AN: Work has been very hectic the past few months with the last month or so requiring me to be away for an extended period of time with no internet in some cases and the addition of some personal problems didn't help.
I do have another one-shot on the way albeit a bit scuffed and still need to iron out some things. This chapter is admittedly very rough. I've been out for a long while and now, there are no guarantees with the updates so it's going to be sporadic since I have some stuff near the end of the summer.
Aurelius bashed his shield into the flat of the blade aimed for his neck and headbutted the brutish Amazon while also raising his gladius to block the blade aimed for his gut. He ducked and swung his blade in return as Magnus and him fought back to back against the three of them while Hadrian and Darius handled the other two.
Letting out a grunt as a blade nicked his bicep and leaped back to gain space, he brought his shield up to block an elbow and tried sweeping their legs out from under them but had to bring his left leg up to block a kick that had his attacker pulling back in pain from hitting the iron leg-guard.
One of the Amazons that Magnus was fighting managed to land a solid punch on his face, her fist meeting the steel of his cheek guard and sending him stumbling on his feet. Seeing the older centurion momentarily distracted, one of the two Amazons that was fighting Aurelius went to join her sister in trying to take down Magnus, going for what they thought would've been an easy kill.
Magnus smirked as he tightened down the straps of his shield. He dodged a kick aimed at his head and reached out and grabbed the lower leg of the dark-haired Amazon that just tried to kick him and tripped her onto the ground just before he stomped his boot into her gut, knocking the air out of her as the weight came crashing down. He swiped at the downed Amazon in front of him but found himself striking stone instead as she rolled out of the way with a pained grunt and soon found that a moment of respite was granted to her as Magnus found himself busy with her back-up.
Aurelius brought his shield up to block a glancing blow and struck back, narrowly missing his opponent as she stepped to the side and brought her dagger up in response, forcing him on his back-foot as he tried to prevent her from slipping into his guard. The lack of any armor on the Amazons meant that he just had to find the correct timing to punch through their weak spots and he pivoted off of his back foot and flipped her onto her back using his shield
Darius and Hadrian traded opponents every few seconds, never staying still even as they received blows, dodging and rolling themselves into the paths of the opposite opponent, infuriating the would-be-assassins. Darius kicked the tip of his spear towards his opponent, landing a lengthy gash on the cheek as he yanked his spear back suddenly and ducked just as Hadrian's shield came flying into the amber-haired woman's face, disorienting her and making blood flow out of her nose and mouth. The split-second drop in her defense allowed Darius to thrust his spear into her stomach and Hadrian to crack her in the head using his shield.
The crack that resounded from the shield hitting her and the drop of her body onto the cold stone ground had two of the four Amazons staring in horror as the one that Hadrian was fighting stumbled back, narrowly avoiding a spear that almost clipped her on the side of the face, allowing Darius and him to regain ground.
The dark-haired Amazon found herself regretting the lapse in attention as her left knee suddenly caved in backward from where Magnus bashed his shield into it with enough force that it felt like it was shattered.
"Seraph!" one of the females yelled as the now-identified warrior let out a pained cry when Magnus brought her to her knees with a firm armored-hand on her shoulder and held his gladius to her throat.
"Certainly not of the Amazons we've faced before. Much less of a challenge now." Magnus mused with disappointment evident and a slight smirk before silent rage took over. "The brothers I've lost because of your sisters." he whispered in her ear as he drew a thin line of blood that trailed down her neck with the tip of his blade, "How easy it would be for me to avenge my fallen brethren." he added.
Aurelius threw a knee at the jaw of the Amazon that he was fighting with and followed up with a back-kick to the midsection that sent her to the ground before he grabbed her by the back of her head. "Come now, surely we can control our urges until necessary?" he said to Magnus as he smashed her head against the stone ground. "I dare say that you would make your elders ashamed right now." he mentioned as he kneeled and pressed his knee into the Amazon's back, sheathing his gladius and pulling out his dagger in place. He forced her to look up and held it to her throat.
Darius and Hadrian eyed the remaining two with anticipation of their next move.
"I don't believe we've been introduced yet. Have we?" Aurelius asked and he shook his head for them as he wasn't expecting an answer. "Let us rectify that." he said and he gestured towards the one that was currently being restrained by Magnus.
