Chapter 62

Roman isn't always better

Nova Roma

Amara managed to find a tattered cloth to cover her bare body and hurried to find her father.

She walked through the street, avoiding eye contact so no one would recognize her.

Amara stopped in front of an old broken down home. She knocked three times and waited.

"Ingressum?" A man asked behind the door.

"Si pateris" Amara replied.

The man opened the door and Amara ran in before he closed and locked it again.

"Amara where have you been? Your father has gone mad in your absence" Quintus said with worry in his voice.

"Selene took me! She tried to sacrifice me!" Amara cried out before she ran to his arms in tears, "I was terrified" she whispered in fear.

Quintus stroked the back of her head, "It's alright now child, you're safe, you managed to escape"

Amara then remembered, "No I didn't" she backed away from him, "I had no chance to run away" she said in fear, "She pushed me into new Vesuvius, I-I thought Pluto would claim my soul but Jupiter answered my prayers!" She said with hope in her voice, "When I fell, the fire hugged my skin and rose to push me out"

"Thank the Parcae you're alive then" Quintus said.

"Where is my father now? I must speak with him" Amara said.

Quintus looked grim, "He marched with his forces into battle with Selene when he heard you were sacrificed"

Amara's eyes widened, "I have to stop him!" She ran as fast as she could.

Aboard the X-jet

Dean sat in the pilot seat and flew the jet to the coordinates the Professor had set as fast as he could.

"Everything ok?" Charles asked.

"Yeah I got this" Dean assured him.

Charles nodded and then rolled towards Logan who was staring at the others cautiously.

"As I was saying, it's a pleasure to meet all of you" Charles said giving them a warm greeting.

"Do you shine that?" Billy asked the Professor curiously, pointing at his head, "Or does it naturally glisten?"

Charles' brow furrowed as he considered the odd opening question, "It's natural"

Tim looked around and analyzed the X-jet, "This doesn't look like a standard SR-71" he pointed out.

"It's not, a good friend of mine built this and the Air Force copied the design. But it wasn't a perfect copy" Charles added.

Tim's looked surprised, "So this is the original then?"

Charles nodded, "Indeed"

That made Tim even more interested. He joined Dean in the copilot seat.

Jon smirked as he sized up Logan, then he looked at Billy, "He needs some milk"

Logan extended his claws, "Maybe I could borrow a few feet from you"

Jon smiled and went to get up.

"Jon" Lily said sternly, "Save it for later"

Jon sat back down with his arms crossed and pouted.

Logan retracted his claws as he glanced at Lily, 'At least three out of five have some brains'

Joey looked around in confusion, this is the team that Chiron chose?

Nova Roma

Lucius was in the midst of a battle.

He had attempted to storm Selene's temple by force, the actions of a mourning father, but was stopped at the first post by her forces lead by one of her personal guards.

Lucius blocked a downward slash with his shield and thrusted his gladius into his opponent's gut.

His opponent dropped to the ground and bled out.

Lucius looked around him and saw that he was being pushed back. He glanced over at Selene's guard.

A dark haired woman with her hair cut short to her shoulders. Blood sprayed on her face.

Her body was covered in iron armor with golden highlights and a red tattered cloth hanging from her shoulder blades that used to be a mantle. She held a gladius and a small round parma shield that both had the same iron to gold color scheme.

Aemilia, daughter of Bellona. The lowest of the guards, and yet still mightier than any other mortal on Nova Roma. She probably slew the majority of his men.

'If she falls we might stand a chance' Lucius thought before he charged at her.

Aemilia sliced the head off her opponent's shoulders and glanced to her side just in time to notice Lucius. She blocked his horizontal slash with her shield and kicked him in the chest sending him tumbling back.

Lucius stopped tumbling and clutched his now bruised ribcage, 'Even with my armor she still hurt me' he got up again and slashed diagonally.

Aemilia blocked his attack with her blade and spun around before she struck him in the face with her shield.

