Cesar or Tempest here. First off, I'm on a roll today. Second off I really need to stop saying things before I do them. I said this chapter would be world building on New Rome but as you can tell by the first P.O.V I might've done the complete opposite. But on the bright side I wrote a ton today. Hopefully y'all will still enjoy this.
Julia P.O.V
"So the same day the Son of Poseidon and his party went to retrieve the lightning bolt your friend Jaxson left?" I nodded as the huntress continued. "Then a little over a week later the son of Hermes Luke Castellan left and was reported for attempted murder on a demigod of the Big Three and treason. Forgive me if this sounds like too much but I'm going to have to put your friend as a suspect and a possible fugitive. The dates line up well and there is ample reason for him to conspire with Callestan. Especially since from other accounts we have received Callestan took a liking to him from the beginning." Unbelievable, Jaxson wouldn't do that.
"Jaxson is my friend, he wouldn't do anything like that." The huntress wrote a note on her pad and looked up.
"If you wish to find him yourself, join the hunt. We always need more huntresses." I scoffed in disbelief. Why would I join the hunt?
"Thanks but no thanks I'll stay in camp."
"Your loss." She shrugged and walked off. Camp was in a state of disbelief. Luke and a few others had left the camp and were labeled as fugitives. The Hunters of Artemis arrived in camp to track down the fugitives and police the camp. Anyone with any history with any camper who ran has been interviewed and put in a special list. One I'm guessing is for narrowing spies.
Tensions have also begun to rise. Many refuse to believe Luke and the others have turned traitor. I am one of them. Several conflicts have occurred between the hunters and campers leaving a couple in the medical office. "Aren't you quite popular?" Cecil called from behind me.
"I would say the same for you. Though your ego has already been lifted enough." He smirked.
"Just mentioning my ego makes it grow." I swear I'm going to have someone curse him for a day. So he can't talk. On a serious note. I know you and I both don't think Jax would leave camp without reason. He was living the life or that's what it seems. Perhaps something is going on beneath the surface. And as much as I love the attention I have a bad feeling coming from the Hunters. Their hiding something."
"What makes you think that?"
"They're following a script. I overheard another interview with Silena and she was asked the same questions as us." So he has been looking into things. Finally being serious about things. "Me, you and Lou can conduct our own research. I'll continue listening in on interviews and meetings. You and Lou find out what you are going to do. A meeting is going to start." He turned and began walking away. "One more thing. Stay low Big Brother is on high alert."
"So we are going to conduct our own investigation and Cecil is leading the charge?" I nodded. Lou thought for a moment. "We won't get any hard information unless we have a man on the outside. We can only find so much info here. And I bet the Hunters have taken most of the physical evidence themselves."
"That's true. But no one can leave the camp. Wait. No the Hunters can. They can go in and out and they have info." Lou nodded.
"So either you or me are going to join the Hunters. That's not something we can just back out of. I highly doubt they are going to accept us. As we are prime suspects. And even if they do, we'll be on even tighter watch." She's making good points.
"So what do we do? If we step out of camp we'll be fugitives." We're stuck at a standstill. Nothing we can do.
"Let's just spy around until we find an opening. Now let's go."
Carnus P.O.V
"I can hunt for the fugitives. I will swear on the Styx if I have to." The lieutenant scoffed.
"You truly believe we will break our ancient codes and allow you to join? Leave my sight. Before I send your entrails to the Fates." I didn't mean hunt with them. Guess I'll try something else.
I left and headed to Zeus' Fist. The Club has been shut down since Luke left. Jaxson was definitely a big part but the party still continued. But as soon as the "incident" occurred the life of the camp has disappeared.
Sitting at the Fist brought peace to me. No one ever comes here unless it's for capture the flag. I need to talk to Cee. He has to have a better idea of what's happening. He was closer to Jaxson and is a part of the Hermes cabin. "Child of Apollo. Would you like to play a game?" A voice from nowhere. I jolted up and put my hands on my short spear.
"Where are you? Show yourself and I'll decide."
"Tsk tsk. Now where's the fun in that? If you answer my question I'll do more than show you my face. Wait. I worded that wrong. I won't kill you, don't worry." What the fuck is going on.
"You realize that gives off the opposite effect." A brief moment of silence.
"Oh. Nevermind. What is the greatest weapon of mankind?" Simple Pandora's box and basic common sense.
"Our minds." More silence.
"Too easy huh. I'm going to do another one. What is the difference between a gun and apple seeds?" Why am I answering his questions? And what type of question is this? A gun is for defense and can kill someone. An apple seed brings life. Carbon? No, I'm not completely sure. Don't apple seeds kill you? Cause they're poisonous right?
"They'll both kill you." Clapping could be heard.
