Chapter Title: I Get Drafted Onto A Quest

If I had to describe how I actually felt after going on that kind of a rampage inside the fort, honestly.. I have to say, I actually felt great. I mean, I felt really really great, like I hadn't done something like that in a long while for some reason. I don't know why. Either way — it didn't really matter all that much. Not when I had successfully taken a step towards restoring the honor of the Fifth Cohort. Now, it was time — in the near future — to see exactly what sort of other steps would have to be taken.

While Percy and Frank had taken the enemy colors out of the keep triumphantly while on the back of Hannibal with Hazel, the rest of the Fifth Cohort forming ranks around them and all of them parading out of the fort, past stunned enemies and lines of equally mystified allies.. and with Reyna circling low overhead on her pegasus, shouting "The game is won!" seemingly as if she were trying not to laugh — I don't really know.. I had stepped out of the fort and stood a good distance away from all of it, near a stand of trees southeast of the fort even as Reyna also shouted, "Assemble for honors!"

As to why I had done this, it was simple really. I just needed time to think and plan out my next move. While the tactical upset of the balance of power in the War Games at my hands and brain for that matter had done at least a good amount of work at restoring the honor of the Fifth Cohort, due to what I had already seen, it was painfully obvious to me that much more work would be required before said goal was completed.

I hadn't been there long before I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to my right, and there standing next to me, was Gwen who then took a few more steps so that she was now standing in front of me. I had to admit honestly, even with all of that armor on, she still was a bit pretty. With reddish brown hair, ice blue eyes, and a basically perfect face, she looked like the type of girl destined to become a warrior legend — if you know, she hadn't had the misfortune to be placed in the Fifth Cohort, mind you. Even so — she had done much despite it, if her rank of Centurion had anything to say to that regard honestly.

"Why aren't you with the others?" she asked calmly.

"I needed some alone time to think.." I said back.

"Alone time to think? Why?" she asked back.

I was going to reply to her, but that's when my body moved as if I wasn't controlling it anymore. I don't know how or why, it just acted like that completely out of nowhere, completely blindsiding me to be honest here. It caught me completely off guard. It was as if I was hooked up to a video game controller and someone else had just turned said controller on and taken control of my own body.

With amazing speed, I reached around, and grabbed an object coming at me from behind as if I had known it was coming at me. I barely prevented the object from piercing me — I could just about feel the point of it pressing up against my armor. It was some sort of spear, made of what seemed to be wood less than what I estimated to be ten millimeters thick and about six hundred millimeters long. Any later than the time I turned around and I probably would have been a dead man.

Gwen must have been in a state of shock because she didn't even say anything right now for the moment. The whole event must have been so sudden for her.

Everyone had now noticed what had happened and was looking on at it with shocked expressions. Some of them were also horrified for some reason, which confused me.

It was then that I noticed something on the weapon. There were marks engraved in the shaft of it, reading off CHT I LEGIO XII F. I started to boil over with rage as my mind put two and two together. That weapon had belonged to the First Cohort.

Someone had just tried to kill me.

"WHO?!" I bellowed. "WHO DID IT?!"

My eyes scanned the crowd, looking at all the shocked faces until I found the source. The only likely one who could have possibly thrown that damn thing at me and Gwen. Octavian was standing there, watching the whole thing with more interest than concern, as if he were examining one of his stupid gutted teddy bears. God, the whole thing about him gutting teddy bears pissed me off even more. I don't know why, and I didn't care. Either way, he didn't have a weapon in his hand, and his weapon most likely probably was the long spear I was holding in my hand right now.

Blood roared in my ears, and I honestly wanted to strangle that privileged fucking dickhead Octavian with nothing but my ******fucking bare hands at this point. Octavian must have seen the rage filled look in my eyes because he started trembling and sweating profusely like the coward he was. At that moment, though, Gwen screamed in horror as she had finally realized at what had just happened.

"WHAT THE HELL, OCTAVIAN?!" she shouted at him.

"He just caught the spear before it pierced him, like he knew it was coming.." Hazel muttered. "How.. how?"

That's when a thunderous voice sounded: Had he or she been killed, either of them would have instantly returned. Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning.

Campers drew weapons. Hannibal trumpeted nervously. Scipio reared, almost throwing Reyna. I held the spear aloft in my hand, ready to throw it at the individual who said that.

"I know that voice," Percy said. He didn't sound pleased at all from the way he said that honestly.

