Chapter II: In Which an Old Rivalry is Born

The explosion surprised Bobby.

He was about to give a lethal cut on this Percy's throat. From the moment he saw Reyna with Percy, he knew that Percy was very different.

For one thing, Percy seemed to walk confidently. Like nothing in the world could ever hurt him. Even when he thought about Percy, he had a sudden urge to humiliate the boy. Percy reminded Bobby of Jason. In addition, he didn't need that.

It was bad enough that Jason went missing a weeks before on his patrol, but now this guy? Bobby was infuriated that he could even get in the borders. The only people that can leave freely were Lupa and Jason.

The explosion threw Bobby and Percy against the walls of the pit. Bobby felt the air leave his lungs with a WHOOSH. He coughed and slid down the walls. Where his sword, Sanguis, used to be was nothing. Oh, this kid is really in for it now.

"Sanguis! You little draco cibum! I'm going to feed to you the drakons!" Bobby yelled. He pulled out a smaller gladius and charged the stunned Percy.

Bobby was surprised when Percy defended himself again. While Bobby had some harsh burns from the explosion, Percy looked unaffected.

Percy's sword was very different, Bobby noted as he and Percy battled intensely. Nearly every time their blades connected, sparks flew. Percy's sword was longer and more bronze in colour. Bobby scowled and fought harder, Mars, if you are listening, please help me win. Bobby prayed to his father as he was beginning to lose.

The longer he and Percy fought, the stronger Percy became. An arrogant glint flashed in Percy's sea-green eyes and he laughed manically. Bobby gritted his teeth as Percy's sword cut his bicep. Who is this kid? He's surpassing me. The explosion didn't affect him at all.

Percy had kicked him in the chest hard enough to lose his breath again. Bobby stumbled and raised his gladius but didn't see the feint. Bobby felt his gladius being knocked from his hand and Percy had somehow reversed the situation. Instead of Bobby being the one on top with the sword against his throat, it was Percy.

Bobby finally tuned in to the environment. His fellow campers were shocked into silence. Bobby was the second best swordsman, well, best now since Jason had disappeared. They all looked at Lupa for some sort of response.

Bobby couldn't stop his heart from beating erratically. Lupa had been in a foul mood since Jason had disappeared. Bobby didn't want to be exiled or worse, be put in a par mortis. Even though they weren't allowed to show any type of physical weakness, Lupa barely tolerated mental weakness now. It was fine to have some sort of mental weakness, like a fear or emotions, so long as it didn't kill you.

Bobby glanced at Percy. Something had changed in his eyes. The arrogant glint was gone. Instead, there was mental weakness, as if Percy was fighting with some inner demon.

Bobby heard Lupa's order in his head. He has passed the test. Treat him as one of us until the next time. He shall stay with the Mercury Centuria until the gods have claimed him.

Percy pulled back and he capped his sword. It turned into a pen, a pen? Just like Jason's sword, Irrational anger filled Bobby as he stood up. Jupiter had given Jason a magical weapon and now this kid had one as well? HE should be the one with a magical weapon. Bobby was the eldest child of Mars and the praetor of the Mars Centuria. Wasn't that good enough for his father?

He glared at Percy. The need to pulverize the kid came back vigorously. He allowed the only person Bobby felt mental weakness for, Gwendolyn, Daughter of Apollo and Praetor of Apollo's Centuria, to approach him.

"Come on Bobby. That cut looks deep." She murmured as she led Bobby away from Percy, taken by Dakota, Son of Mercury and Praetor of Mercury's Centuria.

Bobby glanced at the cut; it was deeper than he thought. "I don't feel pain, Gwen." He tried to give her a smile but he was still furious that he lost.

Gwen glanced back at Percy, who was being overwhelmed by Dakota and his questions. "Don't feel bad, Bobby. He earned the right to stay here."

Bobby walked past the stables, the Pegasi and horses were acting jittery and nervous. It was his centuria's turn for the stables. Bobby scowled, "True. However, something about that boy makes me want to pulverize him. Like he disrespected Mars or something."

They had arrived at the Apollo Tent. It was red-orange like the sun rise. The brightness made Bobby look away. How the Apollo campers could stand the brightness, he couldn't tell. Gwen opened the flap and gestured for Bobby to sit down in the main tent.

First Legion has two groups of tents for each God and Goddess Centuria. The Caput tabernaculum was the 'head tent' where the campers could relax after a hard day of battling, training or chores. You couldn't enter the centuria's Caput tabernaculum area without permission from Lupa or a camper. The Caput tabernaculum were about as huge as a three-room apartment and decorated to honour the centuria's deity. Apollo's Caput tabernaculum had warm furniture, medicine supplies and books. In addition, some instruments that measure solar energy and other sun related stuff plus worktables for healing and archery making. There were some bookshelves of poetry, books on how to predict the future and song writing. A mini refrigerator that supplied endless ambrosia and nectar, that only the Praetors were allowed to open, had appeared. Supposedly, there was one in every Caput tabernaculum. They only appeared in times of need.

