Chapter 74 – Dead In The Night
The legionnaire looked to Jason with wide-eyed alarm, horror gleaming in his eyes.
Jason snapped into focus after a moment of stunned silence. Nico faintly heard the screams starting up outside again following the explosion which had momentarily cut them out.
Antonius was already reaching for his armour, whilst Marcus' gaze was grave as he turned to Jason. "Here," he said as he pulled open the crate that Julius Caesar had brought with him. "This is for you too. Wear it with the pride of a Roman, Pontifex," Marcus Aurelius said. "Waste no more time arguing with us about what a good man or a good Roman should be. It is time for you to be one now," Marcus Aurelius said with a stern look at Jason.
Nico's eyes widened as Augustus reached into the crate and pulled out a Roman helmet, freshly polished and he handed it over to Jason. "Julius made some adjustments at my request," he said. A pair of eagle wings were engraved into the sides of the helmet.
Jason's expression twisted.
A second explosion outside had Nico jerking his head towards the doors.
"Nico," Piper said. She was waiting just inside the doors, looking expectantly at Nico with some armour on that made Nico raise an eyebrow since it was clearly Legion-supplied. "Jason needs to get ready," she pointed out to Nico. "I think the Romans are going to need every pair of hands that can help them."
Nico's gaze hardened and he nodded slightly. "I don't have my armour," he said to Piper. He crossed over to her as Jason continued his discussion with Augustus and Marcus.
"I will go with you two," Antonius said, his expression tight. It hadn't taken him long to strap himself into his armour, thousands of years of muscle memory hastening his movements. "There will be a secure perimeter around the infirmary and it's best not to disturb it."
Nico nodded, holding out a hand to both of them. Neither of the two hesitated to take his hand.
"Nico," Jason called. In the corner, a trio of healers were still fretting over Reyna. Nico took one look at the blood spilling over the bed and their hands before returning his gaze to Jason, his hand tightening slightly around Piper's and Antonius'. "Stay alive, please," Jason said, his bright blue eyes intense as they flickered briefly to Reyna and back to Nico. "And do what you can."
Nico nodded. "Always," he promised Jason before he pulled the others into his own shadow.
As a testament to how much she'd grown since first being introduced to the world of Greek myths and legends, Piper didn't even look the slightest bit queasy as they stepped out into the room Nico used as Pluto's Ambassador. Antonius too looked more than prepared to face the army of the Triumvirate.
"How did they get into the city?" Piper demanded sharply as Nico moved to his set of Stygian Iron armour and began pulling it on over his shirt. Piper crossed over and helped him fiddle with straps so it would be faster.
Nico shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "We'll have to find out." He grabbed his sword once his armour was on, pulling on his helmet. "Antonius, any ideas?"
"They can't come through Terminus' boundary," Antonius said flatly. "So the only route in is from below." He pressed his lips together as he slipped on his own helm. "We already know that Caligula has been interested in the Labyrinth."
"Zeus' underpants," Nico swore. The sky didn't even rumble overhead in response. Nico didn't know if that was a good sign or not, perhaps the King of the Gods was too busy fretting over New Rome to take offence. "Come on," he said, grabbing hold of Antonius again. Piper grabbed his hand which was holding his sword. "We'll come out into the city – make sure you're ready."
Piper tightened her grip on her dagger, nodding sharply while Antonius unsheathed his gladius.
Nico pulled them into a shadow again and they formed on the main street down the centre of the city of New Rome, between the Senate House and the forum with the towering Coliseum behind it.
The heat slapped Nico in the face as soon as they appeared in the shadow cast by a storefront's overhang. Night had encroached on the city while they'd been in the Senate Chamber, the sky dark and stormy overhead. The only light was from roaring Greek fires and torches wielded by the civilians and legionnaires Nico could see engaged in skirmishes up and down the main avenue; the shopfronts all had their lights off.
Nico raised his sword as his eyes widened. There was a cluster of civilians facing off against a wolf with sickly green eyes and half its face missing, exposing bone and strips of muscle. Three civilians were lying dead on the street in the immediate area and Piper flinched as she saw the flesh torn from their bones.
Antonius hefted a javelin on his shoulder and tossed it, piercing the wolf in the side. It released a garbled howl with what little remained of its throat and spun to face them, unbothered by the imperial gold javelin in its flank. The wolf pounced at them and Nico sidestepped as he slashed its muzzle open with his sword. He frowned as the poisonous green light faded from the wolf's eyes and along the length of the gash he'd carved into what remained of the wolf's face.
