Chapter 2: A Test of Might
Well, this is becoming a rip off of the Perseus: Son of Vesta series.
Third Person POV
"First, Dakota, son of Bacchus and Centurion of the Fifth Cohort!" Jason announced. A guy in Roman armor, walking like a drunken man and holding a golden sword came in. He was also carrying a flask of Kool-Aid.
"Dude, don't come in a fight drunk." Nero remarked.
"Where's your armor, man?" Dakota asked.
"No need." the son of Vesta replied, drawing Red Queen with his left planted the sword on the ground and revved up. Orange flames burned Red Queen, shocking the crowd until they died down.
"Begin!" Reyna ordered.
Dakota charged first at a fast pace. Nero didn't seem to care, so when he was at striking range, the son of Vesta swatted his opponent's sword away with Red Queen as if it was anybody's business. The son of Bacchus let his jaw drop in awe. Nero kicks him in the gut and places Red Queen's blade near his throat.
"Yield?"
"I...I yield." he struggled to say, probably too drunk with Kool-Aid to speak straight.
Snickers were heard from the first and second cohorts. Dakota got up and walked away. Reyna held her hand up to silence the crowd.
"Next, we have Gwen, daughter of Ceres and centurion of the Fifth Cohort!" Jason announced.
The Fifth Cohort started cheering loudly. Gwen was average height with brown hair and black eyes. She was holding an Imperial Gold spear while her gladius was sheathed.
"You have an odd arsenal, to be honest." Gwen said.
"I hope you're ready." the son of Vesta replied, resting Red Queen on his shoulder. Gwen instantly saw the labels on the sword unlike Dakota.
"Your sword's name is 'Red Queen'." she muttered.
"Begin!" Reyna signalled the duel to start. The daughter of Ceres charget Nero with her spear. The son of Vesta grabbed his opponent's pilum with his left hand, pulled her closer, and quickly jump kicked her in the face, disarming Gwen.
"You don't really fight like a Roman, Mr. Redgrave." she remarked.
"I like to make my own techniques. Yield?" Nero asked, pointing the spear at Gwen. Suddenly, she kicked the pilum's spearhead off the handle and stood up instantly. Nero grumbled, dropped the broken spear and reached for his main sword again. The daughter of Ceres lunged with her sword but its blade clashed with Red Queen's Adamantine-mortal steel-Stygian Iron blade. A few seconds later, Gwen was disarmed and Nero had his sword on her neck.
"Now do you yield?" he asked.
"I yield."
"Next, we have Leo Valdez, son of Vulcan and centurion of the Fourth Cohort!" Jason announced.
An average height and build Latino boy with a grin on his face confronted Nero. The son of Vulcan pulled out two ballpeen hammers from his tool belt. He set them on fire afterwards.
"Two can play at the fire game, y'know?" Leo said.
"Very well. Let's play." the son of Vesta replied, revving up Red Queen and wrapping its blade in orange flames.
Reyna didn't waste her time to start the duel. She signaled the duel to begin and both Nero and Leo lunged at each other. The son of Vulcan swung his hammers constantly but his opponent dodged like it was no problem. He later swings Red Queen and disarmed Leo of both hammers.
"Yield?"
"Yeah. I yield." the son of Vulcan nodded. Red Queen's flames dispersed into harmless sparks.
"Next, we have Frank Zhang! Son of Mars, Legacy of Neptune, and centurion of the Third Cohort!"
Nero tensed a little when Jason said "Neptune".
'Neptune...Poseidon...Camp...Annabeth...that cheating b****!' he thought.
A young man with the face of a baby and the body of a pro wrestler appeared, holding a bow clumsily.
"Begin!" Reyna announced.
Frank wasted no time nocking an arrow and firing. Nero caught them midair with his left hand, shocking the crowd. When Frank drew a hydra arrow and fired, The son of Vesta drew Blue Rose and shot it while it was buzzing towards his chest.
Again, the crowd seemed surprised at his capability to shoot a double barreled revolver without any problem. Nero stored his gun and drew Red Queen and ran towards Frank. The son of Mars suddenly turned into an elephant, making Nero jump back to his original spot. Elephant Frank charged at the son of Vesta.
"Might as well." he groaned as he took off his sling.
Jason's, Reyna's, Octavian's, and the mouths of everyone in the crowd hung open at the sight of Devil Bringer. Elephant Frank didn't seem to mind and continued charging at Nero. He charged and pushed the demonic arm into the air. A large spectral arm slammed into the son of Mars palm first. Frank was stopped dead in his tracks before Nero made a move and the large arm twisted, causing the elephant to crash to the ground. He turned back to normal after.
