Perseus's legs sink into the river up to his knees. The old woman on top of him weighs him down unnaturally. However, Perseus is designed to carry heavy things across the water. He's not sure how he knows that. He has no memories going further back than a week or two. Still, as he walks across the river, he sinks no further than his knees. The water reinvigorates him.
"We're going to rip your stupid head off! This is for killing our sister Medusa!" Screams one of the winged, snake haired lady. Perseus does not know who Medusa is. Behind him, one of the gorgons follows him to the river and flies above it. The other swoops down and grabs one of the guards who had let Perseus through the guard tunnel, Frank.
Perseus turns, unamused.
With his right arm he holds the unnatural woman on his back. His left arm ends at a stub at his forearm. He raises it up and the river water forms into a large claw that grabs hold of the Gorgon above the river and pulls her down into the waters. Nearby there is a small wooden ferry only a few feet larger than a rowboat. It unties itself from the dock and travels over to the monsters, slamming into one at full speed. The monster evaporates into gold dust.
The second Gorgon screams and claws at Frank. Perseus's water claw reaches forward and grabs her. Perseus slams her into the side of the boat as he pulls Frank through the water claw into the river. The second monster scatters into gold dust, part of the dust falling into the boat. With a wave of his hand the rest of the gold dust is pulled downriver. Perseus launches Frank through the water to the other side of the river.
Perseus then walks across himself. The woman on his back reveals herself to be the Goddess Juno, Queen of the gods, protector of woman, embodiment of marriage, etc. A unit of Roman soldiers march toward them and bow before the goddess. Juno tells the unit of soldiers that she has given Perseus her blessing, says that death must be released before the feast of fortune, then disappears in a shower of sparks.
Okay.
Looking out over the valley below them, Perseus sees a military camp on the flood fields of a river. The military camp has a dock with several wooden ships of various designs. Further along the riverside, situated upon a few hills, is a small city with a colosseum, cobblestone roads, brick and marble buildings and an aqueduct. Beyond that is the ocean.
Praetor Rayna has Perseus march toward camp. He may have the blessing of a goddess, but she still wants to interrogate him. Frank and Hazel, the two guards who had given him entry through the hidden tunnel, walk beside him. Their post has been taken up by two other soldiers.
"Well, at least we know who your godly parent is," Frank says as he marches.
Perseus looks at him, "Do we?"
"Yeah. You control boats and look just like your dad. Your mom named you after him too: Perseus Fillius Neptunus. We should probably call you Perseus Junior to differentiate you from your dad," Frank says, "There's a statue of him in the main square in front of the senate house if you want to see. You might not want to let the senate see your face though, they could take it as an insult."
"The senate would… take my face as an insult," Perseus Jr. says, unamused.
"Well, not your face," Hazel corrects, "But your father is married to the mother goddess of New Rome. Most years he gives her a pearl on her death day, but last year he didn't. Then you walk into camp, a demigod. Well… the senate might not appreciate the implications."
Perseus Jr. frowns. Did his father cheat on his wife?
Something about the thought enrages Perseus. Something about it feels fundamentally WRONG. Did Perseus Senior have no loyalty? Perseus wants to have a word with his father.
.
Praetor Reyna interviews him. Perseus tells her he woke up in a den of wolves and a large talking wolf goddess had taught him about gods and monsters. Then the she-wolf had sent him south where he had met the unnatural old lady and was attacked by monsters. Beyond that he has no memories other than the name "Julia".
Praetor Reyna is doubtful and only believes him when her automaton dogs confirm Perseus is speaking truth. Hazel also speaks up for him. Yet the Praetorian Prefect continues to eye him with suspicion. Perseus approves; a legionnaire should not blindly trust all strangers who walk into camp. Before allowing him into the legion as a probatio, she sends him to the Augur to consult the gods.
Perseus Junior walks up Temple Hill to meet Augur Octavian. There are many temples there. The largest temple was dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The second largest was the Temple of Mars Ultor, and the third largest was the temple of Neptune.