In the midst of all of us, a column of fire blasted into the air. Heat seared my eyelashes. Everyone scrambled backward as a huge soldier stepped out of the explosion. One that seemed very, very familiar.

This dude was ten feet tall, dressed in some sort of desert camouflage. He radiated confidence and power. His black hair was cut in a flat-topped wedge like Frank's hair was. 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 and he seemed to have some sort of sword sheathed on his back.

I felt drawn to him honestly. I don't know how or why, but I was. As everyone else stepped back, Frank and I stepped forward. I felt like I wasn't in control of my body again — it just moved on its own. Frank looked like he desperately wanted to run away and hide, but he couldn't. He took three more steps. Then both of us sank to one knee.

The other campers followed his example and knelt. Even Reyna dismounted.

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

I looked around, and I noticed that only one person wasn't kneeling. It was Percy, who with his sword still in hand, was just glaring at the giant soldier.

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

That name.. Ares.. it felt really familiar somehow.

A collective gasp went up from two hundred other campers — minus Michael and Luke — and an elephant. Frank now looked like he wanted to say something to maybe, and I don't know if this is actually what he wanted to do — I'm just guessing here.. possibly excuse Percy and placate the god, but he didn't know what. Dude absolutely looked scared as hell.

I, on the other hand, just looked at Percy, a bit pissed off now. "Why you.." I started, but I was interrupted by the giant soldier. "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."

Mars.. so this was my father.

I honestly felt honored — like words cannot express it enough — to be in my father's presence right now.

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

I had no clue as to what Percy was even talking about now. 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. I was amazed honestly. It was honestly cool to watch.

"Percy," Frank said, "please."

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

Serves him right, I thought to myself.

Mars scanned the crowd. "Romans, lend me your ears!" He laughed—a good, hearty bellow, so infectious that I smiled and laughed, and from what I could see, it honestly looked like it almost made Frank smile too, 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 have been killed by the pilum, had my son.." He gestured to me. "..not been there to save both her and his lives. Even if it had killed her, she wouldn't have stayed dead for long. 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 seemed to be glaring at someone, but I wasn't really sure as to who it was.

"Thanatos 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 Thanatos and free him from the giants. Only he can reverse the tide."

A lot of things were running through my brain now with this new information.

Doors of death.. Gaea.. this is connected to the Great Prophecy. It has to be. The prophecy has finally started.

I was sure of it.

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

I didn't have any, for I fully understood what all of that meant. Looking around me though, it was evident that the rest of the legion didn't. Reyna rose uneasily. She approached the god, followed by Octavian, who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler. The sight of him approaching my father angered me. That fucking bitch.. he has no right standing in front of my father after he tried to kill me and Gwen!

So yeah.. there was definitely bad blood now between me and Octavian.. if there hadn't been any prior to now.

"Lord Mars," Reyna said, "we are honored."

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

"Well?" Mars snapped.

"Well," Reyna said, "Thanatos 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 therefore people will 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 my son and your friend who nearly became Centurion Shishkebab probably would have been able to."

I flinched honestly, because that sounded harsh — even for me. Looking over at Gwen, I could see that she was wincing. "Centurion Shish kebab?" she muttered, clearly not liking at all how that sounded.

"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—"

I had half a mind to open my mouth and berate the augur of Camp Jupiter, consequences be damned, over how that was actually bad. Octavian really was getting on my fucking nerves. Fortunately for me, my father did it for me.

"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?"

Octavian backed down. Even he had to admit, all of that was true. None of us wanted that at all.

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

I didn't know which idiot I wanted to smack on the head harder right now. Octavian or Percy. Both of them were equally pissing me off now.

Mars's goggles — I have absolutely no clue what else they 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 military might 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.

"Wanna bet, fish boy?" I taunted him. Percy didn't say anything.

Frank looked like he expected my father to shoot down Percy with the M16, but instead, Mars just grinned like they were two old buddies talking trash. It was.. weird honestly.

"I order a quest!" the god announced. "You will go north and find Thanatos 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?"

My mind put two and two together, and I instantly knew what this meant.

That incident from the 80's.. this was the time that the augur back then had said must be the time. This is it.. the redemption for the Fifth Cohort has arrived.

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 honor! Perhaps if the quest succeeds, and you return by the Feast of Fortuna...perhaps then your honor 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."

Then Octavian had to speak up. "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 —.." he started, but I cut him off.

"Say anything about cutting teddy bears one more time, and I will run you through with this spear.." I said to him, and Octavian simply gulped and trembled in fear.

