Guy: Um… *rubs the back of my head* I just want to say that I'm sorry for not updating in a long time.
Girl: he was really busy.
Guy: yeah what she said
Girl: *rolls eyes*
Guy: *laughs* so to make it up to you, I have made this chapter very very very VERY long AND! A special surprise for you all that have waited for so long for an update!
Girl: make that two surprises!
Guy: *nods* yep, sorry again and I will try to update sooner but if I don't, you can blame school for that.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of the PJO characters or even the name Percy Jackson and the Olympians…heck I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians period…all credit goes to rick riordan and Disney Hyperion. Oh and I don't own Halo, Gears of War, Fable, Ip man, The Protector, Gladiator and 300.
Enjoy chapter 8 =DDDD!
Ψ
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Spartans of Fate and Chaos: Revolution
Chapter 8
A miniature war
Ψ
(Annabeth's pov)
Ω In the arena Ω
The second Pankration started, was the second I ran for my life as the huge Spartan crashed through them like legos. I ran as more trees came crashing down around me while Lorik kept chasing me. Suddenly a wall of earth rose up behind me and slammed into Lorik as I dived over a rock and took aim with my bow. There in front of me going sword on sword was Percy and the huge Spartan, both of them unpredictable in their movements. Percy side stepped as Lorik's blade sliced downward in a deadly arch, silver streaks flickered from the Spartan's sword.
"Percy! Move so I can get a clear shot!" his armored back was blocking my line of fire as the kept exchanging blows.
"Take the shot Wisegirl!" Percy dodged an incoming strike as Lorik tried to out muscle him from the duel, "Just shoot the arrow!"
I notched an explosive arrow and took aim, the arrow point locked on to Percy's back, "Percy move!"
"SHOOT THE ARROW ANNABETH!"
"YOU'LL GET HIT!"
"I'LL BE FINE! JUST DO IT!"
I closed my eyes and pulled the string with the arrow back, my breathing even as I opened my senses and focused on the target ahead. Slowly I opened my eyes and released the tension of the string, a fantastic sound of air being pierced by the explosive metal tip. I watched it sail right towards Percy with perfect accuracy, my fingers crossed in hopes that the arrow will miss. To my surprise, Percy turned transparent just when the arrow hit his back. My eyes blinked and blinked again as the arrow went right through Percy and slammed into Lorik. A loud BOOM echoed through the artificial forest as the Spartan was blasted back into a large tree trunk.
"Come on let's go," Percy knelt to the ground and placed his palm on the earth below, his eyes closed as he was trying to sense something, "Found her."
Before I could ask, he sprinted to the right where a group of bushes obscured my vision. With no other choice, I followed his lead as we went deeper into the terrain in search for Kira.
"You think Lorik will be knocked out from my bomb arrow?" I caught up to him in a light jog as we went deeper into the forest.
"No, you just pissed him off. He's after us right now, his sights are on you," he kept his eyes forward as his words chilled my spine. Great, now I have a Spartan behemoth as an arch enemy.
Percy and I kept jogging for thirty minutes until he held up his hand in a "Stop" motion, his head darting from side to side as if he was looking to see if anyone was about to pop out on his blind side. Suddenly an arrow whistled by and slammed into the ground next to us…an explosive arrow.
"Scatter!" I rolled away just in time as the arrows exploded, a powerful shockwave shook my teeth as the blast was only five feet away from me. With some luck, I managed to roll into a bush as the dust from the explosion began to settle. I didn't know if Percy got away in time so all I could do was hope, hope that he did move.
Just then three more explosions were felt as more explosive arrows impacted at the spot where Percy once stood. Suddenly I had a sick feeling that Percy didn't move at all…that he was too slow to get out of the way. More explosions were heard until finally there was silence…an eerie silence that made my heart race. Surely Kira wasn't that cold blooded to kill a Spartan? But as the dust settled down, I was faced with a sight to behold. There in the center of all of the explosions was Percy, his fist wedged into the ground while his entire body was surrounded in a white blue-ish glow.
His gaze was on the ground as his other fist opened and closed. He kept clenching his fist once, twice, three times before he closed them completely. Suddenly he opened them again and a blue-green glow of an energy ball appeared in the palm of his hand. In one swift motion, he slammed his fist down to the ground and dirt around him rose up as it was sent to any direction that the shockwave was sent to. The trees around him soon began to fall as the dirt uprooted all of them; several screams of girls were heard as they fell victim to Percy's earth slam.
Slowly he rose up and uncapped Riptide, "Come on out Thalia."
My eyes glanced at the place where Percy was looking at as Thalia emerged from the smoke, her quiver empty while her long hunting knives were out and ready, "Just like old times huh?"