"Wonderful job. look to your right." To my right was a hole in the ground with a tanned man with a greying beard and a small tattoo of a bird. "Names Quintus follow me."
"Why would I follow an old man through an underground chamber?" He makes a move and I'll kill him.
"Because I can help you with anything you need. Quite literally as well. Now come along." Cautiously I agreed. He seemed too weird to do something a normal villain would do. It was a cave system with red walls that seemed to pulsate when touched. "Don't lose track of me or you'll die. Not by my doing. Well not purposely." I don't know whether to be scared or confused. We reached a surprisingly normal looking door. "I hope I got the right keys." He pulled a comically large amount of keys each with distinct features.
"I don't see how you couldn't." He turned to me still looking for the right key.
"Oh I have three more of these. Found it!" He put the key in and opened the door. The interior was a gray apartment with paintings, sculptures and toasters. Wait toasters? "Make yourself at home. Just don't touch anything on display. They might fall apart."
"Uh sure. I sat on a simple grey couch." It started making a whirring sound as soon as I had my ass on the cushion.
"Unidentified lifeform. Beginning extermination protocol." A robotic voice came from the couch. I jumped off the couch backing away.
"Stand down Dave. Create a new lifeform." He turned to me and whispered. "What's your name?"
"Carnus Burns." I stated a bit bewildered.
"Permission to Carnus Burns allowed. My apologies. Please have a free espresso." A robotic arm came out of the couch with an espresso. I grabbed it and took a sip. Quite good honestly.
"Sorry I think I'll stand. Also may I ask what the fuck is going on." Quintus looked around and looked back at me.
"Are you talking to me?" Fucking hell.
"No, I'm talking to Dave the couch. What is going on here Quintus." He shrugged.
"I'm an inventor. And one that has a great deal of respect for Apollo. What better way to show my respect than help his son." I don't like this guy. He has a killer couch and collects toasters.
"I need you to swear on the Styx you won't harm me mentally or physically on purpose. And that's including your inventions." He looked a bit hurt but nodded.
"I swear on the Styx I will not harm Carnus burns physically or mentally on purpose. This also transfers to my inventions." That. takes a huge amount of weight off my shoulders.
"So what do you have for me? You said you could help me with anything." He nodded.
"Yes I can. Do you have any problems right now?"
"Yes I do actually."
"So you're saying if I press the bracelet I'll be untraceable." He nodded.
"Yes. You will have no scent, your steps will be lighter leaving little to no tracks. And your energy will be suppressed making you seem like a normal human." For a weirdo this guy is a genius.
"Thanks Quintus. How will I get back here if I need anything else?" He went over to a drawer and took out a compass.
"It's not a real compass. But wherever the spiny thingy points to is where I am. Or where the apartment is. Be warned I remodel regularly. But please stay a little longer." A Roomba with a buzzsaw on the top whirred next to Quintus taking his cup. "It's nice to talk to a real person. Not that I don't like my inventions."
"Sorry Quintus maybe another time? I have to go before someone gets suspicious."
"Oh ok I understand, just walk out the door and you'll be back at your camp." I opened the door and walked out. Ending up in the hole from before.
I climbed out and dusted myself off. Well that was strange. At least I got something out of it. Well I should get back to the cabin. I need to let Lee know what I got.
Lee was in the cabin working on his prototype bow. "Hey Lee, I got something important to tell you." He spun around and looked at me. He looked weird with glasses on.
"What you got." His arm had rub burns from the bow.
"I found a way to leave camp without being tracked down as easily." Lee looked at me skeptically.
"Lighting."
"Thunder. Do you not trust me Lee?" He shrugged.
"Can never be too careful. You can't bring that up out of nowhere and expect me not to be suspicious." True. It was a good idea to develop a way to have safe words. We made them when Jaxson started shifting.
"Well Lee, I have this Bracelet." I lifted my arm up. "Apparently if I press on it I'll lose my scent and I'll be close to untraceable."
"Does it genuinely work?" I shrugged.
"Haven't tried. I was going to ask some of the dryads after I talked to you." He nodded and scratched the stubble on his chin.
"We'll test it out together. You're coming with me to the meeting. I need you to pass a message to the Stolls. Tell them to bring that girl that was friends with Jaxson. Lou. Yeah that's her name. Tell them to bring Lou with them tonight." I nodded.
"Is that all?" He nodded. And waved me off. With that it was time to track the Stolls. Which was easy enough just to find the cabin that looked the most pissed. And what a surprise it's Ares cabin. To be fair they always look pissed.
"What's up Shepard." He was smoking Poppy seeds. I thought he was going clean. "Thought you were going clean Shep what happened?"
"It's harder than you think Carnus." He sighed. "And this recent shit ain't helping either. The Stolls' way of keeping normality is their most shitty idea yet."