Lucius' nose was smashed and he fell on his back. She was faster, stronger, and more capable than he could ever be.

Aemilia kicked his gladius to the side and pointed hers at his throat.

The fighting stopped as the soldiers saw their leader at the mercy of Aemilia.

Then, Selene descended from the sky.

She wore iron plated boots that went up to her thighs, her torso was covered in an armored corset, she wore iron plated gloves that went up to her biceps, and over her shoulders hung a mantle that was held together by a locket with the symbol of a crescent moon. Her entire outfit was dark blue.

Selene landed softly on the ground, "Did you really think you could get past my guards?" She asked amusingly as she slowly walked over to him.

Aemilia backed away now that her mistress was in control of the situation.

"I was prepared to die trying" Lucius claimed.

Selene shook her head and cupped his face, "Such a disappointment" she said with pity in her voice, "Your father and I had such high hopes for you"

Lucius pulled away from her in disgust, "My father was a fool for ever submitting to your will!"

Selene smirked, he always hated it when she brought up his father, "Your so called consul has led you to defeat" She spoke out loud to the soldiers, "Now watch as he pays the price for standing against me!" She placed her palm on his forehead and began absorbing his life force.

"Wait!" Amara ran onto the battlefield.

Selene stopped what she was doing, not looking surprised that Amara was alive.

Amara got on her knees, "Please I beg you Selene, spare my father's life" She pleaded.

Selene chuckled, "Why should I?"

Lucius glanced at his daughter, "Amara…" he muttered in shock.

Amara placed a hand over her heart, "I swear on my ancestors, if you spare my father, I will undoubtedly serve you as the next consul" she promised with fear in her eyes, her father was the only family she had left.

Selene smirked, "I suppose this makes you useless then" she let go of Lucius, letting his lifeless body drop. She looked out to the crowd of soldiers, "Return to your homes, tomorrow we begin the conquest to rebuild Rome to its former glory!"

The soldiers that were loyal to her moved out immediately, the ones that weren't soon followed their example, not wanting to incur Selene's wrath. Now that there was no one to oppose her, fear would persuade all others to submit to her will.

Selene extended her hand, "Come my dear, I must prepare you"

Amara took her hand and they floated together towards her temple.

Aboard the X-jet

Logan piloted the jet since they were getting close, letting Dean prepare himself.

He wore his X-man uniform underneath his armor, and had his sword and shield strapped to his back.

Dean walked over to his teammates who were also armed and ready, "Listen up guys"

They all gave him their attention. Even the Professor listened to see how he acts as a leader.

"We've never done something like this before. Which means we have to take this seriously" Dean said with emphasis on the serious, "Some of you might have a problem killing, some of you might not. Selene and her guards are the only ones we have to take out, anyone else is knockout only"

They nodded in understanding.

"So we can't have fun?" Billy asked.

Dean smirked and rolled his eyes, "You can have fun, but not at the expense of the mission"

"Lit!" Billy said in excitement.

"Now when it comes to Selene, Chiron specified that mortal wounds won't kill her. Decapitation is the only way to do it" Dean said.

"And at all costs, don't let her touch you or she'll heal her injuries or possibly bend you to her will" Joey said.

"Considering her reputation, I was already planning on that" Tim said.

Logan activates the jet's camouflage, "We're getting close to the coordinates but I can't see anything"

Dean walked to the front of the jet and looked outside.

The whole island was shrouded in myst, normal people would just see a sea spire and stay clear of the shallow rocky water.

"It's there, I'll guide you down" Dean said.

Joey tightened the lasses on his boots.

Tim glanced at him and only saw a dagger as a weapon, "Is that all you're gonna need?"

"I was never really much of a fighter" Joey admitted, "Stealth and espionage was more of my forte, that's why Chiron chose me to spy on Selene"

"How long have you been doing this?" Tim asked.

"5 years" Joey said.

"Damn that's a long time" Tim said, "So you weren't around for the whole Trump thing?" He figured.

