ANTONI

Antoni realised almost instantly that after his little bout with he'd forgotten his pilum by the battlefield and cursed himself for getting distracted. He grabbed the helmet he had slung under one arm and placed it back on his head before racing back towards the filled of mars.

As he reached the entrance he saw a large group, almost all the legion standing in a circle and began pushing his way to the front. When he reached it he saw a site that sent bile into his throat. Gwen lay there, medics surrounding her, her face ashen grey and a pilum sticking out of the side of her chest. White hot rage filled his chest before it was quickly drowned by grief, guilt and sorrow.

He stumbled towards her, falling to his knees beside her. His hands moved towards her, ghosting by skin red stained armour, blood covering his hands at the mere touch before he stared, horrified, at the one of the medics, Dylan, who shook his head and looked away. Antoni moved slightly and began to cradle Gwen's head in his lap, stroking her auburn hair lightly. He didn't cry but everyone could sense he was holding back tears, he lent down and pressed his forehead to hers and began whispering things to himself.

REYNA

Reyna surveyed the campers from her pegasus. Her expression was as hard and dark as iron. "There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, you cost the legion a good officer. Honourable death is one thing, but this ... "

She was unsure how to feel, of course, sorrow hit her the moment she saw Gwen but they had never been close, not like Antoni and Gwen. They'd grown up together, yes they were in different cohorts but only a year apart in age and she seemed to balance out his… well, his being himself. Somehow this twisted something inside her, something she shoved down, she'd already put herself through that twice before and Jason… how could she consider anything like that when Jason was still missing.

FRANK

Frank wasn't sure what she meant by 'An investigation'. Then he noticed the marks engraved in the wooden shaft of the pilum: CHT I LEGIO XII F. The weapon belonged to the First Cohort, and the point was sticking out the front of her armour. Gwen had been speared from behind—possibly after the game had ended.

Frank scanned the crowd for Octavian. The centurion was watching with more interest than concern, as if he were examining one of his stupid gutted teddy bears. He didn't have a pilum.

Blood roared in Frank's ears. He wanted to strangle Octavian with his bare hands, but at that moment, Gwen gasped and Antoni jolted, startled before he let out a shocked yet relieved sigh. Everyone stepped back. Gwen opened her eyes. The colour came back to her face.

"Wh-what is it?" She blinked. "What's everyone staring at?" She didn't seem to notice the seven-foot harpoon sticking out through her chest, she did however notice the rather muscular arm wrapped around her and the stormy pearl-like eyes staring down at her filled with unbridled joy.

Behind Frank, a medic whispered, "There's no way. She was dead. She has to be dead."

"Hey, shh, it's okay, you're okay." Antoni muttered, attempting to sooth her. Gwen tried to sit up, but couldn't.

"There was a river, and a man asking…for a coin? I turned around and the exit door was open. So I just…I just left. I don't understand. What happened?"

Everyone stared at her in horror. Nobody tried to help.

"Gwen." Frank knelt next to her. "Don't try to get up. Just close your eyes for a second, okay?"

"Why? What—"

"I agree, listen to Zhang Gwen, please." Antoni muttered gently, moving her into a more upright position.

"Just trust me." Frank continued.

Gwen did what he asked.

Frank grabbed the shaft of the pilum below its tip, but his hands were shaking. The wood was slick. "Percy, Hazel—help me."

One of the medics realised what he was planning. "Don't!" he said. "You might—"

"What?" Hazel snapped. "Make it worse?"

"Yes, that's how it bloody works!" Antoni snarked, glaring at Hazel.

Frank took a deep breath. "Hold her steady. One, two, three!"

He pulled the pilum out from the front. Gwen didn't even wince. The blood stopped quickly.

Hazel bent down to examine the wound. "It's closing on its own," she said. "I don't know how, but—"

"I feel fine," Gwen protested. "What's everyone worried about?"

Antoni slid back slowly standing up before helping Gwen up and leaning her still wobbly form onto his chest.

"Gwen," Hazel said gently, "there's no easy way to say this. You were dead. Somehow you came back."

"I…what?" She stumbled against Frank. Her hand pressed against the ragged hole in her armour. "How—how?"

