Chapter 4

Athens, 146 BC

The voyage to Athens was without incident. The seas were calm, far calmer than Perseus had heard from reports of the Aegean. The once great city of Athens, his mother's city, burned in the night. Fires stripped the proud city of Athena; markets, homes, all burned as the war machine of Rome, its legions, marched on to their next conquest. Vesta had warned him in his dreams that this would not be a pretty sight, that this would haunt him for years to come. But he had to see this through.

Cautiously stepping over bodies in the street he kept up his pace as the Parthenon loomed atop the hill ahead. A weight settled in his stomach as he heard the cries of men, the shrieking of women and children all around him. This was the side of Rome that he had come to loathe and now, just this once, Perseus knew that he could not afford to delay this by trying to save those caught in the path of legionaries at war. "Hestia, give me strength."

The Parthenon itself was everything he had hoped it would be. A structure dedicated to a Goddess of his mother's lands that might stand even through the passage of time and war. He could not say what about its construction, its design, had drawn him to the columns or the marble that surely took mortal men far longer than a god might expect to put in place. It was beautiful in its own way.

Perseus heard the splash before he heard the laughs within the temple. His left foot, his sandal had stepped in a pool of blood. The bodies on the steps were soldiers, Hoplites of Athens who were cut down by the legion to defend their goddess' sacred temple. Perseus fists clenched as he took in them all littered along the steps. Five hoplites, a small force to guard a temple…and only two dead legionaries. "Hastati," he growls as he enters the temple.

"Can you believe the trouble we went through for this?" a voice says from within. Perseus' ears strain to focus on the voice "All of that fighting and for what? A statue to a Goddess fit for no better than crafts!"

There's a round of laughs, a group of them no doubt left to guard the temple from more hoplites eager for revenge. Perseus braces his back against a column, staying to the shadows.

"Why Triarii wanted us to hold this place is beyond me," another curses "Gods forsaken land."

"Careful Caius, a son of Mars gave us this task and it is to he that we now must obey. Besides, stripping this goddess of her statue…that should teach her to overstep into our lord's domain of war." A third voice spoke up earning laughs renewed "But this battle…if you could call it that…how much longer do you think we will have to remain to guard this place?"

"Not much longer," came the cold reply. The Hastati stood, gladii at the ready as he stepped into view. Dressed in his armor, silver mask resting on his face and black hood and cloak up. Perseus was what many in the legion feared.

"Arcani…by the gods it…you…you're real!?" Most of the Hastati kneeled before him but one was slow to act. His body gripped with terror as the Arcani stalked forward "What…what are you doing here?"

Perseus regarded that one for only a moment before turning his attention to where the statue of Athena once stood in the center of the room "The gods have given me my orders, and you Hastati are in my way."

He can hear them tremble in his presence. Nearly a century of conflict, a century of stories revolving around the Arcani that defied Hannibal Barca of Carthage. Hastati or not, these poor excuses for men were in over their heads.

"What can we do to help you sir…if you allow us to aid you, we promise not to get in your way again."

"I was told to secure the statue before some arrogant fools disrespected the gods…you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

The Hastati slowly stand. The looks exchanged were a mixed portrait of fear and uncertainty. Arcani were rumored to be the elite of Rome, the soldiers sworn to Jupiter and none other, the very assassins that could slaughter the legion alone and rebuild it in a day. All of what they knew were stories, nothing more…and yet here stood one right now. Rumor or not, if he was Arcani then they were in the presence of one chosen by the gods to do their bidding. To hold their authority.

"A son of Mars, sir…" Caius spoke up, hoping his voice didn't tremble like his legs were doing right now "He…he was Triarii, he ordered us to hold this temple while he and his men took the statue back to Rome. They…they probably will reach the city by weeks end."

Perseus curses. Just sailing to Athens had cost him a week, to sail back now and hope to succeed would be foolish even for him. "I thank you for this. When Rome tells stories of this night, of what happened here, you will all be remembered as deserving of your actions here."

The Hastati felt relief washing over them. Five faces relieved of fear just before one is caught in its grip again. Perseus moves his head to the left just in time as a bronze dagger sails through the air and buries itself in the young Hastati's throat. The legionnaire drops like a sack of rocks, gladius clattering against the floor while the others prepare for an attack.