If Junior really is the son of Perseus Fillius Neptunus then this temple was in honor of his grandfather. He enters the temple to say a prayer to his grandfather. Along one wall of the temple are mosaics of horses, another wall has a mosaic of Neptune's extended family. The far wall is a large mosaic of Neptune holding his trident. On the alter is a bowl of salt water, small oil lanters and some coins left behind.
Perseus stops in front of the Mosaic depicting Neptune in a chariot, in the waves around him are his wife and children. Among the children was a young man with a conch shell, a young woman with disheveled hair and a disk, a young man with a mermaid tail and feathery wings, and a boy with a hermit crab and a model ship. The model was a 100-person combined row and sail ship with a full keel, a spade rudder and three Perseus sails. A ship designed for carrying military across a sea. A good design. That must be Junior's father then. The face looks similar to Perseus Junior as well.
Perseus says a prayer to his grandfather and lights a candle before leaving the temple. When he says a prayer, the bowl of water ripples and spills over the edges.
He meets the Augur Octavian in the Temple of Jupiter. The Augur, head of the New Roman religion and man in charge of vetting new recruits and communicating with the gods in 18. A man, technically, but insultingly young none the less. Perseus had seen adults on his climb to Temple Hill. There must be someone more qualified.
The man's attitude grates on Perseus Junior's nerves but the Augur cuts a stuffed toy open and a large amount of water pours out. The water covers the floor of the temple. Neptune, at least, supports Perseus Junior. The Augur interprets this as a favorable sign so Perseus is allowed into the legion as a Probatio. The letters SPQR burn into Percy's right arm. A magic brand designating him a member of the legion. When Perseus leaves, the water follows him down Temple hill.
.
Perseus eats in the fifth cohort's mess hall and keeps an eye on the other soldiers around him. Frank and Hazel sit next to him. Drifting toward him is a translucent Roman soldier with a serious expression on his face. A Lares. A spirit of a dead Roman who stayed behind to look after New Rome.
The Lares stands before Perseus and looks him up and down carefully. "They say you have no memories but are the son of Perseus Filius Neptunus," the Lares says, "But I have some doubts. Show me your upper left arm."
Perseus waves his stump at the dead man, "yup, it's cut off."
"This is a legion of Rome. Having a missing limb doesn't make you fucking special. Show me your upper left arm, not the forearm," the Lares says, annoyed.
"Introduce yourself first, spirit."
"Tiberius Julius Alexander, Praetorian Captain of Vespasianus Flavius Ceasar Titus Augustus and current Lares of the Twelfth Legion's fifth cohort. Now show me your damn arm."
Perseus pulls up his tunic to show the Lares the three gold dots on his upper left arm.
"Hm," the Tiberius Alexander says. Then he turns and drifts away, toward the Senior Centurion of the fifth cohort, Dakota son of Bacchus. The Lares whispers in the teenager's ear. The centurion looks up directly at Perseus with wide eyes.
"What was that about?" Perseus asks.
"Oh, don't mind Tiberius Alexander. He's a grouchy old Lares but he's been looking after demigods for centuries," Hazel says, "and you'd rather have him on your side. He's kind of unofficially in charge of cohort five."
"He's a pretty good weapon's teacher. He taught me how to use the bow and arrow," Frank adds.
.
At night in the barracks, Perseus couldn't sleep. In the bunk below him Frank was snoring lightly and in the other bunks the other members of cohort 5 slept soundly. Tomorrow, there would be a capture the flag game between cohorts, but tonight the ships called to him. Silently, Perseus jumps down from the bunk bed and walks out of the room.
Guards were positioned at the door to the barracks, but no one was posted at the windows. Getting out was fairly simple. Perseus walks past the weapons hut. In front of it is a statue of a man with a shield and a wooden leg. Well, a marble leg because the statue was marble, but it depicted a wooden leg. The statue was named Perseus Plinius the Younger. Perseus was apparently a common name around here.
Unfortunately, there were guards posted at the gates out of Camp Jupiter.
"Halt," one of the guards said, leveling his spear at Perseus, "Why are you out of bed Probatio?"
"Non prohibere me," Perseus says. You cannot stop me. He doesn't like to be restrained.
