Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus Series.
Story: Divided Soul
Chapter 10: A Surprise Visit
Castra Semideus
Scipio strode from the command tent to the far wall of the camp, where he was met by the five legions. Reyna and the first legion stood in the front. All of the legionnaires saluted their Consul when he arrived.
Scipio stood in front of the five legions that he would command in the upcoming battle. He looked at each legionnaire closely as he tried to gauge their emotions and preparedness.
"You all are going into battle against the enemy; five legions against an army of bloodthirsty monsters. Do not fear. We are Romans, we shall prevail. All of us owe our allegiance and our lives to the ways of Rome. Rome is our mother and our father. I ask each of you to fight harder than ever before. The remaining legions will protect the borders of camp, while we take the fight to the enemy. The enemy dares to threaten our island and in doing so, they shall feel the wrath of Rome." The legionnaires cheered, their excitement and determination increasing as he spoke. "For Rome!" Scipio yelled as he strode out of the gates of camp and toward the far side of the island. The five legions followed him closely with determined looks on the faces of each soldier.
Scipio reached the edge of the forest on the far side of the island. The beach and the ocean beyond it were visible through the trees. Scipio motioned for the five praetors of the legions to approach him. Reyna stood in the lead with the others around her.
"I want your best archers in the trees, here, here and there," Scipio said as he pointed to different locations around the forest. "The enemy has to come through this forest before they can approach the camp. We will give them a surprise they will not soon forget." Scipio looked at Reyna in particular. "I want our best hand to hand fighters with me. Once the archers begin to fire, we will attack; we need to drive them into the sea where they can be crushed." Reyna smiled at the Consul before looking at her other praetors and nodding in agreement. "Good, now get in position, we have only about an hour before the enemy arrives."
Scipio, Reyna and Alex watched through the trees as the sound of motor boats approached the shore line. There were three boats; they looked like flat barges with large motors attached to the rear. The boats ran ashore along the sandy beach. Suddenly, doors on the flat surface of the boats opened and out stepped dozens of monsters. There were hellhounds, Laestrygonians, dragon women, empousae, and Cyclopes. Scipio stared at the group of monsters curiously.
Reyna noticed her leader's expression. "Scipio, is there something wrong?"
"No giants; this is another test," Scipio said. The son of Neptune stared intently at the boats, his mind racing as he processed the information he saw. "They're forming up in a line on the beach. Get the archers ready." Reyna nodded as she ran off into the forest. Scipio turned to Alex. "Get our soldiers in position." Alex smiled before running off into the forest.
Scipio stared into the sea, his face looked calm and his eyes were glazed over, like he was in a trance of some type. Suddenly, the sound of engines, very loud engines thundered in the distance. A long, sleek olive green boat was visible along the horizon, it moved quickly toward the beach. The monsters turned toward the noise. Scipio silently cursed under his breath as Alex returned with a dozen soldiers armed to the teeth.
Alex looked at the son of Neptune in concern before turning toward the beach to see the monsters staring out towards the water. "What's going on?" Alex asked.
"It appears that we have visitors," Scipio answered, "and they have inadvertently destroyed any success our surprise attack might have had."
"What do we do?"
Scipio stared at Alex, his mind racing with ideas. "Go get Reyna and the archers. Have them attack from the edge of the forest," he ordered.
"Yes sir," Alex said before he ran to find Reyna and the others.
Scipio turned to the dozen soldiers that stood at attention. "We must attack them," Scipio said. He stared into the eyes of each soldier as if willing any fear or trepidation out of their minds. "When the archers attack, we will charge the enemy." The soldiers stared at their leader in disbelief. "I know it sounds reckless, but our plans have been ruined by those intruders," Scipio said as he pointed toward the boat heading towards the beach. "I want all of you to fight like Romans and remember your training." The soldiers all nodded with determined looks on their faces.
Alex appeared with Reyna and about three dozen archers. "Reyna, I want half your archers to set up perches in the trees and the other half will establish defensive positions behind the base of the trees," Scipio ordered.
"Yes sir," Reyna said. "You heard him, let's move." Reyna and her archers began to climb trees and setup positions around the forest.
Scipio turned back to his soldiers. "Alex, take six soldiers and attack their right side. I'll take the remaining force and attack the left," Scipio said.
"What about that boat?" Alex asked.
