Attention peasants!

I have an announcement.

I have recently gotten a negative review, the first of the entire fic.

Now, can I just take a moment to say thanks to everybody else who reviewed? Y'all have been great, and surprisingly supportive, I appreciate it a lot, it helps give me motivation to write.

Now, this negative review was nothing special, and frankly I don't even care that much.

What really annoys me is that this person gave absolutely no reason as to why he thought this was bad.

Was is the pacing? Grammar? Interactions? I don't know.

How in the flying fuck am I meant to do anything if I don't know what to improve?

Now obviously this whole thing is a work in progress and I am well aware this needs a lot of work, but to anybody writing negative reviews, please just tell me why, if not, it's pointless.

Now that you've all ignored this, here's the next chapter.

Theseus

The roar seemed to shake the ground as I decapitated my last enemy with Riptide.

I signalled to two legionnaires from the back lines to take my place as I jogged back to the makeshift command centre where Reyna was poring over a map, eagle of the legion in hand, moving small figures, five in total, with other unknown being moved to simulate enemy positions, while discussing some smart strategic thingamajig with the other centurions present.

'Polybotes is getting tired of losing.' I said in lieu of greeting as I got within earshot.

Reyna glanced at me quickly before returning her stare to the map in front of her.

'I heard.' She said dryly, before giving me her full attention, fixing me with a piercing stare. 'You better not be entertaining the notion of abandoning your squad on a hail mary to try and take down an elder giant on your own.'

I shook my head. 'You know me too well.'

Reyna rolled her eyes at my antics. 'Not well enough in my opinion, but that's a conversation for another time. You are staying with your squad now you have returned, special membership be damned.' She ordered.

'And who is going to fight the big bad Giant headed straight for New Rome?' I asked dubiously.

'Reyna turned to me, deadly serious. 'I will be commanding the auxiliary cohort to battle the threat.' She said solemnly.

'Praetor, the second is having issues with the command structure, Larry has been incapacitated.'

Reyna let out a frustrated groan. The second was her cohort, and held a special place in her heart.

I reached out softly, touching one of her hands with mine. 'Go to them, I'll deal with Polybotes.' I said softly.

Reyna seemed conflicted for a bit, before eventually relenting. 'Don't die.'

Then she was off, barking commands to the other Legionnaires around her, while her pegasus came down from wherever the hell it was flying as Reyna vaulted onto the animal, flying off into the distance.

I grinned slightly at the personal victory, sending a small prayer to Bellona to keep Reyna safe before I rushed in the general direction of Polybotes.

The battle wasn't going badly, but it also wasn't going well.

The amazons had been bogged down by a massive contingent of laistrygonian giants and hellhounds to the east of the Roman battle lines, which left us to weather the assault from the rest of Porphyrion's monster host.

I jogged across the back lines of the legion, their backs to the polished white walls of New Rome on the field of Mars, protecting their homeland.

I spotted the Gigantes fairly easily, seeing him rampage across enemy lines, even stepping on his own soldiers to get to some unknown objective.

Then the explosion went off.

XIXI

Percy

Chaos would have been the first word to come to mind if I was asked to describe the scene at New Rome when I resolidified into my regular form.

I had mist travelled right into enemy lines, and only a pressurised explosion of mist outwards from myself kept my head on my shoulders as monsters around me dissolved due to broken necks and blunt force trauma as they were forcefully removed from my immediate vicinity.

I spun my trident experimentally, before slamming the butt into the ground, causing walls of earth to form around me, instantly killing any monsters who might have dared to get close to me.

I looked around frantically, before finally locking onto the Roman lines further away in the field of Mars, protecting the city from the monstrous assault.

I grimaced as I called on yet more of my power from myself and my trident as I once again mist-travelled over there.

The power nap I'm going to have once this is over is going to be legendary. I thought to myself dryly as I doubled over in fatigue as I suddenly materialised beside Michael and Hank, the two jumping a mile up when I appeared beside them.

'Centurion, report.' I said to no one in particular.

Michael was the first to recover, slipping into old habits as he saluted me.

'Praetor Jackson, it's good to see you-'

I quickly waved him off. 'Not now. We can discuss after the battle is won. I didn't defeat Porphyrion just to lose New Rome.'

The off-hand comment had the intended effect, as the they noticeably straightened, some of the stress seemingly lifted from their worn faces.

'The amazons have drawn a good amount of the reinforcements and reserves from Polybotes's army away, but the main contingent is easily triple the size of the entire Legion, minus the auxiliaries who are manning the walls and checkpoints.' Michael recited.