"Undead," Antonius said stiffly, looking uneasy at the thought.
Nico glanced briefly to the wolf. "It's one of the Hunt's wolves," he muttered, his skin crawling. Nico recalled what Thalia had said of the fate of the rest of the Hunt, but now he had his doubts. They left the twice dead timber wolf where it had fallen, Nico glancing both ways down the avenue. "Which way?" He demanded.
Antonius wrenched the pilum out of the wolf's flank. "Any Roman legionnaires?" He asked.
"Not that I can see," Nico said. A loud squawk slammed into him and he shouted in surprise, eyes widening. Piper slashed the falcon out of the air as it went for her immediately after, leaving it flapping and squawking on the paved road. Nico stabbed it through the breast. He touched a finger to his helmet, but the falcon had only scratched the Stygian Iron and missed his eye by an inch.
"The Hunt's," Piper guessed. Nico nodded, breathing heavily at the close strike.
"This way," Antonius uttered as he started down the road to the closest group of civilians fighting for their lives, heading towards the forum. A shop to their right had its front all smashed, fire flickering within its depths. Nico glanced at the rotting falcon and wolf before following after him.
Nico turned behind them briefly to where the Senate House was illuminated in green flames, hearing too much. Screams rattled in his ears, howls piercing the night and garbled Latin war cries echoing from the distance. The trio descended on the skirmish and Nico's blood chilled when he found himself staring into many pairs of ethereal green eyes which gleamed at him in the night.
"They're all undead," Nico warned them, understanding now that this was what he'd sensed just before the explosion. Some of the undead were dressed in imperial gold armour, clearly dead Romans. Most were part flesh and bone, a rare few still rotting flesh. Nico, Piper and Antonius didn't hesitate and cut through them all.
Nico found himself ducking a sword's swing and gutted the dead Roman, his sword piercing under the segmented armour. A sudden surge of movement and momentum had him stumbling back, retreating before a push from the undead. Around him, a civilian dropped with pained screams and then fell silent, red blood beginning to spill over the streets.
"Romans!" Antonius bellowed over the sounds of clashing metal and agonised screams, sheer chaos having descended over the entire avenue as the trio forced their way through. "Ad aciem! Celeriter! Forma!" Up and down the avenue's length, Nico spotted smaller fights having broken out.
There were only civilians in the immediate area, but Nico knew that the vast majority of civilians in New Rome had served with the Legion for a number of years. While many had been mobilised into the Legion with this impending assault, the Legions rotated their troops and now there were at least two dozen scattered up and down the avenue within earshot. Some of them had come out with shields. Nico fought beside Antonius and Piper as the civilians flocked to them now, forming battle lines as directed by Antonius.
It was a poor imitation of the Legion itself for they didn't even have enough of them to form a front line of shields, but the civilians all looked determined and prepared to answer to the former Emperor. All the while, Nico found the number of undead in the street slowly increasing. The civilians had already been outnumbered and while the screams, shouts and chaos was rising constantly, the sudden influx of undead now far outnumbered the civilians.
Antonius turned to one of the closest civilians when there was a brief moment to breathe as the Roman battle line formed, most of whom had knives or daggers in their hands. Less than ten of them wielded golden gladii. "Where did they come from?" Antonius demanded.
Nico craned his head around to scan the avenue, his heart roaring in his ears. His hands felt clammy and cold as he shook, remembering the battle of Manhattan against the Titans. Nico wasn't sure if fighting the undead or the monsters was worse.
"The alleys and basements," the civilian answered, her eyes wide. There was a streak of blood dripping into one of her eyes from a thin gash on her forehead. She tensed as an undead Roman charged her, but Antonius stepped forward and cleanly decapitated it. "The walls – they came from in the walls." The body continued running on in a straight line so Nico stabbed it through the chest and watched the green glow fade from its eyes as his Stygian Iron sword removed its soul. Antonius grimaced, uneasily twisting his gladius in his hand. That dead Roman wasn't the only one; Nico could spot several others running around with removed limbs or no head.
"The Labyrinth." Nico's hand tightened around the tilt of his sword. He yelled and reached out to the closest group of undead, reaching and pulling and watching in satisfaction as seven of them dropped at once. Sweat beaded down Nico's temple and the sudden energy loss made him stumble. "Someone's animating them," he said as Antonius headed to the fiercest of the fighting.
