All rights belong to Rick Riordan
Daughter of the Dragon (Part 3)
(Zoe)
Upon arriving back at the main battle on the back of Nemea the two of us had leapt free just before the Lioness set about acting as the great equaliser that she was. Sure no one should be too injured and certainly not killed in this battle. But there was just something morbidly fascinating about watching several tonnes of armoured feline utterly devastate around forty demigods in not even as many seconds.
By the time she was finished the third cohort looked ready to bolt as fast as they could back towards the fort. However her assigned task complete she simply turned towards the pair of us stretched a paw out and dipped her head as if taking a bow before disappearing back into shadows.
"I really need to get some of those." Hylla said with eyes wide open in awe at what she had just witnessed.
"Unfortunately I don't think she is for sale, besides now is not the time. You take the ones on the right and I will take the left, sound ok?" I replied pointing at the nervously looking legionnaires who were looking back at us unmoving.
In all likelihood with only the two remaining cohorts left in the field and Clarisse separated from them with the other, they probably knew they were in some serious trouble.
"That is hardly fair look that kid on my side is twice as large as that scrawny girl on yours." Hylla retorted laughing as we both slowly walked towards them.
"Would you all just be so kind as to lay your weapons down and save me a bit of effort?" I called out half-heartedly.
"Lock Shields!" Someone nervously commanded as they did so with swift efficiency all things considered. A dozen pilum poking out of the gaps in their formation as armoured heads peaked over the top with nervous eyes looking back at us.
"Tell you what when I am done with my side, I will help with yours sound ok. Your Majesty?" I told her before sprinting the dozen or so feet separating me from the cohort.
Two steps behind I could hear the Amazon laughing as she ran towards her allocated targets.
Now the pair of us it seems had very different approached to dealing with the formation in front of us.
Hylla elected to simply grabbing someone's spear and dragging the poor sod in the second rank through the front rank and like that leaving a gap three people wide in the formation as an opening before using her now finally released spear as a lever with which to knock aside even more as they foolishly tried to block the blow with their shields only to all be knocked aside. The opening now sufficiently wide for her liking the Amazoness pulled out a pair of bronze Kopis swords and set about the task at hand.
As for me well after quickly scrutinising the shield wall in front of me I simply picked the nearest unlucky legionnaire and with one rapid blow, punched through the boys shield and grabbed the shocked kid by the throat before withdrawing my arm just as quickly.
Momentarily I felt a bit of resistance as his helmet made contact with his own shield and like that he was unconscious. Releasing his throat he dropped to the ground heavily as I looked to his fellows who were all frozen in shock as I slowly pulled my arm out of the punctured shield before letting it fall.
"Right then who is next?" I asked playfully before they all charged.
Despite what you may see in movies of one person taking on two dozen and they always seem to come one at a time against the hero/heroine. In truth they come at you in complete and utter disarray and the fight descends into chaos.
Now sure I was outnumbered but in truth this just provided me with a target rich environment as no matter which way I looked or went there was someone to attack.
Now of course all it would take was lucky blow to my unarmoured head or chest and I would be out. But in return I could simply hit them almost anywhere and cause incapacitations, fractures or other major injuries.
In truth though my most effective weapons were my opponents as one could be swiftly grabbed, disarmed and swung at multiple other attackers with very little work required by me. A number of my unfortunate 'victims' though would probably suffer from dislocated shoulders and torn ligaments but that would be Apollo's problem.
Surprisingly though throughout the whole melee I had managed to keep any attacks meant for me against my heavily armoured forearms or by using some unfortunate soul as an impromptu shield.
The final two however had initially hung back whilst their compatriots charged in and now finally given a chance to look at the pair who wore the rank insignia of a Centurion and Decanus respectively but what were most distinctive were their faces. Both being almost dead ringers for one another it was quite clear they shared a parent or even two.
"Girl before we fight might we at least have the pleasure of knowing our opponents name?" The Centurion asked removing his helmet and tossing it aside his sibling doing likewise throwing it over his shoulder. Both were Hispanic and between sixteen and eighteen years old if I had to guess. The Centurion being the older one of the pair, rather strikingly he had a trio of deep scars running down the side of his head. Cutting through his short hair before ending at his chin.
"Zoe…, Daughter of… Atlas." I responded hesitantly, catching my breath even after millennia of hiding my heritage it still felt strange to actually admit the fact.
"So you are the great Titan General's daughter, I guess you could say I met him once when we attacked Orthry's, didn't seem too happy for us to be there. Would explain why you are so strong though." He said with a chuckle as he subconsciously touched his scar.
"Not to mention cute…" The Decanus commented only to be slapped on the head with the flat of the Centurion's sword.