Uneasy glances were shared between the centurions.

'There is… One more thing that has happened since you've been away.' Hank began awkwardly.

I motioned with my hand impatiently.

'Come on people, there is a war taking place just outside this tent.' I said, ignoring official decorum in my sleep-deprived state.

Michael took in a deep breath.

'You have a brother.'

I blinked. 'Look, I'm just a bit too tired to appreciate that type of humour right now, so could we please get on with this?'

Michael shook his head. 'I'm being serious Percy, Theseus Jackson, another son of Neptune.' She explained frantically.

I searched his eyes for signs of mistrust.

This is Michael, one of your best friends. I reminded myself.

I nodded curtly, leaning heavily on my trident, even though in reality my heart was pounding.

'Now, could anybody here get me some unicorn drought?'

XIXI

Daniel

I ducked under a blow as I brought up my scutum to block another strike from the dracanae that was harassing me.

The monsters has forced a small breach through the walls on the opposite side of the city. Luckily, us auxiliaries were there to stop them.

Hopefully.

I cursed myself for underestimating my enemy as I tried desperately to eliminate the enemy I was up against.

I charged forwards towards the thing with my scutum, temporarily dazing it long enough for me to bring my sword down, eliminating the pest and sending it straight back to Tartarus.

I took a moment to gulp down a couple of lungfuls of fresh air, oxygenating my bloodstream and allowing for more adrenaline to be pumped into my body before surveying the scene around me.

I recognised my squad around me, stuck in similar positions.

I could swear these things were easier to kill in the last war. I thought to myself as I went to help one of my squadmates, Elia, a daughter of Ceres, in defeating a hellhound.

As I was on my way over, I was hit in the side by a black blur, winding me and leaving me seeing stars as I hit the ground hard, banging my head against the hard stones of the road below me.

I turned my head to see a hellhound coming at me, seemingly having materialised out of nowhere.

Shadow travel. I cursed myself for a fool as I brought up my sword weakly, my scutum having been lost in the original assault of the terrible beast.

As the hellhound pounced at me, a silver blur passed straight through it, instantly turning it into dust, the only evidence of it's existence being a strangled yelp it let out before dissolving.

I stayed still for a few moments, barely noticing the silver blur boomeranging around and returning from the direction it came. I turned my head to see my saviour, and my breath got caught in my throat instinctively.

Like Neptune himself, a man stood looking down at me, holding a trident in his right hand, black hair windswept as he regarded me with glowing sea green eyes, which seemed to be lit up in tandem with the prongs of his trident, lit up with the same hue.

Praetor motherfucking Jackson.

How was he here? Didn't he disappear on a quest like a month ago?

I shook my head clear of the many questions bouncing around my disoriented head as I realised the praetor was addressing me with an outstretched hand.

Instinct and muscle memory kicked in as I grasped his forearm as he did the same, heaving me up with a slight groan.

'You okay Officer?' The man himself asked, still supporting me as I struggled slightly to stay upright.

I pulled a small square of ambrosia from my pack on my belt, popping it into my mouth, savouring the flavour of my dad's Chicago style deep dish pizza as I felt my world stabilise.

'Yeah, doing better.' I replied breathlessly.

The Praetor clapped me on the shoulder amicably and gave me a tired smile. 'You do that, I better not have to tell Stan that someone in his cohort is skimping on their duties.' I gaped. I hadn't expected this level of interaction with someone as high up as the Praetor himself, but for him to also recognise I was from the auxiliaries?

'Now I have to go kill a giant. Mondays.' He sighed dramatically. I laughed despite myself as the Praetor Jogged away towards the roars of anger some way away in the city.

I turned back to my squad, taking stock of them and directing them and myself back into some semblance of cohesion as I spotted another squadron coming to reinforce the breach.

XIXI

Percy

Massive explosions of kinetic force raged in the background as Roman ballistae and catapults, magically enhanced for greater damage and force, came into effect.

A lot more unfamiliar faces in the auxiliary cohort. I mused as I scanned the lines of faces manning the walls of the town, their faces set in a determined expression.

Polybotes wasn't really that difficult to spot.

I caught sight of him just as he launched a gelato stand at a statue of Terminus, and another tanned raven-haired boy in roman armour and with a strange bronze sword dodging the strike.

I liked that stand. I thought darkly. I wonder what happened to the owner.