"Good question." Reyna turned to Nico, who was watching grimly from the edge of the crowd. "Is this some power of Pluto?"

Nico shook his head. "Pluto never lets people return from the dead."

He glanced at Hazel as if warning her to stay quiet then to Antoni who shook his head and Nico snapped his fingers. Frank wondered what that was about, but he didn't have time to think about it.

A thunderous voice rolled across the field: Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning.

Campers drew weapons. Hannibal trumpeted nervously. Scipio reared, almost throwing Reyna.

"I know that voice," Percy said. He didn't sound pleased.

In the midst of the legion, a column of fire blasted into the air. Heat seared Frank's eyelashes. Campers who had been soaked by the cannons found their clothes instantly steam-dried. Everyone scrambled backward as a huge soldier stepped out of the explosion.

Frank didn't have much hair, but what he did have stood straight up. The soldier was ten feet tall, dressed in Canadian Forces desert camouflage. He radiated confidence and power. His black hair was cut in a flat-topped wedge like Frank's. His face was angular and brutal, marked with old knife scars. His eyes were covered with infrared goggles that glowed from inside. He wore a utility belt with a sidearm, a knife holster, and several grenades. In his hands was an oversized M16 rifle.

The worst thing was that Frank felt drawn to him. As everyone else stepped back, Frank stepped forward. He realised the soldier was silently willing him to approach.

Frank desperately wanted to run away and hide, but he couldn't. He took three more steps. Then he sank to one knee.

The other campers followed his example and knelt. Even Reyna dismounted, and with some help from Antoni, Gwen did too.

"That's good," the soldier said. "Kneeling is good. It's been a long time since I've visited Camp Jupiter."

Frank noticed that one person wasn't kneeling. Percy Jackson, his sword still in hand, was glaring at the giant soldier.

"You're Ares," Percy said. "What do you want?"

A collective gasp went up from four hundred campers and an elephant. Frank wanted to say something to excuse Percy and placate the god, but he didn't know what. He was afraid the war god would blast his new friend with that extra-large M16.

"Jackson, get that stick out of your ass and knee you kelp-headed dolt!" Antoni hissed, glowering a Percy as if he thought Percy was about to get them vaporised (which to be honest, Frank couldn't say his initial thoughts didn't follow a similar track).

Instead, the god bared his brilliant white teeth.

"You've got spunk, demigod," he said. "Ares is my Greek form. But to these followers, to the children of Rome, I am Mars—patron of the empire, divine father of Romulus and Remus."

"We've met," Percy said. "We…we had a fight.…"

The god scratched his chin, as if trying to recall. "I fight a lot of people. But I assure you—you've never fought me as Mars. If you had, you'd be dead. Now, kneel, as befits a child of Rome, before you try my patience."

Around Mars's feet, the ground boiled in a circle of flame.

"Percy," Frank said, "please."

Percy clearly didn't like it, but he knelt.

Mars scanned the crowd. "Romans, lend me your ears!" He laughed—a good, hearty bellow, so infectious it almost made Frank smile, though he was still shivering with fear. "I've always wanted to say that. I come from Olympus with a message. Jupiter doesn't like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he has allowed this exception, as you Romans have always been my special people. I'm only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up."

He pointed at Gwen. "This one should be dead, yet she's not. The monsters you fight no longer return to Tartarus when they are slain. Some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again." He pointed to Antoni, "You should've died but she didn't feel like it did she? Well at least you're entertaining."

Was it Frank's imagination, or did the god glare at Nico di Angelo?

"Letus has been chained," Mars announced. "The Doors of Death have been forced open, and no one is policing them—at least, not impartially. Gaea allows our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. Her sons the giants are mustering armies against you—armies that you will not be able to kill. Unless Death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. You must find Letus and free him from the giants. Only he can reverse the tide."

Mars looked around, and noticed that everyone was still silently kneeling. "Oh, you can get up now. Any questions?"

Reyna rose uneasily. She approached the god, followed by Octavian, who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler. "Lord Mars," Reyna said, "We are honoured."

"Beyond honoured," said Octavian. "So far beyond honoured—"

"Well?" Mars snapped.

"Well," Reyna said, "Letus is the god of death, the lieutenant of Pluto?"