"Alexi that is disrespectful to the Hunters, if my brothers words offend you I am sorry. After watching you take down half a cohort with nothing but your body I would say you deserve more than deserve our respect. However I have a question if you would not mind answering, would you not be the same Zoe Nightshade that was also killed in the Second Titan War." He asked looking at the ground nervously.
"Yes I am what of it?" I answered noting the pair of them seemed to sigh in resignation.
"How unfortunate it seems we have no choice then brother." The Decanus said before dropping his sword to the floor another one joining it a few seconds later.
"Thank you for this chat Miss Nightshade but I am sorry to inform you that we must surrender this battle on personal grounds."
"Wait what?!" I shouted now in complete confusion as the two simply sat down.
"Our grandfather is the god Hercules; our family owes you a debt so to say which I am now fulfilling." He explained and I had many mixed feelings currently.
"How could you know about me? Heracles would never admit the truth." I shot back, anger entering my words at having to recite the bastard's name.
"Is it strange to consider that maybe his Roman aspect is a little more honourable and honest on occasion? You may consider it strange based on your experience with him and other gods but our grandfather has always looked out for our mother and us. I only wish he had always been like that it seems. It would seem your friend is also done." The Decanus Alexi commented pointing to the rather dishevelled and disoriented figure that was the Amazon Queen. Hylla it seems had not been as lucky as I was, her left arm was hanging down immobilised and a large bump was forming on her forehead.
"I thought you were going to help? Instead it seems you were chatting up these two." Hylla complained stomping over towards me, the whole time we had been talking I had not noticed either being too worried or scared but when the Amazon glared at them they both flinched back.
Despite her usual appearance of pristine and regal authority, she now looked a bedraggled mess.
Her hair was plastered down the side of her face by a mixture of sweat and grime and likewise her once beautiful elaborate armour had too been taken for a roll in the churned up mud. Her left armbrace was also missing lost somewhere in the chaos of the brawl.
"In all honesty I am still very confused by what is going on here. But apparently we are done, I think." I said passing her the last of the Nectar which she quickly swallowed. Almost immediately she was able to begin moving her wounded arm a little.
It was at that moment that an inhuman screech roared across the Field of Mars causing all four of us to cover our ears in pain as we looked for the source of the noise assailing us before it dropped down to manageable levels.
"Please tell me that is on our side, I really don't want to have to Judo tackle that thing today, I want to sit in my bathtub, get a massage and hope this is all over already." Hylla complained as we looked in awe at the enormous dragon dominating the view one side of the field.
"If you want a massage, I volunteer." Alexi said instinctively as his brother shot him a look of ashamed annoyance. Even I could not help but roll my eyes at his audacity.
"Nice try kid but I am a lot older than you, besides I only date billionaires and gods." Hylla said turning away towards the pair of chariots that were rapidly approaching us.
"I don't know about your grandfather, but you two are ok." I told the two Roman legacies as I followed Hylla towards the slowing chariots. Hylla grumbling incomprehensibly as she took the reins from the Amazon in it.
I left the other Amazon to steer my chariot as we headed towards the battle between the fourth cohort and the remaining Hunters, on the opposite side of the battle it was impossible to miss the great beast also converging on the embattled and dwindling legionnaires.
Only a single bronze armoured figure standing between them and the great black dragon bearing down on them.
(Percy)
I think everyone watching the battle from above had to give credit where it was due.
Clarisse was pretty much single-handedly keeping the camps in this battle. They were down to a single intact cohort and around a dozen or so left of the fourth. So around a fifth left of the original two hundred and fifty.
Now by comparison the Hunters had started with a little over thirty and lost nine in the ambush in the trenches at the cost of the first cohort. Now with the one exception of Marina every other Hunter had been knocked by Clarisse alone.
With Hylla, Zoe and the two amazons converging from one side in chariots and the Hunter-turned-Dragon coming from the other with Thalia and other last few remaining Hunters forming a third point on the 'kill zone' around the embattled campers. It was looking a little bleak for them at least.
"Fifty Drachma says Clarisse wipes them all out." Ares declared loudly having taken over from Mars temporarily.
"Seventy-five says the Pendragon girl roasts her." Hephaestus wagered back.
"Please, remember Manhattan she wasted that Drakon." Ares scoffed at his rival.
"Pretty sure there is a significant difference between a Dragon and a Drakon." Hades muttered.
"Hundred on the Dragon." A new voice spoke up as pretty much everyone turned to look at the quiet goddess of Ghosts at the end of the row.
"Haha I like her, deal hope you can afford to pay up Uncle." Ares declared laughing as Hades cast his daughter a look of disapproval.
