So okay, maybe I didn't update every week, and probably all of you want to kill me, but in my defense, I really, REALLY needed to spend every time studying. So just consider this chapter as my apology.
Well, enjoy!
Rewritten: Well, I really do appreciate you criticisms, and have decided to change the entire chapter that MOST of you hated. I'm sad to say, the Egyptians will still win, since that was really in the plot, but…just read. You'll know the difference. But in my defense, the magicians were a really powerful group, and just imagine, if you pair two hundred soldiers with a hundred soldiers who could each blast them apart with one word, what would happen? But I agree, I seemed to have made Rome a bit too weak.
Percy
The army was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. If he were given the chance to guess, he would've thought without a second doubt that this was some kind of lame practical joke Apollo or Hermes brought up. He meant, who fights with sticks and boomerangs?
He was proven wrong when more than half of them started glowing, and grew twenty feet tall.
Behind him, the legionaries tightened the testudo even more. Percy smiled at that. The Roman's harsh military training still gave them an edge in this fight. He'd only hoped that they would be able to hold the line, at least until backup arrives.
That's when it clicked. Nobody else knew if this surprise attack. They had no backup.
"Listen, everybody. Defend New Rome at all costs. Don't let any of them through. And press your assault on their leader." He pointed to the boy in the front. "Maybe putting him out of the fight could put us at an advantage."
"Permanently?" Reyna raised an eyebrow.
"Just for a while, if you can." Percy muttered.
The boy, whom Percy assumed was their leader, released the crook and flail he was holding, and pulled out a wicked curved sword from out of nowhere. The boy raised his weapon. "Strike for the House of Life!"
A chorus of war cries that would've sent any mortal army running echoed throughout the hills. Nearly half of the people holding their sticks pointed them at the Romans. The animals stopped pacing, and started rushing Percy and the others; creatures aiming to kill.
"Water cannons!" Reyna cried out. The centurions stationed on the walls carried out her orders, sweeping the animals away with a blast of water.
"Heh-sieh!" nearly half of the enemy cried.
Percy wondered what that meant. It wasn't in Greek, Latin, nor of any language he knew. Beside him, Reyna eyed the enemy carefully, as if expecting a surprise from them. On his other side, Annabeth had her shield on, along with the rest of his friends. It was a sight to behold: a Greek phalanx, with a Roman testudo right behind them. Unfortunately, it did little to stop the next wave, literally.
The water suddenly turned around, as if it were seeking the Romans, and blasted the testudo.
The Romans held though; years of training had prepared them for such a task. The water slammed straight into the shield wall, but it only succeeded in pushing back by mere inches.
"Stop those cannons!" Percy shouted. He was not anxious to withstand another assault from their own cannons.
"Guess we do this the old fashioned way, eh Percy?" Reyna smirked. She whistled, and Scipio immediately galloped to her side. Flinging one leg over the Pegasus' back, Reyna soared to the skies.
Percy felt something oddly familiar being handed to him. He looked over his shoulder, where Jason Grace, the legion's old praetor, was holding the legion's standard: an imperial gold eagle statue.
"Take this. It will boost the legion's morale." He explained. Percy remembered what happened in the field of Mars during the siege; the standard alone turned the tides of the battle. Gratefully, he took the eagle.
"For Rome!" he shouted.
"Rome! Rome!" The legion echoed behind him. Percy smiled.
"Stay behind the legion. We can take care of this." Percy commanded Annabeth.
Annabeth
Annabeth was shocked at Percy's orders. Was he really thinking that he was Roman?
"No." She said firmly. "We fight by your side Percy. We came all the way here just to find you, and I am not losing you ever again."
"You won't, Wise Girl." With that, he gave her a kiss; one of longing, passion, and promise. "I'll be fine."
Annabeth was too stunned to reply.
Percy
He wasn't excited for another war. Heck, he was still having nightmares about the last one.
But these Egyptians seemed to be the shoot-first-ask-questions-later type of warriors. Percy doubted that they'd be willing to sit down and talk about this.