"He's with me," came a voice behind him. Turning, Perseus could see it was the Lares Tiberius Alexander.
"With all due respect Lares Alexander…"
"It's Tiberius Alexander," Perseus and Tiberius Alexander say at the same time.
"With all due respect Lares Tiberius Alexander," The guard corrected, "You don't have the authority to take a Probatio out at night without the centurion's permission."
"Stand to attention, boy," the Lares says. The guard does, automatically. "If you truly believe for one second that a teenager is in charge of my legion when I have been looking after you lot for centuries, than you are dumber than you look Marcus. Perseus has my permission to leave. If you have a problem with it, go wake Centurion Dakota, but don't hinder me with your stupidity."
With that, Perseus and Tiberius Alexander walk out the gates of Camp Jupiter. One of the guards does go off to presumably wake Dakota. The two of them make their way over to the docks.
"Have you met me before?" Perseus asks, "I'm afraid I have no memories of anyone."
"A long time ago, yes," The Lares answers, "You still had your arm back then."
Perseus looks at his stump. He had assumed he'd been born with it. It felt natural to him that his left arm ended just beyond his elbow. "And you assumed I'd be breaking out of camp tonight?"
"You always had a habit of breaking in and out of the Praetorian camp without permission. I doubted you'd stop now."
"You seemed doubtful that Perseus Filius Neptunus is my father. Do you know who my real father is, then?"
"I'm not getting involved with whatever Olympian memory loss mess you have going on."
Perseus pauses, "We're not related, are we?"
"I doubt it. You Jewish?"
"I don't know, memory loss. Why is a Jewish Lares working as the commander of Roman Pagan Demigods?"
"Most of the Pagan ones have too much respect for the Olympians to tell their bastard progeny to stop bitching and do more pushups. I, on the other hand, quite enjoy it."
"You became a Lares because you like telling people to stop bitching?"
"Eh. I looked after demigods and tried to prevent them from doing too much damage to the world for a good portion of my life. I figured I might as well do the same after death. The alternative was Gan Eden, and there's a good chance that my critical, self-righteous philosopher uncle is there and that my mother would constantly try to get me to marry a nice Jewish woman even after death. I decided to just avoid the headache for a while."
"Fair enough," Perseus says.
They reach the docks and Perseus walks forward to touch his ships. They warm upon his touch and Perseus feels the world through them. The slowly moving water, the anchor embedded in the riverbed, the silent oars, the furled-up sails ready to open at Perseus' command.
There's a shipwreck further down the river and Perseus jumps in the water to check out the wreck. The spine and skeleton of the wreck are still intact, even if there were holes in the sides and the sails have rotted away.
A little hermit crab swims onto his shoulder and waves his little pincers. A few more crabs try to scuttle up to Perseus, but the hermit crab chases them away and returns to Perseus' side. He pats the crab. When he climbs back onto the docks the Lares accompanies him back to the barracks. When Perseus sleeps, he dreams of ships and hears the whispers of sailors.
.
"Halt! No one enters New Rome with weapons!" A voice says.
Perseus turns and sees a statue pop out of thin air in front of the gate. "Oh, it's you again Nobody!" The statue says, "Well hand over your quill. Hurry up!" None of the others had been stopped by an annoying statue.
"Nobody?" Perseus asks, "My name is Perseus Junior."
"Ha! As if I would believe such a blatant lie! I never forget a face! Now hand over the bronze quill!"
Perseus ponders the request a moment, then hands over his magic pen. The one that always teleports back to him. That pen.
"Wonderful! Carry on Nobody. Perseus Junior! Ha! As if!"
Perseus shakes his head and enters New Rome.
Earlier today there had been some war games. Perseus had flooded the field of Mars and Cohort 5 had won. People should really think twice about sending their troops onto floodplains to attack the grandson of the ocean. Someone had been stabbed, but they didn't die because apparently the god of death had been kidnapped. This meant that monsters respawned and apparently New Rome had to fix it.
Mars showed up and ordered his son, Frank Zhang, to go to Alaska and free Thanatos. Perseus liked Frank and wasn't about to let him go into danger alone, so had immediately volunteered. Hazel was their third companion. Then Octavian had thrown a fuss and demanded the quest be sanctified by the senate.