"Always something," he mutters, drawing his blades. Two Hastati move forward, shields up as Perseus turns, burying his blades in the chests of the remaining pair behind him. "Couldn't be a simple quest, could it?"

Amidst the confusion Perseus has caused with his betrayal the final two Hastati are dropped. Legs giving out beneath them, heads held back before their attacker finishes the job. Perseus keeps his weapons up. A shared foe may be dead but that did not mean a friend was here for him.

"I know you are here!" he calls out into he shadows "Five dead Hastati…and you only got to kill three of them. So, tell me…who do I have the honor of addressing here and now?"

A bronze knife glints in the firelight. Perseus takes a cautious step back as its owner steps forward. His eyes widen behind his mask as he takes in the form of what is clearly a Greek Hoplite, fully kitted and ready for a fight…except, it isn't really a hoplite as he had been expecting. Piercing gray eyes bore into him with a fire behind them he had never seen in anyone before. Eyes, he had been warned, belonged to one goddess. His mind wanders for but a moment before he is on the ground, kneeling before the young woman.

The flames flicker, burning bright as he bows his head. Assuming this was who he thought it was…Perseus doubted she would heed his words as earnest. Eyes shut he mutters a prayer to Hestia for strength of self before praying to Athena for mercy over the bloodshed in her temple.

"A son of Rome prays to me?" Perseus feels his body freeze as a voice from behind speaks, a hint of amusement dancing by his ears "And yet your blades are stained with blood of your kinsmen…curious."

The immortal Arcani slowly looks up, watching the woman before him smirk at him. If he weren't still on edge he might have found that look infuriating. But her face, her eyes…it all resembled something he had only seen in statues and even then not quite the same. A face resembling that of Minerva, with eyes far more intense. That chill crept up his spine as his eyes moved to hair that looked like it was made from silk strands of gold. Thanking Hestia in his prayers that he had his mask on, his traitorous mind couldn't help but think that before him was the most beautiful woman in Greece.

Being but twenty-five years in body was a curse, he was certain of it. More so as he heard a voice behind him chuckling.

"It seems, this one is different from his people…or I should say, perhaps, half of his people."

The woman before him crossed her arms, knife held in its sheath, gray eyes piercing him with such a gaze Perseus was certain that the Underworld would be his destination soon. "He is just another Roman, mother, we should kill him and be done with this."

Mother? Were the fear of being struck down not so strong, Perseus may in fact have smacked his own head. This wasn't Athena before him, this was a demigoddess…and if the voice behind him was her mother, then that meant… The flames radiated a gentle warmth, something that had calmed him many a night in the temple of his patron after Rome was finished needing him to fix its mistakes. Hestia…Vesta…she was spying on him now, and she was enjoying the show.

"Lady Athena," he says, slowly turning his head to the side "I…I do not suppose your presence means that I am spared from facing your wrath?"

Athena regarded the mortal before her. A man who was an oddity amongst a sea of short lives. He was Roman, a treacherous part of her mind whispered in her ear, a vile cretin who she should smite for even daring to enter her sacred temple. But he was also Greek. Born of the love a woman of her very city had for the very type of man she hated above all else. Roman. "I know why you have come here, Roman. But your goal is no longer here."

"I understand that" he says carefully "But my lady…I have been given a task for my patron, I will not fail it. If I may be permitted to leave, I shall endeavor to find and return it, your statue, to you…if it pleases you more than my death that is."

Athena felt her lips twitch upwards briefly. No mortal had ever stumbled so in their words. Many cowered and feared her as a goddess of Olympus but none had ever been this cautious and respectful of her. Especially not a Roman. "You understand what it is you may have to do? You would be going against your own people, quite possibly forced to kill comrades of your own, children of your gods."

"My gods are the same gods," he says firmly "Greek or Roman, my gods never changed but for a name. Lady Hestia, or Lady Vesta as we Romans call her, has always been one and the same to me as my mother taught me. So too are you the same Lady Athena, but I…I feel that the other side is not so welcome."