"Ain't a reason for you to start relapsing. I don't even know how you get that shit anyways." It's true. Chiron is strict on drug use. Even Ambrosia is only used in dire situations.
"Just got to ask the gardeners. They grow everything and anything for the right price." Fuck. Here I thought Katie was going to change shit.
Got to let Lee know and have him talk to Katie. "Anyways where did the Stolls go?"
"Where do you think? The club." Should've figured.
I flicked Shepherd a drachma. "Don't use that shit on drugs. Or I'll have Clarisse gut you."
"You think she got shit on me? I can beat her ass any day." He put his hand on his waist. "It doesn't matter how fast or strong she is, one shot and she's done."
With that I went to the club. The Stolls were sitting behind the bar searching for liquor. "Hey Travis and Conner. Came to let y'all know you guys have garbage collecting duty. And you have to bring Lou too."
They turned to me. "Shore or Cabins?"
"Shore." They nodded.
"Consider it done." They walked out from behind the bar with their signature smirks.
A few hours passed and all the councillors except for Mr. D's kids were in a cave next to the shore. The sound of the ocean hid our voices and the location was surrounded by sharp boulders. "Let's finish this up quickly. Carnus you ready?"
"As ready as I can be." I pressed on the bracelet and waited.
"Well did anything change Lou?" Annabeth asked curiously.
"He definitely seems different. His aura is completely different. And there's a ton of mist on him. Safe to say it works." Nods of approval from the rest of councillors.
"Alright we've proved what we needed to. We will meet again tomorrow at the stalls." With that all the councillors dispersed.
"Hey Carnus. Would you be willing to work with a couple of us in Hermes cabin and figure out what happened?" It was that girl Lou. She could definitely help me find Jaxson.
"I'll do it. As long as I have free reign to do my own missions." That was all she needed to hear it seems.
"That's fine. Meet us in the strawberry fields before lunch." Two meetings in one day. Must be my popular phase. I nodded and she left the cave. I stayed a little longer admiring the waves. I could see a lone ship floating off in the distance. Fighting against the waves. It's bright lights a beacon of hope. As in this world. No matter how hard the battle we must always fight. I picked up a rock sitting in the cave and stared. My vision shifted to a time before. A time of innocence. No. Not tonight. Not now. I'll fight that battle another day.
I got up and left the cave keeping the rock in my hand. I placed it in my drawer. Along with the other ones I have collected. And slept in my bed. Staring at the gold ceiling.
The day went on as usual. No talk of the previous night. Not all knew about the meetings. Only those closest to the Councillors. And not Pollux and Castor. They were seen as risks. Though good guys from what I hear. They might say something to their dad. As he is on campgrounds at the moment. Though for a brief moment he left for the Summer Solstice. We learned Percy, Annabeth and Grover had witnessed the meeting confirming our timeframe. Helping us piece the puzzle. We have our dates completed but the motives are still lost to us. Luke had obviously been with us during the Solstice. Jaxson had left ten days prior. On the same day the trio went on their quest. Meaning something happened that Jaxson had to leave. And from what it seems Luke left as soon as Percy arrived back at camp. Along with fifteen other campers. Then now for the last few days we've been having the Huntress interview us. Quite a hectic two weeks.
From the fact that everyone who's left has been labeled a fugitive it seems like the Huntresses have reason to believe they have done something treasonous. That is where we are lost. Why are Luke and the others seen as fugitives? Apparently Ares was under the control of some forgotten minor Titan that hypnotized him into stealing the lightning bolt. We just need one more piece of this puzzle to know what happened.
This is too much for me. I need a break. I should hit up Shepard would be better for the both of us. I can make sure he doesn't start digging an even deeper hole. Walking along the cabins had a different feel to it. Sure everything seemed normal but the energy just seemed off. That makes no sense. I knocked on the door. Shepard rarely left the Cabin. Only for target practice and meals. Sherman opened the door. "What's going on Dandy."
Fucking hate that nickname. "Nothing much Retriever. Where's Shepard?"
He tapped his fingers on the door. "He went shooting with some Midnight."
"Thanks Retriever. You wanna do a late night spar." He smiled.
"I wouldn't miss a chance to beat your ass Dandy."
"Tonight then. And Bronze only." I walked off to head for Shepherd's firing range. Once again everything seemed normal but something felt off. It was obvious everyone was on guard. People have even started wearing their weapons everywhere they go. Stark difference from two weeks ago. The gunshots were getting louder now. I could even hear the glass breaking. Shepard was sitting on a lawn chair with his gun in his hand.
"Was hoping you would come visit. Otherwise it would've been a boring waste of my time." He was sitting lazily with sunglasses over his tan face.
"What's the challenge today?" There wasn't a normal target practice with Shepard, he always added a challenge.