As Gwen grabbed some nectar to put over the cut, which had stopped bleeding, she asked, "Do you know why your sword exploded?" Imperial gold was volatile but only with certain substances and pressures.

At the mention of his beloved sword, Bobby scowled deeper. "I don't know. Maybe it has to do with the sword he has. And we were fighting hard. I had never seen a sword made of celestial bronze. Maybe daggers, spearheads, a few arrows..." He trailed off when Gwen started to chuckle.

"What?" He asked indignantly.

Gwen shook her head, "Oh nothing. It's amusing how excited you get over weapons." Was he excited? Even over his new enemy's sword?

Bobby sighed, "I don't like the kid. Something about him is bad news."

Gwen had started to bandage the cut. "You should call him by his name, he has earned the right."

Bobby rolled his eyes, "Whatever, his name is stupid. Who names their kid Percy?" Gwen had started to heal the burns.

"Maybe because of Perseus, Son of Jupiter? You called Jason by his name." Her tone saddened at the mention of Jason.

"Jason was a different reason." Bobby muttered, feeling the jealousy eating at him. Jason, the goody good of First Legion. Bobby felt that he should be the praetor of First Legion. Since he was the eldest son of Mars.

As Gwen put the supplies away, Bobby stood up. "Gwen, I've a bad feeling that this Percy kid had something to do with Jason's disappearance. I want you to promise me that you won't talk to him unless absolutely necessary."

Gwen turned to face him. "Bobby-"

"Promise me on the River Styx." He gently grabbed her shoulder and looked into her sky blue eyes.

Gwen hesitated before nodding. "I promise." Bobby gave her a smile and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Gweny. I guess I should go before Lupa catches us." Gwen nodded and Bobby left. He headed toward the stables. The Pegasi and horses were more nervous and jittery than usual. Bobby sighed and hoped he wouldn't be kicked again.


Percy felt overwhelmed by this kid's rapid procession of questions. "That was so awesome! How did you get a sword like that? What is your sword made of? Does it have a name? How was it like to fight Bobby?"

"What was your name again?" Percy interrupted.

The blonde paused shortly. "My name is Dakota, Praetor of Mercury's Centuria. I'll be seventeen soon."

Mercury? It gave Percy an odd feeling, like accidentally calling someone the wrong name. "Mercury?"

"Yeap! God of Trade, Travellers, Shepherds, Messengers/Messages and Thieves. Don't worry about anybody stealing from you. We only steal from other centuriae."

Percy still didn't feel comforted at the thought of stealing. "Centuria?"

Some of the other campers were whispering when Dakota was leading Percy to their tent. Some had looked angry, awed and suspicious. "A group of each Roman God and Goddess children. Though my centuria has almost been reduced by half."

"Why?" A flash of memories played though his head.

Bathing in dirty, black, painful water.

A face of a beautiful blond saying to him. "You're cute when you're worried. Your eyebrows get all scrunched up together."

Fighting in the middle of a hurricane.

A destroyed bridge.

All of these flashes made Percy's head hurt. It barely lasted a second. "Something must've happened at Olympus. Lupa ordered us to build Caput tabernaculum or head tents and sleeper tents for the minor gods and goddesses. Who knew they had so many children."

Percy felt a surge of pride and accomplishment at that. He wondered why. They had arrived at Mercury's Caput tabernaculum. It wasn't as grandiose as the other tents he saw but it was friendly. The colour, a warm brown, made Percy smile. There were statues of a caduceus, (He had no idea where the name came from) with a rooster, tortoise and a ram that were surrounded it.

Percy was surprised at the illusion the tent gave. It looked like it could hold around ten people but when Dakota opened the flap. It looked like it could hold about three times as much.

There were armchairs and furniture placed everywhere, as if they didn't have the time to find a proper place for them. Behind the maze of furniture, dozens of tables filled with paper and writing utensils. Some of the campers were writing messages and giving it to the smaller kids. Percy was mildly shocked that there were little kids. They looked to be about two or three years old.

"How old are the little kids here?" He felt bad for them as they nursed bruises and cuts.

"Lupa brings them around two or three from their mortal parents. They stay here unless they're exiled or killed." The thought bothered Percy.

Percy's eyes landed on a huge wall of shelves filled with various, useless stuff. He saw a scarf, arrows even a laptop. Dakota noticed. "Oh, that. It's a small thing we do to keep ourselves entertained. A rite of passage is what the other campers think. We steal and put the stuff we're most proud of on the shelf."

"Does Lupa know?"

Dakota gave Percy a mischievous grin. "No."

Percy couldn't help but smile. Dakota reminded him of nostalgic memories. "I'm guessing you're in charge of the messages here as well?"

"Yeap. We give those jobs to the middle-aged kids and the younger ones to keep them busy. We get all kinds of notes; from illegal love notes to chore details."

"Where do you guys sleep?" As far as he know, he saw no beds or bedding in the tent.

"That's out back, come on." Dakota led Percy through the mess and to the back of the tent, he opened the flap and showed him the smaller, one person-sized tents he saw earlier. "Some of them can hold three campers but it's usually one to each tent."

