For Artemis it was a considerably hectic morning. Apart from the much more serious atmosphere across her hunt which she was no fan of as well as the rather annoyingly good atmosphere between her fiance and his ex which she was certainly no fan of either, the goddess was currently sitting across from a slightly hesitant praetor trying a bit too hard to suppress her emotions. Artemis understood her emotions too, Reyna was caught between fear of an Olympian, anger at them for not revealing what they knew about the attack on Camp Half-Blood and regret for her own shortcomings in investigating said attack. The mix of those emotions however made their briefing much more strenuous than it needed to be.
"As such we have concluded that the forces attacking our scouts and outposts are too organized to be acting alone and are receiving orders from someone in the shadows. We don't know their identity but Lord Mars was also unable to locate them so we are certain that they are incredibly powerful and requested backup. After further investigations however, Lord Mars has given us clarification that the enemy forces are being led by the titan Perses. We were still unable to find him but he used his power for an unknown reason and Lord Mars identified him from that."
It was awfully tiring to listen to the praetor, who Artemis had regarded as a brave soul and had found respect for, force herself to talk formally while not reflecting much respect in her tone anymore. Even more so when the decision to ban Percy had been their own and had never been backed by any evidence at all. In a way she couldn't explain Reyna's behaviour disappointed Artemis. Her lack of accountability of her own mistakes as well as her lack of acceptance of the barrier between mankind and the divine. However instead of saying anything to voice her thoughts, she simply nodded at the woman before her. "My hunt and I will set out today to track Perses before hunting him tomorrow. While it's unfortunate, I will have to ask for the Legion's assistance in dealing with his army should their numbers be too great. I will notify you of our findings once we return."
A bow from the demigoddess was all she got in return, a small and barely audible 'thank you' going along with it. Eager to escape the stuffy atmosphere, Artemis got up and left, wandering through the streets of New Rome until she found where the other praetor had gathered its inhabitants. The crowd she found was amongst the larger ones she had seen in recent years, only topped by the crowds that gathered at the end of both wars during her father's victory speeches. It was a testament to just how large and successful the roman demigods had been in cultivating their city.
She arrived just in time to see Marcus begin addressing his audience and while she stayed out of their sight, she remained close enough to listen in. "-an important announcement to make. As you have been told, Perseus Jackson, the son of Neptune and former praetor, has been excommunicated from the legion and banned entry from Camp Jupiter. This order was overturned yesterday at the insistence of Lady Diana and we praetors have now been made aware of the fact that the attack that Perseus was blamed for has not been carried out by him. Lady Diana announced yesterday that Olympus itself has investigated the attack and found the force behind it to not be Perseus Jackson, knowledge that we were made privy to now given his return. As such I hereby lift all sanctions against our former praetor and in accordance with the will of both, Lady Diana and Reyna welcome him back to our camp!"
It was a disappointing speech. Just like Reyna, he took no responsibility for their wrongful condemnation of Percy. Even worse, he was pinning the blame on her and her fellow gods, making it sound like they had purposely fooled them. He made it sound as if Olympus had instigated Percy to be the scapegoat and the praetors of Rome were just innocent victims of godly schemes. She couldn't speak up now since she wasn't sure if this had actually been what her father was after when he ordered them to keep silent about the true nature of the attacker but she was certain that her father wouldn't be the one blamed for this. No, in private the praetor would surely speak in favor of the great Jupiter and Mars and speak ill of her brother instead.
Even worse, she herself was specifically mentioned as the one goddess that chose to delay the revoking of Percy's banishment. Despite the fact that she had the least contact with demigods given her distinct lack of offspring and her secluded life in the wilderness. Despite her telling her hunt about it. Despite her being the only goddess to tell them about anything at all. The more she thought about it, the more it annoyed her. Yet she made her exit quietly, moving back to her own camp. She couldn't change their inability to acknowledge mistakes nor the choices they made because of that so she would tolerate it. After all the one much more hurt by this than herself was Percy and if she would do anything, it would only be after him. It just wasn't her place to fire the first shot.
