Ch4
Carter once again found himself facing Horus. The Egyptian god held the crook and flail in his hands as he stared down at him. "Have you still not made a decision?" The god asked.
He sighed. "We can't just rush into this. The House of Life has always tried to stay away from the affairs of other pantheons."
"It is because of that thinking that we have always been sidelined," Horus said. "Asgard and Olympus always set their boundaries while we and other pantheons have had to deal with it."
Personally he didn't know much about the history of how different gods interacted but according to his uncle it wasn't something that should be taken lightly. I'm the pharaoh now. I can't just rush into these things.
"A lot of people want peace and are wary of this alliance," he said carefully.
Horus snorted. "The Romans humiliated Egypt in the past; this is our chance to get back at them." The god's eyes flashed gold. "Asgard and Olympus intend to redraw boundaries, we cannot sit idly bye while, if we help we get a place at the negotiating table. If not we will be brushed off like in the past."
He sighed and rubbed his head. "I'll think about it."
Horus' eyes bore into him. "We must act to preserve our interests. If we fight this time, we won't be alone. We must preserve our influence in this world and we cannot allow Asgard or Olympus to have total control."
With that the dream ended and he found himself in bed. "Gods are so complicated," he muttered as he got up and stretched. He was currently in Cairo with his uncle and sister. The past week they had been deliberating with the heads of all the nomes about what to do.
Many were against active combat but many did see the value in helping the Greeks. After all if the Greeks were apparently the better half of the Olympians. Then there are the Norse. Man things are getting complicated again.
He hadn't been pharaoh for long and now was his first great test of his rule. His stomach turned in anxiety as he went to the dinning room where his sister and uncle were eating breakfast. "Let me guess Horus has been keeping you up at night?" Sadie asked.
He nodded. "Yup."
Sadie sighed. "Same with Isis. She insists we act on behalf of the Greeks and Norse."
Rubbing his head he relaxed into his chair. "Uncle Amos what do you think?"
His uncle frowned as he sipped some coffee. "The House of Life has always had to deal without outside competition. Wars and conflict will happen whether we are involved or not." Uncle Amos set his cup down and met his gaze. "Carter you are the Pharaoh, it is your choice if we fight or stay in the background."
Looking at the table he didn't know what to think as the anxiety swelled inside of him. "We have no reason to be involved."
"If we don't the Romans may go for the Greeks and maybe the Norse," Sadie said. "Would we be able to fight off the Romans by ourselves if that happens and they decide we are a threat?"
His sister's words weighed on his mind. "We'll see," he muttered.
My duty is to protect the House of Life. Yet from what he had been told of the Romans they were no friends of the Egyptians. The House of Life needs allies in this world of gods. Allies or at least strong friends.
After breakfast he got ready for the day before heading towards the throne room where the heads of the nomes were chattering. "Alright everyone enough!" he yelled his voice reverberating throughout the room. Everyone turned silent and faced him.
A bead of sweat formed on his brow as he looked at each and every person in the room. His posture went rigid. "I know there has been a lot of chatter about this proposed alliance."
"Are we really to join it?" Someone asked.
"Why should we join in the squabbles of other pantheons?" Someone else added.
Uncle Amos came to his side tapped the ground with his staff. "My nephew is speaking. You are to all remain silent."
Thanks. Taking a deep breath he looked at the crowd. "Whether we like it or not a war will happen in the North America along with a possibility of a Greco-Roman war." The crowd remained silent. "The Norse have made a defense pact with the Greeks while Ra has agreed to a defensive alliance."
"But to join their war will could be costly," someone said. "Who is to say the House of Life won't suffer? The Greeks and Romans have a long history of a bloodied feud."
"I am aware of the messy history of the Greeks and Romans," he said carefully. "If Romans overrun the Greeks and war with the Norse who is to say we won't be next on their bucket list."
The room went quiet as everyone pondered his words. "Whether we like it or not the politics of the western pantheons are changing," He said. "The gods have declared we act now to preserve our interests. If the balance of power gets shifted in the west we must stand for our interests."
The crow murmured as they debated amongst themselves. "So are we to fully mobilize?" One man asked.
He shook his head. "I propose a limited mobilization of the North American Nomes in case of a conflict. In addition, we shall strengthen the nomes for this coming summer."
The crowd muttered amongst themselves but Uncle Amos stepped forward. "The pharaoh has spoken. It is our duty to follow his will for he seeks what is best for the House of Life."
The room became silent as everyone slowly nodded. Thanks uncle. Taking a deep breath he stood up. "We must prepare for any and all conflicts. But rest assured I will give my all to the House of Life and live up to the reputation of pharaoh."
