Chapter 18
When Percy opened his eyes again he had to blink out the bright light that nearly blinded him. His awareness returned slowly as he took in the white walls around him, and realized he was in the medicus. The son of Neptune had been here many times before, but never for anything too serious. He knew he was in one of the emergency operating rooms, and wondered how bad the injuries he sustained were. He didn't feel beat up. His head was hurting as if Mars were hitting him with a baseball bat, but other than that it wasn't so bad. As he took in his surroundings he noticed at the foot of his bed were a mountain of cards, assorted candies, and even a six pack of bottled cokes sitting there waiting for him.
As he began to stir and attempt to sit up the machines he was hooked up to started beeping, and not even a full minute later did a familiar beautiful brunette spill into the room. The girl's smile lit up as soon as she saw him, "Percy you're awake!"
Gwen was standing there in dark purple scrubs. Her blonde hair was pulled back, and she immediately went over to the machines silencing the call alarms. Going to work she wrapped a blood pressure monitor around his arm saying, "People have been holding off the celebrations for nearly three days. We knew you had overexerted, but the longer you were out the more serious we feared it was. Not many people have the kind of power you do, and when we questioned Jason about his overexertion he said he had never passed out from it before. What you did out there was nothing short of amazing. The Praetors, and the senate have both met, and the people are demanding you be given medals among other honors to thank you for what you did."
Percy looked around the room as he recalled his final stand off with the Trojan Sea Monster and the damage it had brought to the Golden Gate Bridge. Percy asked hoarsley, "How many did we lose?"
She quickly fetched him water, and her smile never left her face, "Percy we didn't lose anyone. All legionnaires fully accounted for."
He let out a sigh of relief, but knew it wasn't just them that had been affected by the battle, "What about the mortals?"
The smile slipped off her face briefly, "It wasn't good, but honestly it could've been a lot worse. No one blames you. In fact the death toll most people were guessing made people down right thankful for your intervention."
"How many was it Gwen?" Percy asked a little more snappily than he meant too.
She sighed pulling up a seat looking at him sadly, "Thirty five dead, three hundred injured. The only ones who died were ones that fell into the water where the Trojan Sea Monster's impact broke the bridge. Percy when the Cypress Street Viaduct collapsed in the 80's 42 people died. A monster came from Tartarus, and broke apart the bridge during seven o'clock rush hour and thirty five died. It's nothing short of a miracle, and honestly probably a bit of Olympian intervention."
Percy stared at her feeling a cold grip in his stomach. Thirty five people would never get to go home because he failed to kill the monster in his first attack. He wanted to be sick, but she put a soft hand on his arm, and leaned over giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Percy, what you did was above and beyond what anyone here would have expected. Jason, Bianca, and Mark told the story. You fought the creature in the waters, got smacked around, used all your energy, came back, and still had the power to finish it off. Had you not done what you did, and the monster had been allowed to breach the Little Tiber this death count would've been in the thousands. You saved New Rome. You saved us all."
Percy felt his cheeks warm at the contact, but said nothing for a few moments, "My trident...It broke during the battle didn't it?"
Gwen gave him a sad smile, "Broken beyond repair I am afraid. Jason took it to your fathers shrine, and left it on the altar."
He stared at the ceiling feeling pretty beaten but his Centurion never removed her hand from his arm, and he was thankful for the support. After a few minutes of silence she patted him on the cheek, "I need to go tell Jason, and Bianca that you are awake. They have been by to check on you at nearly every hour of the waking day. I have been here with you for three days myself, and Jason has assumed control of the fifth in the meantime. Our members of the cohort demanded it, and I agreed to it easily. Jason is more than capable, and it allowed me to keep a close eye on you in case it was necessary."
Percy blushed at this, and noticed for perhaps the first time the woman's cheeks also burned a little pink at her own words. He gave her a nod of thanks, and leaned back in the bed relaxing as she exited the room.
His mind replayed the final moments of his battle with the Trojan Sea Monster, and shuddered at the memory of entering the creature's mouth, and penetrating straight through the beast. He hardly remembered his fall to the ocean at all, but knew once he was there he would've been safe. He briefly wondered if someone pulled him from the water or if he had been floated to shore by his father or brother. He didn't lie alone long as Jason was the first to arrive, "Thank the gods you are awake!"
Jason was decked out in his officers armor looking a little more golden than usual. It was clear this had been one of his scores from Charleston, because Percy distinctly remembered Jason having a regular set of armor like the rest of the legionnaires, "Are you finishing a war game or something? What's with the full armor?"