"Yield?"
"I yield."
There were silent murmurs throughout the crowd about Nero and his right arm. Jason and Reyna were the first to snap from their trance.
"Well...that was...cool to be honest." the son of Jupiter muttered. Reyna decided to make the announcement instead of Jason.
"Anyway, next one! We have...(sigh)...Larry, son of Mars and centurion of the second cohort."
Reyna sounded unenthusiastic when she said that.
Soon enough, a brown haired and buff man with pitbull eyes and a smug look on his face appeared, holding a spear.
'Huh. He reminds me more of Matt Sloan that Ares.' Nero thought.
"Your test ends here, demonic...armed...freak." Larry sneered. The son of Vesta grew angrier. Clearly, he didn't like this guy's attitude.
"Oh really? I'm still standing, y'know? And for your information, pal, your father and Lady Minerva are my patrons."
"Just because you're a son of Vesta and our dad's champion doesn't mean you're so tough. Besides, all those other centurions you fought were rubbish!" Larry's bro, Jake shouted.
Gwen, Leo, and Frank wanted to shove their weapons up their butts. Octavian snickered a little but was silenced by Jason and Reyna.
"Well, if you two think you can beat me then you're dead wrong. You two against me. I won't be using my powers or any of my weapons." the son of Vesta challenged, picking up his sling and putting Devil Bringer back in it.
"This idiot's got a deathwish, eh?" Jake snickered, joining Larry as both drew spears.
"Are you okay with this, Nero?" Jason asked the son of Vesta.
"Let's just get this over with. These egotistical idiots should learn their place." he replied.
"Begin." Reyna groaned.
Both Larry and Jake charged at Nero with their spears up. The son of Vesta also charged as well, surprising some of the Romans. When he was near enough, Nero jumped and landed a drop kick on Jake's face. He launched back to the ground while the son of Ares went flying. Larry thrusted at Nero's face with his spear.
"Stand still, fool!" the son of Mars yelled. His opponent caught the pilum with his left hand and he landed a hard kick on Larry's face, making him stagger. He finishes the fight by smashing the wooden handle of the spear on the jerk's face, knocking him out.
"Seriously? This is the might of the Second Cohort? I expected more than just a bunch of idiots." Nero muttered.
"Wow...and they were in the Second Cohort." Jason commented.
"He didn't even use any sword or gun or even the...special arm." Reyna agreed.
The crowd was shocked at how Nero Redgrave, son of Vesta, champion of Mars and Minerva, was able to defeat two egotistic sons of Mars with only one hand and his feet.
"Looks like I kicked a little too hard." Nero remarked, making much of the crowd laugh, including Jason and Reyna. Some fauns arrived to get them to the infirmary. The son of Vesta took off his sling again and put it away in a pocket on his coat.
"Okay...that was kinda funny!" Jason exclaimed before regaining himself. "Anyway, next, we have Piper McLean, daughter of Venus and centurion of the First Cohort!"
A beautiful, part-Native American girl with chocolate brown hair and kaleidoscopic eyes appeared, looking confident.
'Holy crap, she's a knockout.' the son of Vesta thought before regaining himself.
"Begin!" Jason announced.
Neither Nero nor Piper moved from their spots, confusing the crowd.
"Drop your weapons on the floor and surrender." the daughter of Venus said confidently. Nero was starting to be tempted to do what she just said. Clearly, Piper has charmspeak. To everyone's shock, when Nero was about to drop Red Queen, he just sheathed it back in and drew Yamato with his right hand.
"Persuasive, aren't we? Sorry, pal but, not gonna work." the son of Vesta taunted.
"N...No one other has ever resisted her charmspeak before, other than Jason and I." Reyna muttered.
"H...How?" Piper asked her opponent.
"Well, there's a first time for everything. Anything else you got?" Nero asked, pointing Yamato at the centurion.
Piper drew two golden daggers, held them backhand style and charged. The son of Vesta met her daggers with his mysterious katana. While all of his other weapons were made by Vulcan himself, Yamato was merely found by Minerva in a tomb. It was given to him because it radiated an energy similar to Devil Bringer. Anyway, Piper was graceful and deadly with her daggers but Nero suddenly slashed at her right one. And no, it didn't fly out of her hands, its blade was cut off clean.
"Oh...whoops." the son of Vesta muttered, looking guilty.
The daughter of Venus attacked with her other dagger but was blocked and soon enough, Yamato was on her neck.
"Yield? And sorry about the dagger."