The civilians were already backing up against them, attacked from all sides and retreating before the greater numbers.
"Where's the Legion?" One of the civilians cried out after someone next to them was cut down.
"They were building defences outside the city!"
"The enemy are inside the city!"
Nico took a deep breath. "Pick up the weapons of the undead when they fall!" Nico yelled. "Scavenge what you can!"
"Defendi ad parati!" Antonius roared from somewhere else. He'd waded into the fiercest fighting with Piper while Nico had lingered and the son of Hades immediately used his voice to go find him.
"The Legion-" Nico started after he cut down a few of the undead surging around them, giving them a brief moment in which they could breathe.
"There's no way they missed the explosion," Antonius said curtly. Nico flinched as he stepped on an arm, nearly losing his footing. Antonius paused briefly to steady him before he lashed out and severed another arm of the undead. "They'll be here. We need to hold until then. Where's the closest barricade?"
"About forty feet to the back of the lines," Nico said after he'd stabbed the one which was now armless.
Antonius spared a brief glance behind them, but it was too dark to make out much more than the bright light of the raging Greek fires and torches. Shadows danced along the shopfronts, cast by the combatants in the streets. The barricade was little but a dark mass behind them. "Help them back up," he said. "With one side protected we may be able to hold until a cohort arrives."
Nico nodded. He started back towards the civilian battle lines, grimacing as he found himself sliding in blood and tripping over loose limbs and heads. "Back to the barricade!" Nico yelled at them, waving his black sword in the direction of the barricade. The civilians immediately started to back up, clearly relieved as they did so. Nico swore as he counted eight dead civilians left behind already before he stopped counting, not wanting to know.
While they were retreating, the earth beneath them rocked and shuddered. Nico swore, crouching low, everyone else stumbling slightly before doing the same. The earthquake was brief and minor, little more than that small shake, but Nico spotted dust rising to the southern side of the city and grimaced.
There was sudden shouting from the group of civilians and a short skirmish. Nico's eyes widened in disbelief when he realised one of them had stabbed another in the back, only to quickly be cut down themselves by the others. They were all giving each other suspicious looks even as they tried to fight together as a unit.
It descended into further chaos. Nico fought the best he could, aware of Antonius and Piper beside him as they tried to thin the hordes before they reached the civilians. The undead came from every direction, from down the alleys and the avenue from the east. Nico lost track of how many of them he killed, glad that his sword at least killed them easily. The Romans and Piper had to hack them apart to get them to stop moving.
Nico shouted in pain as a sword found a gap in his armour in his side, but fortunately it was only a glancing blow. It still made him falter and it was Piper whom stepped in, neatly cutting the sword arm off the undead that had wounded him with her dagger. Nico recovered and stabbed it through the chest, dropping it instantly. Nico pressed his free hand to his wounded side with a pained grimace.
Up and down the avenue Nico could hear the pained cries of those alive beginning to die down and his skin crawled. Nico glanced back at the group of civilians they had with them, gritting his teeth. There were too many undead and too few civilians to fight them.
Nico turned to face a group of undead Romans that charged him, an undead wolf in their midst. He raised his sword, and the air grew cold around him. Nico's breath misted in the suddenly freezing wind that whistled down the avenue and made him shiver as a howl ripped down the street. A shadow fell over Nico from the other side of the barricade and a giant wolf twice the size of a horse was crashing into the charging undead, white fur caked with blood and ash.
Alabastor Torrington and Luke Castellan threw themselves off the back of the Nordic wolf. The undead timber wolf snarled and lunged at Alabastor, Luke stepping between them and the wolf's fangs sliding harmlessly across the blonde's forearm before he removed its head. The Nordic wolf behind him tore apart two of the undead in swift succession with its fangs and batted three away from them with a large and heavy paw. Its bloodied muzzle was etched into a fierce snarl as it set its paws, tensing. The three undead got back to their feet with broken limbs and ribs and lumbered towards them again, but it lessened the immediate horde around them at least. One's arm was broken backwards, gladius pointing behind it instead of to the front.
"About time," Nico snapped at them.
"Terminus didn't want to let them into the city with weapons – or let the wolves in," Luke said stiffly as he flicked blood off his sword. "The others scattered around. There's fighting all over the city from what Al told me."