"Like you need an oracle to figure that out," the daughter of Athena mutters earning a sharp look from Athena "Mother…if you just allow me to take care of this one now, I can retrieve the Parthenos and send those thieves to Hades myself."

"No offense," Perseus meant full offense "But if you think that a Greek Demigoddess will be able to navigate Rome searching for a group led by another Demigod…you are doomed to fail in this quest."

A weapon was drawn, Perseus heard it though his eyes never left Athena. Taking the wisdom goddess' form in greater detail he was stunned by the similarities between the two women. Fortunately, the goddess held up her hand, the slow footsteps of her daughter halting. "Perhaps there is some wisdom to his words. Andromeda, the mortal is right in this regard, you would not last long in Roman territory as you are. Even with your helmet, you would still lack direction."

Andromeda? Oh, the Fates must be cruel indeed, of course that would be her name. As if sensing his thoughts Athena's piercing gaze is upon him next.

"You, Roman, shall be my daughters guide on this quest. Together we shall see if you Romans are worth keeping around or not."

That did not bode well. But what was Perseus to do? "I…accept, my lady, this great honor you have given me."

Perseus could practically feel Andromeda rolling her eyes at his words. Athena seemed to accept them, however, as she gave a single curt nod of her head and vanishes from the temple. Which meant one eager to stab a Roman daughter of Athena, and an eager to not be stabbed son of Rome…terrific.

"I'm assuming you have a plan for this quest of ours, Roman?"

"If we are going to make this work, you are going to have to change into something less conspicuous." He points out as he rises to his feet "Your armor and weapons will give us away before we make it onto the streets, getting to the port will be impossible with so many soldiers about."

Perseus wasn't sure if his first idea would work. Sure, Andromeda was fit enough to pass for a soldier, but she was a woman…one that both made his heart stop and flutter…the Arcani shakes his head. He had to focus. There was no way in Hades that she could blend in with a dead Hastati's armor on and…she was gone. Perseus blinks slowly beneath his mask. Where did she…when did she leave?

"I'm still here," her teasing voice calls from the darkness.

"I…where are you?"

"Two paces to your left," the answer comes from the exact source she gave, his instincts screaming at him to be ready for anything "And you should know that like this," a dagger presses to his throat. He can feel her breath on his left ear "you are very easy to sneak up on."

"Your helmet…like the Helmet of Darkness I imagine?"

"Perhaps you are smarter than the average Roman."

"Perseus," he says as she removes the knife from his throat. He can hear the gasp as it escapes her lips, a small smirk tugging at his own "It is only fair I give you mine seeing as your mother gave away yours so freely."

"Perseus…don't get any funny ideas about this."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Andromeda."

Rome, 146 BC

Perseus did in fact dream of it. Nothing he could recall but he knew he was more relaxed when he awoke. With her invisibility Andromeda and Perseus managed to slip by Roman patrols and board his ship without incident. However, as they neared Rome itself, Perseus could not help but find the daughter of Athena to be quite worrying. Her grace and confidence on dry land was shattered once she was at sea. Constantly checking over the side of the ship for trouble or holding onto the mast for dear life.

"You know, I never imagined a demigod could look so frightened by the rocking of a ship at sea." He muses quietly as they move down the darkened streets of Rome. Their arrival came around sunset, the perfect time for the pair to begin their search with minimal interference "And yet here I am with my expectations subverted, well done."

"If I did not need your help I would have left you dead on that ship," she growls in his ear. Perseus couldn't help but smile beneath the mask as they walked on in relative silence. Every so often he would feel a tug on his arm as Andromeda pulls him along the path. "Were my mother's mark only clearer…do Romans not understand how to properly layout your cities?"

"If you mean to say we do not have much of Minerva's image around the city…then you would be correct," Perseus sighs, shaking his head as he stumbles out into the street "But you have to understand that most of Rome sees your mother as being a goddess of crafts, a virgin meant to weave baskets not wave a spear and be mother of actual heroes."