"If you say so," Percy took out his Minotaur pen and clicked it, the horn blade materializing then morphing into a slightly curved bronze blade, "Still think that you we would've won that Capture the Flag game so long ago?" (A/N the capture the flag battle between the Hunters and Campers in The Titan's Curse)
"If you stuck to your post and just follow the plan then yes we would've won," Thalia was crackling with energy as her anger level soared, "But your seaweed filled brain got in the way of things, just like it always does."
"I aim to please Pinecone face," Percy began to glow in a sea green aura as his power level was on the rise too, "Let's settle the score shall we?"
"My pleasure," Before I could react, Thalia ran forward and leaped into the air like a gazelle, her knives murderous in the sunlight.
Percy crouched down and leaped up into the air as well, his swords gleaming in the sun's rays as he raised them both up at the same time. Both them met in mid-air and clashed their blades together; a metallic sound rang in my ears as metal clashed on metal. You know how birds fight while flying in the air? Well that's how Percy and Thalia were fighting…in air. It was a sight to behold, Percy flipped over Thalia as she spun forward. They both landed on a trunk of a tree and they propelled themselves towards one another again, their blades not once stopping to rest. The battle went on between them: push, slash, block, counter attack, kick, flip then back to pushing and slashing. Thalia blocked Percy's sword swing while trying to slash upward with her hunting knife, the blade bouncing off harmlessly on Percy's armor.
Suddenly a series of TWANGS sounded off from our left as fifty arrows sailed towards Percy and Thalia. The arrows were silver tipped and they flew towards Percy at a deadly accuracy that even he couldn't prevent from hitting him.
"AGH!" he held out his palm and the arrows were caught in an invisible force that was just inches away from his chest. With a wave of his hand, he flung the arrows from where they came from, sounds of pain echoing through the forest as more people injured by Percy's onslaught.
Just then, from behind Percy rose up another fighter fully clothed in shadows: Nico, "Wassup Percy."
Before Percy could reply, Nico formed a huge fist made entirely out of shadows and slammed it against Percy's chest. I watched as his body went sailing through the trees before coming into a bone crushing halt on the dirt floor. Minutes passed by with silence on the field…not a single person that was on the battle floor breathed a word as the second in command of the Spartans defeated his own Spartan General. We all waited to see what would happen next and thankfully we didn't have to wait long.
Percy walked out of the rubble gracefully as he combined his two swords together like he did before; a huge blue bladed sword appeared in his hands as he glared at Nico, his eyes murderous. Nico stood his ground as he took out his own two swords and in his own hands appeared a black bladed sword that was similar to that of Percy's.
Both of them crouched and charged at each other at an amazing speed, their swords sending shock waves as they fought on against themselves. Percy raised his sword to block while kicking Nico square in the chest sending him flying three feet back. Nico rolled away as his back hit the dirt and lunged at Percy from the right, his sword raised into the air as Percy prepared to block.
Suddenly the ground began to shake, cracks forming as figures stood up from the ground. Their bodies were stone and dirt, the heads shaped into an ancient Greek war helmet. Percy and Nico shoved each other away and darted into the forest, the stone warriors checking their surroundings as their first two primary targets vanished. Then a familiar war cry erupted from the left as Thalia appeared again, her spear and shield crackling with lightning as the stone warriors were too slow to defend her impending attack. She landed on one them while slamming her shield into another stone warriors face resulting in a large explosion that shook my teeth. Smoke filled in my vision as the remaining stone warriors created a dome phalanx, their shields and spears over lapping one another as they readied themselves for another assault.
Slowly I sat up from my hiding place and notched an exploding arrow from my quiver onto my bow, the dome presenting itself as the biggest yet easiest target ever. I pulled the string and arrow back and fired away, the metal explosive projectile sailing in the air with deadly accuracy. It slammed onto their stone shields as the arrow exploded, bits of stone body parts flying into the air. The remaining soldiers turned their attention towards me and stomped the ground, a huge river of earth was sent flying right at me.
I jumped to the side and rolled away while firing more explosive arrows at the enemy. One, two, three muffled thumps were heard as I darted into a bush nearby as the warriors were slowly torn apart from my arrows.
Only three remained when the smoke cleared, their granite eyes looked murderous for a giant piece of rocks. Then from the right of me appeared Thalia along with Percy and Nico, their weapons for once was not pointing at each other's necks.
They beckoned for me to follow them as the stone warriors began to search their surroundings for me. I nodded my response and followed them; an eerie silence fell on us as the four of us walked to some unknown destination. Slowly I walked next to Thalia who was walking a good two feet away from the two Spartans ahead of us, "Um where are we going?"
Thalia whispered back at me as we kept walking, "To meet with the other teams…well the other teams that are our allies."
"Wait hold up? Allies? What happened to the other team that Percy and I were facing?" my eyes brows were scrunched together as we kept walking, our feet were the only parts of our bodies that was making noise in the quite artificial forest, "Did the rules change?"