The Romans advanced, safe within their shield wall. The Egyptians threw fireballs, glowing lights that exploded on contact and almost everything imaginable. Percy thought he even saw a penguin here and there. When they were within striking distance, Percy gave them the order: "Break!"
The shield wall broke apart, and the Egyptians were met with a fierce Roman army. In hand-to-hand combat, nothing was as powerful and as deadly as the legion. Pair that with demigod skills, and pretty much anything standing in their way would be toast.
Percy saw Terminus holding back the glowing fifteen-foot magicians with his godly powers, but even they seem to be weakening.
"Ha-di!" someone shouted.
Percy didn't know what happened next, just that he was suddenly flying in the air, and that every part of his body hurt. Percy was knocked aside from the force of the explosion, a huge crater forming near where he had been standing. How in the mighty name of Poseidon did they do that? he wondered.
Percy hit the ground hard, though, and he cursed Hera, the Tiber, and those stupid laws for taking away his Achilles' curse. He wasn't used to the pain anymore, and it hurt like hell.
Someone kicked his body in the side. Percy winced in pain, and tried to stand up.
Before he could even stand up, he felt someone kick him again in the chest. He flew backwards, right into Reyna, who merely shoved him off, gave him a dirty look that said "stay away from me when I'm fighting, or I may hurt you", and returned to her fight.
Cursing some more, Percy got up groggily. With his eyesight, he managed to make out a shape of a blade coming for him. Raising Riptide, it took all of his strength just to block the attack. His shoulders felt like they were on fire, and his arms…his arms felt softer than Jell-O.
"Is that all the Great Perseus Jackson can do?" His enemy spat. "It seems that Lady Gaea overestimated you. Sadie is an even better fighter than you, and that's saying something."
Percy fumed when he heard that. The word Gaea alone made him really want to kill this guy. But then, another word registered in his mind: Sadie.
"Who are you?" he asked smugly. He looked at the boy's physique. He was athletic, he would admit, but he was also very skinny. Percy smiled inwardly. He would trash this guy easily.
"Carter Kane." The boy growled. "The Pharaoh of Egypt, and King of the House of Life. And you, are about to die. Unless you give us back Sadie, of course. But still, prepare to die."
"Wait up! This is all just one big misunderstanding. Sadie Kane is safe in our camp, and we can bring her to you right now if we could just stop to talk-"
"Then we'll just have to target your precious camp after this one." Carter growled.
With that, Carter raised his blade, and charged.
Percy ducked under Carter's strike, and brought his fist into an uppercut. It successfully collided with Carter's chin, and Percy sent the boy staggering backwards. He noticed that Carter wasn't dazed, though, but he was even angrier than before.
Percy raised Riptide, and charged one more time. He used Carter's slightly dazed state to his advantage, feinting left when he least expected it, and slashing a good-sized cut in his arm.
"Not so cocky now, are we?" Percy smirked.
"Oh, I'm just warming up." Carter replied. Before Percy could react, he pointed his sword at him and yelled out, "Ha-di!"
That again, Percy thought. Instinctively, he leapt to the side.
A bright bluish light illuminated right where Percy was standing just a few seconds before, and without any reason, the ground simply exploded.
"Missed." Percy taunted, smirking.
The boy growled, and charged. Percy noticed how his movements were erratic, like somebody else was controlling him. He slashed to the right, and Percy dodged, bringing Riptide in an arc. Carter managed to block it with his sword, but Percy could see the faults in his fighting style. Obviously, he wasn't that used to another opponent with a sword.
"Horus…" Carter mumbled.
"Huh?" Percy asked, genuinely confused.
Suddenly, Carter's body was encased in a golden shell of energy. Percy felt godly powers emanating from the boy.
"Now, sea spawn, let's see what you've got." Carter said, but Percy noticed that his voice was somehow…different. More ancient, and with more authority.
Percy charged, not sure how this will turn out.
"Ha-di!"