Any further discussion on the matter was cut of due to lack of time as things progressed forward below.
Now having fought against Clarisse a number of times I had a somewhat biased view towards her abilities. Namely I had won every single time we fought one another in the last six years. But as the last half an hour had shown there was a reason she had been a turning point in the battle of Manhattan until she temporarily became a Clarisse-cicle.
But in terms of sheer scale she barely measured above the Dragon's ankles. Even so though she stood her ground with spear in hand. That even the great beast actually stopped twenty meters away and looked directly at the smaller figure below.
"My Name is Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares, Drakon Slayer. You shall not pass beast!" She declared proudly raising her spear towards her opponents head.
"She does know that it is intelligent right? Not some stupid wild beast." Anna Minerva said with a groan as Morganna raised herself upwards onto her hind legs, extending her wings and tail out behind her for balance.
"Well met Daughter of Ares, I applaud your courage. You are braver than all the knights of Camelot combined for daring to face me. However you lack the necessary means to beat me. That puny spear is supposed to worry me? Who has faced the likes of Arondight, Ascalon, Failnaught, Gelatine, Rhongomyniad and let's now forget the King's own Excalibur." The Dragon's cold voice called out proudly as she slammed her front legs back to the ground causing the ground to shake a little, but still Clarisse held her nerve unflinching as Morganna extended her neck towards Clarisse so only a few feet separated her snout from the tip of the point. Each of her teeth were the same size as the spear head and not more importantly not currently blunted.
"Guess you better add Maimer to that impressive list then." Clarisse shouted back as I internally groaned as did a number of others who were also keeping count of how many she had broken.
"Tis a stupid name for an inconsequential stick." Morganna ridiculed blowing a cloud of smoke before pulling her head back.
What she didn't realise was that in the fraction of a second she was engulfed in the smoke, Clarisse had flipped the spear over and was holding it over her shoulder. By the time the smoke cleared she was taking a second step and pulling her arm back.
By the time Morganna realised what was happening, her arm was extending forward as the projectile began its journey the dozen or so meters between her and her target.
It was amazing for the next few seconds there was silence across the field. Almost as if everyone could not believe what had just happened.
However then for the second time today an inhuman bestial shriek tore through the field as the dragon comprehended the spear that had pierced its great golden eye. The relatively object causing it a great deal of pain. As it crashed to the ground and flailed desperate to dislodge the pointy object. Her clawed feet not shaped correctly to manoeuvre around the top of her own head; she was forced to grind the side of her face against the surface of the field. Her armoured scales stripping the top soil back to the bed rock but only forcing the small spike on the butt of the spear in deeper before eventually the point snagged on the ground and like all of previous brethren, Maimer IV too met is end in a sudden electrical discharge. Completely destroying the Dragon's Left eye leaving a gory charred socket as the dragon fell flat on the ground with nary another sound.
"That's my Daughter, Lamer my divine ass, Pay up Ghost Girl." Ares shouted jumping to his feet. The rest of us however were a bit more subdued at such an astonishing piece of luck.
"That's some bullshit right there if ever I have seen some." Hermes cursed angrily.
"Glad to see that Dragons are still as Prideful as always and still getting taken out like fools by fools." Hephaestus groaned his beard flaring into flames.
Artemis meanwhile was silent beyond a little narrowing of her eyes but otherwise not responding as was the still standing goddess Hecate.
(Artemis)
Unlike those that were still comprehending what had just happened I was keeping an eye on the rest of the Hunter's as they regrouped and with Zoe and Hylla's help wiped out the survivors of the fourth cohort. Even so there were only four Hunters and three Amazons left.
Now of course the seven of them were left regarding the single remaining figure with a crimson aura that was slowly turning from her latest 'victim' and noticing them all looking back at her. Even so she had no weapons remaining on her, the nearest being fifty meters away behind the assembled remaining hunters on the fallen fighters.
"Hey Clarisse, don't suppose you feel like just quitting now, we are all very impressed but you can stand down now. Otherwise we will turn you into a pincushion." Thalia shouted across her tone almost pleading.
"How about you drop those toys before I beat the crap out of you, so you wish you were a pine tree again."
"Clarisse in words I am sure you recognise molṑn labé!" Zoe responded in the famous 'actual' words of Leonidas stepping forward followed by Hylla who rolled her formerly injured shoulder as if to stretch any remaining discomfort away.
As they walked they discarded any remaining weapons that were on them as Zoe's hunting knives and Hylla's remaining Kopis.
When the three armoured fighters were only a few feet away from one another Clarisse looked between the Amazon Queen and the former Lieutenant with almost a look of satisfaction.
