Hey!
Today, I'm back with a new chapter! So sorry for not updating earlier, 'cuz um... let's just say that I'm working on another story, but that's for another day, so...
...keep your fingers crossed, hide them behind your back, I'll hold my breath... and let you read this dude...
Chapter 8
"Lord." He bowed his head respectfully.
"Yes. I believe you still have things to do. We will make this quick," the lord said, his voice deepening.
"Of course, Master."
"We will transfer half the troops to my wife's palace headquarters," he informed him. "The others shall stay to guard."
"But why, Master?" he asked, confused.
The lord had to sigh somewhat wearily. "They will come to rescue their gods. The knowledge of the army's size shall not be embedded into their small brains. It seems one of those whom you spared has failed to get out of the way, and was either stupid or brave to risk their life to help the puny demigods," he explained, making the soldier in front of him seethe. "Do you wish to capture? I give you my permission to do so."
"I shall let them be. I will be more than happy to show them what happens if they cross the line," he replied calmly. "Why do you tell me of this, my lord?"
"Should you need to go back. I understand that your current job is dreadfully boring. You are welcome to come, as long as you have done enough for the day."
"It is appreciated, my lord. Should I be the one to tell the troops?"
"No need. My brother has already done personally."
"Personally?" he asked, miffed. "Was I lucky to not see him, Master? Or absolutely unfortunate?"
"Very unfortunate, indeed," the lord mused in amusement. "He was like a child given a lollipop. Did a few favors for your fellow soldiers that day. Those were their best day, I've heard."
The soldier sighed wistfully. "Rotten luck."
The lord chuckled. "Now go, child," he encouraged. "Do not take too much dirt. They are still needed to torment the quested, down here."
"Will do." He shadow-traveled above.
-*Camp Jupiter*-
"So who sent you?" Reyna asked.
The four warriors were looking around the camp- new to their surroundings. Shimmering purple warriors stood outside of what looks like an armory, polishing ethereal swords. Ghosts hung around the barracks and the streets. The ghosts stared at them. They murmured to each other and Alyssa caught bits like, 'More graecus.' She always caught the Greek word.
Turning her attention to the praetor, she told her, "Our um, Masters; or Commanders, I guess you could say."
Before Reyna could respond, Aria chimed in, "Yup," she confirmed. "We're here by the orders of Lord Aether."
"Ether..." the daughter of Bellona blinked. She regained her composure. "Who are you and your godly parents?"
"Um.." She gave them the evil eye, daring them to say their cover names. Lexter seemed unfazed, but turned to her with a bright smile. "Lee Fletcher, as Lexter uh.. Davis, at your service! Son of Apollo."
"Michael Yew as Mitch Clarkson. Son of Apollo."
"Abigail Thompson as Aria Jones. Daughter of Aether."
"Annabeth Chase as Alyssa Gray. Daughter of Athena."
"Wait, you said Aether?" Aria nodded to her question. Reyna had her forehead creased in confusion. "How...?"
"Later. Let's talk about it, right there... Shall we?" she implied, waving her hand towards a building: the Roman headquarters- a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank. Over the doorway hung a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath. The Roman People and Senate.
"Man, was she scary!"
"What did you think?" he retorted sarcastically.
"...Never mind," Lexter grumbled. "So where are you staying?"
"Well..." Alyssa said, trailing off while looking at the shops down the road, before responding. "We're staying at that mini version of Ancient Rome. What do they call it- New Rome."
"What, does Rome have, like, apartments or something?" Mitch asked jokingly.
"I guess so," she replied absentmindedly, craning her neck to get a view of the city. "Last time I'd gone here, I saw Roman families living in the valley. Like, families."
"Woah," Lexter remarked. "You mean, inside this camp? School, home; no monsters?"
"Yes. Where adult demigods," Aria answered, looking at the plaza in wonder. "The veterans from Camp Jupiter- can stay. Go to college and such. But they could also go to the mortal world, if they so would like to."
"And why would they not?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow at her. Aria looked at him weirdly. "Think, Fletcher. Why would they go back to the mortal world if they are children of the gods, not something else, hmm?"
Lexter held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry!" he exclaimed. "I just realized that it was a stupid question."
"There aren't any stupid questions, Lee, or should I say, Lex," Alyssa chided playfully. "Just stupid people."
