. She was surprised to see Leon struggle with harnessing the winds, considering the ease with which he was able to shoot up into the sky and let loose an enormous storm. But then again, he had blasted more than a dozen giant eagles out of the sky. He was probably more fatigued than he looked.

She began to wonder how powerful he was to have been able to survive in the mortal world without any help, but she figured Mother had helped him.

Together, they advanced.

Chiron shouted something at them, but it was lost in the wind. He was supporting her mother; she had lost the strength to hold herself up.

"Let's do this!" she shouted at Leon, growing desperate. If they didn't knock down the person holding the eagle standard, all of them would be dead. She couldn't let that happen. Drawing her sword, she bellowed, "For Greece!"

"Be careful!" Leon warned her. He pointed at the man who looked like the leader. "He's dangerous. Don't engage him alone."

Xanthe nodded. "Stay safe," she told him.

He grinned. "You too."

He and Xanthe burst into action, propelling themselves out of the storm and into battle with the dozen Roman soldiers. Leon started the engagement, blasting them with a hot, blue light. The center fell back, feeling the effects of the blow. Xanthe noticed the flanks had kept advancing. It was just a half step, and would have been in line with the center had it not been scorched by Leon, but Xanthe saw her opening. She darted forward, getting as close to their shields as she could without getting stabbed.

She positioned herself right between two Romans and feinted a slash upward. As she expected, the Roman to her left extended his shield to protect himself. In the process, he stopped his partner from stabbing her. Using as much strength as she could muster up, she swung her sword across and caught the partner straight across the side of the head. There was a huge dent in the side of the helmet, and the Roman collapsed to the ground like a puppet. She rolled behind the Roman line and stabbed her first target.

The Roman line converged on her, seizing the opportunity to surround her.

But Leon blasted them with another burst of electricity.

"Go!" he shouted.

Leon burst into action with newfound energy, now summoning the winds like it was second nature, throwing the Romans into disarray.

"Pila!" the leader shouted.

Xanthe turned to find a shower of javelins hurtling toward her. She cursed and dove out of the way.

The Romans advanced like a military machine. A new line formed in front of her. Behind her, the Romans had formed a wedge, figuring out Leon's tactic and pushing against him with their strength in numbers.

She just needed to get that eagle standard, and then they could retreat.

With a yell, she summoned the lake again and brought it to the battlefield. Hurling the water at the Romans, she ran forward to engage their broken lines. She stabbed two who had fallen to the ground, and challenged the other four around her. She rolled beneath their strikes, hacking and slashing at their legs where she could.

Exhilaration pumped through her body as she cut down half a dozen more Romans.

Behind her, Leon had succeeded in breaking the Roman formation. He cut down the last Roman before falling to his knees in exhaustion. His eyes crackled with fading energy. She got the message: You're on your own.

Looking forward, she heart sank. There were still many Romans left. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to get to the standard.

Another line of Romans approached her. This time, she had to back away. She couldn't summon another lake—partially because there wasn't another lake—and the river was too far away. She looked back at the fire pit. The others were still struggling.

"Curse you," Xanthe growled.

Then, the ground around her erupted. A half dozen skeleton warriors clawed their way out of the ground. Xanthe whipped her head around. Thanas gave her one last desperate look before he collapsed to the ground.

"Thanas!"

Xanthe looked over. A pile of dead Romans were strewn across the ground. Some of them had gotten through, but they looked a lot more disheartened than they did before.

She retreated and let the skeleton warriors protect her.

Their plan was failing.

The Romans, albeit with heavy casualties, continued to advance. Xanthe gritted her teeth again. If only Leon hadn't wasted all his power blasting those eagles out of the sky, he would've been able to help her more.

You would be dead if he hadn't blasted those eagles out of the sky, the rational part of her brain argued.

As the last skeleton warrior fell, Xanthe felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to strike whoever had touched her only to find her mother staring at her with wild eyes.

"I'll handle it from here," she said. "You must go."

"Mother?" she said, flabbergasted.

With a last bout of energy, she summoned a ball of energy and threw it toward the Roman leader, who was holding the eagle standard. He dove out of the way at the last moment. Xanthe could feel the air pressure behind her change, and the group at the fire pit was dropped out of the storm's grasp. In fact, the storm itself completely dissipated.

She saw Alexandros immediately move toward the trap. The remaining few Romans from the western hills had finally made it. A man Xanthe didn't recognize was helping load Leon and Thanas onto Chiron's back.