"The Legion?" Nico demanded, even as he inwardly cursed Terminus. Even when New Rome itself was under attack he was still trying to prevent weapons from entering the city.
"Trying to get through, but it might take them a while," Alabastor said worriedly as he scanned the dark street.
Luke grimaced. "Chrysaor's in the city too now, and Thalia somewhere. I thought we had until tomorrow?"
"So did everyone else," Nico muttered. Alabastor barked out a spell that set a dozen undead on fire at once. Luke raised his double-metal sword.
"Okay," Luke sighed and he stepped into the wider skirmish. A javelin bounced off the front of his shoulder close to his neck. Alabastor sidled in next to him, a Stygian Iron sword in his hand and the other flickering with green fire.
Nico glanced back behind him to the civilians, whom were doing well with their backs to the barricade now. Past the barricade, there was another wild skirmish and Nico grimaced. He had to find where the undead were coming from, find out where the Labyrinth entrance was and if there was more than one. They didn't even know that much. There might only be one they had to close off or there could be several. But as long as Nico was pinned down where he was they didn't stand a chance. Nico and Hazel were the best suited to finding the open tunnels, but Nico didn't know where Hazel was either – probably with the Fifth Cohort, wherever they were – and Nico was pinned down in the avenue and unable to start looking for them.
Frustration burned in Nico's chest, his breath misting in the now-cold temperatures. Antonius was still shouting encouragement to the civilians. Not far off from Nico, Piper dodged a stabbed sword and cut off the undead's wrist with a grimace. The Nordic wolf howled and tore into a cluster of undead, Luke Castellan fighting a group alongside Alabastor. The son of Hermes let strikes bounce off him as he focused on cutting off limbs, tanking most of the hits with barely a flinch.
The Curse of Achilles seemed a good idea in that moment, as Nico's side where he'd been cut ached. His fingers came away slick with blood. Nico clenched his hand into a fist, taking a deep, shaking breath as he straightened.
"You alright?" Piper demanded as she briefly stopped next to him, blood and ash in her hair and over her own armour.
Nico swallowed. "Yeah," he said, his throat tight. "You?" He asked, eying the blood on her.
"A few scratches," Piper said with a pained grimace of her own. "But I'll live."
Nico nodded slightly. He watched as Luke fenced with an undead swordsman further down the street; the arrival of him, Alabastor and the Nordic wolf was enough to briefly stem the tide of undead. "We need to find out where they're coming from," he said.
Piper glanced behind them to the civilians. They were still being attacked by undead, but were covering each other well now. "We can't leave them," she said.
Nico's head jerked up as lightning struck elsewhere in the city. "Thalia, or Jason," he guessed. Nico's eyes furrowed slightly. He turned and look back behind the civilians, trying to see through the dancing flames and shadows at what was going on beyond it. "We need to join up with another group," he said.
Piper grimaced. "How?" She demanded as she looked up and down the avenue. On one side they were blocked by the barricade and on the other there were the others holding off the majority of the undead.
Nico shook his head.
There was an explosion elsewhere to the north.
Nico shifted his grip on his sword, feeling utterly hopeless. It was still sheer pandemonium along the entire avenue, or at least the parts that he could see; they'd lost three-quarters of the civilians they'd found and only one or two weren't injured out of those remaining. "I don't know," Nico admitted. His fingers were slick with blood that had run along the length of his blade.
Thunder boomed overhead, lightning cutting across the sky.
Nico raised his word, his gaze grim as he turned to the east where the larger, white shape of the Nordic wolf was visible in the darkness. "Come on," he muttered, glancing behind him to the civilians. They all had gladii and legionnaire shields now, some marked with the Triumvirate's triangle, but at least all now had weapons and shield. Nico started towards the while wolf, spotting Luke Castellan still at its side, blood on his clothes – but certainly not his own. Next to him, Alabastor Torrington had a gash down his calf and was limping. Nico reached out with his powers and an undead Roman charging for the son of Hecate's back stumbled and fell, dead instantly.
Luke caught Nico's gaze once he and Piper had joined them again. "We're not winning this like this!" Luke shouted over the sounds of metal clashing and wounded screams.
"A Roman never gives up Rome, Graecus!" Antonius barked.
"Well, I'm not Roman," Luke snapped. "We need to move!"
"There's nowhere to move to!" Nico retorted angrily. "We're pinned down here." Luke Castellan swore, his eyes burning with anger. "If we don't shut down their entrances into the city, they'll just keep coming," Nico said.