"No not really, Chiron and Mr. D didn't change the rules…we did."
"Meaning?"
"Some Hunters and Campers are a little…overzealous about the Spartans," Thalia bit her lips as she continued explaining the situation to me, "Half of the teams split when Tidus from the Ares Cabin attacked a Spartan, thankfully both sides got away in time when Percy and I began clashing."
"So Pankration is now a mini war battle?" I said.
Thalia blinked then nodded, "If you put it that way then yes, yes it is a mini war battle."
"So now what? We're going to get together with the other non-hostile teams and fight our own friends?"
"No, Percy and Nico have decided for us to sit this one out."
"How come?"
Thalia looked at me with her electric blue eyes, "Because Percy doesn't want us to get caught in the middle of the fray. Besides…it's all the Spartans against the Hunters and Campers."
As she said that, the four of us appeared in a different clearing only this time it was filled with Spartans. They followed me and Thalia as we walked to the other side of the clearing where the Hunters and Campers that didn't attack were standing. Grover, Clarisse, Chris, Conner and Travis, Jake, and Will all stood around in a circle as we both walked up to them.
There were hushed whispers as we appeared in the circle, "So fill us in, what's going on?"
Grover cleared his throat and spoke, "The Campers and Hunters have decided to unite together to fight against the Spartans."
"Who is leading them?"
"Tidus."
Clarisse laughed, "Oh man, Percy really must've beaten the crap out of my dad badly if my little bro wants to take a crack at him."
The Stoll's gawked at the daughter of Ares, "Um, aren't you suppose to be like...I dont know...hating Percy for beating up your dad?"
She shrugged, "Eh, my dad deserved it."
Almost everyone's jaw dropped when those words left Clarisse's mouth. Apparently her dislike of her father never changed after two centuries.
Will crossed his arms and glanced at the Spartans who were clustered in a circle of their own, "Whatever happens will result in a fight no matter what. Unless Percy and Tidus slug it out, one on one."
"And then what? We risk a break in an alliance with the Spartans?" Jake crossed his arms over his chest as the Spartans began to mobilize, Percy stood at the front leading them as we all looked at them with dread. How were we suppose to fight the hybrids of we couldn't stop ourselves from fighting?
I took a deep breath and sighed, some alliance this was.
(Percy's pov)
Ω meeting with the Spartans after the attack Ω
Mason was the one to break the news to us; the camp was infiltrated last night. The news shocked us entirely as all three hundred of us stood in a clustered circle, us five generals standing in the middle as our Spartans reported seeing the same device on more than half of the Campers and Hunters.
Laurie gripped her hands on her daggers as she listened, her gray eyes murderous underneath her Spartan helmet, "If that same device is on them, which means they either have a spy amongst them or the borders are falling."
Christy shook her head, "No it has to be the spy, the Fleece and Peleus are still there at my sister's tree. I've watched it during the night."
Mason blinked, "Or you fell asleep and you didn't see if anyone took the Fleece off so someone can sneak in here."
"No she didn't," Nico had his arms crossed as he glanced at Thalia who was on the other side of the clearing with Annabeth and the others, "Christy isn't known to fall asleep while sniping or camping, why do you think we call her the lone wolf?"
All of us had to agree with that, Christy was the lone wolf of the Spartans. She would wait in a tree for hours, days, or even weeks for that one shot that would turn the tide of the battle for us, if she said that she made sure no one got past her, she meant it with every ounce of life in her.
I knelt down and touched the earth with the palm of my hand, you see when you become a Spartan, the power of Chaos and the Fates plus Thorakis are given to you. As a result, every Spartan can manipulate the void, the place where all things was created. Now the void is practically a different dimension that coexists between the five dimensions that humans know of. No it's not the sixth dimension...more like the hundredth dimension. And just like the mist, the void exists and appears everywhere.
So yeah, I was basically tapping into the void space that thrived in the camp and the camps magical borders...but what I found was not an image I had wanted to see. I was tapping into the camps void memories when I saw a hooded figure appear from the darkness. He was tall, maybe seven feet with a tall robe that managed to hide every part of his body except for his hands which were colossal in size. My eyes narrowed in on him as he silently disappeared into the woods, his laughter somehow not waking up the nearby cabins. My mind adjusted to the surroundings as I retraced his footsteps back to his point of origin: the Ares cabin. I found myself looking inside the Ares cabin, well the boy's side of the cabin which was filled with towering heaps of unwashed clothes.