Joey looked confused, "What about him?"

"He's President now" Tim said laughing lightly.

Joey's eyes widened, "What?!"

Logan made the jet descend.

"Yeah just set her down right here" Dean said.

Logan landed the jet and suddenly the myst cleared allowing him to see the island he landed on, "This is tripy"

"Everyone ready?" Dean asked one final time.

They all nodded.

"Logan and I will stay here, but should you need our help we won't be far" Charles assured them.

"That's good to know Prof" Dean said.

"Why don't I set up a telepathic link between all of us to make things easier" Charles said as he did it.

Dean looked concerned, "Wait I don't think that's a—"

Right as Charles created the link their minds were filled with loud erratic thoughts.

'DEN! Dun dun dun dun dun DEN! DEN! DEN! Dun dun dun dun dun DEN! DEN! DEN! Dun dun dun dun dun DEN! DEN! DENNNNNNN!' They heard a loud obnoxious voice singing eye of the tiger.

Every single person in the room looked at Billy who wasn't paying attention and was in his own world.

'Risin' up, back on the street

took my time, took my chances

went the distance

now i'm back on my feet

just a man and his will to survive' Billy sang in his head as he moved around to the beat he imagined. He then noticed everyone was looking at him, "What?"

'The fuck are you idiots looking at?' Billy thought. His eyes wandered to Lily's chest, 'I can't wait to squish my cock between those tits'

Lily's eye started twitching and she had a murderous look on her face before she went to clobber him.

Dean held back Lily, "I think that's a bad idea"

"Absolutely right" Charles agreed as he removed it and lowered the ramp.

"You can keep in touch with me" Dean said as he still held back Lily.

"You think that witch was bad just wait and see what I do to him when I get my hands on him!" Lily shouted.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly, "Joey lead the way"

They went outside and Joey led them towards the city.

Even from far away they easily spotted the first guard post, still some bodies and dried pools of blood on the ground.

"There was a battle, something must have happened while I was gone" Joey said fearing the worst.

Dean raised an eyebrow, "We need to know what" he thought as loud as he could, 'Professor, there's remnants of a battle. Can you try reading the minds of some people to figure out what happened?'

'I'll see what I can do' Charles said as he started his search.

"So that's the first guard post?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, just try not to be seen. I don't want to be forced into battle unprepared" Joey said.

'I've uncovered some unsettling information' Charles said, 'I read the mind of one of the soldiers that used to be loyal to Lucius'

'Used to?' Dean queried.

'Apparently Lucius attempted to storm Selene's temple by force when he thought his daughter was dead and was defeated in battle. Selene was going to kill him but Amara stopped her by swearing allegiance to her, giving Selene full control over Nova Roma' Charles said.

Dean relayed this information to his teammates.

"Not good at all, that means Selene will be making her move soon. We should hurry" Joey insisted as he motioned to leave.

"Wait" Tim said.

Dean looked at his friend.

"If Lucius is still alive he might be able to help us" Tim pointed out, "Assuming we can find him in the next hour"

"I've followed him a few times before to his hideout, it's possible he could be there" Joey figured.

"Then let's go, I'm itching for a fight" Jon said impatiently.

Quintus helped Lucius into their hideout. He was still drained from the battle earlier.

Lucius had a look of despair, "I've failed Quintus, as a leader and as a father"

"You did the best you could" Quintus assured him as he set him down on a chair.

"If I had known Amara was still alive…I wouldn't have been so rash, or foolish!" Lucius flipped over the table in front of him out of anger.

"Calm yourself" Quintus pleaded, "You're in no condition to be doing this"

Lucius grabbed Quintus by his shirt, "Don't you understand?! I've doomed Nova Roma to be ruled by a tyrant!" He let him go, "And now my daughter is forced to obey her…and I can do nothing.." he said hopelessly.

Quintus was trying to hold on to the little hope he had left but things were looking grim.