He led Percy to a tent near the Caput tabernaculum "I guess this is your tent. You can choose whichever tent is unoccupied. It has all the supplies you'll need. Clothes, toiletries. The only thing you would need to get is food from theTricliniaria or cafeteria and armour from the armoury or the Vulcan Centuria if they're in a good mood."

"What is that language you're speaking?" Percy exclaimed. It was driving him nuts. He vaguely recognized it.

Dakota looked a bit surprised. "Latin. Ever heard of it?"

Percy thought about it. "All I seem to know that it's a dead language."

"Lupa wouldn't like you saying that." A little girl, maybe the age of five, had run up to them, holding a scroll. She handed it to Dakota, who nodded at her. She bowed and left. Her black pigtails whipping in the air.

Dakota skimmed the scroll. "I hate to leave you clueless but I have to go. Lupa wants me. If you need anything, ask anyone of my campers." He turned to leave before Percy had a chance to reply.

Percy memorized where his tent was and went to ask where the stables were. He felt extremely overwhelmed and it was the first place he thought of.


Percy's first thought of the stables was that they needed to be bigger. The stable seemed to have more horses than it could hold. Most of them were these winged horses, Pegasi, was the word that popped into Percy's head.

A few of the horses had noticed him walking toward them. My Lord! Can you please help us? These Mars children were unruly with us!

That stopped Percy in his tracks. Did he hear right or was he going insane? Did the horses just talk to him?

A Pinto horse shook his head at him. Please, my lord.

Unsure what to exactly do, Percy approached the Pinto and thought to himself, What do you need help with? He didn't speak it but the horses seem to understand him.

Thank you Lord! Each one of the horses began to tell him what was wrong.

Percy fixed the problems with ease. Absently as he was working on cleaning the hooves the right way, he began to plan how to make the stable better.

First, I would make sure the horses and Pegasi were separated. Then make sure the horses had soft hay to sleep in...

Doing this seems to calm me. The horses seem to actually like me, unlike the rest of this 'camp'. Maybe Dakota likes me but who knows.

A yell had interrupted his thoughts. At the edge of the stable. A pure white horse with wings was rearing up and calling the person foul names. Percy didn't even think.

He had instantly put himself in front of the kicking legs of the Pegasus. His hands and arms up to show that he wanted peace. Whoa! Look, calm down. What happened?

Apparently, talking to Pegasi was like talking to horses. It had stopped kicking and looked at Percy with slight suspicion. My lord. I implore you to move so I can kick the ichor out of this child!

The Pegasus had calmed enough that Percy rubbed her muzzle affectionately. What happened?

My wings were hurt and he expected me to fly through the pain! Sure enough, one of the wings was curled up against the Pegasus tenderly.

May I touch it?

Yes, you don't even need to ask. The Pegasus didn't say why but maybe it had to do with the fact that he could talk to her. He did not even know how he knew it was a she.

Percy gently opened the wing and noticed a clump of feathers had created a swelling that would've caused the flapping of the wing to be painful. He started to untangle the feathers. The swelling shrank. I would suggest staying on the ground until the swelling disappeared.

She nodded, Thank you my lord. I had forgotten to tell you my name. I hope you forgive me.

Percy wasn't sure if not telling their name was an insult but he didn't say. It's all right. What is it?

Bourlota. When she said it, Percy thought of a black Pegasus.

As he was about to response. The person who he had saved from getting a hoof print had exclaimed. "You! What are you doing here?"

Percy turned around and groaned slightly. It was Bobby, who looked angry. "I wanted to spend some time alone."

"So you went to the stables?" Bobby gave him a strange look.

"If it's so weird to you, why are you here?" Percy retorted.

"Wanted to fly but that Pegasus wouldn't let me." Bobby had gotten up.

"She's hurt, you idiot. And she has a name." Percy disliked how he treated Bourlota with such normalcy. Like he expected her to be in tip-top shape forever.

"How do you know?" Bobby still felt anger when it came to Percy but he had to grudgingly give him kudos for having the nerve to stand in front of a kicking Pegasus.

Percy hesitated. "I just know, okay?"

"Liar! Tell me the truth!" Bobby pulled out a dagger and pointed it at Bourlota. "Tell me or she gets to be my new dartboard."

He had never seen Percy so angry. "Erre es korakas!" Bobby faltered a bit. What did he say?

"What did you say?" Bobby had lowered the dagger in surprise but Percy was still angry.

"I don't know. Just go away before I let Bourlota actually kick you." 'Bourlota ' looked at Bobby, as if waiting for an order. This was weirding Bobby out. The white Pegasus was a spoiled one. She would rarely take orders, especially now that Jason was gone.

Bobby scowled and left. Even though he wanted to kill the kid, he'd rather not have a hoof shaped bruise.

Bobby looked back at the stable and saw Percy talking to the horses and Pegasi as if they were long lost friends. He was going to tell this to Lupa.

"Mark my words, Percy. You'll regret not letting me kill you at the pit. I will find out why you're here." Bobby muttered darkly as he headed in the direction of Lupa's cave.