"The one that my brother is currently restraining is named Seraph. We most certainly didn't need your sisters to yell it to know that information, also your sister." he said. He nodded towards the two in front of his brothers, "The big brute that tried to take on my brothers and me is named Alexia and the one next to her is called Serena. The one we just killed was named Ophelia and you. You're Calista." he revealed with precise accuracy that shocked the four remaining females and later gestured to his brethren.
"We're the Gauntlet."
"How did you-"
"We make it our business to know, Amazon." Hadrian said with a sneer. "I would have expected your queen to be a much smarter person but I guess not." he mentioned. "Perhaps it would be wise for us to pay a visit? " he suggested with deadly calm.
"If you think you can get away with killing one of ours and many more following that, perhaps we should return the favor, hmm? I'm sure your queen would just love that." Magnus remarked as he tightened the grip on Seraph's shoulder to the point where her sisters could see her bit down on her tongue to prevent the cry from coming out.
"W-we ar-aren't h-he-here on Hylla's orders." Calista croaked out with difficulty, wary of the blade that was a hair away from ending her if she so much as moved her head an inch to the right.
"Oh? What a surprise to know that." Aurelius said in a voice completely devoid of surprise. He eyed Alexia and Serena, the only two that chose to remain silent through the verbal spat.
"Kill them and let us get on with this." Alexia spoke with a look of disgust aimed at Seraph and Calista. A feeling of anger and disgust ran through her as she couldn't believe that four Romans were besting them. "You three have been nothing but hindrances to the cause." she spat with a look of disdain in her eyes.
"Let us be done with this." Serena said in the same tone and pulled out two knives and threw them. Darius and Hadrian raised their shields to block for their brothers but instead, the knives flew by them and they heard a thunk from behind. With their eyes wide open, Seraph and Calista looked down to see the knives lodged deeply in their chest and the two of them stared at their sisters in horror before their eyes rolled back and bodies fell limp.
Alexia and Serena took off towards the barracks amid the confusion. "GO!" Aurelius barked at Hadrian and Darius, the two of them giving chase immediately.
The two Romans ran faster as the barracks of the fourth and fifth were in view and Darius quickly threw his spear at the evading Amazons and Alexia knocked it out of the air with a kick, infuriating Darius as he unsheathed his gladius. It felt like they wouldn't get to the two in time as there was still some distance to cover when the two of them felt a stirring in their gut and quickly traded a look with each other, nodding to seemingly nothing as they were pulled into the night with a sharp snap.
The sudden lack of armored footsteps from behind both intrigued and concerned the two Amazons and they went to risk a glance back when the sound of a rift-like opening came from in front of them and were back to being face-to-face with black and gold armor once again.
Serena only had a split-second to duck under Hadrian's gladius as he leapt out and attacked with a ferocity that was only matched by the person next to him.
The two Romans once again worked in tandem as they fought hard, preventing the two females from getting to the barracks. Darius deflected a swing with his shield and grabbed her knife-wielding hand of Alexia as she tried to sneak her knife into his offense.
"Hey! Identify yourselves!" The voice of a legionary patrol that unfortunately appeared on the path shouted even as their blades continued to clash. One of them let out a yell as they had to jump to the side to avoid a knife thrown at their throat.
Hadrian raised his shield even as the footsteps of the legionary patrol quickly approached and braced his body against the back of his shield as Serena jumped and kicked at him several times, his body barely budging even though he could tell she put all her force into her kicks.
Darius looked at Hadrian, giving a quick nod and lunged at an exposed opening left by Serena. He batted her dagger away with his hand and swung his gladius upwards as her entire arm was exposed in a split-second. The swing took her left arm down from her elbow clean off as the decapitated limb and she fell to the ground with a flop and let out a pained cry as she held her bloody stump. Her misery was cut short as Hadrian jammed his gladius into the side of her head.
Alexis glanced towards her dead sister and back at her opponents before she reached into a pouch on her waist and threw a smoke pellet at the ground, enveloping the space.
By this time, multiple footsteps and a bell rang throughout the camp as a wave of legionnaires prepared to face them.