My wrist acted on its own as the void space rotated in a ninety degree angle to my left. There I saw the boy Tidus sleeping soundly, the only thing out of the ordinary was the giant person coming out of his ear. Both of my eyes blinked rapidly as the mysterious figured sank back into the boy's skull through his ear. Seconds later the person was gone and the cabin was back to normal, not a hint that a tall dark hooded person entered the room, not a clue of what so ever. I stopped the rewind with my mind and switched it to play. Slowly the hooded person oozed out of the guy's ear and formed into a human shape. Next the person placed a smaller version of the same device on the guys scalp and hid it with the guy's hair. Soon he was walking out of the cabin again and out into the woods laughing.
Quickly, I ended the void vision and snapped back into reality as my Generals looked at me with expecting faces, "It wasn't Gaukr but someone else. He materialized from the mind of a son of Ares, whoever this guy is; he would have to be a god to get past the camps borders."
Lorik grunted, his wolf eyes closed, "It was a god that did this."
"Who?" Julia crossed her arms and stared at the ground thinking, "My only guess is Morpheus, I mean he is the god of dreams."
"Good guess but this god is older than that Greek God," Lorik gripped his sword tighter as he remembered who the god was, "I met him...face to face when he fought against Freyr in Ragnarok."
Nico raised an eye brow, "What do you mean by 'this god is older than that Greek God'? Are you saying that whoever this person was isn't Greek?"
Lorik nodded, "Precisely. This god is a master in trickery and fire as well as in magic. He is the enemy and the step brother of Odin. Loki, Viking God of Trickery, Fire, and Magic."
We all grimaced at hearing this, we all knew about other gods from different mythologies due to the requirements of becoming a Spartan, though I dont think that any of us would anticipate them being real. Especially Loki.
I crossed my arms and looked over to Annabeth to see what she was doing; her goddess like features formed a lump in my throat as she turned to look at me also. Our gaze was only a fraction of a minute but it did manage us to blush a deep shade of red.
Nico saw what happened and smirked just a little, "Dude you can gawk at your girlfriend after we fight the infected Campers and Hunters."
I blushed even harder while I managed a nodded, "Let's do this."
We quickly explained our plan to the senior councilors, their eyes were wide eyed but they kept their outburst in nonetheless. If matters were different, I could actually see them as Spartans. After counseling them, they agreed to stay out of fight leaving the situation to us and us alone. While we would be fighting, they on the other hand will report what is going on in the Pankration to Mr. D and Chiron.
Before we marched off to battle, Annabeth and I exchanged another silent stare, this time her grey eyes were worried. I gave her a short yet reassuring nod and darted into the forest with my Spartans, the aura of battle making my Adrenaline pump.
We spreaded out into the trees…or should I see tree tops as Christy led the way. We were like shadows darting from tree to tree as we neared the battle sight. Minutes later, all of us stopped at the edge of the clearing where Nico, Thalia, Annabeth, and I were fighting at earlier, only this time there wasn't a soul in sight.
Behind me whispered Laurie, "We'll attack them from behind while you go out there alone, I'll whistle the call when the attack begins."
I nodded and walked out to the clearing while Laurie led the Spartans around the controlled enemy. At first there was only silence until I heard the familiar release of arrows from the trees. I arched my head up to see hundreds of arrows soar high into the sky and dived down dangerously towards me. In the split second of danger, I forcefully punched the ground making a huge slab of earth rise up in front of me as a shield…but the arrows had to be explosive. Countless BOOMS slammed into my earth shield making it crumble from the impact. Dust surrounded me as the last of the arrows blew up on a single touch of rubble, silence followed afterward as the attack ceased. But I wasn't dead. Before the first arrow exploded on my wall of dirt, I willed my energy to form a protective layer on my body as the arrows broke though and detonated on me.
I stayed in that kneeling position as I sensed movement in front of me. My eyes scanned the smoke as several, no, hundreds of figures wandered into the dust, a small faint red dot shining on their chest as they searched for their "dead" Spartan. A deep chuckle escaped my mouth as I willed myself to turn completely invisible. They passed me by as I stayed where I was, waiting for call signal from Laurie. One by one they passed by, their dark red eyes scanning for any signs of a sneak attack. Seconds later, I three pinged whistle tune emanated from the trees in front of me, Laurie was about attack.
Slowly I stood up and faced the Campers and Hunters and whistled, "Hey!"
All of them turned around in shock to see me smirking at them, the youngest of them looking up at me while trembling. I turned my gaze on the young camper and smirked, "Boo."
The camper screamed while the floor began to tremble, behind me charged my Spartans, "SPARTANS! AH-OO!"
The dust cleared and a horde of armored Spartans slammed into the stunned Campers and Hunters. I charged also and swung at the nearest Hunter near me, my fist cracking the glowing red diamond on the girl's chest as she fell on her back. It was a full scale battle now, swords and shields collided against each other as the united Hunters and Campers fought back…or at least tried to. Everywhere I looked, there were Campers and Hunters falling left and right as, red specs of dust blew into the air as the diamonds crumbled from any Spartan fist.