"You can do that," Luke said instantly to Nico as he dismembered a Roman. "You did it before with the Labyrinth."
Nico nodded. He was going to finish it off, but Alabastor reached the undead first. "And Hazel," Nico said.
"I didn't see her, but the Fifth Cohort were at the gate when I went on ahead," Alabastor said.
"The city gate?" Nico asked as he stabbed another through the chest.
"No, the other one – where the Legion stays?"
"The Decumanian Gate?" Nico asked, his heart sinking. That was where the Fifth Cohort had been making defences, still back over at the western edge of the barracks. No wonder there wasn't any sign of any of the Cohorts yet.
"That's the one," Luke said. He stepped forwards and took a blow to his arm, using it to sweep aside the spear and stabbed the Roman in the throat, sharply cutting off its head. Luke was probably the only one uninjured, Nico guessed.
"Great," Nico said. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, steady and heavy. "I don't think we can hold much longer," he said, briefly covering Alabastor as he stumbled on his wounded calf.
"Thanks," the son of Hecate uttered with a pained grimace.
Luke cast him a worried glance.
Nico's heartbeat roared louder. He glanced behind him to where the civilians were and noticed they were down two more. Nico grit his teeth. It was impossible to look anywhere without seeing a body.
Antonius appeared out of the chaos briefly from the east, his gaze startlingly bright. "Fallback!" He ordered, voice loud and clear over the chaos. There were multiple gashes in his armour, many leaking golden ichor. "Regroup!"
Nico obliged, a look of frustration crossing Luke's face – though one look at Alabastor's limp and he did the same, helping his fellow demigod to retreat. Nico found Piper by his side again, both of them breathing heavily. The five of them managed to line up in the street, large gaps between each of them and the Nordic wolf still deep in the fighting.
Nico tensed and braced himself as the first of the undead rushed at him again.
In the near distance, Nico heard a voice cry, "FIRST COHORT! MOVE!" Advance. Nico's breath caught. The dark thunder clouds overhead flashed once, twice, and then lightning struck. Night briefly turned to day, Nico grunting as he caught a blade to the arm while it blinded him, quickly retaliating and killing the undead. Nico raised his head, eyes widening slightly.
A greater lightning bolt than anything Nico had usually seen summoned by a demigod, it seemed to have vaporised two dozen undead at once. In the darkness, through the shadows and the fire, Nico caught sight of shapes moving – marching in time with his heartbeat.
"Kronos' underpants," Luke swore, causing Nico to turn briefly to him and look at him in disbelief at the curse he'd chosen to use. The son of Hermes merely grinned; Nico hadn't been the only one to stare.
Jason wielded a red and gold-furnished blade that Nico had never seen before, the same eagle wing engraved helmet that he'd caught a brief glance of in the infirmary and a matching set of armour as he marched at the head of the First Cohort. The Spear of Achilles was at his back, point still crackling with lightning.
The First Cohort made quick work of the undead in the immediate area, cutting them all apart. Nico allowed himself a moment to rest when the immediate danger was over, taking a deep breath as he leant on his sword.
Jason stepped over to join them, the remaining civilians running to the First Cohort and disappearing amongst them.
Screams and shouts still echoed from around them, Nico gritting his teeth as they echoed down the avenue.
"You got an update with you?" Luke asked as Jason stopped in front of them. "We have no idea what's going on now." The First Cohort spread out down the street, some of them pausing to hastily field dress wounds while other legionnaires kept watch and cut down any undead which approached. A dozen of them began to head towards the barricade blocking their way to the Senate House.
"Marcus is with the Second," Jason said, "and Augustus went to the Third to the North." He took a deep breath. Nico noticed he was shaking slightly, similarly to Nico. He couldn't tell if it was adrenaline or the shock of the city being under attack directly and the dead civilians in the streets. "Mike says the undead came from inside the city while the Cohorts were building defences still, all the resting legionnaires were in their bunks to the west. Half of them were killed in their sleep before they could get organised; there's an exit from the Labyrinth in the Legion's quarters." Nico flinched at the thought of the undead swarming the Legion's barracks while some were sleeping. "Those who survived merged into the Fifth and are under Dakota's command."