"Drop your weapons and identify yourselves!" Adrian shouted from behind a wave of shields as Reyna led a detachment to corner the invaders from behind, only waiting for the smoke to clear to enact their defenses.
When the smoke began to show signs of clearing, everyone waited with bated breath, anticipating the fight that was bound to happen when the smoke dissipated finally and left them with no visible enemy.
"What the-?" Adrian muttered in confusion and concern as Reyna stared at the arm and body that laid on the ground with a feeling of apprehension taking over. She couldn't shake the unexplainable feeling that resided in her gut as she added this to the long list of questions she had. She took a glance at the Romans around her and while she took in the looks of fear, apprehension, wariness, and anger regarding the breach of camp security, she couldn't help but notice that Jason stared off into the distance. She followed his eyes and found him seemingly staring into a dark alley, raising concern and suspicion.
"Secure the camp and search every inch of this place now!" she shouted to everyone before taking a smaller group with her to canvas the area, ridding her head of the thoughts regarding her friend.
Darius and Hadrian hopped out of the dark corridor in the catacombs and were met with a helmet-less Magnus already waiting for them.
"One escaped. The other is dead." Darius informed, already knowing what Magnus was going to ask.
Magnus nodded, "Another time then." he mused with his eyes tightened. He gestured down the corridor with his head, "This way." he said and led them down.
"What of the other two?" Hadrian inquired about the status of the other two Amazons that they fought.
"One is dead and the other is holding on long enough for us to get information that we could use to our advantage." Magnus informed coolly.
The three of them turned a corner and saw Aurelius leaning on a wall, still wearing his helmet as he watched over the chained form of Seraph lying on the ground with her labored breathing filling the small room as her bandages were already stained red once more. Darius and Hadrian took up similar positions to Aurelius as they walked in, side-eyeing the Amazon.
"She's got fight. I'll give her that." Aurelius started with a half-snort and followed with what looked like a pained grimace afterward. The very thought of even complimenting her kind killed him on the inside as he felt like he was being dishonorable to his fallen brothers.
"F-fuck you and your brothers." Seraph spat out despite her current state, proving Aurelius right judging by how he raised his hand in her direction and raised his eyebrows at his brothers.
"See what I mean?"
Magnus kneeled so that he was face to face with her and allowed her to see just who was under the helmet. "You are very lucky. Had two more of my brothers been here, they would have torn you apart. Luckily, Aurelius only mildly hates your kind, so you have him to thank." he said in a low tone as his left hand drifted to the dagger on his belt, noticing how her eyes followed his hand movement. "I'm sure Hylla would just love to deal with you. After all, I'm sure she feels embarrassed that she couldn't keep four measly Amazonians under her control." and with that, Seraph tried to pounce on him but the chains kept her tight and didn't give her much room to move. Her ego made her keep pulling at her chains and got to one foot but Magnus shoved her back down with a hand.
"But before we do that-" Hadrian said as he pushed himself off the wall and stood behind Magnus with his arms crossed, "-You're going to give us all the information you know regarding the plan to eliminate Roman leadership and anything else we think you might be hiding." he said calmly.
"And because one of our wards was a target of yours." Darius mentioned with a frown.
"We simply can't let that slide." Aurelius said with a glare and balled his hands into fists.
Whatever these Roman centurions were going to do to her, it made her wish that she had the guts to return to the Amazons for judgment on her own two feet when she still had the chance but now it seemed like that was no longer an option.
A few hours later
"But everything is alright, correct?" Virtus asked through the Iris message as Zoë and him conversed with the Gauntlet and Jason, receiving updates regarding the foiled assassination attempt.
Aurelius nodded, "Yes, Lord Virtus. We have established control over the situation and are prepared to expand our efforts if necessary." he informed.
"What of the Amazon?" Zoë asked with slight wariness.
"The prisoner is ready to be transported back to the others. We have gotten all we can out of her." Aurelius replied before he relaxed slightly upon seeing the look in her eyes. "Rest assured, my lady, that we have not done anything that goes beyond boundaries or your wishes, Lady Zoë. On that you have my word." he promised with a bow of his head. "I do worry about the involvement of the Amazons, however. While we can handle any threat thrown our way, we feel that their presence will bring more danger to Jason. Not that your nephew isn't a capable warrior but it does need to be brought up."