I searched the battle for the son of Ares that was infected with the diamond hidden in his hair. Finally I found him fighting against Lorik and a few other Spartans as they tried to search for a diamond on him. He fought like a cornered a rat that was trying to get out, his sword and shield flashing in the sunlight as it swung and slashed. Soon his eyes fell on me and he held up his hand in a stopping motion, "Enough."
Lorik and the others stopped at mid swing as the brainwashed warrior marched towards me, his eyes murderous underneath his helmet, "So finally we meet face to face."
My sea green eyes focused in on the lock of hair that was hiding the diamond in his hair, "Why are you doing this?"
He smirked and pointed his sword at me, "You humiliated my father in front of everyone! No one disrespects the God of War!"
I felt my anger flared for a fraction of a minute, "That was your fathers fault for taking on a Spartan."
"You didn't have to break him into pieces."
"He chose to give up when he had the chance, I had no choice."
The boy glared and moved into his fighting stance, "Then I have no choice but to kill you."
"So be it," I uncapped Riptide and fused it with my other sword creating the blue blade that I had earlier, "So be it."
He lunged at me with his shield in front, the four foot wide bronze circle slamming into me as blocked with my sword. From the corner of my eye, I saw his sword coming from beneath me. I raised my foot and kicked his shield while using it as leverage to back flip off him as his sword swung upward, the blade missing me by inches. With my head tucked in, I rolled back up as I landed on the ground, now it was my turn to attack. With a flick of my sword, I through it at the son of Ares as I jumped high into the air, he blocked my weapon but he didn't anticipate for a surprise attack from above.
"AGHH!" I summoned back my sword into my hands and dived at him at high velocity as I swung my sword down. He raised his sword just in time to block my attack but my sword sliced through the bronze like it was paper. Before he could react, I slammed the butt of my sword into his helmet making his eyes water while kneeing him in the stomach, then while he was stunned, I spun him around so that his back was towards mine while I wrapped my arms around his neck. In one fluid motion, I knelt down and threw him over me, his helmet sliding off his head from the momentum of my throw as well as the diamond hidden in his hair.
In a flash, I appeared in front of them as I caught the boy in my left arm while catching the red diamond in my right hand, my armored hand crushing it into dust as my fingers closed in around it.
Gently I laid down the boy as I stared at the dust fragments. Just then I felt a different presence nearby…actually I felt it behind me. I gripped my sword tighter as I turned around to see the black hooded figure from the void vision in front of me, his hood down revealing a white face with black hair, his eyes had a deadly mischievous shine in them, "Hello son of Poseidon, I am Loki, God of Trickery."
"What do you want?"
Loki laughed and waved his hand in the air, a black and red sword appearing in his hands, "You may have prevented the fall of your camp half blood but I warn you, next time you will not be so lucky. The hybrids are rising and there is nothing you can do stop us."
Before I could react, he stabbed his sword down towards the boy's chest, the blade killing the boy instantly, "NO!"
I charged at him while he laughed and disappeared, his voice echoing in my ears, "First blood spilt in your last war."
NOW FOR THE SURPRISE. A SNEAK PEAK AT THE SPARTANS OF FATE AND CHAOS SEQUEL, SPARTANS VS. GLADIATORS: RETRIBUTION, AND THE PREQUEL TO THE SPARTANS OF FATE AND CHAOS. SPARTANS: The rise of Ouranos.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians & The Heroes of Olympus
Spartans vs. Gladiators: Retribution
Excerpt sneak peak
(Jason's pov)
Ω on the planet Roma Ω
Longing. That's what I saw in my men's eyes as they listened to a song, a song that reminded them about a special place: home. It's been two centuries since we have ever been able to go home, two centuries since the last time we have ever laid our eyes on the piece of rock that we were born on: Earth. Instead we were forced onto this piece of rock, taken away from the world we knew when our camp was destroyed…when we all lost everything.
To be trained as warriors, the elite of the elite, Gladiators…the toughest warriors in all of Rome was what we were told as he brought us here, the person that Rome was named after: Romulus. But I didn't want to become a Gladiator, none of us did but we had no choice when we lost our camp to the Giants in the war with the Greeks. It was a loss that we all shared, except for me…only me. What I lost was more important to me than the Legion camp…I lost someone special…I lost her. Every day for the last two centuries, my mind won't stop reminding me of the person I failed to save. The very detailed memory of the girl I love dying in my arms as Olympus was nearly razed, her beautiful Cherokee features still making her look like a goddess in her final moments.
That was my pain, my loss…my reason for choosing this life even though I was forced to do this. The constant battles and harrowing near death experiences making me forget a normal life, but then again, that all ended when she died.