So Perseus, Frank, Hazel, Octavian and Praetor Rayna are going to the senate to state their case. The group enters New Rome and Perseus looks around at the various four-story apartment complexes, domus', stores and statues along the cobblestone streets. It's a small city of maybe 30 thousand people, but it has public baths, a colosseum and a marble clad senate hall. There are modern fire hydrants labeled with the symbol of a hermit crab. In front of the senate is a water fountain fed by the aqueduct with a statue of Perseus' father, Perseus Filius Neptunus.
After being granted entrance to the senate, Perseus instinctively goes to sit among the senators, but Praetor Rayna pulls him back onto the center of the room was a disapproving frown. The Praetorian captain states their case. Octavian then steps forward and explains how he had been receiving omens that danger was coming to New Rome. He doesn't want to lose any soldiers on doomed quests to Alaska when they are desperately needed here.
The senate is made up of 150 New Roman citizens and they debate the pros and cons of the quest. A few of the senators, Perseus notices, are Lares. At the front of the room a statue of a beautiful goddess holds aloft a laurel wreath and a scroll. The statue wears a long pearl necklace and a marble headpiece with pearls soldered onto it.
One senator in the front row frowns deeply at Perseus. "So it's true then?" he whispers to his friend next to him, "The god of ships has betrayed his marital vows after all these years. Should we really allow the evidence of such transgressions to walk among the Senate? The Lady of New Rome would not look kindly upon him."
Perseus clutched his fist. The idea that Perseus Filius Neptunus betrayed his wife angers and shames him greatly. Yet here senators were, casually discussion such a crime as if it were mere gossip! It starts to rain outside.
"It's not our business Maximus," his friend responds, "Best keep your thoughts to yourself."
Ultimately, it is decided that since Mars himself had come down and ordered the quest, it must proceed and be supported. Perseus especially is encouraged to leave on the quest quickly.
The senate grant them a small boat. A rowboat not meant to traverse the open ocean. Perseus steps forward and asks if he might also be given any items he finds at the bottom of the river for the quest. The senate agrees and they are dismissed. As they walk out of the hall, the senate starts discussing making a committee for defensive tactics to prevent the monster attacks Octavian foresaw.
.
That night, Perseus sneaks out of the barracks again and enters New Rome. He places the pen sword on Terminus' statue as he enters. Tomorrow Perseus, Frank and Hazel will go on a quest to Alaska to release death. Tonight, however, was the anniversary of Julia Flavia's death and the day Perseus' father normally gives his wive a pearl.
Perseus Junior makes his way over to the statue of Perseus Filius Neptunus he had seen earlier today. The statue is in the middle of a large fountain at the plaza in front of the Senate house. There is an alter in front of it that doubles as a fire hose locker. On the alter are several crab shells and an oil lantern that has run out of oil. Perseus sits on the steps of the senate building and faces the statue, waiting.
His father (maybe?) looks a lot like Perseus Junior. The main difference seems to be that Perseus the elder looks younger than Perseus Junior, no older than 14 or 15. Which brings up more uncomfortable questions. Was Perseus Junior's mother attracted to 14-year-olds? How old was she when she got pregnant?
"Come out and explain my existence, coward," Perseus says to the statue. The words echo strangely in his own head, but there's no response.
"Coward?" a woman's voice asks, "Those are strong words." Turning, Perseus sees a beautiful young woman in a purple SPQR shirt, an off-white cardigan, jeans, and a pearl necklace. She is walking out of the senate hall.
"Uh. Hello. I'm Perseus," Perseus says, his stomach squirming strangely.
"Hmm, yes. And I'm Julia. A pleasure to meet you. I saw you earlier today when you came into the senate. Memory loss, huh? Sounds like some godly interference. Queen Juno, if I had to guess. Motivation to rescue Thanatos, perhaps? Or some other plan of hers?"
"She said I'd get my memory back if I came to New Rome, but they haven't returned yet," Perseus says. He tries to remember if he saw this young woman in the senate but doesn't remember seeing her. He'd certainly have remembered a woman so striking.