Jason shrugged, "Praetor's order. He commanded a full round the clock cohort watching the borders of New Rome. It was our turn, and I left Dakota in charge to come see you. Bianca shouldn't be far behind. She was just further down the line and waiting for the message to cross over."
"Is there any news? We learned up on Pikes Peak that the enemy was basically rising in our backyard, but we didn't know what that meant."
Jason rolled his shoulders, "We have been sending small groups of scouts out into the city, and the rest of the bay area, but no one has reported back anything significant yet. This was only yesterday the orders got handed down to the legion though so it could be a few days."
Percy nodded at this contemplating the new information, but he was distracted by Jason picking up the cokes, "Lauren the legacy of Venus that runs the convenience store we like gave me these for free, and said, this is a direct quote by the way 'tell Percy he should come visit me sometime soon.' Then something about heroes, rewards, and her being thankful."
Percy's mouth dropped. Lauren's family owned the convenience store in New Rome, and he had known her for a long time. She had just retired into the city last year to take over the family business. She had to have been at least Gwen's age if not older. Percy remembered the girl being very attractive, but was pulled out of those thoughts as Bianca barreled into the room, "Percy!"
She surged forward and brought the boy into a hug being careful not to hit him with her armor. As soon as they separated as she bopped him on the head with an open hand, "You idiot! You left us standing on the shore not even letting us catch our breath before you went and kamikaze the stupid thing. I asked you not to kill it like Hercules did, and here we are with me having mental trauma of you going through its mouth."
"Bad ass idea by the way. Way better than the way Hercules did. No way I'd let any monster swallow me." Jason said with a huge grin. Bianca was glaring at him, but said nothing further.
At this point Gwen came back in with a smile, "Well Percy if you can stand on your own two feet I have no problems with letting you go. You had minor burns on your arms, and cheeks but I patched both those up with no problems. I doubt you will have more than a small scar. Whatever armor you were wearing must've been incredible to have withstood so much poison."
Percy's hand shot to the necklace he was wearing, and found the little helmet magnetically attached. Bianca chimed in at his look of relief, "We weren't honestly sure how to get it off you at first. We managed to get your helmet off though, and the rest of it seemingly dissolved off your body. It was pretty awesome."
The others nodded in agreement, and Percy swung his feet off the bed. He felt a little shaky at first, so Jason came to stand by him as he rose to his feet. When he managed it he grinned at Gwen, "Thanks for taking care of me doc. I'll bring a bag by in a little bit for all this."
She smiled at him easily making his heart skip a beat, "Well I couldn't have you dying before our date. Barring another unforseen end of the world event I expect dinner, and a movie Saturday night as promised. That's an order Optio Jackson. Also be prepared for a senate meeting as early as tomorrow. Could be an exciting meeting."
The smile on her face grew as his did at the word date, and he gave her an easy salut taking his dismissal with a huge smile.
As word spread around that he was awake many people came to congratulate, and even thank him. Many in the other cohorts who had once shamed him were now greeting him with smiles. Percy wanted to be angry that people could turn their opinion so fast, but realized holding grudges would do him no good, and that this was a nice change of popular opinion. He was offered free food, drinks, snacks, and armaments in the city as he walked side by side with Jason and Bianca to report to the Praetors.
Arriving at the Principia the two guards from the first cohort stopped them, and one went to announce their arrival. Jason had been told that he, Bianca, and Percy would need to report to the Praetors as soon as they were all able to be together, and here they were answering the call.
The Principia was a two story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank. Over the doorway, hung a big purple banner with gold letters reading SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath. Percy had been summoned to this building many times by the Praetor's asking him to explain his actions against past bully situations, but each time he always walked away scotch free. He was wondering if today was going to be the day that ended his good luck streak. He knew after all why they were being summoned, and why it had to be all of them together.
When the guard from the first came out, and told them to go inside they found themselves face to face with both Praetors and Michael Kahale the Primus Pilus of the Legion. None of them looked thrilled by their arrival, but at least Mark gave them a slight smile indicating he was happy to Percy alive and well.
The three each gave a salut and stood at attention, until Cassie spoke, "At ease legionnaires, Officer Grace."
The three all relaxed slightly when she continued speaking, "My fellow Praetor brings me disturbing news. So disturbing that I dare not leave the decision to the two of us. I brought a tie breaker vote in here, and seeing as Primus Pilus Kahale is the third highest ranking officer in the legion we may need his services if we don't all come to an accord."