"Selene can kill me any time she wants, It's only a matter of time before she gets rid of me" Lucius said predicting his inevitable death. He glanced at the doorway and saw figures standing in the dark.

Lucius became overwhelmed with fear and drew his gladius as he stood on his feet.

Quintus looked behind him and backed away as he saw the figures walking towards them.

Lucius sloppily swung his blade downward.

A figure raised his hand and blocked the attack with his gauntlet with ease. Then golden lightning began to spark around him, revealing the figures.

Lucius looked at the gauntlet and saw the golden lightning bolt on it. He backed away slowly and dropped his gladius.

"Immortales!" Quintus shouted.

Both Quintus and Lucius dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.

Dean raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Ummm?"

"What did he say?" Billy asked not understanding latin.

"That means Immortal" Lily said.

"I know but why kneel?" Dean wondered.

"They worship our parents, so they see you as a deity" Tim said.

Dean felt uncomfortable, "Please get up" he spoke in latin.

Lucius and Quintus got on their feet, flabbergasted that a son of Jupiter stood before them.

Joey spoke in latin, "Honorable consul Lucius, we have come to rid your island of Selene"

Jon scratched his head, not knowing what he said.

"The gods have answered my prayers, you've arrived at our darkest hour" Lucius said feeling relieved that they were here.

"We need you to help us" Dean said plainly, explaining why they were here.

Lucius looked confused, "Me? I could barely defend myself against her guards. The people no longer see me as their leader"

"Selene has seen to that herself" Quintus said, "Nova Romans no longer have any choice but to recognize her as our leader"

"Romans value strength, do they not?" Tim asked the consul.

Lucius' expression hardened, "Strength above all, and Selene's is greater than anyone's I've ever seen"

Dean slowly walked towards Lucius, his lightning sparking faster around his body, "Selene won't make it through the night" he claimed with purpose in his voice.

Lucius nervously shook, "I meant no offense"

Joey felt intimidated by the son of Zeus, when he releases his power it's like he has this commanding presence.

"But defeating her is not enough, the people need to see her fall" Tim said.

"H-how will we know when to approach the temple?" Quintus asked with a hint of worry in his voice, whether it was from Dean's presence or the thought of approaching Selene's temple he didn't know.

"Wait for our signal" Lily said.

"But—"

"You'll know it when you see it" Dean cut off Lucius before they all left, "Let's get to those posts"

Billy and Jon looked confused, they were the only ones who had no idea what was being said.

Amara stood inside Selene's temple, staring at the lady herself who sat on her throne.

"You don't seem surprised that I'm alive" Amara stated from what she could see.

She wore an elegant, traditional Roman dress. Open sandals, that were tied up to her calves, upon her feet. Her hair was perfectly braided and sitting amongst it was a small tiara.

Selene sat with her legs crossed, flashing the same amused smile she always had, "I told you, you would be reborn. I knew there was power in you"

"Power? The gods blessed me with their—"

"Oh don't waste your breath with that nonsense" Selene said not sounding very fond of the deities she chooses to identify as, "The gods couldn't care less about you, or me, or this pathetic little island"

Amara was taken back by Selene's ignorance.

Selene got off her throne, "Power saved you, real power, not prayer!"

Amara stood still and kept her eyes on her.

Selene walked towards her, "With the gift you possess, and my guidance, the world could be ours" she stopped in front of her.

Amara was too caught up with her own concerns to think about the world, "I don't understand, where did this power come from"

"You inherited this power" Selene said.

"I know my bloodline is of the historical gens Antonia which claimed descent from Anton, son of Hercules. But Hercules could not bend fire to his will" Amara said still not understanding.

"You're right, he couldn't" Selene admitted, "You didn't inherit your power from him" she said with a tiny smirk.

Amara didn't like that devious smirk, it made her nervous.

"You see, the people of Nova Roma always feared me, but I needed a ruler that I knew would be loyal to me" Selene walked around her, "Someone who was…like me" she said as she stood behind Amara.