Magnus gripped Gram tightly as he walked carefully through the woods alongside Samirah and Alabaster. The son of Hecate casted a spell that would conceal them while Samirah carefully gripped her axe as they walked through the woods.
"There they are," Sam said pointing to a group of figures in the distance. Squinting his eyes he could see a group of armored einherjar guarding a flag on a pole. It was basically their version of capture the flag. Arminius requested a few einherjar to come and assist them with training. Occasionally it was sword fighting but a lot of it had to do with guerilla warfare.
They had been training for about a month now, he had long gotten used to the rigorous training that Arminius had subjected them to. In the beginning he was constantly tired but after a while he was slowly getting the hang of it all.
His heart raced in his chest as he looked at the enemies. An archer and a few berserkers. "Samirah surprise them from the sky. Alabaster support with your magic."
Alabaster nodded his eyes flashing green. "Got it." He muttered a few words in Latin and a green aura lightly enveloped them.
"I'll be back," Sam said as she took off into the air.
He and Alabaster carefully approached the enemy encampment as the enemy soldiers stood guard. "I'll disarm them," Alabaster said. He muttered a few words in Latin and the next thing he knew weapons in the enemy soldier's weapons flew into the air.
"Lets go!" Gram shinned brightly in the morning sun as he fell on the first einherjar. Their enemies scrambled to fight back with their shields but Samirah swept down and knocked them down with her axe while Alabaster quicky disarmed them.
One einherjar came at him with his shield, he blocked the shield with Gram just as Alabaster came in with his golden sword and knocked the man down. The sound of clapping echoed throughout the area. "Well down," Arminius said as he came out of the brush. "Your coordination is better."
They sheathed their weapons. "So what now?" Alabaster asked.
Arminius smiled. "Come we have other matters to discuss."
They followed their teacher to the large wooden house in the middle of the clearing. Inside the flames of a fire heated up the room while on the table in the middle of the room lay a map of the United States with a pin in New York and another in the Bay Area.
"I've been making a potential war plan in case things with the Romans go hot," Arminius said as he took a pin out from a small box and placed it in Charleston South Carolina. "If things go bad I believe it would happen in the south, particularly in Charleston."
"Why there?" Samirah asked.
"The last major conflict between the Greeks and Romans occurred in the American Civil War," Alabaster said as he looked at the map intently. "It was at Fort Sumter where the war began."
Arminius nodded. "History is full of ironies. We will prepare a force to help the Greeks there if necessary and if they decide to march north." He took out a ruler and traced a line from Charleston to New York. "We'll make them pay in blood."
"But doesn't Hera want the two camp to work together?" He asked.
A grin spread across Arminius' face. "Romans are a little thick headed, but we'll convince them to help us one way or another."
"I-I see." A shiver went down his spine, Arminius was many things, but he could also see a ruthlessness in him.
Arminius's gaze drifted to the map. "The Romans will not hesitate to destroy the Greeks, trust me they can be very ruthless."
"But are they all bad?" Samirah asked. "I mean there must be some good people among them."
Arminius sighed. "There are some good people among them; but when they are at war they are ruthless." Their teacher looked up at them. "You've worked hard training here, but I know you all can't stay here forever."
"But we still have a few months until summer," he said.
"I know. For that reason I must prepare Asgard's warriors," Arminius smiled as his gaze turned to him. "As for you Magnus you must rally your allies and gain whatever information that could be useful."
His heart raced in his chest as he looked at the map. Yeah he'd been working his ass off but he still didn't know if he could lead an army. His gaze drifted to New York City and a fiery determination swelled up inside of him. I won't let anyone harm the camp.
He'd work with the Greeks and Norse, even the Egyptians if they wanted to; but he'd make sure that the camp was safe and protected from both Gaea and the Romans. "Lets prepare well then," he said firmly. "Camp Half Blood needs us." His friends and family were counting on him and he wasn't going to let them down.
Nico watched as Alex Fierro laughed uncontrollably in her cell. Oh gods how long do we have to keep her? The daughter of Loki was tolerable on some days and annoying on other days but his father said she might be useful so they hadn't done anything but keep her locked up for now.
He cleared his throat. "So uh about my father's offer, do you want to help us or not?"
Alex paused and took a deep breath as she dramatically got up and met his gaze. "You drive a hard bargain Nico di Angelo." She grinned and extended a hand. "Why not? If you guys let me out I'll help kick some Roman ass."
He cautiously approached and shook Alex's hand. Their gazes met and deep down a part of him was concerned by the madness he saw in Alex Fierro's eyes. I really hope we don't regret this.