It was clear the word accord was used because she already disagreed with what had been put forth. Jason looked informed of what was going on as he stepped forward, and Percy was grateful that Bianca had filled him in, "I am not sure if there is much to discuss Praetors. Our orders came from Olympus."
Cassie's eyes narrowed, "We may be an army of Olympus, but that does not mean we bend the knee to our ancient enemies."
Jason shook his head, "I never suggested to bend the knee, and I know none of my cousins did either. In fact if I understand the standing order from Olympus is that we merely hold a ceasefire with the Greeks until the war is over. After that we can reconvene, and decide the best course of action."
Michael grunted at his words, but he didn't back down, "These orders came from my father himself. Percy may not have had the right to say how it was going to be, but I am an officer in this legion, and my father is King of the Gods. I have never once in my eight years of service played that card, but today we have to do what is best for Rome, Olympus, and our very way of life. I can't tell you how many times Percy and I were warned on our journey of the danger this secret would bring. If Lord Jupiter says we are not to engage in open warfare with our Greek counterparts until the war with Saturn is over then I have to throw every bit of weight and support I can manage from such an order because I see its wisdom."
Percy was surprised to see Jason speak to his superior officers that way. He had never seen Jason be anything, but the perfect Roman. He wasn't sure if this was Jason stepping into the leadership role he always knew he could, or if his best friend was just absolutely adamant about how the legion would handle the Greek situation. The Praetors too seemed surprised by Jason's outburst, but neither said a word for long moments. Michael seemed interested in the decision, but Mark spoke, "If the Augur ever finds out we all knew this secret, and didn't inform the legion he could have us all brought to trial."
Everyone's eyes went to Michael at this. They all knew Octavian was his sponsor in the legion all those years ago, but he grunted, "He won't hear it from me. The way I see it is if the King of the Gods demanded it that should've been the end of the conversation. You have my vote Praetors."
Percy finally spoke, "None of us like this. I would happily lead a force against the Greeks and crush them underfoot like we did in ancient times, but we have larger problems. What if we deploy a strike force, and this enemy that is supposedly in our backyard decides to strike. With a divided legion we could easily crumble under the weight of our enemies. The risk reward is too great."
Mark looked at Cassie crossing his arms, "What do you think Cas?"
She stared at Percy looking troubled, but finally said, "I don't know how long the coming conflict will last, or how long I will remain in office, but if I am still Praetor when this war is over we will be having another meeting about this."
Jason sighed, "There is something else. I haven't had a chance to discuss it with Percy or Bianca, but while we are having an honest hour...Luke is still alive."
Percy and Bianca both stared at him in shock, while the other three only looked partially aware of what he said. Bianca was the first to speak, "That's impossible. I ran him through with a sword. He was bleeding to death when we left him on top of the Empire State Building."
Jason shook his head, "I saw him on the Princess Andromeda. He was standing with a sarcophagus that I suspect belonged to Saturn. He was praying before it, and begging for his forgiveness."
Mark asked, "This Luke he was the one who stole Jupiter's master bolt?"
Percy nodded, "Yes, and he was a very gifted swordsman. He fought off Jason, Bianca, and I all at once. This was obviously before Bianca had much training, and he did have the master bolt, but still fighting off three children of the Eldest Gods is something I doubt many immortals could do."
The three senior officers nodded all having witnessed personally the prowess of the three demigods before them. Bianca shook her head, "My brother is in danger if that psychopath is alive. He knows who we are and what we look like."
Percy put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay B. My father promised his safety. We will keep an eye out for Luke when we are out in the mortal world, and if we come across him again we will make sure to remove his head from his shoulders and see how he gets up from that."
Michael spoke for the first time, "Something about this isn't right. If you ran this demigod through he shouldn't still be breathing. Something powerful saved him, and it had to be something with God level power."
This thought troubled everyone in the tent, but Mark shook his head, "We can't control anything further on this topic. As Centurion Jackson suggested we will merely have to keep our eyes and ears open to see if we can capture the Graceus, and execute him for War Crimes. Now let us speak about something else. Percy it has already been decided among myself and the senior officers that Jason, Bianca, and yourself will be granted a Phalarae for service to the legion, but as you are the one who defeated the monster we have another gift for you, and your father."
At this everyone smiled a little except Percy who had no idea what was going on, "Praetor?"