What she had to do now instead was figure out how to track Perses. She wanted to rely on her hunters but she also knew that sending them, especially the younger ones, could end up seriously endangering them. None of her girls were capable of beating a titan. Even her most capable warrior, Thalia, would only be able to hold her ground for a while. If she wanted to bring any of her hunters, it would need to be the most experienced few and she herself would need to be ready to step in at a moment's notice. It would be much easier for her to just track Perses herself given her innate stealth.
For today, her girls would get some rest so that they may fight at full strength tomorrow. Artemis quickly made her way back to the hunters' camp, passing by the gathered crowd without being noticed. Once back, she started looking for Thalia, wanting to inform her sister of the decision she made. Her lieutenant would take care of things today while she was out on her scouting mission and Thalia would also need to prepare everything she needed for tomorrow, including another meeting with the praetors to organise the incoming battle.
She found Thalia in her usual spot, sitting just outside the armory while watching two of the younger hunters practice. Artemis also noticed a distinct lack of tiredness, something she was surprised by. She was well aware that Thalia and Percy had been out for the entire night yet somehow neither was showing any signs of tiring. Speaking of Percy, he was sitting right next to Thalia, his eyes trained on a spar going on between her two oldest hunters, both moving with agility and precision befitting of their experience.
They only noticed her when she was almost right in front of them, quickly getting up to greet her when they did. She waved them both aside, not in the mood for formalities. "Thalia, you will take care of the hunt today. The roman praetors will come to you to plan tomorrow's battle later and you will be representing me while I go to gather information. Our opponent is the titan Perses so I will go on my own this time. Please make sure that the girls are prepared and find someone to take care of Naomi too, she won't join us this time. I will be damned to send her into battle just to spare a legionary from the same duty…and Percy, many of the roman camp will come to meet you later, presumably to apologise or welcome you back. Know that any response you may give them will be backed by me."
Artemis wanted to say more but for once she couldn't find the words. Instead she stood there as both Percy and Thalia nodded at her words, the worry in his eyes only a weak glimmer. He looked more than capable of handling this. Artemis just hoped that his confidence was justified as she would need him to be of clear mind tomorrow. They were the only two able to fight the titan after all and killing a titan on her own was not guaranteed even for her.
With a quick goodbye, Artemis left. She didn't like how serious and anticipating the atmosphere was, how anxious especially their younger members appeared to be. She hated the fear they felt right now and she was all the more eager to finish this hunt and slay Perses so that their peace of mind may return. That resolution in mind, Artemis took off, easily accelerating to godly speed and leaving the camp behind near instantly.
The two demigods left behind were now less laid back, both Percy and Thalia waiting for something to happen now that they were given a heads up. Thalia in particular was less than excited for the coming hours and for having to fill in for her mistress for the rest of the day. Sure she could dump most of the stuff concerning the legion on Percy and focus on planning for tomorrow and on comforting and preparing the hunt but she also knew herself well enough to know that she wouldn't just ignore Percy's situation.
She didn't even have to wait long before her tiresome ordeal began as the shining armor of the Legion announced their arrival from afar as the younger of the two praetors made his way towards them. A closer look showed that he wasn't alone and instead had Annabeth hot on his tail. Honestly, Thalia should have expected that, if they were to plan a battle then her oldest friend who had played a leading role in two major wars would surely be involved.
As she watched them approach though, Thalia couldn't help but wonder just why Reyna wasn't with them. She was by far the most important person when it came to leading the legion so why was it only Marcus that came? Especially given that Reyna also happened to be a woman which was a definite advantage when discussing something with the hunt. That was something to find out when their guests arrived then, not like she had to wait long anyways.
Alongside her, she could notice multiple of her sisters also focus on the incoming pair of demigods and Thalia was almost certain that she'd need to send some of them away before they arrived. "Hunters, continue your training. Maria, Naomi and I will go to meet with the roman representatives. Pauline, you take charge while I'm away."