"And I am proof that her children are worth more than even you Romans." Perseus rolled his eyes. It was at times like this that he missed Publius' ranting to the cohort about how he would woo even Venus herself if given the chance, something that he persisted with even when faced with his brothers in arms agreeing it would never happen. Before his instincts could kick in and warn him Perseus found himself forced against a wall. "You satisfied now Roman?"

"Perseus…thought we did the introductions before leaving Athens, Andromeda." The blonde-haired woman growls at him, dagger pressed against his throat "Come now…must we really resort to trying to kill each other?"

"Must you be so annoying?"

If Perseus was any other man, he might have said something bad and been sent to the Underworld for his trouble. If Perseus was smart, he would have said something to get himself out of trouble instead. As if the gods themselves were choosing to intervene on his behalf, before his mouth could be allowed to run unchecked and get him killed, there were voices down the street. Perseus gently eased the dagger away from his neck, slowly creeping down the street towards the source of the noise…and pointedly ignoring the Greek curses his companion was muttering under her breath.

"If you are quite done," he whispers to her, pointing down a darkened alley towards a small gathering of guards "Can you tell me why a shrine would require such a guard here?"

Andromeda wanted to smack the Roman. No, she wanted to stab him with her dagger and claim his death was just a price to pay for being caught. And yet as she watched him from the shadows as he moved with grace across the street, she found herself intrigued. Watching two men be dropped with such little effort or struggle was refreshing, watching the Arcani hide the bodies like he hadn't just killed his fellow countrymen was less intriguing and more worrying. Just what sort of man had she agreed to work alongside for this one quest?

The shrine, if you could call it that, was a small building. If Andromeda had to guess due to its lackluster appearance both in and out of its four walls it was a shrine to her mother's roman form Minerva. There were no sculptures, no statues, no art, nothing made in honor of her mother in any way. Just a brazier to make sacrifices in the center of the building. What was there, however, was a staircase to a basement. Perseus surely had the same idea as he motioned for her to put her helmet back on.

The lower levels of the shrine were…dark. In a word. Perseus could feel something, a chill, slowly running down his neck. His hands felt cold as he trudged onward taking point for his companion. Something was here with them…no…something was buried right here beneath them. Something foul, something dark. Something unnatural. Perseus steeled his resolve before pushing forward into the sanctum with his quarry. Three romans, each laughing in the presence of the Athena Parthenos. Three men soon to meet Pluto.

Andromeda stuck to the edge of the room, watching Perseus as he approached the men, calling out to them in Latin and making them tremble in his presence.

"Arcani!" the one word she recognized after hearing Perseus say it so often when he would regale her with tales of his order.

"Odd place to celebrate our victory, wouldn't you agree?" his voice was calm, words coming slow and deliberate but while his body showed no signs of his distaste Andromeda knew from how his fingers twitched ever so slightly he was ready "Three sons of Rome in a dark shrine of the crafter, and a statue of marble that no artisan has ever made for her sits in a dark basement…something you three wish to share with me?"

One of the men, a bulky Roman son of Mars took a tentative step forward "We…we captured this statue of Minerva, as a spoil of war…we thought…well, maybe it would show those Greeks what her proper place was."

"Proper place?" Andromeda heard the growling edge of his voice as she drew her dagger "And what is the proper place for Minerva?"

"She's a virgin goddess of crafts," scoffs the most arrogant Roman Andromeda has ever seen "It's a shame that she would be one and yet they claim she has children, to debase an Olympian like that…perhaps she is just as bad as the Greeks."

"Yeah!" the other two agree.

Perseus rolls his eyes as he approaches the statue "Are you all aware of who I am?"

The trio share a questioning look "You are Arcani, sworn champions in service of my father Jupiter. Rumors say there are hundreds of you…your order was there for the Punic Wars. The defeat of Hannibal, every rebellion and major campaign since was put down or won because of you."

"Well, you are not wrong." Perseus relaxes "Not completely true either. You see, there is no order of Arcani. There is but only one Arcani."

"O-one!?" the son of Mars is shocked. Andromeda moves to the right, behind the third man while the son of war sputters "You…you mean that you are that Arcani?"

"Yes, and just so we understand each other," Perseus exposes his left forearm. The mark of Vesta clear for all to see "I am also a champion for Vesta, so if you don't mind…care to explain to me again your thoughts on virginal goddesses, or should I take your silence as a confession?"