Mars just laughed. "I see you have the fire of my Greek counterpart in you, my son.. that is wonderful.. you'll make a great soldier.." he said, and lots of gasps rose from the kids behind me. I was so confused now.

I had the fire of Ares inside me? But I was a son of Mars.. was I?

This was all very confusing for me.

Mars now turned to Octavian. "You're the augur?"

"Y-yes, my lord."

I swear, Octavian was a fucking weakling in the presence of my father. Like, who even let this guy become augur, let alone become one of two centurions of an entire cohort?

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

Everyone else simply stared at him. I facepalmed at all of them.

Mars sighed. "Two hundred Romans, and no one's got a pen? Never mind!"

He slung his M16 onto his back and pulled out a hand grenade. Everyone started screaming. Then the grenade morphed into a ballpoint pen, and Mars began to write. I'll admit, that was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

I turned, and I could see Frank looking at Percy with wide eyes now. He simply mouthed: Can your sword do grenade form?

Percy mouthed back, No. Shut up.

I chuckled. He definitely was not amused.

"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."

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

How nice.. a God who is direct with prophecies.. I like it.. I thought to myself.

"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 cleared his throat. "I have an additional quest, one that has been already been written in the Sibylline Books! The legendary sword of Jupiter, Argonaut, has been discovered to be residing somewhere in the Tehachapi Mountains."

I groaned. Just the mere mention of Jupiter pissed me off honestly. Mars continued.

"I believe that this is the daughter of Terpsichore's quest.. and I also believe that the prophecy went something like this.." he said, and then pulled another scroll from his utility belt and began to write once more. Once he was finished, he handed it to Octavian. His eyes soon went wide as he looked at it. He started trembling a lot.

"I.. I don't understand.." he muttered.

"Read it.." Mars said back.

"A..as you wish, my lord.." Octavian stammered back, before clearing his throat and beginning to read it. "Three shall go south to the desert.. to seek the treasure of times lost. Monster King and Light clear the path.. for Dance to see herself bright at last. In the mountains of T they dig.. and one shall ascend to begin." The entire legion — apart from Percy, Michael, and Luke — all trembled and shivered when the words "Monster King" were read aloud.

I didn't know what exactly it was about those two words, but "Monster King" seemed to resonate deeply inside of me as if it was a core part of who I was.

Mars simply said, "Yep.. that same Monster King who opposed us all those centuries ago.. is now on our side. This one is the first Monster King since the last was killed near the end of WWII. And by the way.. Colton.."

He turned to me, reaching behind himself. "..I believe that this belongs to you." He pulled out the sword that he had sheathed behind his back, and believe when I say, it was unlike any sword that I had ever seen before. It was an odd looking sword to say the least, looking more foreign than Roman if I had to be honest. It was also colored in black, red, grey, and a slight tint of orange that flickered like lava and with quite a few jewels molded into the metals used to make this blade. It had an overall refined, yet still slightly unfinished appearance to it as well. But the words carved into the blade.. it just made the sword call out to me, as if I was the one destined to wield it. It was two words in what seemed to be Ancient Greek, but my mind translated both of them flawlessly.

Αποκαλυπτική οργή. In ancient Greek, that stood for Apocalyptic Wrath. It was a chilling name, but one that resonated within me, again as if the sword itself was calling out to me.

Mars now tossed the sword towards me with one word, "Catch."

I caught it, before anyone asks anything about it.

(** Monster King March Theme ((Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah 39 - Ending I (M38) uploaded to Youtube by user "Sugoi Ghost") starts playing **)

The second that sword handle touched my hand though, I was falling to the ground on my knees, clutching my forehead in pain as a rush of memories came back to me. I was still holding the sword while clutching my forehead with the other hand, but that trip down memory lane was something that cleared all the foggy clouds in my head to put it simply.

I can see the images and memories coming back even now, just one after another.

(** Music should be at 0:35 by this point **)

Losing my parents to the Lydian Drakon.

Coming to Camp Half Blood.

Training with the black haired girl — my older sister, Clarisse.

Getting the Whitworth Rifle as a gift for my 11th Birthday — Austin Maxwell, the former head counselor for the Ares Cabin was the one who had given it to me.

Me swearing on the River Styx that I would kill Luke after he betrayed camp.

Meeting that red headed girl — Kayla Knowles, after passing out after nearly dying to a Colchis Bull.

Saving everyone from the Stymphalian Birds.