Virtus looked contemplative and nodded his head, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention and for protecting my nephew."
"It is our honor to do so, Lord Virtus." Aurelius said to him with a grateful nod. "I will, however, request that you consider the possibility of re-assigning two members that are currently meant to protect your daughter to under my command for the duration." he requested politely even though he would much rather keep an equal amount of centurions to both Jason and Thalia for their safety.
"I will discuss with Marius about potential steps regarding the situation. My wife and I will also talk with Bellona regarding the Amazons." Virtus informed with a nod from Zoë as well.
"Understood, Lord Virtus."
"If you wouldn't mind, please put Jason on. We wish to talk to him." Virtus asked and Aurelius nodded once before moving off to the side, seemingly going to get Jason.
Jason appeared on the Iris message a moment later and looked tired with his hair a mess and clothes rumpled.
"Hey." Jason greeted with a yawn at the end and was met with worried eyes.
"How are you?" Virtus asked with concern.
"I'm fine. It's just sleep has been escaping most of us. I just finished up patrol when Magnus came to get me."
"Alright." Virtus nodded. "We won't bother you for too long then."
"If you have time, send an IM to your sister. Let her know you're fine." Zoë suggested and Jason looked confused. Normally whenever something good or bad happened to him, Thalia would usually be the first one told and would be asking to see him.
"You guys didn't tell her?" Virtus shifted on his leg awkwardly at his nephew's question and Zoë took pity on her husband.
"I told her but she might also like to hear it from you as well." she informed.
"Is everything alright at home? With Thalia?" Jason asked with concern and the urge to try to fix things despite being away from home at the moment. It was usually times like these that Virtus felt especially annoyed or irritated by the bond between the siblings but now he just couldn't find it in himself to make a visible reaction.
Virtus remained silent while Jason continued to stare as Zoë patted her husband's shoulder sympathetically.
"Uh…hello?" Guys?" Jason prompted again and Zoë answered.
"Things are admittedly a little…rough with your sister but it's nothing you should worry yourself with." she responded, making Jason raise his eyebrows.
"That's not a very nice-sounding answer or reassuring." he mumbled and Virtus sighed.
"Let us worry about this. You're dealing with the camp as it is." Virtus said. "The next time you're back home, we'll talk. For now, you should get some rest." and closed the Iris message before Jason could respond, making him sigh.
"You just made him worry with that sentence." his wife bluntly pointed out to him with a deadpan stare as he ran a hand down his face.
"I have come to realize that. Thank you for telling me." he replied in a monotone manner and returned her stare only to find himself quickly ducking a slap to his head for that.
Several days later
It infuriated her. It infuriated Reyna to no end as she tried to figure out just what was going on from everything that happened over the past few years and up to now. Aurum and Argentum watched her pace back and forth in her office as if the motion would give her the answer. It didn't help that Adrian gave up before her inquiry into everything started so he was no help whatsoever.
"Reyna, I'm worried about how they got in and not why they got in. With the Senate jumping down our necks for this, we can't be splitting directions here. We got dead legionnaires and an unknown dead female."
When they all did a sweep of the camp, they found two dead patrols on the southeast side of the camp with their throats slit and stab wounds littering their bodies, not even given a chance to defend themselves before it went down and potentially telling them just how the intruders got in.
She ran a hand through her loose hair and walked around to the back of her desk and sat in her chair. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she looked out the window and let the moonlight wash over her as she leaned back in her chair, resorting to staring at the ceiling. She looked at the drawers under her desk and pulled out a small bundle of papers before slipping one out of the rubber band to read.
A knock on her door had her sitting straight and cleared her throat, quickly ridding the papers on her desk and into a drawer next to her before calling them in. "Enter!" she yelled and the door swung open without another delay.
Adrian stepped into the room and gestured outside with his head, "Senate meeting is being called tomorrow morning. You want to prepare?" he asked her.
Reyna nodded and stood up with Aurum and Argentum following her, completely unaware of the two pairs of eyes in her office following her form out nor the bodies that slipped out of the shadows in the corners of the room.
"Well aren't you an inquisitive demigod?" Aurelius muttered.