This string of dark thoughts persuaded me to pick up my pace as I approached the two.

Polybotes was pretty big. He had scaly radioactive green legs, with a barrel-chested torso and slimy dark green hair, wielding a massive black trident.

Although in all honesty, after having faced Porphyrion, I wasn't really that fazed.

Porphyrion led me to think of Artemis, probably still recovering somewhere.

My countenance darkened as I sprinted up beside the mystery swordsman, hurling my trident straight at Polybotes.

The dude's eyes flashed to me for a second, a question already forming on his lips before we were both forced to jump away from a powerful jab from Polybotes.

I summoned my trident back to me, spinning it in an impromptu parry, diverting Polybotes' trident towards the sword guy, who jumped aside, also knocking Polybotes's trident away.

'Woah!' He shouted. 'Hey, Mr trident guy, do me a favour and try not to get me killed.'

I ignored the comment, getting right down to business. I spotted Terminus a way away, coalescing five statues to try and take on Polybotes.

'Sword guy!' I shouted. He looked over. 'We need to land a killing blow so Terminus can finish him off!' I shouted.

'I know!' He shouted back.

Reyna told my supposed brother but not me? Oh, she'd better have a good explanation for this after this is over. I thought angrily.

Out loud though the only sign I gave that I had acknowledged what he said was a curt nod, before waving him towards giant's side that was furthest away from me.

'You take him on one side, I'll take him from the other, relieve pressure from Terminus!' I quickly ordered, not waiting for an order as I sprinted forward, engaging the giant once more.

I rolled under a wild slash from Polybotes, bringing my trident to bear from underneath, sinking the three prongs deep into his forearm, causing him to let out a roar of pain.

'Pesky demi-GAH!' He shouted as the sword guy stabbed him in the calf on his other side, causing his attention to turn back to him, taking momentous steps forward with outstretched arms, destroying many buildings around him as he swung his trident back and forth, desperately trying to eliminate at least one of the nuisances.

A loud bang left Polybotes stumbling backwards as a furious Terminus came to bear, his expressions clearly furious even superimposed on a statue.

'You have brought weapons inside the Pomerian line, I will repeat this one more time, leave the city immediately!' Terminus shouted, punctuated periodically with explosions as Terminus concentrated his power on the giant.

On his part, Polybotes weathered the assault rather deftly, jabbing at Terminus with his trident when possible.

'Geez man, and you're meant to face my dad?' Sword boy taunted as he got a few slashes into the giants leg.

Polybotes grit his teeth as he weathered the assault. 'I will show you power meant to challenge a god.' He said.

Polybotes threw his trident, launching it into a nearby aqueduct.

Sickly dark green water flowed from the broken aqueduct, hissing when it made contact with the tiles of the houses below. Polybotes summoned his trident back to him, twirling it effortlessly.

Turning water to acid. I thought. Simple, but effective.

The cursed water flowed at the command, coalescing in a ring around Polybotes.

The water exploded outwards from him, threatening to dissolve both me and the sword guy who was taking tentative steps back, trying to put distance between himself and the giant without alerting him.

'Damaging public property! Well. I. never.' Terminus blustered as he descended upon Polybotes once more, punctuating each of his last words with small blasts, which Polybotes once again weathered handily.

I took this as an opportunity to sneak in a strike, directing a small blast of pressurised water at Polybotes' trident, trying to knock it out of his hand.

Polybotes responded with a lethargic shift in his stance, just enough so that the staff of his trident deflected the water. The water instantly turned into that sickly acidic substance the second it touched Polybotes' trident, as it was deflected straight into Terminus.

Terminus cried out in pain as he was covered in the acid, the reaction between the stone of the statue he was inhabiting and the corrosive substance leaving vapour trails as the god lost control of his vessel, plummeting to the ground with a sickening thump.

I stared at the crater in disbelief as Polybotes laughed in triumph, spinning his trident with renewed fervour as he ascertained myself and the sword guy.

Sword guy had by this point put considerable distance between himself and Polybotes, where he brandished his sword, probably preparing to do something stupidly heroic.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. No god and only a dude with a sword to back me up.

First order of business was to get Polybotes's attention, and hopefully draw him away from the city. Polybotes was dangerously close to outflanking the legion and too close to leadership for my liking.

Of course, that meant that I had to coordinate with sword dude, which meant I needed a distraction to keep Polybotes busy.

I slammed my trident into the ground, making the ground start to shake, unbalancing Polybotes, and leaving him virtually immobile as the earth became his enemy for what must have been the first time since he had been revived by Gaia.