"Here was me thinking I was going to get stuck with the thunderchild, instead I might actually get a challenge. I guess the need for introductions is out of question. So why don't we just get this over with." She declared before leaping towards Hylla who sidestepped a heavy backhand before delivering a powerful shin kick to the other girl's waist with another force to break her own bronze greave. Yet despite this all it caused was Clarisse to take a single step backwards, the blessing of Ares protecting her from a blow that should have shattered her pelvis. If anything Hylla was more injured as she was forced to limp as she stepped on that leg afterwards.
However whilst this was happening Zoe would step forward and begin to rain a series of blows on the demigod that whilst not damaging to the other girl the sheer power behind the armoured blows was enough to disorientate as Hylla stepped in to deliver a heavy right cross that succeeded in causing the Daughter of Ares to do a full twirl on the spot.
Yet despite this her moment of vulnerability had passed by time of the next blow which she expertly pushed to one side before beginning a fusillade of short blows to Amazon Queen's chest knocking the wind out of her and dropping her to the floor before kicking a leg out at the approaching demi-Titan who was caught unaware though with no lasting damage as she recovered from the blow and launched into a flying tackle leading to the two of them rolling on the floor.
Each of them trying to hit the other with whatever part of their body they could.
"Does anyone else think this 'Blessing of Ares' is becoming bullshit at this point. Look he is seriously sweating at this point, how much energy are you having to put into maintaining that." Hermes shouted pointing at his elder sibling who sure enough was looking hot under the collar.
"This is a little ridiculous, is this what it was like to watch me all those times?" Percy asked as Zoe landed a punch that pushed the back of Clarisse's head six inches into the ground only to get head-butted in return earning a split on her forehead that began to trail blood down her face. The fact that the same blow previously knocked out a god turned elephant was not lost on anyone.
"No at least you got injured occasionally, well except when you had the curse of Achilles but then we were dealing with Typhon and not paying attention to you too much." My father actually conceded.
"But still things are about to get interesting again, hope that bet is still on by the way." Hades said with a sinister smile as we spotted what he was on about.
It was at this point both fighters got the same idea and just started to choke the other hoping that their opponent would fall unconscious before they did.
What followed was a rather uncomfortable two minutes where we were forced to watch as two of Olympus's greatest heroes were forced to try and strangle the other, in an increasingly high stakes 'friendly game'.
However eventually Clarisse was forced to pull herself away as Zoe's own blessing of Endurance came out on top.
Still in the time they had been grappling on the ground the remaining hunters had not been idle, as Clarisse discovered when a shadow engulfed her from behind.
Zoe had at least been facing the correct way when the now awake again Dragon had reappeared. So she got at least a few seconds notice to start running before the gaping maw lit up like a blast furnace surrounding the other girl in a sea of flames.
Despite this when the flames abated the girl was still standing despite her now half-molten armour protecting only her dignity as she turned slowly to look at the one-eyed dragon behind her. However all that she was able to witness was twenty tonnes of black scaled tail swinging towards her, the heavy blow from the tail in the blink of an eye slapped her clean across the field and out of bounds at last.
"So she is out right, no chance of getting back into the action?" Apollo asked as sure enough Clarisse was already climbing back to her knees. Anyone who was close by would have received quite an eyeful as what little armour she had left was shed when she bounced off the ground a few times.
"Aye, Anna Minerva see to it that our Hipparch is ok, don't let her reflect too heavily on her defeat this time, she had shown all of Olympus her honour in the way she fought today." Zeus commanded as the Goddess nodded her head in affirmation before flashing away. Only to reappear alongside the struggling girl before summoning a somewhat familiar cloak which she draped over the girl's body.
"Showed us more than just her honour there for a bit to be honest." Apollo said laughing only to receive a withering glare from just about every goddess present even Aphrodite. The only exception could be found in the front row and was probably distracted by other things.
"So anyway uncle I believe you owe me some money. The Pendragon girl beat Clarisse correct." Melinoe said sweetly in complete contrast to her rapidly deteriorating face which was returning to its normal horrifying appearance.
Somewhere in the front row Leo actually shrieked like a little girl upon turning around and catching sight of the goddess.
"Fine, now if you will excuse me I need a lie down." Ares conceded groaning before flashing away only for Mars to reappear a minute later with a small lockbox.
Almost immediately Melinoe shifted back from horrifying to only pale and clammy as she happily skipped down the aisle to retrieve her winnings from the Roman god who begrudgingly handed the box over. On her way back she stopped to whisper something in the ear of Valdez who recoiled like he had been shot almost leaping out of his chair and over the railing. Whatever it was had her younger brother on the edge of crying in laughter.