Seattle, Washington (a week later)
Amazon Compound
"What's going on?"
Multiple pairs of eyes drifted to Hylla, Queen of the Amazons as she just entered the reception area, looking cautious as she wondered what the problem was.
"That." one of the Amazons pointed at a large rectangular box near the door that was standing upright and showing signs of movement from the inside.
"What's even in there?" another asked curiously.
"How did that package arrive without any of you knowing?" Hylla asked with a tilt of her head.
"We have no answer to that."
"Then I guess we'll have our answers once it's opened." Hylla responded and procured a dagger from behind the receptionist's desk. She approached the package much to the concern and alarm of the other Amazons.
"My queen!" the one closest to the box shouted in warning but found herself waved off by Hylla, dismissing the obvious concern they had for their queen.
She knelt by the bottom of the box and ran the blade up the tape binding the flaps together. As the dagger neared the edge of the tape, she took a step back and made the final cut. The sudden lack of binding on the cardboard flaps caused them to burst open and packing peanuts spilled onto the floor along with a tied-up body.
By this time, more Amazons entered the reception area with weapons drawn.
Hylla stared at the body and used her foot to turn them over and she glared with those that stood behind her noting the evident change in her body language.
Seraph's eyes fluttered open and once she saw Hylla, she immediately tried to struggle out of her bonds and received a swift kick to the gut for her actions. Hylla kneeled and pulled the gag out of her mouth, "Well well well. When I imagined seeing you again, this isn't how I imagined it." she said with a stone face.
"M-my q-qu-queen." Seraph stuttered out and the smirk on Hylla's face dropped, replaced with a glare once again.
"Oh? I'm your queen once more? I thought I stopped being that after you tried to kill me?" Hylla responded in mock confusion just as she motioned for the Amazons behind her to step forward. "Take her away. She'll be dealt with accordingly." she ordered with contempt.
Two Amazons walked forward without another word, hoisting Seraph up by her arms and starting to lead her away with the restrained Amazon flailing her legs in every direction to try and break free.
As Seraph was being taken away and the others slowly filed out of the receptionist area, Hylla looked down at the packing peanuts around her feet and noticed a piece of paper lying on the floor. She picked up the piece of paper and turned it around. Her eyes read the line of words, a statement with a promise that kept her on edge.
Either you keep them in line or we will.
Camp Jupiter
"We found these in her office." Magnus told Jason as he handed the papers to him. "Quite a few pages worths as well." he added.
"How long have you had these?" Jason asked with a dry throat. Magnus handed
Jason just stared at what he was just given and looked back at his uncle, "Maybe it's a mistake. It's not from her." he defended weakly as he hung his head.
"We found it in her desk, Jason. It's not a mistake." Hadrian responded with a grimace as he knew how deeply Jason cherished his friendship with the daughter of Bellona.
Aurelius walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "With this, she could become a problem for you. Not for us but for you." he reminded softly as he could understand why Jason was so hesitant in believing them.
Jason's head snapped up, knowing how the Gauntlet took care of problems that affected Thalia or himself. "You're not killing her." he argued fiercely and he saw how Darius and Hadrian looked at him.
"You know that it ultimately wouldn't be your decision. We retain some degree of autonomy with respect to Lord Virtus and if he requests our opinion on this matter, we will give our evaluations and act if asked." Darius reminded with a serious look.
"But out of respect for you, we won't go down that path." Magnus said. "However, you should be aware that had the papers been taken, we would not be talking about this right now and we would have already taken you away from here." he added with a protective look on his face.
"Her position grants her power by itself but being the type of person that she is, people will listen and follow her. If it was discovered that she had her reservations about you even after being a friend of yours for so long, imagine what everyone would do if she saw you as a threat." Aurelius told him gravely.
Jason thought long and hard about his uncle's words. He knew what would happen if he chose to keep secrets from Reyna and while Virtus was the one to suggest it, he was the one to actually keep things from her.
As the week progressed, Jason noticed how Reyna looked anxious, shooting him glances here and there but nothing enough to garner attention from the others and only noticeable to him because of the time he spent with her, knowing well enough to pick up on the signs.
He saw her sitting on a stone bench in the garden of Bacchus with her head in her hands when he slowly exhaled and approached her.