"I yield." Piper sighed. "You got a dagger to spare?"
"Sadly, no."
With a huff, the daughter of Venus left.
"I have to swing a little softer next time." Nero muttered as he sheathed Yamato.
"And finally, we have Octavian, legacy of Apollo and centurion of the First Cohort!"
The son of Vesta beamed instantly. This was his chance to make the arrogant augur know his place. Said augur smirked with pride and was holding a golden sword. Nero twirled Blue Rose a little before storing it and chuckling a little bit.
"Hey, Jason, how is he a centurion?" he asked.
"He has friends, okay!" the son of Jupiter replied.
"No weapon?" Octavian asked.
"Don't care. You're goin' down, pal." the son of Vesta threatened, giving the augur the "bring it on" gesture with Devil Bringer. The entire crowd started laughing. Octavian's face flushed red with anger and embarrassment.
"Prepare to lose you insufferable graecus!"
Nero didn't flinch or anything. He already abandoned his ties to the Greeks, so the word "graecus" didn't mean anything to him, though no one knows who he really is yet.
"Rabidus canis (crazy dog)." the son of Vesta coldly muttered.
"Begin!" Jason announced.
Octavian charged first. The augur screamed wildly while raising his sword, ready to strike. When the son of Vesta was close enough, he swung but he just raised Devil Bringer at the sword's direction. The sword suddenly flew out of Octavian's hands as it struck the demonic arm. Jason, Reyna, and all the centurions were snickering a little. Nero punched the augur's gut with Devil Bringer. The force sent Octavian flying. Everyone seemed shock to see the son of Vesta keeping up with how fast the augur flew. He grabs Octavian's leg with Devil Bringer, pulled the augur towards him, held his arm with his regular hand, and slammed Octavian onto the ground with Devil Bringer.
"Yield? Or do I have to beat the living crap out of you?" Nero hissed, raising Devil Bringer and threatening to give him a school bully beat up.
Octavian nodded vigorously, screaming "I yield! I yield!"
Everyone started laughing so hard. Even Piper laughed at her fellow First Cohort centurion. Nero chuckled a little before walking back to his original spot. Jason and Reyna couldn't make an announcement since they were also laughing were asses off.
"I...c...c...can't...stop...la...laughing!" the son of Jupiter said between fits of laughter.
"Anyway, anyway." Reyna said, finally finished laughing but still grinning. "Nero Redgrave, son of Vesta and Champion of Mars and Minerva has beaten all the challengers that have faced him!"
Cheers echoed throughout the coliseum. Jason raised his hand to silence the crowd, before making a speech of his own.
"But, Reyna and I will offer him a bonus round! He will face us in single combat!"
Nero raised an eyebrow.
"Do you accept, Nero?" Reyna asked.
"2 on 1? Whatever you say. Let's rock." the son of Vesta replied, smirking.
All the Romans began to cheer as Reyna brandished her spear, and Jason pulled out a golden coin. He flicked it into the air and when it landed on his hands, it was a pure gold sword.
'Reminds me of Riptide...' the son of Vesta thought before snapping back to reality. He drew both Red Queen and Yamato.
"Just kicking it up a notch. Shall we begin?"
"We begin now!" Jason announced as he lunged at Nero with Reyna. The son of Jupiter's sword clanged with Yamato, and the spear of the daughter of Bellona met Red Queen's dark metal blade. Nero pushed their weapons aside and attacked Reyna first, snapping her spear in half with Yamato, then swinging Red Queen. Reyna dodge rolled and drew her gladius. Jason attacked again, this time, his sword sparked with blue lightning. Nero set his much larger sword on fire then parrying it with said sword. Reyna attacked while the son of Vesta was distracted. She swung her sword at Yamato and to everyone's shock, successfully disarmed Nero.
"I guess I've been playing around for too long." the son of Vesta coolly said, sheathing Red Queen.
He ran for Yamato while blocking Reyna's sword with Devil Bringer and dodged an electric sword slash from Jason. Nero successfully grabs Yamato, grabs the sheath, and enters some kind of stance. He closed his eyes, lowered his legs a little, his right hand on a sheathed Yamato's handle, and his left on the sheath. This confused the praetors.
"Uh...what should we do, Jason?" Reyna asked.
"I don't know! Charge? Wait?" the son of Jupiter replied, confused. Both shrugged and charged at Nero. When the son of Vesta opened his eyes, they became glowing red briefly before changing back to blazing orange. He suddenly disappeared in a blue flash. Jason and Reyna stopped, dumbfounded.