I sprinted over to sword guy, keeping a deathly tight grip on my trident as I syphoned off some of its power to maintain my potent earthquake, sliding down beside where sword guy waiting expectantly.

'Alright, listen up, Polybotes is in an unfavourable position for the legion, he's too close to leadership's tent for comfort.' I gestured to the walls and streets around us. 'The Auxiliary cohort has sectioned off the area, but we need to lead Polybotes away from the area ASAP.'

I instructed.

I got a better look at sword guy, and I noticed his tan complexion, with pitch black hair and sea-green eyes.

'... Do I know you?' I asked sheepishly at the end. 'You seem familiar.'

Sword guy nodded awkwardly. 'Yeah I-uh, I think I know who you are.'

'Theseus, right?'

'And you're Perseus?'

'I prefer Percy.'

'I prefer Theo.'

I grinned. 'You know, I'm starting to see how we may be related.'

Theseus mirrored my smile, assenting with a nod. 'Should be an interesting chat, but Riptide here has Polybotes' name on it.' Theseus said, swinging his sword - Riptide - in a playful arc.

I got back up, still grinning. 'Sounds like a plan.'

At this point I released my hold upon the ground, allowing Polybotes to regain his balance.

'You!' He shouted, pointing his trident at me. 'You challenge the earth mother?'

'My dad isn't called the earthshaker for nothing.' I returned, centering myself in the middle of the street opposite to Polybotes, preparing myself for the coming fight.

I considered calling in a storm to increment my abilities, but Polybotes' abilities put a spanner in the works the moment the thought crossed my mind.

I resolved to draw Polybotes' attention away from Theseus - My brother - gods that felt strange to say, as he went in to deal some proper damage to the giant.

I barely caught a glimpse of Theseus sneaking through an adjacent alley before Polybotes was upon me, swinging his trident with brutal efficiency as I syphoned as much energy as I could handle to channel into my powers, creating a small gust of wind that I could roughly more or less command to push against Polybotes, lessening his blows upon me, and giving me more time to manoeuvre around his wild strikes.

I spun my trident in a deadly arc, dodging the giant's massive blows where I could, only blocking where I had to, sneaking in small strikes at key areas of the giant's body when the opportunity presented itself.

Suddenly, Polybotes jerked up, taking a couple of steps backwards before whirling around quicker than I thought possible, backhanding Theseus, who had been in the process of stabbing his ankle, into the wall of one of the stores behind him.

I prayed to every god in the known universe that I hadn't just lost what might well be my only remaining family, before charging Polybotes to try and take advantage of him turning his back to me.

As I got closer I noticed the slight shuffle in Polybotes' stance as I got closer.

Wait.

I was able to raise my trident in front of me just as Polybotes whipped around once again, lashing out with deadly precision, the clang between our two tridents crashing together being heard from miles around.

I felt the wind whip in my ears as I went flying from the confrontation, crashing in the ground a way up the street.

I wearily raised a hand in defence as I saw Polybotes charging me, trident raised, ready to impale me.

A bright flash of light appeared out of nowhere, leaving me blind, a strange sort of ethereal feeling creeping into my bones, filling me with energy, adrenaline, making me want to stand up and fight.

Is this what heaven feels like?

I blearily got up, locating my trident wedged into the ground a little to my right. I slowly walked over, pulling it out with little preamble.

I looked back to where the light had come from once it had dissipated, only to groan out loud.

Mars Ultor let out a betling laugh. 'You miss me Perditor?'

Seriously? 'How do you even know that name?'

He gestured to himself with a free hand while holding against Polybotes with a massive gladius. 'God of war. Think I wouldn't know about a demigod defeating a titan single handedly?' He laughed maniacally as he parried Polybotes, before getting backhanded, stumbling back blindly.

Porphyrion stood up, squaring his shoulders. 'You may think yourself capable, war god, but never forget, I was bred to defeat the sea itself!' He proclaimed pompously, launching his trident straight at Mars.

Muscle memory took over as I launched my trident forwards, the silver blur intercepting Polybotes' black blur that was his silver trident, slamming both legendary polearms into the wall beside with a loud crash and an explosion of dust as the brick of the building was vaporised upon contact.

Mars nodded to me in appreciation as he swung his broadsword again, Polybotes barely being able to summon his trident to block the lethal blow.