"Confession!?" the son of Jupiter puffs up, face turning purple in his rage "We have done no crime! We are heroes of Rome!"

"Heroes?" Perseus scoffs "Stealing a statue from a temple just to put it in the basement of the shrine for that very same goddess, then claiming that this would be some sort of punishment for her…you do understand who her father is don't you? Demigod or not, Minerva is an Olympian, a daughter of Jupiter, your sister!"

"And she should know that father requires sons who can uphold his laws and lead Rome to glory!"

"Very well then…confession it is." Perseus gives a slight nod of his head. Left hand reaching for his belt. The son of Mars is caught by surprise when he hears a cry to his right. Tullius, son of Bellona grasps at his throat as his body falls forward. Germanus, son of Mars, finds himself with a knife in his face and half his vision before his soul greets the ferryman. "And then there was one."

The son of Jupiter, Cassius Valeria, is a raging storm in that basement as he attempts to strike the Arcani down with a blast of lightning. Perseus, through his years of training and experience on the battlefield redirects the bolt with his sword. The only problem was he had no idea where Andromeda was with her helmet on. The enraged demigod charges forward, gladius ready to pierce through flesh. Perseus dodges to the right, bringing his left arm and blade up to block before stabbing his free weapon into the son of Jupiter's back.

"The Lord of the Underworld awaits you, son of Jupiter," Perseus pulls his blade free, "You can come out now…they are dead, though there was no need for you to get involved."

Andromeda frowns, helmet securely in hand "Why?"

"Be specific," he says gathering up what little he can find to start a fire.

"Why do all of this?" she asks "You…you are Roman. And yet you have killed your countrymen, your comrades for…for us?"

"You don't get out much, do you?" Andromeda glares at him, blood still dripping from her dagger "You really want to know?"

She nods her head, piercing gaze on him even as he lights a fire around the Athena Parthenos. Perseus mutters a prayer to Vesta, the fire growing stronger as the flames grow to engulf the statue. Andromeda must shield her eyes as the flames grow too bright, their shadows cast far in the room before the fire dies. The statue is gone now, nothing left in its place but a scorched black floor.

"I killed them because they disrespected a Goddess, an Olympian, of my mother's homeland. She was Athenian, I found and lived in that city after my grandfather forced her into exile in exchange for my life."

"Your life?" she finds herself asking "What was so important about you that she had to be exiled?"

Perseus slowly stands, reaching up he pulls back his hood and removes his mask "Because I am a half-blood, not like you though…I am a son of Rome by my father and a son of Greece through my mother. To the leader of House Julii…I am an abomination, a freak of nature. To my parents I was the world, but sometimes I wonder about that. With my birth, my parents were forced to part…with my every breath I am an insult to my grandfather's legacy. And with every year I spend walking this earth, my legend grows while my family dies."

Andromeda is quiet as Perseus speaks. Shame fills her as she thinks back on her own thoughts of the man, of how he was just another Roman no different from the rest. And yet he is much like her in ways even she cannot fathom. "Perseus…"

"Even if it was not your mother, we were in the service of for this quest I would do the same. My mother's gods are my gods, and my gods are my father's gods. Names…locations…forms…none of that matters to me. I live to serve them eternally." Perseus gave a short laugh "I'll live as an immortal champion of Vesta until one day I might fall in battle. Just part of the job."

"Will that satisfy you?" the question brings him up short "Living forever in their service, never growing old, never getting to rest, never having a family of your own? You would be like the handmaidens of Artemis. A life eternal but spent in solitude."

Perseus nods his head, slowly making his way past the daughter of wisdom "If that is to be my curse, then so be it."

AN: ...so this will probably (hopefully) be updated before I have to go and take my mother to another doctors appointment. So, we have a new character introduced and already somewhat at odds with Perseus. I'd say nothing bad will happen but...I mean...I did give this poor man a best friend and had him die in the same chapter so... ️Reviews are always appreciated, even if you dont have something deep and professional to say and its just 'This story sucks' or 'I love this story'.