Mother took a step forward and wobbled.

Xanthe grabbed her arm to steady her. She looked deathly pale and her hair stuck to her clammy forehead.

"You're not healthy," she told her mother. "Stand back. I'll defend you. Get back to Chiron."

"No," Mother insisted. "It is you that must retreat. You must live longer to save your kind."

"I'm not leaving you," Xanthe argued.

"Yes, you are," her mother insisted.

"Make me!"

Her mother reached up and hit her across the neck with her hand. Xanthe stumbled back in shock. Her mother sent a blast of magic at her, and Xanthe felt her limbs start to go numb.

"No..." she whispered.

She couldn't see who grabbed her, but as her mother's paralysis magic took effect, she was slung over someone's shoulder, carried back toward the fire pit, and tossed onto Chiron's back. She wanted to jump off to run back toward her mother, but her arms and legs wouldn't move. Chiron began to gallop away. A strong hand held her down to keep her steady as they picked up speed.

"Mother!" she screamed. Her mouth still worked.

Xanthe watched helplessly as the Romans threw their javelins. Mother was too weak to stop them. She stumbled back and turned away, as if succumbing to her fate. The world around her began to blur, and the last thing she saw before they blasted away at top speed was the fire pit exploding with Greek fire, engulfing the weary Romans and burning at least two dozen of them to death.

Their plan worked.

Percy yawned as he and Irene approached the four sitting at the dock.

Chiron was the first to notice him. The old centaur looked away with a dark expression.

He expected the reaction. He wasn't particularly happy with the centaur either.

The son of Hades, Athanasios, immediately sprung to his feet. He rushed over to him and grabbed his collar. With angry eyes, he demanded, "Where's Ionna? Why didn't you stop her from going to Rome?"

"Let go of him," Chiron ordered.

The boy complied.

The centaur gestured to the boats. "Help the others load onto the ships. We should move out as quickly as we can."

Leon gave Percy a quick look. Percy could sense intrigue and fear in his eyes, but he seemed to understand that Chiron was the leader of the camp. He grabbed the stunned Xanthe, who had just recovered from the paralysis, and took her and Athanasios away toward the group.

Irene bowed. "Hello, Chiron."

"Hello, my dear."

"Don't misunderstand us..."

"I won't." Chiron gave Percy a hard look. "But I'd like to speak to Percy alone."

Irene's shoulders slumped. She glanced at Percy and said, "Don't do anything stupid. I'll try to see if I can locate Zoë. If any news comes up, I'll let you know."

Percy nodded as she walked back into the streets of Thessalonica. He looked around.

The whole city seemed to be on edge. With news of an invasion by the Sclaveni in the north, Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora had dispatched an army in Serdica. Percy had hoped they would assign Germanus to the task, given his reputation, but it seemed Justinian still wished to keep his cousin nearby.

With all the fighting on Italia, the Goths had had succeeded in their counterattack under Totila. Belisarius had failed in his attempts to move toward Ravenna like he'd done so near the beginning of the war. Rome had been besieged twice, with the Eastern Romans successfully capturing it just a few days ago.

Italia was nearly a wasteland now, ravaged by war for over a decade. It was partly why he didn't want Ionna to go on her quest quite yet. There was no security and, if she was unlucky enough, she would be caught in the middle of another siege. He didn't like her chances. But it was the only way to convince Athanasios.

"Why are you here?" Chiron asked bluntly.

"Nice to see you too, my old teacher," Percy forced through a smile.

"You are not recruiting them to your desperate, dangerous cause," the centaur said coldly. "They are the first children of the Big Three in decades. You will not corrupt them and use their power for your own personal pleasure."

"It is not my personal pleasure," Percy scowled. "You expect me to see the most powerful Greek demigods waste their lives away? They could be the catalyst in this war. Turn the tide. Just as they reduced us to nothing, we can reduce them to rubble."

"I will not allow you to corrupt them," Chiron said, staying headstrong. "There are many things I am willing to tolerate. That is not one of them."

He scoffed. "And what have you done that is praiseworthy?" He sneered. "All you've done is raise pigs for slaughter. You teach them to fight, but you neglect to harness the deepest powers within demigods. You let them grow up and let them fall to the legions. I haven't seen many battles where Greek demigods survive a head-on battle against Roman legions."