Amara trembled in fear of what she might be implying.

Selene placed her hands on Amara's shoulders, "So I seduced your grandfather, Marcus, and in the end it seems I got what I wanted"

Amara's eyes widened from the horrific realization she just came to.

Selene leaned closer, "We're more alike than you think…granddaughter" she whispered with joy.

Amara backed away from Selene with tears in her eyes, "I'm nothing like you!" She shouted in disgust before she dropped to her knees, "How could my grandfather do such a thing?"

Selene laughed, "He fell on his knees, begging hopelessly, offering me his kingdom, to build statues in my honor, all the jewels and precious metals he owned, just for a night with me" She said feeling pleased with herself.

The core of Amara's being was shattered. The honorable and prestigious family she thought she came from was all a lie.

Selene saw the sadness on Amara's face and it killed her mood. She lifted her up to her feet, "That is the way of weak men, they are a tool to be used at our leisure. One day I will find you a mate that will help you produce many powerful offspring" She said with a little too excitement and then she frowned, "Hopefully one far more competent than Marc—" Selene paused and her face grew a concerned look. She looked in the direction of the city, as if she could see something that had attracted her attention.

Amara didn't take note of it, "Why didn't you just control my father's mind like you did my grandfather's?" She asked in spite.

Selene stroked her chin, a devious smirk emerged as she concocted her masterful scheme, "I cannot control those who share my blood" she said before looking back at her granddaughter, "That's why I had to make you swear an oath of loyalty, strength and honor is the basis of the Roman Empire, and I know how much you and your father value them"

Amara stayed silent, she was right after all. Honor is everything in Roman society, your word is your bond. Unless someone kills Selene she is bound to her for life.

Selene went back to her throne and sat down, "Now my child, there's little time. For tomorrow we depart, perhaps with more forces than expected" She said excitingly.

The group approached the first guard post.

The hour was late, the sky pitch black apart from the stars and the almost complete moon above them.

They were hidden behind a small cliff.

"There's the first one" Joey said eyeing it with caution.

"How many foot soldiers?" Dean asked.

"There are none" Joey said.

Tim raised an eyebrow, "It's just the half-bloods at each post?"

"Alone?" Jon asked.

"Yes" Joey said as if it should be obvious, "And I advise caution, they're all very skilled so we should take them on together to avoid any casualties. So, Dean, you flank—"

Billy interrupted him, "I'm not a fan of this plan"

"Yeah, ganging up on someone that's beneath us is not challenging" Jon agreed.

"They are definitely not beneath us!" Joey said trying his best not to raise his voice too loud, "They are fully grown, Roman" he pointed out specifically, "Demigods, definitely not the kind of people we can take one on one"

"Ignoring that minor insult, Roman's value honor. Since we're demigods, which means we stand at equal footing" Tim corrected him, "And if we gang up on them aren't they more likely to call for help creating a massive team fight that would drain us all, perhaps costing us the mission? When we can just fight them one at a time, and giving us time to rest in between fights?"

"Plus I can see everyone here is eager to fight, giving us time to warm up individually will be beneficial" Dean figured.

Joey looked like he was about to start pulling his hair out, "But Chiron told us to fight together"

"Against Selene, not everyone else" Tim pointed out.

"Are you guys serious?" Joey said with a frustrated look, "This is not the time to prove you're mightier that Roman demigods" he assumed their reasoning behind their decision.

All the other boys looked at Lily.

"What?" Lily asked not knowing what they wanted.

"Let's hear what the conscience of the team has to say" Tim said.

Lily thought about it for a second, "Selene is more powerful while the moon is out, so dragging this on till sunrise would be ideal" she figured, "Worst case scenario we just step in and help"

They looked back at Joey with amused looks.

Joey pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine" he gave in.

"Yes" Jon said feeling excited.

They walked up to the guard post together. It was as big as the sandpits back at camp, completely empty apart from a marble seat.

Aemilia sat on the marble, sharpening her sword with a wet stone.