"How about a throwback? One tosses bottles, the other shoots them." He got up from his chair stretching. "I'm pretty sure we've both gotten a bit stronger than the first time we did this."
"I'm pretty sure I did. I don't know about you. So where's the swords?"
A smile from Shepard. "Not that far back." He threw me a Colt 1911. "No Lugers today." He opened a briefcase and picked up a revolver.
"When are you getting your ARs?" He spit on the ground.
"Supposed to get them later this week but now." He paused. "Well it's gonna be a bit complicated to explain why I want five Celestial Bronze caliber AK-47s." He handed me a bottle as I put the pistol on the chair. "You know how it works." I threw the bottle in the air like a knife. Shepard waited for it to reach the tree line before he shot at it. Destroying the bottle.
"Maybe we shouldn't throw it at the tree line. We might hit a dryad." He shrugged.
"Doesn't matter to me. Throw it toward the valley then. The Harpies will clean it later." I threw another bottle. He waited for it to fall before shooting right before it touched the ground. "Your turn this is too easy."
He picked up an empty bottle and got ready to throw. "This isn't one of your special recoil pistols is it?" Shepard had a couple of the Hephaestus kids to tune his pistols for more recoil. So he can get to the point where recoil is non-existent like in a movie.
"I don't think so." He threw a bottle in the air. Bang. Missed. I can get off one more shot. Bang. Hit. "Hey you still got it. I'm honestly surprised."
"Well I'm a Son of Apollo. Long distance shit is our thing."
We shot around until I left before lunch to see Lou. All the activities had started to finish up as people began heading to the mess hall. Should've arrived a little earlier. The strawberries are growing well. They were always bigger than normal thanks to the Demeter cabin. "About time you showed up." There was Lou, Cecil and the other girl that was always with them.
"Better late than never right?" Lou shook her head.
"Let's get this over with quick. We know something is being kept hidden to us. We've been trying to get as much information as possible. But we can't do much inside campgrounds." I nodded. That was a problem for everyone. "But with your bracelet that's no longer a problem. And with my powers you can stay an extended amount of time as long as I can shape your mist correctly."
"How long can you do that for?" So far this sounds good.
"Around an hour." That's not enough time.
"Won't be able to do much in an hour."
"Better than nothing." That's true. "So what do you say?"
"I'll join as long as I get free reign like I said earlier." Cecil jumped in.
"That'll be fine. Welcome to the club." We need to wrap this up quick.
"Okay then with that we should leave."
"Agreed, we'll talk to you later." They walked off first. I waited a bit then I went to the mess hall.
After the mess hall I once again had free time. Maybe I should go see Quintus. He did say he'd help me. I walked my way to Zeus' Fist and tapped the bracelet before jumping into the hole. It seemed different. The walls were closer together. And had a more cold metallic feel to them. I walked for a bit following the compass and found the door from yesterday. "Hello Carnus Burns, would you like an Expresso?" Dave the couch said with his robotic voice.
"No Dave, I'm good." I looked around. "Where's Quintus?"
"Quintus is in the shower listening to Liar by Camilla Cabello." Should I be surprised?
"You know what, can you make me a coffee with a lot of French vanilla creamer?" A robotic hand came from behind the couch giving me a thumbs up.
"No problem, your coffee will be completed in T-minus 13 seconds." Wonderful. The killer couch has a detonation timer.
"Can I sit on you Dave?"
"Of course, why would you ask? Your coffee is done." Why would I ask? Better safe than sorry.
"Thanks Dave." I took a seat and waited for Quintus.
"Quintus should leave the shower soon. He's started to listen to Look what you made me do by Taylor Swift." Wonderful. Maybe I would've been better off not coming here. Out came Quintus with a bright yellow towel on. He was in pretty good shape and his tan lines looked good on him.
"Hello Carnus. I see you and Dave have gotten along well. Or at least better than yesterday." He took a seat on a small stoll across from me. "So what brings you here?"
"Well you said you liked talking to someone that's not a robot." I don't want to be an asshole and say I came here for some more gadgets.
He smiled. "Oh thanks. But, As you can see I'm not very well dressed. I've also just returned from tinkering on a new tool for you. If you could maybe come back another day I will be more prepared for company."
"Yeah of course. Thanks for the coffee Dave." I walked out the door. Well I'm a little underwhelmed but at least I know there's another gadget for me to get soon. I made my way out and climbed out the hole where I found Beatrice waiting for me.
"How've you been Carnus?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.
I shrugged "Well could be better could be worse."
Well there's two or three new characters counting Dave. Quintus has made his first appearance. I'll be honest and say I completely forgot he was a thing. And book four was always my favorite. Nevermind that I hope this was a first good impression of Shepard and Quintus. And with that short note Cesar or Tempest out.