"They must learn to protect themselves." Chiron's tone was steely. "They don't need to learn how to destroy others. That will solve nothing."

Percy laughed. "Solve nothing? Have you seen what Lupa does? She lets infants die if they are not worthy. The Romans are trained for survival, trained for battle. They are hardened warriors. Your teaching of Greek demigods is tame and is unrepresentative of what they will face out there."

"I do not teach warriors. I teach heroes."

Percy stared at him. "What's the difference?"

But something in Chiron's gaze caught him off-guard. It was almost as if Chiron was mocking him. As if he was being told 'You are far from being a master.' Percy clenched his jaw. He didn't like the fact that old centaur still saw him as a silly child.

"Stratiotis against an iros, child," Chiron said, as if it made all the sense in the world. "A soldier lives to fight. A hero lives to protect."

"I am both," Percy grumbled. "I'm doing this to protect my kin, Chiron."

"I wish that were the case." Chiron shook his head and gave him a long look. "I tried, dear boy. But you are too far down the broken path for me to save you. Only a select few remain, and I hope they find you before it is too late. If you take Athanasios, Xanthe and Leon with you, I can only promise you pain and death the likes of which you have only encountered once before."

Percy immediately thought of his times in the east, though they were fuzzy. He could feel the old memories trying to light up in his mind, but there was a reason he put them away. He couldn't afford to collapse in battle, or to go crazy like a mania.

"This will not end well for you, Percy," Chiron said, both anger and sadness laced in his voice. "I hope you see it before it is too late."

Everyone who had evacuated from camp set sail before the sun set.

A fleet of transport ships left the harbour and made their way toward Constantinople. Judging by the sheer number of people needing to be transported, Percy estimated it would take them a week to sail around to Troas before they travelled up the road past Ilium—which was once Troy—and to Lampsakos, where they would once again board a ship and sail through to Constantinople.

Percy didn't like the idea of sending everyone off to Constantinople, but the quickest route was by sea, and he knew there was no way the Romans would sail en masse to follow them. He just hoped his old brother, Chrysaor, wasn't in the area to loot and sack the boats.

And given the Romans' location back in Heraclea and Lychnidos, Percy didn't want the fleet to sail too far before he could convince the Trio to join him and fight against the Romans.

But night was upon them, and he figured one night's rest wouldn't hurt. He knew it was a mistake the moment he closed his eyes.

"Percy!" Nabu called out. The young boy, no older than eight, held up a spear. "Look at me! I'm a soldier!"

Percy found himself laughing, reliving an old memory. "That's not a very good way to hold your weapon, Nabu. Your grip is too far down the shaft. You need to keep it balanced." He helped the boy fix his grip.

"Woah!" the boy said, amazed. "It feels so much lighter."

"It's not lighter, silly," Percy corrected. "It's more balanced. Come on, boy. Live up to your namesake. The god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes and wisdom."

"Says the foreigner," the boy teased. He pretended like he was a royal guard and jabbed the spear toward Percy. "You will leave and never come back by order of the mighty King Gilgamesh!"

"Ah, yes," Percy sighed. He gently confiscated the spear from the boy and sat down. "I've heard a lot about Gilgamesh. Why don't you tell me everything you know about him?"

Nabu grinned and grabbed the sword from his belt. He raised it to the sky, like he'd just triumphed in battle. "Great Gilgamesh, an ancient king from the Old Kingdom. He was the ruler of a city-state called Uruk, and he was a very special man. He was two-thirds god and one-third man. He built amazing buildings and made Uruk a beautiful city! He was the strongest man alive. He was more handsome than any other man in existence. And he was very wise. But he was cruel and unforgiving. He would take anything, any woman, any man, and do what he wanted with them. So, in response, the gods created a wild man named Enkidu, who was just as great as Gilgamesh. The two of them became very good friends, and Gilgamesh was heartbroken when Enkidu was killed by sickness from the gods. This death only made Gilgamesh worry about the fact that he would die one day too. So he was determined to find Utnapishtim, a man granted eternal life after surviving the Great Flood, to find a way to avoid death."

"A way to avoid death? How?"

"That's the point!" Nabu exclaimed. "There is no secret. Utnapishtim gave Gilgamesh a test where he had to stay awake for seven days. Gilgamesh failed right away, so Utnapishtim ordered him to return to Uruk. But Utnapishtim's wife convinced him to tell Gilgamesh about a plant that restores youth. Gilgamesh finds it, but a snake stole the plant when they were camping. The end of the story is that Gilgamesh realizes he, himself, will not live forever, cannot live forever. But humans will. His legacy will outlive him, and that's all that matters. Because everything he achieved was the closest thing to living forever humans can dream of."