Down below however the remaining combined forces of the Hunters and Amazons were looking at the distant fort, the entire fifth cohort manning the walls and ballistae.
One unexpected development had ravaged out numbers and taking pretty much every trump card we could throw at her and even then it had barely been enough. Hylla was still in the game barely after the punishment she received from Clarisse and most of Zoe's face was stained crimson from a wound that just refused to stop bleeding despite the hastily wrapped improvised bandage she was now sporting.
Apart from the two charioteers there was no one who had not spent the last hour fighting heavily.
Which just left a half blind, extremely arrogant dragon whom was having an identity crisis as it struggled to differentiate between its current life and its original one fifteen hundred years ago.
Even now it was growling at Erika who was trying to help by removing whatever traces of Maimer were left in the wound where here eye was. The fact the size difference between them meant she was actually forced to stand inside the wound may not have been helping the dragon's mood.
Still could have been worse, we were still able to win this as long as we played this smart.
Unfortunately rationality went out the window when an arrow came out of nowhere and hit the long suffering Amazon Queen in the side of the head causing her to drop like a lead balloon.
Next up was another arrow that would knock out Erika causing her to fall into Morganna's eye. The dragon in response shrieking in pain as she flailed her head to dislodge the new larger object. Thankfully she succeeded quickly before she crushed the Daughter of Demeter. Thalia dropped to the ground not too long. Even so at long last the offender was spotted just in time for Zoe to swat aside another shaft that would have hit her in the chest.
I knew who it was without having to check. That didn't make it any harder to stomach at watching one of my own hunter's having to fight her sister's-in-arms.
Still Reyna knew not to try her luck to far as she spurred the Pegasus into a hasty retreat not a second too late as a torrent of fire licked where they had flown only a few seconds earlier.
In response Zoe had enough sense to grab hold of the dragon's tail before it lumbered forward flapping its great wings before kicking off from the ground as a hundred tonnes of divine beast shot towards the fort where its quarry was hastily landing.
Even so as she rapidly approached the fort there was clearly one issue, Morganna had not though about in her anger filled chase, stopping her flight.
Because she left it far too late possibly as a consequence of no depth perception and instead crashed headfirst into the left hand tower crushing it beneath her. The two children of Hephaestus manning the Ballista on it being forced to leap for safety for fear of being crushed like tin cans. Zoe likewise had taken a tumble leaping off to safety colliding heavily with the outside wall knocking the wind out of her for the time being as she struggled to her feet.
Even so the Morganna's sheer mass allowed her to shrug this off before long as she slowly rose to her feet before becoming aware of the barrage of projectiles raining down on her as arrows and pila ricocheted off her scales as the fifth hastily tried to fight off there assailant.
Unfortunately before long the other three ballista came into play so it was only a matter of time before the larger projectiles found there marking blinding the dragon in the other eye. In return she began to tear into whatever structure she could get within her claws. Her wings and tail likewise knocking Legionnaires from the walls, at last she grabbed one of the walls in her forepaws and with a final effort tore it out from its foundations before finally crashing onto her side.
The first any of us were aware of her absence was when Hecate reappeared on the battlefield below and placing a hand on the dragons flank she flashed it away.
Still with the destruction of a wall, it provided ample accessibility for the silver armoured figure to slowly appear out of the dust.
(Zoe)
If I had been searching for my limit earlier, I could fairly safely say it was grabbing a dragon and going for a ride. Holding on by purely my fingertips I had somehow managed to keep a hold. I thought she was going to run, in hindsight she had wings and was chasing a flying target of course she was going to fly.
Still almost getting crushed beneath her was another unexpected problem I was not anticipating.
And now here I was alone versus the entire remainder of the fifth cohort with nothing but my bare hands. Hands that I found were shaking in weariness as fatigue and injury finally caught up with me.
And yet still I found myself taking step after step towards the sea of purple armoured figures in front of me. My whole body protested as I caught a spear thrust before delivering a blow to the girl's helmet knocking her for six.
The next received my stolen spear to the gut with enough force to bend the soft metal head despite not penetrating his armour.
"Zoe stand down, you are in no state to keep fighting look at yourself." Reyna pleaded stepping down from Scipio's saddle, silver bow still in hand. As much as I wanted to hate someone for this, I knew it could not be her. We were this close despite the odds. There was less than two dozen campers left out of ten times that number. Almost in an ironic reversal of the old roman decimation, we had spared only one in ten.
"Sorry Zoe, please don't blame me I have no choice." Reyna said notching an arrow before releasing it at my unarmoured stomach, instantly I fell to my knees as my legs were paralysed. Cradling my gut I half expected to find blood but of course this was all just a game.
