- Location
- China Dorthy
Percy Jackson and the Olympians specifically the second series where the Roman Half Bloods are introduced descendants of Roman Heroes with all the mythological powers
-
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From Mortal to Divinity (SI/CYOA Jumpchain)
- Thread starter xandou
- Start date
No, he'll just become a more powerful divine
Invasion
AN: For some reason this chapter was difficult to write, idk why. Anyway we are about halfway through the PJO arc and the next one is the nasuverse, and the end of my more detailed story notes. Since I haven't written my character's (or Azula's) profile as servants, I would like you guys to leave ideas on what their skills and noble phantasms should be.
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"It's peaceful" says Azula as we make our way through the streets of New Rome.
"It is." I answer back. "It's too bad that it won't stay like this. The titans unfortunately won't let us live in peace."
"Hmmm. Unfortunately for them, we are prepared." replies Azula.
And she couldn't have been more correct. In our time as Praetors, we've changed a lot about Camp Jupiter. The Legion, which previously could only field about two hundred soldiers, now numbers around five hundred, with many of the previously retired Legionnaires coming back into service in preparation for the upcoming war. Other than the retired Legionnaires returning, the other bulk of our forces come from legacies entering the Legion earlier than they planned, most of them being around the age of twelve.
"You're thinking about our logistics again." says Azula as she interrupts my train of thought.
"I am." I reply. "Even though I know that we are more than ready, I cannot help but feel as if I missed something."
Azula turns her head to face me and raises an eyebrow.
"Interesting." she says "What do you think that you missed?"
"Alex's death. Something about it has been bothering me." I reply
"What about it? According to Julia she died in the middle battle during a monster hunting exercise, and her body was damaged beyond recovery. She was buried on the battlefield." replies Azula.
"Except none of us were there to witness it. I was in the Sea of Monsters, while you were in Camp Jupiter. If it weren't for the fact that Julia decided to let Alex do whatever she wanted during their tenure as praetor, I would have believed her. However, we both know that Julia let Alex walk all over her out of some misguided feeling of owing her life to Alex." I reply
Azula stops walking and turns to face me.
"You do know that you are basically accusing her of treason." she says.
"And I would not put it past Julia to do it for Alex. How long has it been since Alex's death? About a year and a half?" I ask as Azula nods in affirmative.
"A year and a half, and not once has she mourned , or asked for leave to mourn. If it was not for a lack of proof, I would have already dragged her to prison."
"Fine. Say she did commit treason, what do you think she did?" asks Azula in exasperation.
"Desertion. I think that she helped Alex desert. Normally I wouldn't care since they are supposed to be discharged. However, we recalled all veterans back into service during our second year as praetor, one year after we were elected and started the reforms. From there she spent another two years in service under us, learning everything new that we implemented, whether it be combat formations or defense protocols. Then, Julia returns from a standard monster hunting exercise, with feelings of guilt practically hanging from her, claiming that Alex died and that she couldn't recover the body, and had to bury her on the battlefield. Lastly, and this is definitely the most damning piece of evidence, Julia has not mourned a single day, or asked for leave to mourn. Maybe it's the Batman training in me, but something about this isn't right." I reply.
"You may have a point." she answers "However, we have more important matters to worry about. Besides it has been a year and a half since then, the Legion, and the camp's defenses have evolved."
"I know. It's that I just wouldn't put it past a child of Nemesis, the literal goddess of vengeance, to fake her death and come back to attack the camp just to get to us." I reply.
"Good, now stop worrying for a day, and let us enjoy our first day off in a while." she says as she pats my cheek before turning around and walking towards a cafe.
Before we can even make it to the door, the ringing of bells sounds throughout the camp, alerting us of an incoming attack.
Before Azula and I can react, a voice rings out from behind us.
"Praetor Ambrosius, Praetor Azula, an invading army is coming from the Little Tiber." says the voice.
Turning around, I immediately come face to face with Leila, optio, or second in command, of the fourth cohort.
"How?" I question.
"We don't know sir. The only reason that we know about the attack coming at all is because the army set off the traps we put under there." she replies.
"Very Well. Return to your cohort and send a messenger out to deliver my orders. All cohorts are to split into squads, half of those squads are assigned to the Caldecott entrance, a quarter are assigned to New Rome, and the last quarter is with me on the Little Tiber." I command.
Without missing a beat, Leila salutes and runs back to the fourth.
"It seems that the war is officially here." Azula says as she faces me. "You can leave the Caldecott entrance to me, go deal with Ocean's forces."
"What I wish to know is how he managed to maneuver his troops into that position to begin with. As far as I know, none have been able to find it's entrance, nor where it goes once it reaches The Lake." I say
"We will figure out how later, right now we have an army to destroy." replies Azula with her sadistic grin.
Without saying anything, I nod and begin to sprint towards The Lake while Azula makes for the barracks, not even bothering to go back to the Principia, home of the praetors, to get our armor. After becoming praetor, one of the first rules we changed was the uniform. Previously members of the legion could wear casual clothes under their armor, however Azula and I noticed how impractical it was to wear jeans and sneakers to a war. Therefore we changed the rules, making it so that in times of war, or impending war, all legionnaires must wear a mandatory uniform of military issued combat pants and boots at all times. What shirts they wear is up to them, as long as the color is purple. Even I abide by that rule.
Arriving at The Lake, I immediately notice a group of legionnaires standing at attention waiting for me.
"Archers mount that wall. Prepare the water canons, and arm the scorpion ballistae. Everyone else's assignment is simple, make sure that nothing climbs these walls, and protect the archers should anything make it up." I order as I arrive.