She was just loud enough for them all to hear her and thankfully no one questioned her despite her odd choice to take Naomi with her. The main reason for that was that Thalia hoped Annabeth herself could look after Naomi during tomorrow's battle given the daughter of Athena would surely be in the command tent during it. Percy also followed after her without needing explicit orders and luckily Maria didn't bother question his presence either. It would have gotten annoying if she had.
As such the pair of Annabeth and Marcus arrived at the edge of the hunters' camp to be met with Thalia, Naomi, Maria and Percy, none displaying any form of enmity yet somehow causing a tense atmosphere that was only broken by Annabeth going forward to give a hug to her two closest friends. While Thalia was aware of the increasingly judgy look Maria gave Percy for that, it did seem to lighten things up as Marcus also took that as his chance to speak.
"Well, uhm, Thalia?", he sounded unsure of even how he should address her but at least he didn't use her surname. Maybe Jason had warned him of that? "While Annabeth came today to discuss strategies for tomorrow, I came only to inform Lady Diana of something. Where is she?"
It was a weird mix of polite and impolite phrasing that the boy used, something she didn't even know how to interpret. Maybe he was bad with words, he had made similar mistakes towards her lady the day before? "Lady Artemis is absent in order to scout our enemy and I am her proxy until she returns. Anything that needs to be discussed with her will be discussed with me now so out with it, what happened?"
She seemed to have caught him off his guard with that, not that it surprised her. Outside of Artemis herself, most other gods would never consider declaring a mortal as their proxy. To his credit though, Marcus dealt with that quickly and composed himself. "In that case, I have removed any sanctions against Perseus this morning and…and I would like to request of him to address the legion himself in response to that."
He was carefully glancing in Percy's direction while saying the last part, clearly wary of the son of Poseidon. This was soon mirrored by the remaining people present, every single one of them curious as to how Percy would react. Which was apparently very warranted as Percy himself seemed unsure of how he should react. It took him a solid minute of standing still like a sculpture before he finally nodded his head. "Very well, I will address the legion. Don't expect me to be nice though."
In that instant, Thalia could see Poseidon shine through in his posture and aura, the raging cold sea present among them. She had seen Poseidon's anger herself and Percy's coldness wasn't too far from how his father acted himself. She was clearly not the only one to feel that either as all of the people there with her, even Annabeth, stood still for a moment, surprised or shocked by the pressure Percy was exuding. Annabeth did however recover quickly, pointing towards the city now. "Then let's do that first. The legion is still gathered since we spoke to them just now and Frank was still talking when we left so Percy can give his speech and we can discuss things together with Reyna afterwards."
Thalia found herself quickly agreeing with Annabeth's plan and so did everyone else as it seemed. While Maria wasn't very thrilled about having to listen to the speech, she still agreed to go along with it. As such it took only a few minutes before they were back behind the roman plaza, Marcus leading them up to a stage that Frank was still standing on, speaking to the gathered crowd about the great support the hunt was going to give them. It was a rather generic speech in her opinion but it did what it should as it visibly lifted the spirits of the legion while also informing them of the incoming hardship they would face tomorrow. She just hoped Percy would leave their spirits high. He had looked so cold earlier that she wasn't sure his speech would include anything positive at all.
Still, at least when her cousin entered the stage, the crowd was in a good mood. Actually, his presence seemed to lift their spirits even higher, many of them recognising the former praetor and hero. They became quiet in record time, all eyes carefully watching someone that had just been returned to his status as, even if it annoyed her to no end to admit it, an idol for the masses. Thalia found herself in an equally focused state, eager to see just how her cousin would handle things.
"Romans, I returned to Camp Jupiter yesterday at the request of Mars just to find spears pointed at me as a welcome. Even with Lady Diana arriving alongside me, I was nearly refused entry, all that for a crime I didn't commit, nay, a crime I wasn't present for. Today, I was told that I had been pardoned, my innocence reinstated. I was told that my name had been cleared by no more than a few words from Lady Diana and yet the great roman legion was unable to find that truth for years. I will be truthful with you all, I am greatly disappointed by this. That the very legion I personally saw facing giants and primordials would fail such a simple task, would believe such a simple rumor unquestioningly, is unbelievable to me and yet I must witness it now regardless. Tomorrow we will march together to kill Perses, a remnant of a past rule and I will be among those leading the battle. For that I now ask you, will you stand with me once more? Will you redeem the name of the legion through your courage and vigor? WILL YOU TAKE THE HONOUR THAT IS YOURS?"