Scipio looked at the sea with a grave expression on his face. "I'll handle that," Scipio said.
The enemy forces approached the edge of the sea as they continued to stare at the olive green boat that raced toward them. Suddenly, dozens of arrows filled the sky; monsters erupted into dust as imperial gold arrows found their mark. The dust began to swirl as the creatures reformed. Several loud cries rang out from the forest as a dozen demigods sprang from the underbrush.
Scipio led the demigods, his golden armor shined so brightly that it nearly blinded the monsters. He raised his imperial gold gladius as he charged the monsters. As the demigod force reached the monsters loud bangs sounded up and down the beach as the soldiers fired their shot guns into the monsters. Arrows continued to strike monsters turning them into dust. As monsters began to reform they were torn apart again by the shotgun fire.
Scipio sliced a dragon woman in half, spinning in a tight circle. The monsters dissolved into dust, but began to reform almost immediately. A Roman soldier next to Scipio fired his shotgun into the mass of dust causing the monster to blow apart again, this time without any means to reform.
The sound of a boat engine increased even more as the olive green boat approached the beach. Scipio stared at the boat to see a blonde girl and a dark haired girl standing at the controls. The blonde girl pointed to the fighting on the beach. Suddenly, the sea exploded as a massive shape emerged from the water. The creature was at least three times the length of the boat and its body was shaped like a dark green snake. The creature had the head of a drakon with row upon row of razor sharp teeth. The monster struck the rear of the boat causing the boat engines to sputter, and then stop altogether. The monster coiled its body around the boat like a python. A dozen or more people jumped from the boat before the creature crushed the vessel between its coils.
Scipio turned toward Alex who was fighting fiercely against a Cyclops with another Roman soldier beside him. Scipio whistled loudly before blasting an empousa to dust with his shotgun. Alex turned toward his commander. Scipio motioned toward the sea monster and the wrecked boat. Alex nodded in understanding as he ordered the soldiers around him to continue their assault.
More and more arrows seemed to fly toward the remaining monsters; Reyna must have seen the boat destroyed. Scipio smiled in the direction of the forest before saluting. He turned toward the sea; the son of Neptune threw off his helmet and handed his gun and ammunition to the nearest Roman soldier. Scipio slid his sword into its scabbard before rushing into the rolling waves. He swam toward the wrecked vessels as the monster continued to crush the wrecked hull into smaller and smaller pieces.
As Scipio swam toward the wreck and the thrashing monster he saw the heads of several people bobbing up and down in the ocean waves. He approached a young man with curly hair and as the son of Neptune approached he saw small horns on the man's head. It was a faun; Scipio looked at him curiously before grabbing him around the waist. The faun struggled for a moment, but relaxed when he realized that he wasn't under attack.
"Can you make it to shore?" Scipio asked. The faun turned his head and looked at the Consul of Rome. Grover's eyes grew big as he stared into the face of his lost friend.
"Percy!" Grover exclaimed.
Scipio stared at the faun in confusion. "I think you have me mistaken for someone else. I'm Scipio, son of Neptune."
Grover stared at his lost friend in shock. He was about to speak when a roar echoed across the water. Scipio turned toward the noise to see the sea monster let go of the remaining pieces of the boat, and then sink below the waves.
"Can you make it to shore?" Scipio asked again.
Grover shook his head. Scipio looked around for any help. A large girl with stringy brown hair swam passed them. "Hey, can you take him to shore?" Scipio yelled. The girl turned toward the Consul of Rome; when she saw him a surprised looked stretched across her face. She nodded and then grabbed a hold of the faun.
Clarisse helped Grover swim to shore as fast as he could. A few Hunters helped them reach the shore. All of the Hunters made it to shore, except for Thalia. She was still in the deep water with Annabeth, Jason and Piper.
Thalia, Jason and Piper held onto each other as they tried to remain afloat. The children of Zeus/Jupiter weren't the best swimmers. Annabeth and Piper struggled to keep them afloat. Suddenly, two large dorsal fins slipped up from the depths of the ocean. Two great white sharks, each twice as long as a demigod, swam toward the four half bloods; Jason, Piper and Thalia were frozen in fear at the sight of the two creatures. Annabeth for her part looked on as her mind raced with ideas on how to survive.