"I'm sure they'll return eventually. There is likely a reason she sent you to join Camp Jupiter without your memories. I just need to figure out why. There must be something going on in Olympus because it's been suspiciously quiet recently. But never mind quests, look at you! You're so old! You have little whiskers for a mustache!"
Perseus stares at Julia, "I'm only 16." He then feels his upper lip. Yup, he's starting to grow the first few hairs of a mustache. He should shave that.
"16. How exciting."
"Are you here to bring me back to Camp Jupiter? Did Praetor Reyna send you?" He looks her up and down carefully. She has a short sword hidden in her cardigan, but isn't wearing standard Legion gear. Apparently, Terminus isn't quite as good at his job as he pretends to be.
"No. I live in New Rome. I never joined the legion. Lupa and I came to a different agreement. My job is to look after New Rome. I look after the senate and make sure no one is starting any rebellions. That kind of thing. I don't find myself leaving New Rome's borders very often," Julia says as she sits down beside him. Her eyes run up and down Perseus' body flirtatiously.
"I could take you outside," Perseus finds himself offering, "If you wanted to go somewhere. If you feel restrained and stuck in this city, I'd be happy to set you free. After the quest to Alaska, of course."
"Ooh, an exciting offer. You seem very confident that you'll come back from the quest to Alaska. Last time soldiers of Rome went up there none of them came back. Gods can't enter Alaska you see, so it's harder for them to protect fragile demigods like you."
"I may not have my memories, but I'm fairly sturdy. I can take whatever they throw at me."
"Do you have space on your ship for my husband? I'm not particularly interested going on a trip without him. He's quite wonderful."
Perseus pulls away from where he's been leaning forward. He hadn't realized Julia was married. What was he doing flirting anyway? He barely knew Julia.
"Aren't you a bit young to be married?"
"My father insisted. He brought the matter to Queen Juno herself and then she insisted."
"Did your husband not want to marry you?"
"He wanted to wait until he found a missing piece of his soul and looked a bit older. He said it wasn't right to get married with a piece of himself missing. But the Queen of the gods gave him a him a big speech about it never being the perfect time and if he didn't marry me someone else would."
"Not particularly romantic."
"He made it up to me later. But enough about my life, why are you here yelling at statues in the middle of the night?"
"I heard that my father" Perseus motions to the statue, "gives his wife a pearl on the night of her death, which is tonight. I wanted to talk to him. Confront him about cheating on his wife."
"Excuse me?" Julia asks, a deep rage in her voice. Finally! Someone who was as upset about this as Perseus was! "How and when EXACTLY did Perseus Filius Neptunus cheat on his wife?"
Perseus motions to himself, "Well, I exist. So probably about 18 years ago."
Silence. "Right. Demi-god. Of course."
Julia stands, "It's getting late. I don't think your father will be coming to New Rome tonight. But do stop by again after your quest, won't you Perseus? Let me know you're alright? I'll try to figure out what our watchful Queen is planning."
"I will," Perseus says as he watches her walk back into the senate hall. He stays for a little while longer, hoping his father's statue would do something. When it doesn't, Perseus makes his way back to the barracks. The quest starts tomorrow after all.
That night he dreams of firefighters and water hoses.
.
In the morning Camp Jupiter gives Frank the rowboat for his quest. Perseus then raises the shipwreck from the bottom of the river. Streams of water run out of her belly and rush down her sides. The whole ship is teaming with crabs. Oars emerge from the oar holes and dip into the river. The gangplank slams onto the dock with a solid thunk.
"We're not going on the open ocean in rowboat," Perseus says as he walks up the plank.
"So instead we're taking a ghostship?" Hazel asks.
"Works for me," Frank says, "The son of the god of ships probably knows a lot of ship stuff."
.
Paul Blofis comes home before his wife does. High school ends at 3PM, and Sally is taking evening classes for creative writing and wouldn't be home for another few hours. There is a message on the answering machine. He presses play.