Jason's jaw clenched. "Some civilians are helping the Triumvirate, watch out for that. There's fighting throughout the city, the Fifth is trying to deal with the barracks exit and the situation there so there's no one at the west border of the city – we're just on our way there now with the First. The Second I left to try to clear the eastern quarter. Lupa and the Fourth are making decent headway at the south – Chrysaor left his ship and used the river to get to the southern quarter so he's also helping them there. I think he caused the earthquake earlier." Jason's eyes flicked up briefly to the storm overhead. "And this storm. The Third are trying to breach into the city to the North; I know Thalia's with them, but I haven't heard much about how they're doing yet."
"What about the city itself?" Antonius asked. "Is it all like this?"
"Yes," Jason said. "Mostly." There was pain in his eyes as he stared at the bodies strewn over the avenue around them. "It's utter chaos. They're everywhere." Both Greek fire and normal fire flickered around them, some of the houses and shops having collapsed entirely from the damage. Smoke and ash drifted lazily through the night. "They don't stop unless you cut them apart."
Nico tried to imagine that, what it must be like for the entire city of New Rome to be so damaged. It made him grit his teeth. "They're undead," Nico finally said. "They can only fight at night."
"If we hold them off until day, what will happen?" Piper asked. "They'll stop fighting?"
"What does it matter?" Luke asked tiredly. "We won't be holding them off until then." Jason pressed his lips together. "It's true," Luke said. "And even then – what about the living Roman Army that the Triumvirate have heading towards us right now?"
"We'll manage," Jason said.
Luke looked heavily unimpressed with the Roman's pointless optimism. "Retreating elsewhere is the best option."
"I will not abandon New Rome," Jason stated firmly. "I can't. It's my home," he added, his voice low. "The Triumvirate won't take it."
"I can find the exits," Nico said to Jason. "The Labyrinth – I can find them and close them, but I'll need someone with me – at least one person, probably more. I can't fight them all at the same time." Nico glanced over his shoulder at the loud clatter from behind him, taking a deep breath when he noticed the barricade had been shifted enough that three legionnaires standing shoulder-to-shoulder could pass through the gap now. Beyond the barricade, in the dancing light of the Greek fire, Nico could spot at least five bodies on the ground.
Jason grimaced at the sight. "I can't spare any of the First, we need to keep going."
"If I don't close them, they'll just keep coming," Nico said flatly.
Luke sighed. "I'll go with you," he said to Nico. "Al – get to the infirmary for that leg, I don't like the look of it."
Alabastor Torrington shook his head. "I'll come with you," he said. He gritted his teeth in pain as he dropped to one knee, fire flickering in a palm.
"Don't do – that," Luke scowled as Alabastor cauterised the gash on his leg, then pulled out several semi-crushed cubes of ambrosia from a pocket and shoved it into his mouth. "That's far too much; you'll burn up."
Alabastor ignored Luke as he stood back up. "I'll come with you," he repeated firmly as he crossed his arms, still taking his weight off his leg and his jaw set with pain. The demigod didn't look like he was taking 'no' for an answer.
"Will you need me with you, Pontifex?" Antonius asked. "If not, I shall join them."
"And me," Piper added quickly. "They'll keep coming if we don't shut these entrances down."
Jason shook his head. "I'll be fine with the First. You'd all better find those Labyrinth entrances and see what you can do to stop this."
"Ave, Pontifex," Antonius said with a sharp salute to Jason.
Jason paused and looked to Antonius with a faint frown. Nico shook his head slightly. "Come on," Nico muttered, starting to head off to the side and the closest route off the avenue. They didn't have time to waste here on Jason getting irritated with the old Emperor. Nico had his chance now to find and close those Labyrinth entrances; Jason would take the First Cohort and keep clearing the avenue to the west. Nico knew he had to make it count.
Chaos! Utter chaos! I love it.
Yeah, Camp Jupiter is screwed. Luke is right and they should leave, but of course the Romans won't.
I went to Rome lately, and I have loads of fun ideas after that trip for this, so that'll be fun in the future XD. Did y'all know that the Romans celebrate/mourn (I'm not sure which) the assassination of Julius Caesar every year on the Ides of March? I thought it was cool to find that out anyway.
English translations for the Latin Legion commands (most are self-explanatory but anyway):
Ad aciem! Celeriter! Forma! - Form battle lines! Quickly! Formation!
Defendi ad parati! - Defend at the ready!
MOVE! - Advance!
paulbryant830 (chap 1): because Kronos x Percy is a fun relationship and I wanted to explore the inevitable Greek tragedy out of any relationship between a God and a mortal.