Now as I stand there in the distance, looking at my men and women that have risked their lives for me and for a place not of their own for two centuries, it nearly made me want to turn around and walk back and hide…not wanting them to be denied a chance to go home. (A/N sorry for not telling you guys why they get to go back to earth but I don't want to ruin the surprise for you guys.)
Slowly I began to walk back to the debriefing room when one of my Gladiators called my name, "Jason!"
I stopped and looked back as my team of Gladiators stood up and walked towards me, their faces were molded into big grins…for the meantime.
"Jason!" one of my Gladiators, Dakota, came up to me, her hands held a bow and arrow as she grinned, "You're not just going to stand there and not join us as we celebrate our return to earth right?"
Bobby roared in joy as Dakota said the word "home", his eyes pure with happiness.
The only one that didn't look happy was Leo, even though he was the only Greek demigod here, he was accepted by the others as a Roman and a Gladiator. I looked at them all, six faces who I spent two hundred years fighting alongside with, six faces that I know that somehow…I will never see them again, "Gladiators…brothers and sisters in arms…your courage has been tested beyond all limits…now I must ask you all for one further trial."
Bobby laughed and held out a can of mountain dew in his hand, "Drink?"
I shook my head and sighed, my face getting serious, "At Britannia there is a siege that is about to take place. Around that area lives a high ranking Greek family. Our orders are to evacuate them and return them to Roma."
Bobby spat on the ground in front of me, his eyes murderous, then again he was a son of Mars so it was almost natural for him, "Yeah well let the damn Greeks care for their own."
Gwendolyn scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Britannia? There's nothing but chaos and war in Britannia. It's Celtic territory."
"Our duty to Romulus, if it was ever a duty is done," Dakota glared at me with her sun colored eyes as she spoke, "Our pact with the Gladiators is done!"
"Every Gladiator here has risked his life on the line for you…for you," Bobby's tempered flared as his voice increased in volume, "And instead of freedom, you want more blood? Our blood! You think more of Greek blood than you do of ours!"
"Bobby these are our orders! We leave in first light and when we return, your freedom will be waiting for you, a freedom that we can embrace with honor—"
"I'M A FREE MAN, AND I WILL CHOOSE MY OWN FATE!"
"Yeah yeah, we will all die someday, if its death by a sword or a Greek hand?" for a daughter of Bacchus, Hazel was kinda scary at times, "Stay home."
Dakota finally snapped, her anger even scarier than Bobby's. She turned her sights towards Hazel and yelled, "Listen if you're so eager to die, you can die right now! I have something to live for!"
"Romulus has broken his word!" Reyna roared from behind Dakota and Hazel, her voice was almost like thunder booming in the distance, "We have the word of Jason, that is good enough." She looked at all of us before leaving, "I'll prepare." With a quick turn on her heel, she walked out of the room but stopping beside Bobby along the way, "Bobby? You coming?"
"OF COURSE I'M COMING! CAN'T LET YOU ALL GO ON YOUR OWN OR YOU'LL GET KILLED!" Bobby slammed his fist into a wall and turned back to look at us before following Reyna, "I'M JUST SAYING WHAT YOU'RE ALL THINKING!"
A deep sigh escaped my lips as I turned to look at Gwendolyn, "And you Gwen?"
Gwen nodded, "I'm with you." She shook her head towards Dakota, "Dakota as well."
Dakota gawked at Gwen before laughing at me and throwing her goblet on the ground, her sun colored eyes looking at me with defeat as she too left with Hazel and Gwen to prepare.
Soon it was just me and Leo, his brown eyes narrowed as he tried to read me. I let my head hang low as I turned away from him as I made my way towards the armory, the rows of weapons making my mood a little less guilty.
I was about to prepare my armor pack when I slammed it towards the wall, my anger slowly rising then settling down as I began to pray, "Father if you are there, please, I'm in need of your mercy right now. Not for myself, but for my Gladiators as well for this is truly their hour of need. Deliver them from the trials ahead and I will repay you a thousand fold of any sacrifice you ask of me, and if in your wisdom, you should determine that that sacrifice must be my life instead of theirs so that they may once again taste the freedom that has so long been denied to them. I will gladly make that covenant, my death will have a purpose…I ask no more than that."
"Why do you always talk to Jupiter and not to me?" I turned around to see Leo walking up to me, his face showing signs of anger, "Or pray, to whom ever you pray to that we don't get injured in battle."
Annoyance crept up my face as he said those words, "My faith is what protects me Leo why do you question this?"
"I don't like anything that makes a man beg or puts him on his knees."
"No man fears to kneel in front their parent or any god or goddess he trusts. Without faith, without believing in something, what are we?"
"Trying to do a mission in Celtic territory is insanity."
"Them we've fought before."