Scipio saw the scene before him and swam toward the four demigods at an incredible speed. The sea serpent suddenly shot out of the water between Scipio and the endangered half bloods. Scipio's eyes narrowed as he focused on the head of the monster. He willed the sea to move him toward the beast. The creature turned toward the son of Neptune and opened its massive jaws. The head of the monster moved at an unnatural speed as it struck toward the Consul of Rome. Scipio moved to the side at the last moment, but before he slipped under the waves he pulled out his sword and readied it for battle.
Jason, Piper and Thalia were both frozen as they stared at the two dorsal fins that approached them. The sharks moved toward the four demigods slowly, but deliberately. They seemed to be wary of this prey, but still the thrashing of the water had peaked the creature's interest.
Scipio dove deeper into the ocean. He turned his head to see the body of the sea monster. The creature's head was now positioned toward Scipio with its white teeth gleaming in the low light of the ocean water. The monster thrust forward with its jaws agape. Scipio slipped under the jaws just before he drove the tip of his sword into the jaw muscle of the monster. The roar of the creature echoed below and above the ocean waves. The water filled with blood as Scipio's blade cut through a major artery in the head of the beast. The creature dove toward the sea floor to heal.
Scipio surfaced among the rolling waves of the sea above. He looked around to see the two sharks heading toward the four demigods. He swam toward the sharks with the power of the sea behind him. The sharks sensing a threat turned toward the son of Neptune. Scipio dove under the surface and looked at the two sharks that now headed toward his direction. The eyes of the sharks focused on the child of the sea as if in recognition. They circled Scipio almost in reverence to the demigod.
Son of the sea, the sharks said.
Those humans are not your prey, leave them be, Scipio said.
We are hungry lord, what will we eat? The sharks asked.
I have the biggest meal any shark could ever want, come with me, Scipio said, as he latched onto one of the shark's dorsal fins.
Annabeth and Piper held onto Jason and Thalia tightly as the four demigods struggled to remain afloat. When the sharks disappeared beneath the surface, the four half bloods looked around frantically for the creatures. Suddenly, the sea erupted as the head of the sea monster sprang forth from the ocean depths below. The four demigods looked on in horror as the jaws of the beast opened revealing its dagger like teeth. The creature lifted its head far out of the water until the monster towered over the four half bloods.
The sea monster opened its jaws, ready to strike the four half bloods. Suddenly, the two sharks jumped out of the water, their bodies flew towards the monster like two missiles. They struck the sea monster with such force that the beast's head hit the water causing a thunderous splash. The sea serpent emerged with the two sharks latched onto its body with their jaws biting down into the scaly body of the monster. The sea serpent bellowed in pain and rage as the two sharks ripped huge chunks of meat from the beast's body. Blood flowed freely from the wounds, tinting the sea red. More sharks appeared and latched onto the sea serpent. The monster roared in agony before it slipped below the surface of the water.
Annabeth and her three friends all exhaled in relief as the monster and the sharks slid below the ocean surface. The daughter of Athena struggled to keep a hold of her three friends in order to prevent them from sinking.
Suddenly, someone grabbed Jason and Piper from her grip as a giant wave picked up the four demigods pushing them towards the shoreline. In just a few minutes the four half bloods hit the beach softly as if placed by a giant hand. Jason, Piper and Thalia coughed up sea water as they lay on the beach exhausted from their ordeal. Annabeth sat in the sand after checking on the condition of her three friends.
The sea became quiet and still as the waves reduced in size dramatically. The four demigods all stared towards the ocean as a dark haired man in golden armor walked out of the water. He strode out of the sea as if he was taking a summer stroll in a park. His black hair was cut short and his face was free of any blemishes; he looked familiar to the daughter of Athena and the lieutenant of Artemis. The reflection of the sun on the water and sand changed as he approached the four demigods. As the shadows cleared from his eyes Annabeth froze at the sight. In front of her was the dark haired boy she loved, the one with those mesmerizing sea green eyes. He walked right up to the four half bloods with a determined look on his face. He stopped only a few feet from them. He looked down into Annabeth's eyes; she didn't even try to say anything.
Scipio looked down at the four unknown half bloods. He placed his sword back in its scabbard and said, "What in the name of Pluto are you doing here?" His eyes flashed with annoyance. "You ruined my plan."
AN: So Annabeth and the others found Percy or Scipio. It doesn't appear that he recognizes them. A big thank you for Starlit Reader for betaing this chapter and her advice. Stay tuned more to come.