Both immortal deities grunted in exertion as they tested their mettle against each other, stepping back as they exchanged cursory blows, Polybotes slowly but surely being pushed back in the face of Mars' merciless onslaught.

I broke out of my stupor, realising that I had been standing still for well over ten minutes, summoning my trident to me. I felt the somewhat familiar feeling of a stomachless pit as I pushed myself to my limits, drawing off of whatever energy I still retained.

I jogged forward, wincing as my injuries started to catch up to me. The healing I had done during my fight with Porphyrion clearly had not been enough to recuperate some of the more severe injuries I had suffered, and the unicorn drought I had taken before the fight clearly had some limitations.

I felt my energy levels replenish as I came into contact with my trident as it flew into my grasp courtesy of water molecules in the air, the now-familiar feeling of untapped power from since my duel with Nereus calming me and giving me a sense of security as I jogged to catch up to where Mars had pushed back Polybotes.

'Finally decided to get off your ass and do something then did you?' Mars called out gruffly as he resolutely continued his flurry of powerful strikes on Polybotes, who all things considered was holding his own.

'It's been a long day.' I responded dryly.

I dived headfirst into the fray, sliding on my knees as I leaned backwards just far enough to avoid the wayward butt of Polybotes' trident, my standard-issue officer armour taking the brunt of the paved cobblestone road as I brought my own trident around to bear, bringing it down in a brutal overhead swing on Polybotes' left knee, the same which Theseus had stabbed earlier.

Polybotes stumbled back from the blow, barely blocking a powerful strike from Mars that would have cleaved him from his collarbone to his hip.

'Your brother already lies dead surrounded by corpses of his army, surrender, and I might consider ending your pitiful existence quickly.' I taunted, allowing the giant no reprieve.

Polybotes' head jerked towards me inadvertently at this, allowing him to be hit with the flat of Mars' blade, sending him flying back through the street.

Mars laughed cruelly. 'Thanks for the assist son, that really set him off.' He laughed again, swinging his sword absentmindedly. 'If he gets up for round two, I'll organise a toast for you tonight on Olympus.' He said raucously.

I made a face instinctively.

At that moment, Olympus only made me think of Artemis.

You're an idiot. I told myself as I dismissed those thoughts.

Polybotes did, indeed, get back up, to the amusement of Mars, who in that moment was mulling over getting a world's best soldier mug out loud as Polybotes shakily got to his feet.

'Dead, you say?' He enquired, laughing shakily.

He doubled over as he laughed hysterically. 'My brother, defeated by a mere demigod.'

He stretched out his hand, summoning to him his trident from where it lay discarded a few feet away from him.

'I will not forget, puny demigod, and had you an ounce of common sense you would know that I will never forgive.' He said menacingly, pointing his trident straight at me.

I had a horrible feeling something bad was about to happen, but in my inebriated state it took Mars' booming words to come to the realisation.

'Shit! The weakling's trying to get away!' He shouted furiously as he hurled his gladius at the offending giant, who merely laughed, before a massive boom accompanied with a column of smoke appeared directly on the spot he had inhabited moments earlier.

Mars' gladius clanged uselessly against the ground as the dust dispersed, revealing a now empty and deserted road, terribly marred by the damage the previous fight had caused.

Mars swore as his sword dissolved into nothingness, signalling the end of the fight.

The deity turned to me. 'I'm not sure just how that fucker disappeared, but it'll only be a matter of time before he's back.'

I nodded, trying to appear attentive, although in reality I was just about ready to collapse on the spot.

Mars chuckled to himself. 'Right. Mortals. I forgot. I'm not sure how in Tartarus you managed to face two titans and live to tell the tale, but you're probably not going to stay standing much longer, adrenaline is an incredible thing Prometheus added to you humans, but it doesn't last forever.' He explained absentmindedly as he looked off into the distance, lost in his own thoughts.

As he said that, I felt my eyes droop as I felt my knees wobbling.

'Speak of the devil.'

AN:

Chapter 12 is donezo.

I decided to add an extra chapter instead of chapter 7, so all chapters from 7 onwards are bumped up one number, so bear that in mind.

Sorry for inconvenience, but it is what it is.

Reviews:

SandiaVida: Thanks, hope this is up to scratch.

Sankarea396: I really had to ponder for a while how Apollo would react, but in my mind he's mature enough to not kill Percy. (And let's be honest that would piss Artemis the feck off).

HellRaiderS: Cheers.

That's it for now, new chapter out whenever I can manage it tbh.

Slán, Murph.