A game where siblings had tried to kill one another, divine beasts and dragons had destroyed entire formations of forces. A lot of people on both sides would be hospitalised and us supposed heroes had been forced to beat almost beat and choke one another to death. And now my own sister-in-arms was forced to deliver a coup de grace. My only solace was that I had at least met some people who had a shred of honour and decency where I never expected to.
And yet it was all for nothing because we were going to lose. Past Reyna I could see the simple purple flag with SPQR emblazoned on it fluttering in the wind, before a flash of silver ended it.
'Then again this game was rigged from the start.' I thought with a smile as Reyna's second arrow hit me.
(Reyna)
It was almost with trepidation as I slowly turned from the fallen Daughter of Atlas, the final smile on her face telling me everything.
Sure enough my eyes travelled across the three fallen legionnaires, before rising to a pair of all too familiar steel toe cap boots leading to a mud stained silver set of leggings.
At her side Aegis hung limply the attached it was strapped to unresponsive. Unlike Thalia's other arm which was still clutching her Orthrytic silver sword, the purple flag wrapped around her wrist.
Overhead thunder boomed at last signalling the end of the battle. All around me the remaining legionnaires seemed stunned as they slowly realised what had happened. Sure enough Thalia was right there and in real life I could quite likely shot her again. But this was a game where the Hunter's ojective was simply to get our flag, something they had managed albeit rather ungracefully in the end.
It was ironic that in the chaos of the last few minutes, the injured Thalia had ironically simply flown around the battlefield and snuck in from behind whilst everyone was preoccupied with Zoe and the dragon. What I had been warning Clarisse about the entire time before the battle.
Slowly but surely the Legionnaires began to lie down or sheathe their weapons. Some collapsing to the ground whilst others stood in small clusters unsure of what to do now. All the while the daughter of Zeus uncharacteristically stood quiet and still as she turned her head slowly from the flag in her hand towards me. Simply giving a shrug and a large smile before collapsing forwards as I ran towards her tossing aside my bow as I ran. Rolling the girl over I found her still grinning as she looked up at me.
"Hey… Surprise." She said laughing wearily.
"You know we were this close right?" I conceded as I sat down placing the other girls head on my lap.
"It was a bit touch and go. Between Clarisse going terminator on us and you sniping the rest of us, I thought we were done for... Luckily you can't shoot for shit, otherwise I wouldn't be here. Or perhaps there was another reason you couldn't hit me properly…" She teased, however before I could respond the arrival of a number of figures ended the silence.
Most Romans were lucky to meet one or two gods in their entire lives; the sudden arrival of most of the Olympians was enough to stun most of them whilst the rest snapped to attention.
"Citizens of New Rome, Legionnaires, Campers and other guests. Despite many up and downs and more than a few surprises I declare the winners of this war game as the Hunters of Artemis! Now I am sure that some of you like us have a number of questions but they will have to wait, the first priority is to treat all those that are injured and incapacitated. We shall have a special ceremony tomorrow in New Rome where we shall details of what changes to expect in the New Year. For tonight though I expect you all to rest recover and most importantly have fun." Jupiter's voice boomed out as expected there was pandemonium in the stands high above but that was not my concern.
"Praetor Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion." Mars stated commandingly looking at me with a serious expression. Sitting Thalia up gently I rose to my feet before bowing my head as the two chief deities of Rome approached. Before long I found the golden armoured boots of Mars standing before me.
"At your command the combined might of the Legion was not enough to defeat less than three dozen girls. Do you have anything to say regarding your failure of command in your defence?"
"No Lord Mars. I submit myself to whatever punishment you see fit."
"Is that so, then from this moment you are relieved of your rank and commission in the twelfth Legion immediately. You are ordered to vacate your Praetorial residence within seven days and are forbidden from any further actions within the Legion. From now onwards you are simply a citizen of New Rome." Mars announced as I felt his hands on my shoulders removing the purple cape from my back.
"Do you have any questions about your sentence?" Mars asked stepping back beside Jupiter as I slowly looked up at the pair of them. The truth was it was as much as I was expecting, though I was not responsible for the developments that had occurred outside of my control. I was in the end the supreme commander of the demigod forces in this battle and the buck stopped with me.
"No Lord Mars." I said simply.
"Very well." He said nodding before turning to the King of the Gods and handing him the folded up cape who simply nodded towards the god of War who turned and walked away.