"But not in Britannia!" Leo walked over and stood face to face to me, "How many Celts? Hmm? How many!" He looked down then back up to me, "Tell me, do you believe in this mission?"
"These people need our help, it is our duty—"
"I don't care about your charge. And I don't give a damn about Romans, Celts, Greeks, Britannia or this planet. If you desire to spend eternity on this piece of rock because of Piper's death, so be it, but suicide cannot be chosen for another!"
"And yet you choose death for this Greek family!"
"NO I CHOOSE LIFE…AND FREEDOM FOR MYSELF AND THE MEN!" Leo looked down and sat down on a nearby bench, his head hung low from his outburst.
"How many times in battle have we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat? Outnumbered out flanked yet still we triumphed. With you at my side, we can do so again," gently I calmed my voice down and looked down at Leo, "Leo we are Gladiators of Romulus, whatever purpose do we serve if not for such a cause?"
"Jason you fight for a world that will never exist, never, it will always be a battlefield where you watch the person you love die in your arms," slowly he got up and stood face to face with me again, "I will die in battle…of that I'm certain, and hopefully a battle of my choosing. But, if it be this one…do me a favor, don't bury me in our sad little cemetery. Burn me, burn me and cast my ashes to a strong earth east wind." He looked at me and sighed, "I know you're still hurting from losing Piper, I'm still hurting from losing her as well. She was a great friend to me and a loving girlfriend to you…she was a great friend to everyone, Romans and Greeks." Leo patted my shoulder and walked away, his footsteps had like a final echo to them as if it was the last time I would be hearing him walk away…just like how I remembered Piper's last words to me before she died.
AND NOW FOR THE PREQUEL TO THE SPARTANS OF FATE AND CHAOS: RETRIBUTION…..
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Spartans: The rise of Ouranos
Excerpt sneak peak
(Percy's pov)
Ω on the planet Marathon Ω
I stood on the plains of Marathon, a planet named after a city-state in Greece where the Athenians and Persians first fought at. Behind me stood my four Spartan generals: Nico, Laurie, Mason, and Christy, all ready to fight on my command. It's been two weeks since we were deployed at this planet, two weeks since the Persian Gods and Goddesses declared war on all Greek planets. We all thought it was a hoax and a bluff but when the planet Eretria fell to the Persians, it sent us one message: the Persians were looking for a fight.
"Here they come," Nico unlatched his rifle from his back as the sounds of gawking were in the distance, "Looks like they have more mutated warriors to throw at us again."
Grungles, that's what those mistakes where. The creatures stood only three feet off the ground with gas masks attached to their faces; their bodies too weak inhale any other type of gas except for Butane gas from their home world. Alone, they weren't a problem but in a group or a massive amount, that was a problem. I'd seen them before in battle, how they were used as cannon fodder to soften up the defenses so that the main force was fresh and ready. It had happened in Athens and Vesta and now it was about to happen here.
"Something isn't right; don't the Grungles usually follow Reavers?" My fourth in command Spartan general SPARTAN 055 aka Mason spoke, "In waves two and seven they attacked with the Reavers close behind them, they couldn't possibly be weakened now."
I shook my head and zoomed my built in scope inside my helmet, my HUD showing me a massive number of Grungles coming our way but only Grungles. I opened a team com link towards my other General named Christy, the team's sniper, "Christy, any visual on Reavers?"
Christy's voice crackled through the internal speakers, "Negative. No signs of Reavers, only Grungles…wait…shit! Two enemy aircrafts inbound!"
To my immediate left spoke my fifth Spartan, Laurie, "New contact detected, big ones, we've got Balverines on coming straight towards us!"
"Arm the Fury Tack Nuke as well as the Lotus mines, detonate on my mark," they nodded in understanding as I set up the Nuke. It was a fifty megaton explosive full of Greek fire that, when detonated, everything in a hundred mile radius would disintegrate from the blast. Once placed and armed, the five of us scurried out of there on a dead run as the Grungles and enemy Phoenix fighters loomed in on us.
"Take positions in those buildings and fire on my command," we ran into a ruined building and spreaded out for the incoming assault, the enemy drawing closer and closer to our positions as well as our traps. About fifty kilometers away, the first Grungle stepped on to the minefield, "Hold…and wait for the bulk of their vanguard to cross into the field! Christy, focus on the Phoenix fighters!" Four acknowledgement lights flickered in my HUD display as more of the hostiles trudged onto no man's land.
Finally we saw that the bulk of their forces were now inside the field, with a sharp nod, Laurie detonated the LOTUS mines. A power shockwave shook the entire building as the entire block was destroyed by the blast.
Confused and disoriented, the Grungles along with the Balverines provided us with easy targets as we opened fire, "FIRE EVERYTHING!"