"Did he just leave?" the daughter of Reyna asked her fellow praetor.
"No. I still sense his precense. Back to back!"
Their backs touched as they scanned the arena. Jason and Reyna were clearly blushing as they did so. The entire crowd tensed as they searched every inch of the arena for the son of Vesta. Nero reappeared right in front of Reyna. He swung Yamato in a flash and disarmed her. Both praetors fell on the ground, each yelping. Nero wasted no time threatening them with Yamato and Red Queen.
"Yield?"
"Yield."
The crowd gaped in awe and fear at how one recruit was able to beat both praetors with ease. Reyna and Jason stood up and patted Nero on different shoulders.
"You're officially the coolest person I've ever met, Nero." the son of Jupiter said.
Reyna turned to the crowd.
"Romans! The recruit has surpassed us praetors and all select centurions! Ave, Nero Redgrave, son of Vesta, Champion of Mars and Minerva! Senatus Populusque Romanus!"
Instantly, everyone chanted for Nero, who grinned, now finding a family that will never forget him.
An hour later...
An assembly for all five cohorts has been ordered. In front of them stood Jason, Reyna, her peanut butter pegasus, Scipio, Nero, and Octavian.
"Recruit, do you have any references? Letters of-"
Octavian was cut off by a very annoyed Jason.
"Lady Vesta's word and the test he just aced are already enough references, Octavian."
"Anyway, because of the show that he put an hour ago, I would assume that all five cohorts want Nero Redgrave in their ranks. Am I right?" Reyna announced.
"Yes."
"No!" someone yelled. When EVERYONE turned towards the Second Cohort, alas, it was their egotistic centurion Jake. The two praetors raised their eyebrows in curiosity and gave him an extreme "WTF" look.
"Well, I'm assuming that Nero doesn't even want to be in your cohort anyway." Jason said.
Meanwhile, the son of Vesta was looking at Piper with awe and curiosity, though she wasn't paying attention to him.
"Anyway, recruit, which cohort will you choose?" Jason asked.
Nero started thinking about it. It went a little something like this:
'First Cohort means I'll be closer to Piper, but I don't want to be in the same cohort as the teddy bear killer. Centurions of the Second hate me. Third and Fourth? Nah. Fifth needs a lot of help.'
"I choose the Fifth Cohort." the son of Vesta announced.
Cue WTF's in three...
two...
one...
"WHAT?!" pretty much everyone screamed.
"The Fifth Cohort is the worst!" Larry shouted.
"For your information, pal. I beat your sorry asses without any of my weapons or Devil Bringer. Out of all of you, the best fighters I've faced are Gwen, Jason, Reyna, Piper, and to some extent, Frank and Leo. I've made my decision so suck it up."
Leo and Frank looked at each other, and shrugged and nodded. Gwen smiled at what the son of Vesta said. Piper's face flushed red in embarrassment, earning her a weird look from the legionnaires in her cohort.
"My cohort has spoken. We accept the recruit." Gwen said. The Fifth bang their shields loudly in approval.
Jason smiled and turned to Nero.
"Nero Redgrave, the centurion has spoken. You are now a new legionnaire of the Fifth Cohort. And because you've already proven your worth, you're not on probatio. Anyway,"
The two praetors turned to the assembled cohorts.
"Back to work, everyone! Senatus Populusque Romanus!" Jason and Reyna shouted in sync. Everyone present chanted their motto. A few seconds later, the cohorts dispersed and went back to their regular activities, leaving only the two praetors, and the son of Vesta.
"Welcome to the legion." Jason greeted. "Ask Reyna if you have any questions. Once you're done, find Gwen and she'll show you around."
With that, the son of Jupiter walked out. Nero eyed Reyna suspiciously again.
"Okay, you clearly look familiar, Reyna. I don't know how but, you do."
She tensed at what Nero said.
"Okay, you got me. Does C.C. ring a bell?"
"You...you were one of the girls in the spa."
"Well, now I recognize you." Reyna spat. "Why are you here? Are you going to destroy my new home just like what you did with the spa?"
"No. This place is my only home left."
"But what of that girl? Weren't you two close?"
The son of Vesta grew angrier at the slightest mention of the wisdom spawn that cheated on him and cast him out.
"That girl is a total jackass. Ever wondered how it feels to be cheated on and being cast out just because of THIS?!" Nero yelled, raising Devil Bringer. Reyna was shocked by his story.
"I see." the praetor muttered.
"Please don't tell this to anybody. I don't want to be reminded of the past I've hated."
With that final statement, Nero left to find Gwen.