The voice that comes from the machine is one Paul remembers; it is his stepson, Percy. Percy has been missing for two years now after being falsely accused of starting a fire in the music room. The police have been unable to find him. Half a year ago Percy's friend Annabeth and her girlfriend Clarisse had dropped by to say he was still alive but had disappeared again.
Now Percy's voice was on the answering machine.
"Hi Mom! It's Percy.
Turns out I'm alive. One of my aunts kidnapped me and took my memories. I'm getting my human memories back now that I'm in Alaska and I just remembered your phone number. I just wanted to let you know I'm okay, and I'll come visit when I can.
Oh. I'm also part god now. Uh. More than I was. It's hard to explain. It's a Roman-Greek split personality thing but half my personality is a god and my soul goes swishy-swishy. It's less of a two sides of a coin and more of a "two bodies of water that are connected and flow from one area to another."
Also I think I'm married? Her name is Julia and she's dead. I uh… Don't think I have kids? But I'll have to get back to you on that one when all my memories are back.
I got a tattoo! Well, it's more of a brand that I got when I joined this secret military cult in California. Can't really talk about it over the phone. My memories are a bit spotty; did I always have only one arm or is that new?
Anyway, I have to go. Quests and all. Embodiment of death to unleash. You probably won't be able to reach me on this phone, but if you give a message to a crab I will probably get it. I am crabs.
I love you mom. Tell Paul I said hello.
Bye!"
Paul stares at the answering machine silently for several minutes.
.
A wild black Pegasus appears and walks around the fields in front of Camp Jupiter for a while until one of the guards spots a letter tied to the beast's neck. Praetor Reyna marches forward with four guards flanking her. She has experience working with Pegasi. They are intelligent creatures that deserve respect but can be flighty when spooked. If one showed up at the doorstep of camp Jupiter with a letter, there must be a reason.
She motions for her guard to stand back before walking forward. The black Pegasus looks up and trots over. Reyna reaches forward carefully before pulling the letter off of the rope around the creature's neck.
Once the letter is removed, the Pegasus trots away and returns to grazing. Reyna opens the letter.
Greetings Praetor Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano,
I report to inform you that the quest has ended successfully, and to warn you of an approaching threat. Gaea has awakened and has sent a monster army led by the Giant Polybotes to Camp Jupiter.
We made good time to Alaska. However, when we crossed the boundary from Canadian waters to Alaska, Perseus fell unconscious. Half an hour later he re-awakened and his personality had changed slightly. He insisted we call him Percy and became a lot more sarcastic and funnier. His memories seem to be returning.
Hazel was able to provide critical mission information for us. Once I have returned to Camp Jupiter I will discuss in greater detail. Thanks to her, we were able to find the location of the Giant Alcyoneus who was keeping Thanatos locked up. She also revealed that Gaea was awakened and is raising an army.
I was able to free the god of death from his chains. Hazel and I were able to defeat the giant Alcyoneus while Percy kept an army of ghost legionnaire at bay. He has also retrieved the missing standard and the imperial gold weapons from the bottom of the ocean.
We then learned the Giant Polybotes is marching an army down to Camp Jupiter. We are currently on our way back to Camp Jupiter with all of the Imperial gold weapons. Hold the line, we are coming.
Sincerely,
Legionnaire Zhang
Reyna turns to her guard, "Gather the war council!" Reyna (and Jason, wherever he was) was Praetor and in command of Camp Jupiter, but the Lares who looked after the legion were more experienced generals and the commanders of each cohort should be at the council as well. They would have to start building defensive lines and prepare their weapons of war.
If New Rome was to be attacked, Reyna would need to call in the reserve soldiers in the city as well. Most soldiers started their service in the legion between 12 and 15 years old and served for 10 years. This was needed to teach those with godly blood how to defend themselves as soon as monsters started to hunt them down and to instill discipline. However, once soldiers finished their service, they were automatically put in the reserves until age 50. The city contained more trained legionnaires than Camp Jupiter did.
.
They don't have enough imperial gold weapons for all Legionaries of Camp Jupiter. They certainly don't have enough for the reserves. Imperial gold is a limited resource. However, many of the reserve soldiers have forged their own weapons from the leftover parts of monsters they've slain. Swords and spears forged from horns and teeth, and shields covered in snakeskin. The rest of the armor was steel.
