Chapter 5: The Arrival
An unexpected turn to all but one
It was night when they arrived at the city. It was small, in comparison to Athene or Rome, and Percy could feel the Roman taste that they had given the Greek city after conquering it. Even though that was the case, Percy felt more at home in this city than in any others he had visited. Except for Athene, of course.
"Let's find a place to stay", he said while turning to the others, who just nodded. He sighed. After their encounter with Mars, everyone had basically closed up to each other. He wondered if that had been the general's true intention. Even though those soldiers had been a great help while fighting off all those robbers earlier, Percy had no doubt that Mars was planning something. And that something wasn't just a war.
"What about that place?", Percy followed the direction of Connor's finger and found himself staring at a building that looked like it was an inn. They could hear loud music when they got nearer, even if most people would've been sleeping around this time.
Annabeth, who had naturally taken over the role of being their leader, nodded and walked toward the inn. Percy heard a few shouts in Greek before the door opened and a man was kicked out of the building. Clearly drunk, the man shouted a few curses while he tried to walk steadily toward his home.
They gave each other a few questioning looks. Percy saw Nico looking at him intently, as if trying to get Percy to explain what the man had said. Percy shook his head and followed Annabeth, who started to walk toward the inn again. When she opened the door, they were met with a stench that could only belong to pigs. Percy could see three men ogling one of the female waiter's ass and snorted. These men were definitively pigs.
Annabeth walked to the counter and tried to get the attention of the inn master, who was talking with one of his costumers. When he finally saw here, he walked toward the group and eyed them carefully.
"We are looking for rooms where we can stay the night", Annabeth said in Latin, which probably wasn't a good idea.
The man narrowed his eyes at her. "Romans are not allowed in this inn. Get out", he said in Greek while pointing at the door.
Annabeth, obviously not knowing Greek, frowned. "What did you say?"
"I said, get out!", the man was getting angrier every second. Percy frowned. He knew that the man refused to speak Latin, which confused him. Even though they were in Greece, the country was still a part of the Roman Empire. Unless…
Percy looked at Nico, who had been looking at Percy since the conversation between Annabeth and the man had started. He sighed. They really needed a place to stay and since they were a rather large party, it was very difficult to get that. And revealing he was Greek, wouldn't say that much about his well-guarded secret. Percy walked to Annabeth and put a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to look at him. "Step back, I got this."
She frowned, but did what he said. Percy looked at the man and gave him a smile. "I'm sorry for my friend. She doesn't know how to speak Greek." The man gave him an intrigued stare, while he could feel his 'friends' glaring holes in his back. "We are looking for a room."
"Why would I, young man? Even though you can speak my language, doesn't mean I would let you stay. As far as I can see, you and your friends are still Roman and Romans are not welcome here."
"Why won't you let Romans in?"
"They have done nothing good for this country. If I let you and your friends in, fights will definitively occur and I will lose my costumers. Now go, before I kick you out like I did with Gerces back there."
Percy frowned and leaned over the counter. "We are fugitives from Rome. Don't offend the gods for refusing our stay here." Percy knew that Greeks were far more influenced by their faith. Most of the things that they did was to peace the gods, so their lands and families would get blessed by the gods in return. Refusing the gods would offend them, which could only lead to bad luck.
The man narrowed his eyes at them. "You know nothing about our gods. After you Romans took over our country, you switched ours with your own. Leave or you won't see the light of the day again as you will be resting in the Underworld."
Percy gritted his teeth and grabbed the man by his shirt, pulling him over the counter so he could whisper in his ears. "I know everything about your gods, since they are mine as well."
"Then why are you traveling with those Romans? Not to mention that you have soldiers with you too, I see." Percy turned his head, so that he could see the ten soldiers of Mars at the entrance – a few feet behind Hagan, who was the last one of their group – causing a ruckus to stir. There were already a few men walking there way.
"As I said, we're fugitives. Leave those soldiers at the streets as they are not my friends, but the others will stay here with me if you let us", he said hastily. "Kill the soldiers if you must." Percy knew that this was a risk, but he had to take it. It was time to make decisions and he wasn't going to follow a Roman general such as Mars into battle.
The man hesitated and glanced at the soldiers who were already fighting with his costumers. Seeing that Percy's friends did nothing to help them, he made his decision. "Come with me and take your friends. But I want to speak with you when you're settled. Alone."
Percy nodded and gave the man a sack of drachmae, which he stole from those robbers earlier. He had been surprised at first when he had seen it, but figured he would have needed it later. That guess had apparently been right.
He followed the man to the back and gestured his friends, who were eying him suspiciously – except for Nico – to follow him. While he walked up the stairs, he could hear the fighting coming to an end.
[A/N]: Are you guys exited? The next chapter will be (wait for it…) MY VERY OWN!
Anyway I hope I do it well. The next update will probably be in 1-3 days as i want to re-read what Anny already has and plan out what I am going to do. Hopefully after that I can have frequent updates. I hope you guys like the next chapter!
To Lmb111514: I'm glad you are as exied as I am for the future chapters. Thank you for the faith, I hope to do as well as Anny and I'm glad you think I can! J
To Vixen1994: Not quite sure what you mean about Hellen of Troy but I'm glad you like the story so far!
If you guys have any questions or comments please review or PM me.
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Next Chapter soon J
Hagan Son of Nike