A.N:
Hey guys and girls.
Sorry it took me so long to update this story. Know that I have not given up on it, and am not intending to do so.
I've had a lot of university and family related issues these few months and I'm finally able to get back to writing.
I hope you find this chapter as enjoying to read as it was to write again.

Yours,
T.I.

Chapter V

The first thing that Percy thought when he woke up in his room – which he recognized by the rather low ceiling and blue color – was that he was going absolutely insane.

When he got home late only to hear Sally, his mother, talk to him with panic in her voice he only remembered hearing once before when he was very young, only for her voice to quiet down and become even more panicked after he tried to explain to her what happened to him. Excluding of course the giant woman and the breathing underwater thing. Percy was pretty sure he wasn't crazy yet.

After hearing his story, a big sigh left Sally's lips as she sent him to his room to rest, telling him that she needed they needed to talk when he was felt okay again. His mother never nagged or teased him so far, if she said they needed to talk then it was probably serious. Letting the thought go, he dragged his tired body upstairs, and without even changing his clothes, Percy drifted off.

This time his dream was less pleasant than the ones he had so far. When he came to, sensing the ethereal feeling that now became rather normal for him, he knew he was dreaming. The first thing that he heard afterwards were the screams. Hundreds, even thousands of man screaming at the top of their lunges. It was almost deafening.

Percy focused on the scene next. Men dressed in nothing but trousers and animal pelts, some were even almost fully naked, and holding varying kinds of weaponry that from the distance Percy was watching from were axe-like, were attacking a well-formed line of shields, impenetrable to their attacks.

Amongst the shouts Percy heard a command, and the next thing he saw was a rain of arrows fly above him, flying down towards the unarmored men below. Percy closed his eyes as he heard the screams intensify. These weren't the heated screams of battle. These were the screams of men knowing that they were about to die, and for Percy, he hated the fact that he now knew the difference.

Opening his eyes, he saw the unarmored men retreating towards the thick woods that stood behind them, yet their number was now greatly reduced - the arrow-filled bodies of their brothers decorated the battlefield – and the shouts got quieter and quieter.

Percy heard another shout, and the shield wall was disbanded in rows like, well, a well drilled army. Percy looked around, inspecting the soldiers of the winning side. From his distance he couldn't tell much, but he could tell that they were well armored and armed, their shield a color of deep red.

As he continued surveying around, Percy's eye caught a glimpse of a shine, and his breath was held. Even though he knew this was a dream, and not remotely real, as he saw a soldier with a simple silver mask – which only had holes for the eyes, nose and mouth – staring right at him, Percy nonetheless felt panic once again. As if on que, the masked soldier bent down to pick something up from the ground, and as he took hold of it, he held it high.

The golden eagle stared at Percy once again, this time below him, on a red banner was the letter "I". Just before his head spun again, Percy could hear the people below talking in a foreign language. Foreign, yet somehow familiar.

Percy contemplated on his way to school. His tattoo that he somehow managed to hide from his mother was still there on his wrist, proving to him that what occurred on the beach the other day was either a defense mechanism his brain came up with to justify him getting a tattoo at age sixteen, or that it was actually real. Whenever he remembered the voice he heard there was a feeling bubbling in his body, as if telling him to trust that it was absolutely real. And that scared Percy even more.

His day went as slow as usual, with him preoccupied in his though of just what was going on in his life, the classes and droning of teachers went by without him noticing. When it was time for Latin, Percy finally felt somewhat hopeful that he could get some answers for just what was going on.

When he entered the classroom Mark was already there, reading what seemed like a rather old and battered book. He was so engrossed in it that he never seemed to mind as Percy got inside and sat in one of the near tables. After about five minutes of Percy sitting and Mark reading, he decided that maybe he really should make his presence known. Just for safety.

"Um… Mark, shouldn't we start?" Percy asked.

Mark continued reading for a bit, blinked and closed his book.

"Why yes Percy, we really should, but you see, it would be a shame to go on with the subject with the other students in this class now won't it?" He asked, a glint in his eye.

Percy was taken aback by a bit. "We have more students? I thought I was the only one registered for the year." Percy inquired.

"Why yes, discipule, I thought so too, but apparently there's a new student that just got into the school last week and wanted to take Latin as well. Guess you won't be lonely anymore hm?" Mark half smiled to Percy.

"Do you know who it is? Anyone I know?" Percy asked.

"Well, I'm told that-" As mark began his answer, the classroom door opened.

"Is this Mr. Goldberg's Latin class? I'm new and I don't really know the way around ye-" The new student walked in wearily, yet with an air of confidence. She saw Mark, who had a half welcoming and half smirking – almost teasing – smile plastered on his face. And then she spotted Percy. And stopped talking.

He couldn't blame her. If he had any welcoming words ready to greet another human being that actually wanted to be around you for a prolonged period of time, they were stuck deep inside of his throat, on the verge of breaking out, yet held back by the sheer feeling of how stunned and stupid Percy thought he was looking right now.

He was actually quite curious about another student in class, but now it seemed that life just enjoyed taking him by the hand and throwing mysteries in his way wherever he went. As he inspected the girl, he felt a pull inside of him that felt familiar. And so he looked into her eyes.

They were the same eyes of the girl he briefly saw on the beach the day that he nearly drowned. Well, not really drowned but… What else was it? Scuba-diving with no oxygen tank? Nearly drowned was shorter, although more attention grabbing. Or was it?