Percy nodded and clapped. "Wow, that's a great story."

"Do you have a similar story where you came from?" Nabu asked.

Percy pursed his lips. "Hmm. Well, there is a story that's a little bit different. It is sad in its own way."

"Sad?"

"Yes, sad. There was once a demigod, half-god and half-man, named Heracles. He was the son of Zeus, the King of the Gods. He was like Gilgamesh: the strongest man alive, more handsome than any other, and cruel and unforgiving. You see, Zeus has a wife. Her name is Hera. But Heracles wasn't Hera's child. And Hera became jealous when she found out. She sought to make his life as miserable as possible. When he was a little boy, she sent a snake after him to kill him. But since he was so strong, he actually crushed its neck with his hands and killed it. Eventually, he got married to a princess, Megara. Hera made him go insane, and he killed Megara and their children. When Heracles was cured of his insanity, he realized what he had done and when to the Oracle of Delphi, which can see the future."

"Woah..." Nabu said, amazed. "Did this Oracle tell him what was going to happen to him in the future?"

Percy shook his head. "No. The Oracle tells you what may lie ahead in the future. But this time, Hera controlled the Oracle. She told him to go to a king named Eurystheus for ten years and perform any task Eurystheus told him to do. In the end, there were twelve tasks." Percy raised his fingers to count the labours as he spoke. "The first was to slay the Nemean Lion, which had invincible skin. The only way to defeat it was to get it to open its mouth and kill it from there. The second was to slay the Lernaean Hydra. It had nine heads, and if you cut one off, two would grow back. So Heracles had to burn the stumps after cutting off a head to stop it from growing. The third was capturing the Golden Hind of Artemis. Artemis is the goddess of the wilderness, and stealing her favourite animal is not easy."

Percy listed the remaining labours before circling back to the one that lingered in his mind.

"The eleventh task, which I saved for last, is something I think was Heracles' most difficult task," he said. He paused and took a deep breath, recalling everything that happened back then. "He had to steal golden apples from a garden far to the west, where the earth meets the sky. The garden had two layers of protection, no, three layers. The first was a giant drakon named Ladon, who had exactly one hundred heads and a poisonous bite. The second were the Hesperides, the true guardians of the garden. The third was the Titan Atlas. He had been the general of the Titan army when the gods fought the Titans, which is another long story. His punishment for losing the war was that he had to hold the sky. You see, if the sky and the earth meet... well, everyone would die. In any case, the story most people know is that he couldn't defeat Ladon, so he went straight to Atlas and tricked Atlas into getting the apples, tricked him again into holding up the sky, and escaped before Atlas could summon Ladon. But that's not the full story."

Nabu stared silently, fully engrossed in the story.

Percy grabbed Anaklusmos out of his hair. It grew into a familiar bronze sword, and he held it out for Nabu to see. "This is the same type of sword that was given to Heracles to defeat Ladon. Heracles tried to fight Ladon twice. The first time, he failed with his fists. The second time, he was given a sword by one of the Hesperides. She betrayed her family to help a hero. In the end, however, he still could not defeat Ladon because of the curse bestowed upon the sword. The nymph who created this sword betrayed her family, so the sword would only bend to the will of a demigod, god or spirit connected to the sea. Heracles never could win with the sword. As compensation, Heracles assaulted the nymph when he finished his quest and left, betraying her."

"She shouldn't have helped him," Nabu said, crossing his arms. He frowned, as if he was angry for Zoë. "What happened to her?"

"She became a huntress," the son of Poseidon smiled. "Free from her horrible past, away from civilization."

"How many other lives did Heracles ruin?" the boy asked.

Percy turned to face west. He gazed sadly out at the desert that stretched out to the horizon. "Many lives. More than you can count."

"So he is like Gilgamesh," Nabu muttered. "A great hero, but with many mistakes."

"Isn't that what a hero is?" Percy laughed. "Someone who is admired for courage and outstanding achievements. A brave person."

The boy nodded. "Yes. My father always tells me that a hero is not always the good guy. He says that one man's hero is another man's villain. That, in the world, there is no good or evil. At least, no overall good and no overall evil. Who says my father can't be evil in the eyes of the Assyrians? But he is a hero to me. He fights for the Babylonian people, even if the Assyrians refuse to recognize us."