A hail of bronze laser bullets peppered the air as the enemy grew chaotic in the fray. What was once a completely proportioned Balverine was now reduced to bits of body pieces as our bullets of bronze and laser mowed down the enemy.
Suddenly my ear piece crackled some of the Balverines broke through our fire and entered the building, "UMSC Argos to Spartan Blue team, evac in twenty minutes tops."
"Roger that Argos," I pinged my other Spartans on the planet as the battle over head turned for the worst. Our fleet was losing to the oncoming reinforcements of Persian warships, "Spartan teams Blue, Red, Green and Saber. Report to the RV point at 1700 hours ASAP. The planet can't be saved."
Twenty acknowledgement lights appeared in my heads up display as more hostiles entered the building. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my motion tracker flicker with movement, the dot showing a large red as it moved behind me. Without warning, I spun around only to be faced to face with a Balverine…two Balverines. They stood six feet tall with wolfish features, actually more like werewolf features. They stood on two legs but hunched over in a hunting form, their teeth were sharp like sword blades, while black fur dominated its entire body. Acting on instinct, I raised my rifle firing at one Balverine while blocking the other one with my hidden blade in my gauntlet hand. I heard a metal CLAP as my assault rifle ran out of ammo giving the other Balverine I was firing at the chance to attack me.
I raised my armored leg just in time to roundhouse kick the incoming Balverine while the other one I blocked tackled me through a wall…and naturally it had to be a wall that was near the end of the building. Both of us tumbled down the building as we fell, its jaw tried to find its way to my head to bite it off. In one fluid movement, I drew my fourteen inch battle knives and stabbed one through its chest while the other one went through its mouth and skull. We both landed on the ground, my armors energy shields flaring on impact. Just then my motion tractor came to life as more red moving dots appeared. Slowly I turned around to see the remainder of the enemy vanguard charging at me with their weapons drawn. I dove to the right as a bolt of Persian fire was launched at me. With my body acting on reflexes alone, my hand dished out my most powerful weapon: Riptide. Just like I have been doing for almost 150 years now, I uncapped the ball point as it transformed into its deadly three feet bronze nightmare form. I charged at them with blinding speed due to my armor units, my weapon acting on its own as I collided into the army. Hack, stab, slash and block were all that I could think off as wave after wave of monsters came at me only to have a sword protrude from their bodies.
I grabbed one of the Grungles from the throat and threw him at an oncoming Balverine while kneed and palmed a Balverine commander, Balvron, in the chest. Suddenly my senses acted up as I felt something attacking me from behind. I moved just in time to see a Persian demigod slash downward in a deadly arch, his war helm slamming into my helmet. I ducked again as he swung at me and kicked him from under his feet while stabbing my sword through his chest. Another demigod attacked me from my left as I rolled away just in time as she threw her daggers at me. Thanks to seventeen years of training, I managed to throw my sword in her direction while rolling to safety, the sound of metal sinking into flesh resonating in my ears.
More of them came at me as I fought them without my sword. One of them came at me with his spear thrusting to my chest. My hand shot out to grab the shaft of the weapon while my foot connected with the guy's stomach, breaking the spear in half at the same time. I turned around in a complete 360 and stuck the spear tip through the Persian I just kicked while stabbing two other Persian demigods in the neck with my hidden blade gauntlets. Only one remained, he was shaking in his boots as I walked slowly to him. Out of fear he swung at me with his right fist, but he wasn't fortunate enough to even land his punch. In a flash, I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him to me while the arm I pulled him in with slammed into his face hard, the sound of bone breaking into tiny pieces was heard as the demigods face caved in on impact.
The rest of the army fled as they saw their commanding Persian leaders laid dead at my feet. Just then, a dust storm and heavy winds appeared behind me as a UMSC drop ship landed right next to me. As I walked up the ramp, I was met by my Spartans from Blue, Red, and Saber; Green didn't make it to the Extraction point.
I barked at the pilot, "Get us out of here on the double!"
The pilot nodded and fired the engines, "Yes sir, ETA is seven minutes."
I nodded and took off my helmet, my black messy hair sticking out in every direction while my sea green eyes gazed out of the ships window as we broke orbit and plunged into space. What was once a beautiful planet was now reduced to a place that hell can call its home, the oceans and lakes would soon evaporate while the crust and atmosphere would crack and wither away as the glassing began.
Right next to me stood Laurie as we watched the Persian warships fire their main cannons at the planet, blobs of plasma impacting on the surface as the more rounds slammed into the crust, "You think there will be other worlds like this to fight for?"
I kept my mouth shut as a new sun appeared on Marathon as the Fury Tack Nuke exploded and continued to stare at the planet being destroyed. Soon there won't be any more planets to fight for; soon there won't be anywhere else to run to.
Anyways plz review =DDD! ~ Thorakis God of Fate and Chaos
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