"Forgive him he has just lost an expensive wager. You have placed us in a difficult position Reyna, as I am sure you are aware there was not much opportunity for you to succeed in this situation. Nevertheless your precautions before the battle and during was textbook and to be expected. The first cohort broke ranks and rushed to engage their opponents and were defeated as a result, they will be dealt with by Lord Mars personally. As for the second well that debacle will be dealt with in due time when we catch the instigator. The third and fourth cohorts fell under Clarisse's command as your co-commander. As for the fifth well most of them are still standing and fighting fit as a result of your decision to retreat from the field to use the fortifications here, a decision we all agreed was most prudent considering the information you had at the time." The god explained with a calm tone as he regarded me.
"Now is when I would had Diana take over but due to an unforeseen incident that occurred at the end of the game, she is indisposed. So if you would kindly step forward." He explained and sure enough looking around neither Percy nor either of the goddesses of the Hunt was around with all the others.
"By my authority I Jupiter Lord of Olympus, restore your full rights as a Huntress of Diana. Furthermore you are selected to be the first Triumvir representing the Hunters and Amazons in the new system to be announced tomorrow. Ares, Artemis and Athena all agreed that you were the best candidate for the position. Any questions you have will be answered in time as we work out the finer details." He explained leaving me wide eyed as I stood there silently even once he turned away and looked at the games victor.
"Thalia Grace, the next time you are in New Rome, please do not threaten anyone, do not draw a weapon on anyone, in fact try to avoid coming at all cost. Because no one wants this to happen again." He complained as his counterpart's daughter turned crimson. Sure enough though she had ultimately won them the game, it was her fault in the first place we had been forced to fight it.
"Dad!" Thalia protested weakly as the god raised a hand cutting her off.
"Still you did a good job and once again proved that you are worthy of that circlet. For the time being you are in command of the hunters until your sister returns. Celebrate, have fun tonight I do not care, but whatever you do please do not cause any further trouble. It is bad enough when Jackson goes berserk." He added muttering quiet enough that Thalia could not hear but I still could.
"Oh one more thing, I think this rightfully belongs to you. May it serve as a reminder of your service." He said turning back to me before passing me the cape back, now the colours were inverted. The inside lining was purple but the outside was silver.
"Thank you Lord Jupiter." I said reverently turning the cape over in my hands before hugging it to my chest as he walked away.
"You know you are treating that like a comfort blanket, it is actually quite adorable to watch." Thalia said giggling.
"So seeing as you are in charge what should we do now?" I asked my slowly rising girlfriend before placing myself under her uninjured arm and holding her upright.
"Suppose we better grab Zoe and check on how everyone else was doing. After that I am getting completely and utterly wasted and then if I am lucky… I might try and find a certain girl to spend night with." She added much quieter into my ear.
"Sounds like an interesting plan; still not sure it is all going to work out as that easy though." I said laughing as we slowly walked over to the now extremely busy god of healing. For probably the first time ever the Hunter's would be happy to see Apollo.
It would be two hours before we finally walked off the field of Mars, and even then we were still two hunters short of our complement as Tania was forced to stay in the infirmary overnight and Morganna was understandably missing completely.
However after that Thalia's plan preceded without a flaw, my sister outright purchased a bar to circumvent any troublesome drinking age limits. And with the Amazon's willing help we proceeded to devastate the supply into the early hours of the morning. Just before midnight we were even joined by the surprising appearance of Chrysaor and Perseus who surprisingly had also noted his counterparts and his fiancée's complete absence at the end of the game.
At midnight however we had found ourselves on the roof of the bar, almost completely inebriated as the fireworks detonated overhead. If you had asked me at the beginning of 2011 how things would turn out. I would have probably thought I would be left in an unmarked grave somewhere in the wilderness, the forgotten victim of some monster that I was not strong enough to defeat.
Instead here I was happily slurring the words to some song with one hand holding a glass of who knows what cocktail whilst the other was around the waist of the most unlikely girl in the world.
As it turns out my sister had taken me personally knocking her out as a personal slight and proceeded to make me down an endless supply of shots. Despite Thalia's plan however the end of the night would see us both collapsed atop the furniture along with many others. Unable to make the journey home that night, still was not as if we only had a little time together.
If anything the only one who got lucky was my sister herself who disappeared when a certain god made his presence known and was suddenly accosted and dragged into a bathroom, which neither ever returned from. However several garments of clothing were found in there in the morning of both sexes.
The only downside other than the expected hangover to the New Year was the absence of a certain Titan Lord and pair of goddesses. Who were still not present the following day when Jupiter announced the changes to the camp dynamics.