It's not what Tiberius Alexander would have preferred but it's better than nothing. When he heard a powerful water-based monster was marching toward New Rome, he had counseled the legion to retreat from Camp Jupiter and build a second set of defensive walls around New Rome. New Rome was on a hill and not on the flood plains of the Little Tiber.
His soldiers could not breath underwater. If they fought on a flood plain, they would drown long before their spears would reach Polybotes.
The other commanders of New Rome had called him a coward. But cohort five was allowed to build a second set of walls around New Rome. They spent all night building. The wall was built on the side of the hill instead of the flood plain and had a rampart that was raised twenty feet above the ground.
The monster army shows up at dawn and most of the legion are stationed on the Fields of Mars. The ships are manned by soldiers to patrol the river border and the Pegasi cavalry is led by Praetor Reyna herself. The ships, the river, and the Pegasi cavalry hold off most of the monsters in the first wave. Any monster that is able to cross the river is quickly killed with spears and arrows.
For a while, the tides of war are in their favor.
Then a second wave of monsters shows up with ships and flying beasts of their own that engage the legion's first defenses. Monsters build a bridge out of dark vines and start to cross the river in droves. The legion meets them head on. Commander Dakota is shot down with an arrow and dies quickly leaving Tiberius Alexander in command of cohort five until a living commander can be found.
Then Polybotes shows up. The monster general is 30 foot tall and has snakes for hair and snakes for feet. He throws a 20-foot net on top of two Pegasi cavalry soldiers who fall to the ground and struggle to free themselves as the Giant breaths poison onto them. Their struggling stops.
As Polybotes walks forward the river water flows with him. The river starts to cover the battlefield. As the legion fights water rises to their ancles, to their knees and to their hips. Water that high is powerful and many soldiers are pulled under the waves. As a Lares, Tiberius Alexander is unmoved by the waters, but he can see the soldiers beneath the waves drowning and he is too ghostly to be able to help them.
The legion's frontline breaks as they retreat from the rising water. Some are able to retreat to the ramparts, hold on to floating debris, or swim to the ships. Not all the soldiers were able to retreat to higher ground in time. Any legionnaire that gets close to Polybotes is quickly struck down with poison or his trident.
"Good call building these ramparts," the commander of the third cohort says to Tiberius Alexander as he marches most of his soldiers up.
"Hm," Tiberius Alexander responds, looking out over the flooding field.
Things are not going well.
A ship shows up. The water flooding the Fields of Mars stop and starts to retreat. The ships full of monsters creak and then sink to the bottom of the river. Polybotes turns to face his new opponent.
Perseus has arrived.
The boy waves.
.
Frank turns into a giant eagle and takes Hazel and the golden standard in his claws before flying to New Rome. Percy sends the ship bearing Imperial gold weapons and armor on a wave to follow them to the legion. Then he dives into the retreating waters.
He re-emerges from the waters in front of Polybotes. A lone figure standing in front of the Giant and his army. The soldiers behind Percy struggle to stand. Many of them are coughing up water and trying to get their footing.
Percy raises riptide to point at the Giant, "Fight me dirtbag!"
Polybotus laughs heartily, "Are you the one trying to pull control of the water away from me? And you want to fight, little demigod? Ha! How about this: a one-on-one battle. No godly interference allowed. Both our armies stand down until one of us dies." He holds up his hand and his army halts.
"No!" Praetor Reyna shouts from the skies, "Junior, stand down! Polybotes is a Giant! He can only be killed by a God and a demigod working together!"
"I accept," Percy says.
Polybotes grinned and his trident comes crashing down. Percy leaps out of the way. Two snakes fall from Polybote's head and race toward Percy. Mr. Pinchy hops forward toward the snakes shaking his claws. One of them swallows him in a single bite.
"You should have listened to your commander boy! Your death is guaranteed!" Polybotes says.