"Right," the god said.

"And you're saying that he's been captured by giants."

"Right."

"And will people stop dying?"

"Not all at once," Mars said. "But the barriers between life and death will continue to weaken. Those who know how to take advantage of this will exploit it. Monsters are already harder to dispatch. Soon they will be completely impossible to kill. Some demigods will also be able to find their way back from the Underworld—like your friend Centurion Shishkebab."

Gwen winced. "Centurion Shish kebab?"

Frank had only just noticed that after kneeling Antoni had resumed his position hugging Gwen from behind, he thought it was funny that even with the threat of death gone, Antoni was still hanging onto her as if he was still scared she would be retaken to the underworld.

"If left unchecked," Mars continued, "even mortals will eventually find it impossible to die. Can you imagine a world in which no one dies—ever?"

Octavian raised his hand. "But, ah, mighty all-powerful Lord Mars, if we can't die, isn't that a good thing? If we can stay alive indefinitely—"

"Don't be foolish, boy!" Mars bellowed. "Endless slaughter with no conclusion? Carnage without any point? Enemies that rise again and again and can never be killed? Is that what you want?"

"You're the god of war," Percy spoke up. "Don't you want endless carnage?"

Mars's infrared goggles glowed brighter. "Insolent, aren't you? Perhaps I have fought you before. I can understand why I'd want to kill you. I'm the god of Rome, child. I am the god of the military, might be used for a righteous cause. I protect the legions. I am happy to crush my enemies underfoot, but I don't fight without reason. I don't want war without end. You will discover this. You will serve me."

"Not likely," Percy said.

Again, Frank waited for the god to strike him down, but Mars just grinned like they were two old buddies talking trash.

"I order a quest!" the god announced. "You will go north and find Letus in the land beyond the gods. You will free him and thwart the plans of the giants. Beware Gaea! Beware her son, the eldest giant!"

Next to Frank, Hazel made a squeaking sound. "The land beyond the gods?"

Mars stared down at her, his grip tightening on his M16. "That's right, Hazel Levesque. You know what I mean. Everyone here remembers the land where the legion lost its honour! Perhaps if the quest succeeds, and you return by the Feast of Fortuna…perhaps then your honour will be restored. If you don't succeed, there won't be any camp left to return to. Rome will be overrun, its legacy lost forever. So my advice is: Don't fail."

Octavian somehow managed to bow even lower. "Um, Lord Mars, just one tiny thing. A quest requires a prophecy, a mystical poem to guide us! We used to get them from the Sibylline books, but now it's up to the augur to glean the will of gods. So if I could just run and get about seventy stuffed animals and possibly a knife—"

"You're the augur?" the god interrupted.

"Y-yes, my lord."

Mars pulled a scroll from his utility belt. "Anyone got a pen?"

"Here Lord Mars," Antoni chucked what looked to be a fountain tip pen towards the god who snatched it out of thin air.

The legionnaires stared at Antoni.

Mars sighed. "Four hundred Romans, and only your Praetor has a pen? Damn!"

He twirled the pen in his fingers before Mars began to write.

Frank looked at Percy with wide eyes. He mouthed: Can your sword do grenade form?

Percy mouthed back, No. Shut up.

"There!" Mars finished writing and threw the scroll at Octavian. "A prophecy. You can add it to your books, engrave it on your floor, whatever." He chucked the pen towards a still pale faced Antoni who caught it in his left hand, his movement adjusted his armour and exposed what looked to be thin, white scars. Fresh scars.

Octavian opened the scroll. "This says, 'Go to Alaska. Find Letus and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.'"

"Yes," Mars said. "Is that not clear?"

"Well, my lord…usually prophecies are unclear. They're wrapped in riddles. They rhyme, and…"

Mars casually popped another grenade off his belt. "Yes?"

"The prophecy is clear!" Octavian announced. "A quest!"

"Good answer." Mars tapped the grenade to his chin. "Now, what else? There was something else.…Oh, yes."

He turned to Frank. "C'mere, kid."

No, Frank thought. The burned stick in his coat pocket felt heavier. His legs turned wobbly. A sense of dread settled over him, worse than the day the military officer had come to the door.