The group stopped right outside the post.

Aemilia's gaze rose and analyzed them. She eyed their, odd looking armor and bronze weapons, giving away what they were.

Aemilia put down the wet stone and got up, still holding her sword. Her shield was still on the marble, leaving her left hand free.

Next to the marble seat was a cornu battle horn, perhaps to signal for aid. Aemilia was ready to grab it if they all charged at her.

Tim leaned over to Joey with a sly smirk, "See?"

Joey frowned and stayed silent.

"I'll take this one" Lily said grabbing her sword and shield and entering the small open building. She pointed her blade at the Roman, "I'm your opponent" She said in latin.

"Who's she?" Billy asked.

"Aemilia, daughter of Bellona. The lowest ranked of the guards, it'll only get harder as we go" Joey said.

"So you're saying the higher we go the better the fighter?" Tim whispered to him.

Joey nodded.

Tim stroked his chin as he gave that some thought.

Aemilia grabbed her shield and entered her fighting stance, "Not many are brave enough to face me alone"

"Then they don't deserve an honorable death" Lily said inching forward.

Aemilia smiled and did the same.

They both swung their blades simultaneously and they clashed creating sparks.

Lily rotated her wrist and attacked from a different angle.

Aemilia adjusted her stance and moved her arm to block with her blade.

Lily then spun, slightly crouching, as she moved around her and swung her blade upwards.

Aemilia spun in the opposite direction and swung her blade downwards.

Their blades clashed again creating more sparks.

They both then stopped to face each other before continuing.

Lily thrusted her blade forward.

Aemilia raised her shield to block, and then swung her blade diagonally.

Lily pushed her shield forward, interrupting her swing, and hit her in the face with the pommel of her sword.

Aemilia took a step back from the unsuspecting hit.

Lily slashed low, aiming for her opponent's shin.

Her shin guard dented but wasn't penetrated.

Aemilia regained her composure and counter attacked with vicious intent.

Lily kept her cool and moved swiftly to block her attacks.

Aemilia thrusted her blade towards her chest.

Lily blocked with her shield and slashed downward.

Aemilia moved to the side and deflected the attack with her arm.

The blade scraped her armor, sending sparks flying, and she slashed Lily's arm.

Luckily Lily instinctively backed away preventing the blade from cutting too deep. She winced from the sting of her cut, that could have been a fatal wound if she didn't react.

Tim's eyes narrowed, that was close.

Aemilia advanced, staying on the offensive while her opponent was wounded.

Lily's movements slowed slightly, but she was still fast enough to keep up.

Aemilia slashed diagonally.

Lily raised her shield and blocked.

Aemilia then swung her shield.

Lily ducked, spun, and slashed at the side of her breastplate where there would normally be a gap. Her blade simply dented Aemilia's armor.

Aemilia spun around and elbowed Lily, breaking her nose and knocking her on her back.

"Uh Dean, she's not lookin so good" Billy said sounding concerned.

"I know" Dean said sharing his concerns.

"I told you they're too stro—"

Tim interrupted Joey, "It's because of her armor" he said having thoroughly analyzed the fight, "Lily isn't strong enough to break through the armor"

Aemilia swung her sword downward.

Lily moved to the side, avoiding the sword, and then knocked it out of Aemilia's hands with her shield. She then slashed at her face.

Aemilia quickly blocked with her shield.

Lily then swept her legs.

Aemilia fell face first but then tried to roll over towards her discarded blade.

Lily sprung to her feet and slammed her shield down on her opponent's arm as she reached out for her weapon. She then twirled her sword in her hand until she held it downward and stabbed at her opponent's face.

Aemilia raised her shielded arm and stopped what would have been a fatal blow.

Lily pushed as hard as she could.

Aemilia grit her teeth as she struggled to push the blade back. Inch by inch, it slowly came closer to her face. She suddenly stopped resisting and purposely let her opponent's blade come at her just as she tilted her head.