Mark grinned at him, "Perseus Jackson in honor of defeating the Trojan Sea Monster the senior officers and I have decided to grant you officer status. You will lead a force of twenty legionnaires, and pegasi into battle where we may require an aerial assault team. The Pegasi Corps is something that hasn't been used in a long time, but as your father gifted the legion these creatures, and you can speak with them there was no better man for the job."
Cassie then spoke following Mark up, "On the totem pole you are just below Jason, and Gwen as far as senior officers go. You should also know that if we are not using aerial forces then you will fight beside your cohort to the best of your ability, but we will respect your rank as an officer if that were to happen. You will be able to select an optio of the Pegasus Corps in case you are downed in battle, or we have other assignments for you."
Percy dropped his head into a bow, "Praetors you honor me greatly, thank you."
"Well we aren't done yet Centurion Jackson." Mark said easily. Percy rose his head to meet the eyes of the Praetors, and both were clearly now happy with the news they were bringing next. Cassie spoke, "Your father has been a great help to New Rome in the last year. Last year he provided yourself and Centurion Grace transportation on the quest to retrieve the Master Bolt. He provided insight to our quest to bring the chariot full of weapons back to camp, and then he gifted us nearly two dozen pegasi to work with. These gifts cannot go unanswered. The honor of Rome is on the line." Percy stared at the two in confusion, but Cassie kept talking, "My fellow Praetor brought to my attention that the shrine of Neptune is not exactly acceptable for that of an Olympian who has done so much to aid us. Therefore tomorrow we will put a bill forward in the Senate to construct a new Temple for Lord Neptune."
The words were said, but it took several long moments for them to compute in his brain. With time however he fought back the tears that were forming in his eyes, and dropped to a knee, "My family thanks you Praetors. This is something I planned on working towards my whole life."
Mark spoke easily, "Rise Percy." He stepped closer to the son of Neptune and put a hand on each of his shoulders, "You did Rome a great service the other day Percy. Our city very well may have crumbled without you. You told me your aspirations there on top of Pikes Peak, and I thought they were excellent, but I also thought you should strive for so much more. This is the legions way of thanking you, and your father for the aid he has brought to us."
Percy couldn't help it, he surged forward and embraced the Praetor happily! The man chuckled and clapped him on the back as they separated. He turned to Cassie smiling at her and holding out his arms, and she rolled her eyes coming forward embracing the boy. Percy turned to Jason and Bianca hugging them both, and turned to Michael with a grin, but the large man stuck a hand out, "We don't need to hug. Congratulations Centurion Jackson."
The two decided to shake hands and Mark clapped again, "Percy have an optio selected for when we swear you in tomorrow. We will confirm everything in the senate. Good work Centurion take the rest of the evening off you have earned it."
A series of saluts were given, and the son of Neptune walked out with his friends sporting the biggest smile any had ever seen on him.
(A/N) A chapter that is only beginning to set the stage for what comes in essentially part two of this story. I thought it was fairly well written, and I would appreciate feedback, and even suggestions of what you all may like to see in the coming chapters!
To answer some reviews:
Koi (Guest account): CombatTombat and I have spoken, and we concurred that there are enough similarities in his story that I was happy to give him some credit for ideas I certainly pulled from his story. However the last chapter was not one of those copy moments. The legends from Mythology is what both of us pulled from how Percy defeated the Trojan Sea Monster, because as I said, that's how HERCULES did it. The idea of fighting the Trojan Sea Monster is neither of our ideas either, because Jason Grace says that he defeated the creature with his bare hands in The Lost Hero. Which is where both of us got several ideas of the timeline from. I love the Imperator series, and yes I pulled some ideas from Combat, but nothing in that last chapter was from his ideas.
To AgellosIsAngel: You are most certainly correct that there are no trained Pegasi Riders in New Rome in the original story except Scipio. However that is one of the changes this story brings from Canon! Since Percy has such a relationship with his father Neptune gifted these already trained Pegasi to the legion. At that point it would be no different from you going horseback riding on a ranch, you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride ;)
To Redlox2: You bring up a great point about the oath, but I can't tell you the answer yet, because its going to play a HUGE part in the Last Olympian timeline of this story. Great catch though.
As always thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and has followed this story. I just finished chapter 35, so I am still about 3-4 months ahead, and will continue to bring you updates every 7-8 days depending on my schedule! Cheers my friends, and see you next week.
PS In the timeline I am finishing up the Battle of Labyrinth in Chapter 35, so LOTS of ground to cover to get there.