"Hey!" They laughed. They continued their talk until they reached the end of the main road, the Via Principalis. They had reached the city limits. Children played tag among the Roman statues. They continued forward but was halted by a voice.
"Halt! I will not have weapons inside the Pomerian Line," it said. The voice came from an angry marble statue. Cinders popped around its curly hair. From the waist down, it was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, it was a muscular human figure in a carved toga.
"Surrender or leave!" he snapped. The four exchanged curious looks.
Alyssa stepped forward with her hands up, showing that she was wielding nothing. "Terminus, we can't actually leave-"
"Then surrender your weapons! Before I take it out from you myself," he ordered in a fussy teacher voice.
They took out their weapons and held it in front of them. "Here," the daughter of Athena collected all the bows, sword, and her dagger. "Um.. where-"
"To whom will she give it to?" Mitch cut it curiously. "You don't exactly have any hands."
The god of boundaries harrumphed indignantly. "Rude, are we? Then I shall have my assistant- Maya? Where are you, girl?"
A giggle came from behind one of the statues. Out came a little girl about seven. She was wearing a cute pink dress. Her radiant brown hair was braided and jumping down her shoulders.
"Here I am, Mr. Terminus!"
"Maya, could you take this fellas' weapons now? That's right." The little girl held up a tray and presented it to Alyssa. She shifted uncomfortably. It doesn't look like a wise idea to give pointy, deadly weapons to a seven year old girl. "You can pick it up on the way out."
Alyssa cautiously put the weapons on the tray.
"You know the rules, eh?" the god said testily. "Should not be a daughter of Minerva for nothing. Alright, fine, you may pass."
Just they were about to continue down the path, someone behind them shouted, "Hey! Wait a second!"
They turned to see a buff guy in Roman armor. His scabbard was empty, and he had some kind of cord around his neck. His helmet was off, but they recognized him as the other one guarding the tunnel. He studied them each with an wolfish grin.
"I'm Mario, son of Mars. Reyna had me show you around New Rome." He held out his hand, still with that grin. "Pleased to meet you, Warriors of Aether." He said the Warriors of Aether part like how they once say graecus- like an insult. None of them noticed except for Aria.
They shook hands with him. Mitch opted to introduce himself, but the son of Mars stopped him by explaining that he already knew who they are, because the female praetor told him. They didn't know though, which name. Mario did not mention it or called them by name, and they did not want to ask- or none were in the mood to.
Mario showed them around like he'd been here for years, which he probably had. He showed them different shops and cafés down the winding cobblestone streets, big water fountains and terraced gardens near the Forum and townhouses, and gleaming white villas, temples and apartments, and a university for camp graduates or veterans and Roman demigod families.
No buildings were fatally destroyed from the attack the last time she had been here. It looked like it was never in a war.
To put it short, it was breathtaking.
The Romans sure know how to eat.
Invisible wind spirits blew on everyone's favorite food and drinks so fast, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane. Dinner seemed full of excitement tonight. Well, Mitch couldn't blame them; he'd heard people talk about them already. Laughter echoed off the walls. The legionnaires dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Campers were constantly getting up from couch to couch, spreading rumors and gossip.
About who, Mitch has already gotten a grip of that.
They were pretty much in topic everywhere, after the little fiasco that happened a few minutes ago. And that Roman assembly in front of their barracks.. the evening muster, as they shall call it, when they were announced to the whole legion. Usually he loved the attention, being a child of a Greek Apollo- a god who is used to showing off, but now, Mitch was not so sure.
Introducing Alyssa as a child of Athena was tough enough, but then when Jason, the other praetor, asked anyone who was willing to stand for them, no one did, had they not met before. He would if he could; the only thing hindering him was his praetorship. He couldn't stand up for any of them, since he was not a part of any of the cohorts, and will never be- unless he stood down on his position as praetor.
But since they were the help- the Warriors of Aether- people had expected for them to be well trained; the praetors agree so. Because of that, the ones staying were asked which cohort they would stay in. The campers had waited for them to say First, as that was the best one, but the two appeared to have other motives.
"We, as in Mitch and I, will want to be accepted in the Fifth Cohort," Alyssa had announced. The other cohorts had broken out into agitated whispers, as he remembered. Mitch had thought that perhaps it wasn't the right cohort back then, considering he hadn't known of any of it before. But one sure thing Mitch knew about Alyssa: Athena always has a plan. He was actually getting sick of the saying.