"Swish-swish motherfucker!" Percy says swishing his soul into his Roman form. A toga unfurls from his shoulders and crab shell armor forms around him. The poisonous snake starts to choke on Mr. Pinchy's tough shell.
Polybotes is stronger but Perseus is faster. The Giant sends poison shooting through the air that hits Perseus' crab shell shield with a hiss. Polybotes pulls the river water forward. Perseus sends an unmanned ship toward the giant's torso as the water rises. The poisonous snake coughs up Mr. Pinchy.
Swishing back to a demigod, Percy runs forward over the water and cuts the Giant's snake foot off as he's distracted by the ship. Percy is hit with Polybotes's net which tangles him and sends him underwater. Riptide doesn't cut through the net and the ropes start to burn his skin.
Swish. Perseus launches himself and the net he's entangled in up and onto his ship. A hundred crabs help to untangle him from the acid infused net as Polybotes swims forward and smashes the ship in half.
The battle rages on. Three ships splinter. Perseus can feel their loss like broken bones. Percy gets stabbed in the side by Polybote's trident. Eventually, Perseus has Mr. Pinchy and his crabs entangle the acidic net around the Giant's legs. Polybotes is distracted long enough for Percy to swim forward and stab him in the gut. As he starts to disintegrate into gold dust, Polybotes stabs forward one more time. Perseus blocks the trident on his shield.
When Polybotes dies the rest of his army starts to fall apart. Some of the blood thirstier ones rush forward while others fall back. Without a commander their front-line collapses. This is good because Perseus' energy was frightfully low. He isn't used to being contained in a squishy human body. Legion XII surges around and ahead of him to crash against the retreating line of monsters.
Perseus' crab shell shield disintegrates and riptide turns back into a bronze pen that Perseus tucks behind his ear. Hazel takes up her shield in front of Perseus while Frank flanks him and shoots at a grain monster coming near. Good people; Perseus liked them.
"Cohort five on your feet! Shield formation around our god! Spears up soldiers! Archers in the middle!" Frank shouts, glowing red with his father' battle rage. Cohort five quickly gets their ass into gear with their newly found imperial gold weapons. Frank takes half the cohort to chase after the retreating army. The other half maintains a shield formation around Perseus as he un-floods the battlefield. He leaves a pool of water for himself to sink into as the wound on his side closes up.
Soon enough Polybotes' army has completely retreated from New Roman lands and Frank had been raised on shields as the new Praetor.
Perseus allows himself to walk back toward New Rome. A stream of water follows him and his purple striped cape trails behind him as he walks. People bow as he walks through the city gates. He walks through the streets past the statue of himself and up the steps of the senate house. The senate was near empty due to the recent battle, but the one person he was looking for was still there.
His wife Julia smiles down at him from her statue's podium. She is wearing her full purple dress with pearls and her sea monster tooth sword at her side. She walks forward to meet him in the middle of the senate hall. The hall was slowly starting to fill with water.
"Welcome back my love," Julia says. Her eyes are sparkling.
"Sorry for missing your past two death days dolphin," Perseus says to his wife. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out two pearls he'd collected from Alaskan oysters. She reaches past them to pull Perseus close. They share a kiss.
Tomorrow there will be more quests. Prophesies were afoot. Gaea was awakening. The doors of death would have to be closed to prevent monsters from exiting the underworld too quickly.
Julia and Perseus walk out of the senate hall hand in hand and look out over the plaza below as it is prepared for a festival. Tonight, New Rome would sacrifice to the gods, feast and celebrate their victory. Tonight, they would celebrate the return of one of New Rome's most treasured gods, Perseus Fillius Neptunus. Already people have placed offerings on Perseus' alter.
On his god's shoulder, Mr. Pinchy waves his claws in victory.
.
.
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Officially the end of this story!
I changed a few things around in New Rome relative to how they're written in Son of Neptune, but I figure with Julia looking after the place she wouldn't allow the senate to become 5 people.
Special shout out to Generic Self Insert (Youtube username) who made a video review about this fic. :D Thanks so much! watch?v=DqpHWwi7kXk
Thanks for reading everybody! Hope you enjoyed Percy's year in Ancient Rome and all his shenanigans.