He explained that although given autonomy to govern themselves largely as before. Each faction would also have an individual that would represent them on a council. I had already been selected obviously and the now returned Hylla and Thalia affirmed that decision. To no one's surprise but her own apparently Chiron put Clarisse forward who despite her showing yesterday was surprised that anyone would want to listen to her. Even so she only agreed as long as she could quit once she turned twenty-one in a little over two years. After that she was finally going to live her life and try having a family. Much to the cheers and jeers of the Greek campers who were pointing at her boyfriend Chris.
My sister even offered her a collar, which she thankfully turned down to his relief.
Of course those cheers were not as big as those of when it was announced that Dionysius would be replaced at the end of his tenure in four years by Lady Athena. Of course this resulted in Clarisse complaining that she would see out her time in the camp stuck with the drunk and not the cooler goddess of Warfare.
The Roman's however asked to receive more time. They already had a power vacuum in needing to replace two Praetors let alone a third position. So for the time being the Senate would report to Jason, Frank and Hazel who would in turn answer to Mars.
The most surprising announcement, however that was the three people representing the Greeks were Leo, Nico and temporarily Chiron. As Piper was taken a leave of absence for a year with no further explanation given and she like Percy and Artemis was missing completely. The whole matter quickly passed over before any questions could be asked although of course rumours soon began to circulate as soon as the meeting was over.
Everything from she was pregnant with Jason's child (A horrifying thought), to she was responsible for the appearance of the Nemean Lion in the war game. It was pointed out that Frank was still on the Roman side so he was not being punished for his part in that situation.
But nothing was confirmed in either way and nothing was substantiated for weeks when she finally reappeared at Camp Half-Blood. Quietly helping out where needed only confirming that no she was not pregnant, she and Jason were still together (unfortunately) and that she was just taking things slowly now.
For the hunters though we were in serious danger of being evicted as the days passed with no sign of the goddesses. Even Perseus came by occasionally to check on us before he too stopped coming after four days.
It would eventually be on the sixth day when the Percy returned. He simply apologised for the delay and asked us to grab our stuff and that we were leaving now any issues would be dealt with in time.
As such it was rather surprising when we found ourselves not in some field or forest but inside a large but sparsely decorated temple. Percy merely confirmed that it was Artemis's Temple on Olympus when asked as we followed him through the empty corridors.
However it was quite obvious that something serious had happened. The goddess's appearance was seemingly stuck between aspects, her eyes were heterochromatic gold and silver, her hair was down but extended much longer than previously now draping down to her knees.
If anything Artemis had always been beautiful but now bow it was like someone had removed any remaining imperfections they had found at a cellular level. The serious change though was the dozen or so silver wings behind her.
That and the heavy suffocating aura that filled the room.
"Hey Artemis what gives with the win-." Thalia began only to stop as the goddess looked back at her coldly those eyes reflecting little of the warmth the goddess normally exuded. If anything she made me want to lie down and prostrate myself and beg for mercy.
"I am not Artemis." The goddess said simply, her hand slowly rising to her face and covering her golden eye.
"And yet nor am I Diana." She explained repeating the gesture with her other hand over the silver eye.
"I am Harmony." She explained causing us all to look at her in confusion. However it was almost as if saying those words was enough to increase the pressure in the air and I felt consciousness leave me as the other hunters likewise collapsed.
By the time I came about the goddess was gone, only the still familiar face of Percy Jackson but even looked weary, dark shadows surrounding his eyes. As he glumly sat on a simple stool overlooking us.
Around me the other hunters were stirring and waking up.
"Seaweed Brain… What in hades is going on with my sister?" Thalia said shooting upright as soon as she spotted him.
"That is a difficult question. What is happening, no one has any idea. 'Harmony' is an enigma and no one in Olympus has worked out the answer. That is why she is confined in here for the time being whilst we work out how to reverse it. As to how it happened I will have to go back to the beginning."
AN. Well here we are finally out of New Rome at last we only entered on the 6th September 2014, 5 and half years to cover a little over two weeks and now we jump straight into a new fresh hell but this shouldn't last long (I sincerely hope), the only bright side of the current virus is that I get plenty of time at home now that it is not trying to kill me and leaving me bedridden.
Originally this chapter was going to get cut off when Zoe gets taken out but the need to bury the New Rome section of this story behind me whilst I had the motivation meant I extended it, however this also means the epilogue is shorter to bridge the phases.
The missing details will be covered in the next chapter as Percy explains what lead them to the current situation with Harmony. The actual answer may surprise you… or it may not but you are welcome to take a guess.
Oh I am so happy to mostly be away from Rome, I hope everyone reading this around the world is lucky to avoid any signs of the corona virus and if you do you have a speedy recovery. We survived the New Rome section of TOTH we can survive this pandemic.
Until next time.