Lily didn't have time to react so her sword imbedded into the ground.

Aemilia dropped her shield and punched Lily in the face with a right cross knocking her off. She then hurried to grab her sword.

Lily rolled to a crouching position, drew her bow, and fired an arrow in one swift move.

Right as Aemilia was about to grasp her blade an arrow imbedded deep into her trapezius making her cry out from the pain. A few inches deeper and that would have hit her spine.

Aemilia dropped to her knees and tried to grab her weapon one more time.

Lily kneed her in the face, knocking her down, took her gladius, and held it to Aemilia's throat.

The was the end of it. Their adrenaline faded and the weight of their predicament fell on their shoulders.

Aemilia grew a blank expression, "Do it"

Lily looked a little shocked at how quickly she embraced her fate.

"You've bested me, now give me an honorable death and send me on my way" Aemilia said as a tear trickled down her cheek.

Lily moved the gladius to point downwards at the side of her neck where there was a gap in her armor. She then pushed the blade into Aemilia, slicing right through several organs and bones.

Aemilia's eyes widened from the shock of the pain. She coughed up blood and trembled more and more by the second.

Lily pulled the sword out and let Aemilia drop, her wound gushing blood out until there was nothing left but a corpse in a pool of blood.

Lily dropped the gladius and retrieved her own weapons, "Let's go" she followed the path ahead.

The group hurried off to the next post.

Dean caught up with Lily to see how she was doing, "You ok?"

Lily nodded, "I'm good" she said confidently.

Dean could see that she had no problem dealing with their current task.

Tim caught up to her and noticed her nose was still gushing blood, dripping down her chin and down to her breastplate. He pulled out some gauze pads from his belt, "You might wanna use these" he didn't bother explaining why because she knew better.

If she lost too much blood she'd be fatigued later. Lily took the gauze pads and stuffed the cotton pads in her nostrils to stop the bleeding, "Thank you" She said with a tiny hint of gratitude.

They stopped in front of the next post.

A man stood inside, tinkering with something. He was about 5,6 and very muscular. He had short black hair and a patchy beard, all of it singed from being around flames.

He wore thick armor that had an unorthodox look about it. It didn't cover his whole body like the previous guard, all his joints just had steel plated leather. It was probably too difficult to craft joint guards that were big enough to fit his arms and rotate properly without limiting movement.

On his back were two large imperial gold cylinder containers with fiery cinders inside.

He noticed the group of strangers and readied himself. The object in his hand resembled a canon but small enough to carry and was also made of imperial gold. He equipped it to his left gauntlet, "Aemilia is defeated then" he assumed or else they wouldn't be here, "And in single combat too, impressive" he said noticing Lily was the only one who looked damaged.

"That's Volcaneus, son of Vulcan god of smiths and fire" Joey said.

"I'll go next" Tim said before anyone else could say anything and stepped inside.

Volcaneus picked up his weapon, a one handed gold mace. It was short, obviously meant for close range and it's tip was a smooth sphere, "What god is your parent?" He asked curiously.

Tim twirled his staff a few times and then pointed it at his opponent, "Athena"

Volcaneus scoffed as he grabbed one of the cinders from his back and loaded it into his wrist canon chamber, "Foolish graecus" he said thinking little of his opponent. He then fired the canon.

Tim ducked and avoided the incoming cinder.

The group dispersed, letting the cinder fly past them and into the ground, exploding into fiery pieces on impact.

"Definitely avoid those" Dean observed.

Tim charged at his opponent, before he could reload his wrist canon, and thrusted his staff several times testing his opponent's defenses.

Either his attacks would hit his armor and have no effect or Volcaneus would deflect any attempt at his head with his mace.

"Your weapon is almost as silly as your strategy" Volcaneus said mocking him, "I forged this armor myself, it cannot be pierced"

Tim smirked, an opponent that makes him think, something he definitely enjoys. He glanced at the steel plated leather covering his joints, a possible opening.