His thoughts banished once again as he stared for a few more seconds, as if he was trying to engrave the color and shape of her eyes for future reference. What was mysterious-beach-girl doing at his school? In this class? What were the odds?

"Right. As much as I enjoyed this staring contest, show must go on, as they say." Mark's voice sounded suddenly. Like thunder, or an order of a commanding emperor on the battlefield, breaking all illusions. Percy felt himself regaining his focus, and with motor controls back in his hands, he finally looked away. Even though deep inside he wanted to continue to stare at her eyes, that seemed like a night full of the brightest stars that kept stretching like the infinite cosmos. Another Greek word. Wait. How did he know that?

"Of course, Mr. Goldberg. I'm sorry, I'll go seat down." The girl responded. Although flustered, Percy noticed that she still had an air of confidence, or self-control. He didn't know how to explain it. She seemed almost regal in her poise. At least her and Mark have something in common.

"Ah. Before you do that, discipula, please do share with us your name at the very least. If you want to add in the reason you chose Latin as your extra language, I'll give you extra credit," Percy was nearly choking.

"In my academic heart." Mark finished. Of course.

The girl remained standing after Mark's note, the flustered state she was in before seemed to have dissipated as she somehow stood even straighter and sharper. Almost like a soldier. What was on with this girl? And then she spoke.

"My name is Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. Daughter of,"

Mark coughed.

For a second Percy could have sworn that she flinched, her eyes closing slightly and her body tensing, but as soon as he spotted it, it was gone, and she appeared as she was.

'Daughter of? Are we back in the seventeenth century?' Percy though.

"I'm new here. Transferred just this week. As for the reason for me to learn Latin, well when they say that it's a dead language, they should check that they double stabbed that thing and what remained was actually a corpse, not a bleeding, dying, but very much alive and breathing beast that could turn around at any second and turn the tables from right under you. That's my reason."

As she spoke, Percy saw her stare at nothing. her breathing became heavier as she carried on, and as she finished the final word, he thought she was slipping, barely remaining standing by sheer force of will and determination. A chill went down his spine. Just who was this Reyna? And why did he get the feeling he saw her before? Besides their random encounter that day on the beach.

"That was… Descriptive." Mark finally noted after a few moments of silence in which Reyna took a seat at the far edge of the class, as far away from the board as she could. Apparently she was a bad-girl type. Percy noted to himself.

"Okay, Reyna, I'll send you some practice sheets for which to review the things we did so far – which was very little due to Percy's curiosity – so that you could be up to speed." Percy almost blushed. One question and he was disrupting class with his curiosity? Not cool Mark.

Reyna nodded and opened her textbook neatly, organizing her desk perfectly. Almost too perfectly. Someone had clear signs of OCD. Well, he had ADHD so he could at least cut her some slack. Mark wrote and the board, and she copied. Maybe OCD-bad-girl was just an illusion.

"As I was saying last time Percy," Mark turned as he finished writing. "And Reyna." He added. Two students in Latin class. Who would've though?

"We cannot begin to study history without going to the earliest thing we can possibly reach. And that is…" He seemed to look at them for answers.

"Um… The Big Bang?" Percy tried.

"Well, that might be a little too early Percy. Reyna, how about you?" Mark asked.

"War." She answered without a second of thought. "There was always, and will always be, war." Okay. Add edgy to the list of adjectives.

Mark seemed to ponder the answer. "Well, you're not wrong Reyna. Human beings always needed resources. And conflicts between opposing sides always occurred. But I'm talking about something different here." He admitted.

They both seemed lost for the answer though.

"I'm talking about hope. Hope and faith." Mark began. "Throughout history, humankind believed they were a part of something greater. Faith brought families, peoples, and indeed even entire empires together under rules and ideas they shared." Percy never thought of the aspect of religion and faith in the scenario of learning a language. Then again, he was learning more about history right now that the actual language. But he still enjoyed it, which seemed weird to him.

"And when talking about the Roman people, the had a strong faith. At least until the 4th century came around." Mark chuckled as if he just told a joke only he could understand.

"They believed in a massive pantheon of gods. All shapes and sized, all roles in heaven and earth. Good and evil, yin and yang, life and death. And among the great pantheon there were the main three deities that held absolute power over the world." Now this was getting interesting. Percy was even scribbling notes in his notebook, which he rarely did.

Mark drew a crude image of a thunderbolt, and below it, in large Latin writing he wrote IUPPITER. "Jupiter, god of the day, thunder, and skies."He then continued with an even cruder image of a skull - that seemed to Percy like those that were found in the shaped of lollipops – and wrote below it PLUTO. "Pluto, god of the dead and the underworld."

Finally, Mark drew what seemed to be a three headed fork on the board. Maybe Mark was just hungry. Something stirred inside of Percy as he looked closer at the fork, and then felt another chill went down his spine as he looked from the board towards his wrist.

What Mark drew was no fork. It was a trident. A very badly drawn one, but one nonetheless. And now there was another name written below in big and bold Latin writing. NEPTUNUS. "And of course, we can't forget dear old Neptune, god of the sea, horses, storms, and unfortunately earthquakes."

Percy felt something snap inside of him. For a moment it was all clear. The image of Mark writing on the board. The classroom, lit with the soft rays of the afternoon sun. His notebook, with his hand on it, in the middle of copying the final name Mark wrote on the board. And the eyes of the girl that sat at the end of the classroom, whose eyes were like the cosmos, stretching into infinity, and hiding what she never wanted to be found.

It was all clear. And then it wasn't anymore.

And Percy fainted.