There they go, explaining their reasons- erm; truly, it was only Alyssa who explained. He was just standing there, mentally cheering her on, hoping for her reasons to be, um, reasonable. It worked. The praetors even looked impressed. The remaining four cohorts either stared at the daughter of Athena in disbelief, or the Fifth Cohort in half mirth and half envy. The cohort in question, on the other hand, looked miffed.
Mitch hadn't known whether to offer a sardonic statement or laugh. The Romans, for him, do not strike as people with sense of humor. Not likely.
So here they were now, gloomily sitting on the couches at the back of the dining hall, next to the kitchen. He could not help but bounce on his seat in excitement. The war games were soon tonight. He'd be gaining this cohort some honor, just like... what Percy did.
Mitch glanced at the praetor's table. There was his brother Lexter, sitting with the praetors with his partner Aria at his side. The senior officers were talking lively amongst each other, wind spirits refilling their plates. Lexter caught his eye and winked, before turning back to actively chewing on his food. A whole afternoon with no food seemed to be taking its toll, as he looked down on his barbecue and scarfed it down.
The war games had been harder than she had imagined.
Sure, like what they say when you're watching action movies on TV. It looks easy, but noooo. It takes a hell lot of practice before you master that jump you call pathetic. Try it; send me a message from the hospital bed.
The Fifth Cohort still had its eagle, but it completely lost its glory when the immortal centurions found their former praetor on the enemies' side. The traitor had managed to bring the cohort up a little, before he left them in the dust and back to square one. They knew the reason, though. So they had heavy hearts for their former leader- not blazing anger all the way.
The cohort was still going strong, one of the best but not the best of the best. They had gone up the wall- with two of the warriors on their side. They had won over the others with their help. Alyssa had received her first Mural Crown. Yipe.
And then a quest. Ooh, a quest was already issued. Alyssa had decided that Hermes had not been captured after all, such that Mercury had startled everyone with a flash after the declaration of their triumph in the war games in his full godly height. Thinking about it, she wondered how Mars had informed the Romans of their arrival when he was most likely chained. From what she recalled, her ex-boyfriend wasn't exactly fond of the god of war.
Anyway, a quest- a very dangerous quest was given to them. There was no time limit, thank the gods- it just has to be done as soon as possible. Mercury chose two of the members himself: one of the two warriors, and one of the two praetors. The messenger god declared the chosen warrior as the quest leader. After that, he went poof.
Just like that.
Suffice to say, her friends had pushed her to be in the quest, as her brains were needed in this. Jason stepped up to be the other quest member, as because he had more abilities to help them, and was much stronger; he had lightning and air at his disposal. As for the last one, Alyssa had chosen Hazel Levesque.
She was specialized in geokinesis unlike her brother Nico who was one for necromancy and umbrakinesis. She could navigate tunnels. Alyssa didn't know if it works in Tartarus but; it was a tunnel, in a way.
Great. Another quest. Just what I needed.
She'd thought that she could actually stay and chill at this camp- at least for a while. Help and defend the camp from monsters. Boost the legion's morale. Just a bit. Rebuild and train. Fight the war. Win. Live in peace. But it was all too good to be true.
"I'm worried about Annabeth."
The son of Apollo stared at her. "Me too. I've heard that she'd been down there before." He glanced at the ground as if it might swallow him alive. "She survived. She'll do it again. She'll finish the quest." He swallowed. "Hopefully."
"That seriously made me feel better," she remarked bitterly.
"Hey, cheer up," he chided. "We'll do our own thing; get to camp and all that. Let's just hope for a quest so we could help her. We won't die."
"Of course not. We're immortal, Mr. Sunshine."
"Yeah. That's what I said, right? We won't."
Aria rolled her eyes but smiled.
Yay! That's it, for this chapter.
Next chapter would be their arrival at camp half blood and.. the quest. What would happen? Just wait and see, :)
To Epithet2: WE ARE THE IN CROWD RULES! WOOOOOH. TAY ARE SO AWESOME. (get it? haha)
Thanks to the other reviewers! (ANAWESOMEGUY and BEST B) Luv da readers! ~Smartzyfan