He stared at the. "For a young one, you are wise."

Nabu smiled. Suddenly, his gaze shifted behind him. The boy jumped up in glee and shouted, "Father!"

Percy stood up and turned around. A man about twice Percy's physical age laughed and hugged his boy. He bore new scars, one along the side of his left eye and another on his chin.

"Ubar. What brings you back so quickly?" Percy asked.

Ubar smiled at him, but his eyes were full of worry. "Let us get back to the house first, yes? We'll bring Nabu back to the family and you and I can discuss other matters upstairs in my quarters."

Percy nodded and followed them back to Ubar's house.

Ubar was a rogue soldier. The king, Nabu-shum-libur, was clearly in his final days of rule. The Aramean incursions were growing far too strong for him to deal with. The collapse in the west had displaced thousands upon thousands of people, and many of the Arameans fled toward Assyria and Babylon. Percy couldn't speak for Assyria, but Babylon was on the verge of collapse. The king no longer had control of his army. The armies at the edges of the kingdom had gone rogue, following their own command instead of the kings.

Percy didn't like their chances, but Ubar was one of the best fighters Percy had seen in this region of the world.

The Arameans were close. Reports had been coming in for weeks, but it seemed it was finally time for the raiders to attack.

"They will be here any moment," Ubar warned him. "The advance scouts. Their army already has engaged our forces to the west. Without direction from the king, we can only hold them off for so long. Many of us have been killed. My partners are going around the town tonight warning of the impending attack. In the night, when the moon glistens brightly in the sky, the town will begin evacuation."

Percy nodded. "I'll be mindful. Let me help you fight off the scouts."

Ubar shook his head. "I care not for where you came from and your claims to mastery of weapons. You promised me that you would protect my family."

Yes, Percy thought. I need help destroying Mars and Apollo. The more people I can bring home, the better.

"Of course," the Greek demigod acknowledged. "But if the scouts break through..."

"So long as it is to protect my family," Ubar affirmed.

Percy nodded.

Ubar pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Then let us begin."

The scene shifted to the evacuation. Percy remembered that it happened, but the details were in one of Archimedes' spheres back in his old home in Athens. Watching it unfold again in front of his eyes was almost as painful as remembering.

"We need to go now," Percy insisted.

Nabu shook his head. "I want to fight. You taught me. I want to fight."

"It is too dangerous!" exclaimed his mother. "No, you must come with us!"

"Brother..." his sister said, trying to convince him. She offered him a hand. "Father will be safe. He will join us when we reach Elam."

Nabu didn't look convinced.

"Go, Nabu," Percy ordered. He could hear the sounds of clashing metal. The Arameans were close. "If you don't, you will die."

Nabu scrunched his eyebrows together. He didn't like it, but the boy was smart enough to know when it was time to give up. He stared at Percy with determined eyes. "You have to follow us, okay? I'm not going to go to Elam unless you're with us."

"I promise," Percy said. The fighting grew closer and closer. "Now go!"

Nabu climbed up, and the cart holding Ubar's family immediately took off. Percy grabbed Anaklusmos and jogged behind the cart, watching for any ambushes set by the Arameans. He couldn't keep up with the cart, but he knew roughly the path it would take. He knew a few shortcuts here and there.

Even though Percy had been in Babylonia for years, and with Ubar's family for three of those, he didn't quite understand the combat tactics of these Eastern peoples. The Arameans were Semitic peoples from the land north of Egypt but south of Greece. If Percy remembered correctly, Semitic peoples had come to Greece here and there in the past, but few of them actually displayed much of their home culture. Zoë would know better than him... how to track them, understand their movements.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He ducked and rolled, avoiding a strike from an Aramean. Percy's instincts kicked in immediately. Swiping his leg across, he tripped up the Aramean and whacked him across the helmet with the flat of his sword. Non-lethal combat was his specialty, even if he could kill when he wanted to.

Out of the shadows, a group of Arameans appeared. All of them wielded spears, circling him like a wolf pack eyeing its prey. Percy scanned around. With the ambush, they had the upper hand. Five of them surrounded him, and they were ready to jab forward at a moment's call. He looked at their stances. They weren't soldiers, he concluded. Not all of them, at least. Two of the five had the proper footwork, but the other three looked unbalanced.