Volcaneus grabbed another cinder.

Tim swung his staff downward, "Oh no you don't"

Volcaneus dropped the cinder into the canon chamber and raised his mace to block the attack, "Too slow" he flung his canon hand forward to load the chamber and fired it.

Tim managed to move just in time for the cinder to barely graze his chest-plate.

Volcaneus slid his mace down Tim's staff and it the same time twisted the handle of his mace activating a mechanism that resulted in the smooth sphere to sprout metal spikes.

Tim instinctively moved backwards but wasn't fast enough to avoid the spikes completely, a few sliced his face.

Volcaneus then swung his mace horizontally.

Tim back flipped to gain some breathing room. He had 3 slash marks on his face that were oozing blood, if he didn't react when he did Tim would have been a goner.

Volcaneus chuckled, "The goddess of wisdom must be awfully disappointed that her child is being outsmarted"

Tim frowned, 'He can talk all he wants he's still gonna lose'

Volcaneus loaded another cinder into his canon.

Right as he was about to fire it Tim threw one of his tiny explosives into the canon.

The canon exploded into little pieces.

Volcaneus shrugged off the explosion, "No matter" he ran at him and swung his mace upwards.

Tim blocked with his staff but was still knocked up a few feet.

Volcaneus then swung his mace, aiming for his opponent's feet.

Tim reached into his belt and threw a bunch of explosives.

They exploded all around him, creating some smoke, and making him take a step back.

Tim landed on his feet and waited to see what effect it had on him.

The smoke cleared, revealing Volcaneus to be relatively unharmed, apart from his hair being even more singed.

Volcaneus then laughed hard, "You use fire against a son of Vulcan?!" He said amusingly, "You must be the dumbest demigod I've ever met"

Tim grew an irritated look.

Dean looked at Timto see how he would react to this. He saw no malice in his eyes, nor bloodlust. Just a desire to end his fight quickly.

"I work near the strong flames of the forge, your toys have no effect on me" Volcaneus claimed.

"Fireproof huh?" Tim dug into his belt, "Let's test that" he threw a glass vial.

The vial was too small and moved too fast for Volcaneus to avoid or block it.

The vial then shattered on the side of his face, splashing yellow-greenish liquid all over him.

Volcaneus looked at the liquid that was all over him in confusion, "Is this supposed to make me slip?" He laughed.

As Volcaneus laughed his head instinctively fell back. A single spark flew out from the cinders behind him, landed on his head, and in seconds his body bursted into wild green flames with a mini explosion.

Volcaneus screamed at the top of his lungs as the emerald flames melted his flesh. He flailed around in a mindless panic as he wailed.

Everyone stood there in complete silence as they watched with wide eyes.

Tim then thrusted his staff through Volcaneus' skull to put him out of his misery, "Who's dumb now asshole?" He pulled his staff out and the body dropped, still burning.

Tim faced his teammates.

"Yes!" Jon shouted in excitement.

Joey looked up at the massive teen in fear, why does he get excited at the sight of brutality?

"That's greek fire" Lily said recognizing it.

"How did you learn to create it?" Billy asked with a hint of fear.

"I discovered the key element, Chlorine trifluoride, the most flammable substance on earth" Tim said.

The group moved on, leaving a pile of smoking ash where a body use to lay.

Dean recalled reading about that during his studies, "It can burn through a foot of concrete and set sand on fire beneath it before burning out"

Tim nodded, "It's so dangerous even the Nazis thought it was best to leave it alone"

"And that didn't make you think you should too?" Dean asked curiously.

Tim shrugged, "Not really" he said nonchalantly.

Dean admired his friend for being daring but this sort of mentality could lead to something bad, "You know there are some things that we're not—"

Tim rolled his eyes, "I don't wanna hear the 'man was not meant to meddle' medley"

"Just be careful" Dean said feeling concerned.

Author's note: I haven't given up! lol no but really, its been a while. I'm gonna do my best to finish this part before august, until then enjoy!