Kayla hugging me afterwards.

Me killing the snakes in the Apollo Cabin and cuddling Kayla in the aftermath.

Dueling Tantalus — how I hated that bitch.

Getting dragged to Arizona by Clarisse.

Getting the MG42 for my 14th Birthday from Travis.

Typhon crowning me Monster King.

Finally admitting my feelings for Kayla and us kissing.

The Battle Of The Labyrinth.

Me fighting those 93 guys to defend my relationship with Kayla in Vegas.

Typhon crowning her Monster Queen.

Me seeing the prophecy that Octavian had read out for the first time back then with Kayla.

The Battle Of Manhattan.

All the blessings the Gods and Titans gave us.

The fight against Porphyrion, Enceladus, and Periboia.

(** Music ends here **)

Once more, I remembered all of it. It may have hit me like a sledgehammer, but the effect was only passing. As soon as that montage trip down memory lane had ended, I was already fast recovering from it.

It was then that I realized that many of the legion had now crowded around me, concerned. "Colton.. you okay?" Hazel asked, who was very and understandably concerned a lot about me at that moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine.. I'm okay.." I muttered, standing back up, the sword of the Monster King still in my hand. Inside though, I felt like who I truly was.

For I now knew who I truly was now.

I was Colton Reynolds, the Son of Ares.

The Beast of Camp Half Blood, the boyfriend of Kayla Knowles.

The Monster King.

Percy, Luke, and Michael may not have recovered their memories, but I had. In a camp full of Romans to be honest, that was all I needed to be honest. More importantly than that, I now knew exactly what Lavinia had meant when she said she had been expecting me and Michael. We must have appeared in a vision or maybe her dreams in the past, and that meant that Lavinia was "Dance" and Michael was "Light" as mentioned in the prophecy.

I didn't show any of the recognition and realization that I was having though, I just played it down and hid it for now, since my body was telling me that I was in a very dangerous place at the moment. One wrong move, and me, Luke, Percy, and Michael would all be dead.

Then again, Hazel's words earlier hadn't exactly helped much in dispelling that.

"With that out of the way.." Mars continued, now turning to Frank. "C'mere, kid."

Frank looked absolutely terrified. I think he might have shit his own pants, he was so scared now.

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. Along with the antics my other son caused — alongside Apollo's kid.. Yew, I think it was. 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, helped to win the game for his team alongside my other kid. Unless you're blind, that was an MVP play. You're not blind, are you?"

Reyna looked like she was trying to swallow a mouse. "No, Lord Mars." My brain put two and two together. There was absolutely no way.

"Then make sure he gets the Mural Crown," Mars demanded. "Both of my kids, actually! Make two if you have to!" He yelled at the legion, in case anyone hadn't heard. Frank looked like he wanted to melt into the dirt. I on the other hand, was amazed. Frank Zhang was now my half brother. That was honestly awesome.

"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 though the'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 now a spear. I was confused. How..?

"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 Thanatos, 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. I was angry once more. "If any of you jealous pieces of shit.." I started, only for Mars to interrupt me.

"Now.. now.. Colton, don't.." he said, but I just glared at him fiercely. "I have to.." I said back to him, not breaking eye contact, and my father relented. "Fine."

I turned back to the legion. "If any of you all have a problem with that — with my brother, I'd be happy to take your complaints and then kick your asses over it." Everyone shut up and didn't glare at Frank with envy, jealousy, anger, and bitterness after that.

Mars simply continued. "You can take three companions," Mars said. "While the rules normally say two can go, I strongly suspect that an exception has to be made here if future events as predicted by Apollo are to be believed. One of them needs to be this kid."

I sighed when I saw who he had pointed to. Of course it was my fucking rival, 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."

I chuckled. That would straighten him out real quick. I was partially hoping that would happen honestly.

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. Just like that.

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 just looked like he didn't want their attention anymore. It was as if his perfect night had been ruined. I, honestly, didn't really care that much. To be perfectly clear, I was absolutely honored to have Frank as a sibling of mine, even if he was actually a child of the Roman version of my father. I could see massive amounts of potential in him to be honest.

Either way though, it was clear now that things had changed. With my memory back, I would now see this quest handed down to me through to the end and then somehow find my way back to Kayla and Camp Half Blood with the others, or die trying.

At least, that was what I had planned — since I had entirely zero idea at that moment just how much Camp Jupiter was going to play into the Great Prophecy.

Boy, was I about to find out just how much they actually would play into it.