Two of the three were standing side-by-side.

Percy took his chance.

He charged toward them and swung outward to his right. With his other hand, he activated Aegis and deflected the attack to his left. He sliced through the spear with his sword and caught the Aramean across the chest with a shallow cut. The Aramean stumbled back, clutching his wound in horror. Percy stepped in to his left and brought his knee up to the second man's groin. He wailed in pain and collapsed to the ground.

With one side clear, Percy flipped the situation around. His flanks were secure for at least a moment, and Percy attacked the three remaining men in front of him. He knocked them all unconscious and ran back to follow the family's cart.

As he turned the bend about a hundred paces forward, he stopped in shock.

The cart had been flipped over, and Arameans had stormed the area. Bodies lay strewn across the courtyard, many of them belonging to Babylonian civilians. A small fire burned through the wooden cart, slowly but surely growing to life. Ubar was there, to his surprise, lying on the ground and clutching a figure in his arms... No, not just any figure. It was Nabu.

Percy rushed over.

"Ubar!" He grabbed a cloth from his Infinity Pouch and pressed it to the wound in his abdomen. "You..."

"You were supposed to protect my family," Ubar groaned. Percy realized that he was crying. Through broken-hearted tears, he said, "I got word of an ambush. I came. But I was too late. You... you were nowhere to be found. I thought... I thought I saw you surrounded in the back street. But I had to help my family. They... they..." His voice broke.

Percy found himself shaking with sorrow. It wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this. In fact, he'd been a killer before. He'd killed hundreds of Greek soldiers in the final days of Troy. But he promised himself he wouldn't do that again. He couldn't allow the gods to find a way to punish him for killing anymore. Not if he wanted revenge. And he'd been close with Nabu and the rest of Ubar's family.

Ubar's wife and daughter also lay dead on the ground. His daughter was half-naked, her clothes torn and stripped from her body.

Percy clenched his fists.

"Kill them, Percy," Ubar begged as he died. "Before they lay waste to Babylonia. Kill them all!"

A raging hatred burned in Ubar's eyes, pleading with him to exact revenge. Percy couldn't say anything. He knelt there by his side and watched as Ubar parted from the world, holding his dead son in his arms.

"I'm sorry," Percy said, his eyes feeling watery. "I... I can't kill them. I... won't."

And those dreaded words repeated themselves in his mind once again.

Another man's hero is another man's villain.

Xanthe shot awake.

"What's wrong?" Leon immediately asked.

Xanthe took in her surroundings. They were on a boat, about a day away from Thessalonica. They were making good progress, heading toward Hellespont. Next to her, Thanas slept... or, at least, was sleeping. He began to stir as Leon put a hand on her arm.

"Xanthe?" Leon asked.

Right, Leon was on guard duty, she thought. Not that they really needed guard duty on a ship. But at night, who knew what would happen.

She thought about the dream she just had. The mysterious man that Chiron wanted to speak in private to was in an eastern land. She shuddered again, remembering the courtyard full of dead bodies. It reminded her of the last image she had of her mother. Closing her eyes and clenching her fists, her chest tightened.

"Xanthe!" Leon shouted.

She bolted upright, as if she'd been zapped with painful energy.

Leon gave her a sheepish look, as if he'd done something wrong. "Oh... sorry."

"It's fine," she waved off, unsure of what just happened. "I'm fine. Everything's good."

"We have a visitor," Thanas muttered suddenly. She nearly jumped in surprise, seeing him now fully awake.

"Where?" Leon asked, looking around the sleeping quarters.

Just then, there was a knock on the wall. The mysterious figure, Percy, appeared in the doorframe. He stared at Thanas, as if expecting him to grab him again. "Are cooler heads prevailing?"

There was silence.

Percy smiled and sat down in front of them.

"Great! Let's talk."

It feels like I packed way too much in here, but it also feels like there's no real way to separate the two sections of this chapter without making one of the chapters extremely short. Man, I'm bad with planning, haha. Anyway, here he is. The man, the myth, the legend. Perseus! Except he's not really back. It's just a 'flashback'. RIP the readers.

I may have introduced too many characters, but as I've flushed out what I want to do to end the story, I think they're necessary to bring Percy to where I want him to go by the end of this installment. Bear with me if each of the Trio seem to be fairly shallow characters, especially since the main characters aren't that deep in the first place. They will all play the roles that are expected of them.

Cheers,
Sharky