Percy dodged, but as he rolled to the side, he saw a glowing foot heading straight for him. Before he knew it, he was flying straight into a wall section of New Rome. His impact was heard throughout the entire battlefield.
Percy's vision blurred, but he managed to make out a fist heading straight for his face. He ducked, but was met with a knee to the chin. He felt a fist slam him in the gut, and he doubled over in pain. He felt a hand grab him by the throat, and he didn't have enough energy in him to fight anymore. Percy choked, and he struggled helplessly. If he could only reach the water…
As if knowing what he was thinking, Carter threw him straight into New Rome's wall, where he made a new crater against the wall, head-first.
Before Percy lost consciousness, the last thing he saw was Carter standing triumphantly in front of him, Percy's own sword poised over his heart.
Reyna
With Percy defeated, the rest of the legionaries slowly lost their morale, even with the eagle. The enemy started pushing Reyna and the others towards the gates of New Rome, but she knew better than to go inside. If her hunches were right, and they usually are, especially in these kinds of situations, it wouldn't be pretty. The odds were almost even just a few minutes ago. What had happened?
Reyna watched as the Argo II armed its ballistae, taking out the enemy group by group. But even a flying warship wasn't enough to withstand this kind of assault.
The enemy leaped through the walls, and the centurions became fodder for their swords. Reyna watched from the air in horror as the enemy burned New Rome to the ground, killing every man, woman, and children that she had sworn to protect. She felt like a failure.
Then, she felt herself falling. She checked on Scipio, only to see a spear impaling her Pegasus in its throat.
Scipio spiraled downwards. Luckily, Reyna managed to jump off at the last second, and rolled to use her momentum.
"Retreat!" Annabeth ordered from afar. The Greeks, just as Reyna had thought, were cowards.
She took one last look at Scipio. She would remember the Pegasus fondly, as it had been with her side for nearly her entire time as praetor.
Even her own soldiers were beginning to dessert her, and rushing towards the Argo II. All training forgotten, they rushed to their only chance of salvation. The few Egyptians that survived the assault were using all they had to burn New Rome to the ground. A few legionaries had tried to stop them, and Reyna had to close her eyes when she saw them beheaded, burned, and their ashes scattered in the wind
She saw Jason carrying Percy, beaten black and blue, up towards the warship, manipulating the winds to fly them upwards.
She was a Roman. They never give up, and the certainly never surrender. But under the circumstances…Reyna thought that maybe giving up was the slightly better option. She shuddered to think about what these Egyptians would do when the captured her. Deep inside, she knew they could take them, but what if she was wrong? Was she ready to face the consequences of her choice?
She made a beeline for the Argo II, half-limping and half-running, telling any ranking officer she could find the hardest orders that she had to ever give.
"Romans, retreat!" She shouted at the top of her voice.
This was a shame, not only to her, but also to the Legion. A praetor, retreating! Never had they in their history such a thing, which meant she would be the first, and probably the last. Making it to the ship, she took a firm hold on one of the ropes dangling from the side, and waited for somebody to pull her up. She wished that Jason would do it, but from the looks of him, he was already taken. Reyna's heart crumbled. She had really liked Jason, but now…
She turned around one last time, taking a good long look as the Egyptians swarmed New Rome like a pack of bees. Houses burned, buildings crumbled, the wall that had stood against a hundred attacks crumbling down before her very eyes. Centurions, legionaries, and civilians were dying all around her; even the children. Theses Egyptians showed no mercy, just like they would have. They had killed, and/or incapacitated nearly half of them, but even just half of them proved to be more than they could handle, alone.
They would really need the Greeks' help in this one.
The rope Reyna had been holding on to was finally yanked upwards. As the Argo II flew away from the burning ruins of Camp Jupiter, Reyna watched as her only home was destroyed.
Closing her eyes, she made a promise, on that she meant to keep.
I will avenge my home, no matter what the cost.
I know that it's just half the length of what I usually write, but I promise the next chapter will be better! Till then. XD