Frankly, Thalia thought it was a terrible speech. For the majority of its duration l, morale visibly plummeted and only near the end did some of it return. Yet the power and confidence that Percy carried through his voice reached the crowd and almost miraculously a loud chant was echoing at the end of his speech. It was apparent that Percy made this speech up on the fly and yet his personal charisma carried him through it and made it work out. Thalia hated to admit it, but he was a natural at this.
Even when he returned to them from the stage, Frank was clapping next to them, grinning at Percy. Naomi too was showing a great amount of admiration through the look she was giving him, clearly impressed by the effect Percy has had. The only one that seemed less happy was Marcus, probably displeased by how bad a light the pair of praetors had been shown in. Still even he couldn't deny the effect Percy had ultimately had on the people. This effect was strengthened even more by what Frank had told them yesterday, that stories of her cousin had been told in secret even after his banishment.
That was probably the reason why even as they were walking away towards Reyna's residence they could still hear the agitated crowd in the distance. It was somewhat of a relief to hear them in high spirits given they would fight alongside the hunt with that same vigor and a glance at Maria showed a similar reaction from her too. As they reached the building that they had already been received in the day before, Thalia couldn't help some optimism for what was to come.
To her dismay however, the meeting that ensued afterwards was anything but pleasant. Apart from the awkward atmosphere between Percy and both praetors which definitely made talks slower, they couldn't really make concrete plans without the intel that Lady Artemis was acquiring right now so most talks were just reserved to how their forces would be split. That and how they would have another meeting when Lady Artemis returned, meaning it would be another long night for her. How delightful.
The only definite result she got even after an hour of 'planning' was that Annabeth would take care of Naomi throughout the fight and keep her away from the fighting which was at least one good piece of news. Even with that though, the meeting felt like it had been a waste of time and that feeling was only reinforced when she spent the next two hours preparing the hunters until her mistress returned. She really could have used that extra hour. Not to mention that the distraught look on Lady Artemis' face was really not helping her efforts to console the anxiety some of her sisters were feeling.
Before Thalia even properly greeted her, Lady Artemis disappeared in her tent, only pulling Percy along for whatever reason. It was worrying, seeing her behaviour shift so drastically from what it normally was. She wasn't the only one to notice this too, most hunters had seen the unusual behaviour of their mistress and none were left unbothered by it. Artemis looked only a little better when she finally exited her tent almost twenty minutes later, Percy right behind her. She looked a little less restless now but the unease was still very clear to Thalia's eyes as she had travelled for years at the goddess's side. The optimism for the coming day that had built up in her was slowly waning now that she came face to face with just what was awaiting them. The titan had built an army.
So, I have discovered the art of cliffhangers. No, jokes aside, I just don't want to write strategy meetings because I can't do them justice as I am not well-versed in military warfare. I'll fill in the necessary blanks in the next chapter where I will also switch back to Percy's perspective.
That aside, despite not showing his inner thoughts, Percy made some choices in this chapter that were at least somewhat impactful and while it was only implicit, some choices of his friends were also revealed so we are getting somewhere. I also figured out some form of order for the story as a whole. This portion will last until the day of the marriage ceremony and that might be the point at which I take a break too. After that it will be a quest that for now I will leave undisclosed and thereafter the battle against Tartarus. Lastly the fallout of said battle will be the subject of one or two arcs after that. Just wanted to share that, so do with that what you will.
Anyways, if you have questions or are curious about something go ahead and ask away, either through comments or PMs. The app still has those not work for me but I got back into my old email address so I can check them now again. Feedback is appreciated as always and have a good start into the new year everyone!
-M