He knew what was coming, but he couldn't stop it. He stepped forward against his will.

Mars grinned. "Nice job taking the wall, kid. Who's the ref for this game?"

Reyna raised her hand.

"You see that play, ref?" Mars demanded. "That was my kid. First over the wall, won the game for his team. Unless you're blind, that was an MVP play. You're not blind, are you?" Antoni coughed and Mars bellowed another laugh.

Reyna looked like she was trying to swallow a mouse, she glanced towards Antoni before looking towards Frank. "No, Lord Mars."

"Then make sure he gets the Mural Crown," Mars demanded. "My kid, here!" he yelled at the legion, in case anyone hadn't heard. Frank wanted to melt into the dirt.

"Emily Zhang's son," Mars continued. "She was a good soldier. Good woman. This kid Frank proved his stuff tonight. Happy late birthday, kid. Time you stepped up to a real man's weapon."

He tossed Frank his M16. For a split second Frank thought he'd be crushed under the weight of the massive assault rifle, but the gun changed in midair, becoming smaller and thinner. When Frank caught it, the weapon was a spear. It had a shaft of Imperial gold and a strange point like a white bone, flickering with ghostly light.

"The tip is a dragon's tooth," Mars said. "You haven't learned to use your mom's talents yet, have you? Well—that spear will give you some breathing room until you do. You get three charges out of it, so use it wisely."

Frank didn't understand, but Mars acted like the matter was closed. "Now, my kid Frank Zhang is gonna lead the quest to free Letus, unless there are any objections?"

Of course, no one said a word. But many of the campers glared at Frank with envy, jealousy, anger, bitterness.

"You can take two companions," Mars said. "Those are the rules. One of them needs to be this kid."

He pointed at Percy. "He's gonna learn some respect for Mars on this trip, or die trying. As for the second, I don't care. Pick whomever you want. Have one of your senate debates. You all are good at those."

The god's image flickered. Lightning crackled across the sky.

"That's my cue," Mars said. "Until next time, Romans. Do not disappoint me!"

The god erupted in flames, and then he was gone.

Reyna turned toward Frank. Her expression was part amazement, part nausea, like she'd finally managed to swallow that mouse. She raised her arm in a Roman salute. "Ave, Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

The whole legion followed her lead, but Frank didn't want their attention anymore. His perfect night had been ruined.

Mars was his father. The god of war was sending him to Alaska. Frank had been handed more than a spear for his birthday. He'd been handed a death sentence.

ANTONI

"Hey Gwen, I–I'm sorry if I overstepped the hugging thing, I just–" Antoni had let her go and hung his head in shame. Gwen smiled slightly at the younger teen and then kissed his cheek, before walking back towards the barricades.

"Look, I'm sure I would've been fine, but thanks for caring. See ya tomorrow Toni." Antoni stood there dumbstruck as he watched her leave. She hadn't called him Toni since he was thirteen, since before the Titan War.

Shaking his thoughts away from that path, he waved and grinned at her retreating figure. 'Yeah right, how can you be fine after having a spear go through you?' He thought.

Someone cleared their throat behind him and he spun around, staring wide eyed at the person. Reyna. Reyna had seen that, Reyna had seen him almost cry, Reyna had seen him hug Gwen.

"You done?" Reyna said awkwardly, refusing to look at him.

REYNA

Reyna glanced up only to see Antoni look away, his ears red. He wordlessly began the trek back to the Praetorium. Reyna thoughtlessly fell into step with him. The silence was awkward but neither knew how to break it or confront the argument that would inevitably occur after the earlier events.

Hey… sorry, again. I didn't keep my promise of a really long chapter, a lot of shit has happen between when I promised that and now… so I dislocated my collarbone (not one of the level 1 or 2 ones, like really bad that it tried to break skin), found out I have 3 my organs that don't work (but these are vital ones so I can get the removed technically) and I'm moving up and down the state with a court case so my life is pretty shit right now and my pretty much writing with one hand (ignore that i scrapped 70k words worth of chapters because of the amount of cringe, plot holes, and mistakes in my own character).

Anyway, I'll randomly update y'all at a later date, have a nice July (or at least one less shitty than mine!).