When I went over Camp Jupiter's defenses with Azula, one glaring weakness made itself known, the Little Tiber. While it is true that no one in camp knows where it leads to, that doesn't mean that our enemies wouldn't know how to get there and use it to their advantage. Therefore, starting from The Lake, to the mountains, where we could go no further, a fifty feet tall wall was built on each riverbank, and armed with siege weapons. The lake itself is also surrounded by the wall, with only an iron portcullis serving as an entrance point from The Lake to the camp.
By the time I finish giving out orders, I can feel the enemy nearing the armed part of the walls with no indication of them slowing down in sight. From estimation alone, I can tell that the siege weapons won't be enough to stop them from making it to the portcullis, breaking it, and going into Camp Jupiter.
Making my way onto the wall, I walk over to the man in charge of this group of squads. Justin, a twenty five year old son of Mercury, legionnaire veteran, and one of the most skilled swordsmen in The Legion.
"Julian, you are in charge of the wall. I will be in the water minimizing the amount of monsters that come through. Should it seem as if the defense here will end in failure, regroup with the legionnaires defending the Caldecott Tunnel and stop them from going any further." I order before diving into the river and swimming over to the opposing army.
From my position in the water, I can tell that the opposition's ranks are mainly made up of sea serpents, cyclops, and mermen, most likely from Oceans' court. The cyclops should be easy to outmaneuver, especially in the water. The sea serpents and mermen however are a different story. They have a certain maneuverability that I will never be able to replicate under water, not even as the son of Neptune. Their bodies just have a certain flexibility that a human body cannot replicate.
Swimming down the river, I quickly arrive at my first opponent, a cyclops. Without giving him time to react, I summon my trident and behead him. I pay him no mind as he turns into dust and attack the next one with a stab through the chest. Evidently this army of monsters has absolutely no idea how to fight as a unit underwater, a fatal mistake that will cost them.
Having figured out my opponents' weakness, I no longer hesitate, and attack them with no mercy. I swim under a club aimed at my face, prompting it to hit a merman in the ribs, and maneuver myself behind the cyclops and stab him through the head, killing him. Floating to the right, I evade a sword stab, and retaliate with a conjured spear through my opponent's throat.
From there I begin to move into the enemy's ranks while dodging and evading every blow, and parrying those I cannot into an enemy. Naturally I know that this tactic will not take care of this army, however that is not my objective.
Judging that I have made it far enough into the enemy's ranks, I set about putting my plan into action. First I sent an omnidirectional shockwave throughout the water to give me space. Then I concentrate on every lifeform in the river, and with control over the river itself I pull them towards me and hold them in place. Once all enemy combatants have been immobilised, I begin to drastically increase the water pressure.
As a son of Neptune, I cannot be harmed by water. Whether it be water pressure, temperature, or suffocation, it does not work on children of Neptune/Poseidon. While cyclops are also children of Poseidon, for some reasons their gifts from him are not as extensive as they are for his demigod children, I have no idea why, and frankly I couldn't possibly care less. Mermen and sea serpents also suffer from this limit, and I plan on taking advantage of that weakness.
Soon enough I hear cracking noises as the water pressure begins to break bones. The first enemy to die is a cyclops exploding in a puff of dust, followed by another, and eventually they all die, leaving only the sea serpents, and mermen, who by now are spitting blood.
The second group to die are the mermen, as their ribs break and impaling their hearts, leaving only a dozen or so enemies.
As I begin to increase the pressure again, a voice interrupts shouts out at me.
"My lord, my lord, please have mercy!" exclaims the voice.
Raising an eyebrow, I survey the surviving enemies with interests clear on my face. As I study them, I notice one of them staring at me in earnest with pleading eyes.
"Mercy, you say. Were you not part of the army that invaded my home with the hopes of destroying it and eating us?" I ask it.
"We were only following orders. Surely you must understand!" it pleads.
I swim closer to the creature and look it in the eyes.
"Naturally I can understand having to follow orders, hence why you are about to die without being tortured. Sure the death may not be painless, however it is the best I can do given the circumstances. A storm would damage the camp, killing you one by one would take too long, and I don't want to take any chances by electrocuting you. Who knows what will happen when lightning strikes these mysterious waters." I reply
"Perhaps a bargain then?" asks the serpent
"A bargain? Interesting. That would depend on how valuable the information you have is. If it is worth it I may even let you live, if not I shall at least give you a quick and painless death as thanks." I tell him.
Joy overcomes its eyes before it composes itself and talks.
"The Titans are coming soon. Koios, Krios and Perses, they're coming. I heard Lord Ocean talking to them. He says that he should be finished with Atlantis by this time next year to join them in next year's attack. He wants to capture you my Lord, to make you his slave as an insult to your father." he says.
"Koios, Krios and Perses you say? Interesting." I mumble to myself before once more focusing on the serpent. "You have earned your life. However, from henceforth you are to stay in The Lake and never leave the camp's boundaries. Understand?" I ask.
The serpent simply nods, and I let him go before turning back to the other creatures in my grasp, only to realise that they died during my conversation with the serpent. Not paying them any mind, I make my way back to The Lake with the sea serpent following behind.
Arriving at the portcullis, I launch myself into the air, using the water as a booster, and land on the wall.
"Julian" I command "Report"
He immediately makes his way to me and salutes.
"The Caldecott entrance was not attacked, and we have suffered no casualties or injuries sir. Also legionnaires Grace and Ramirez have returned from their supply runs, and Praetor Azula wishes to see you in the Principia." he reports.
"Good. From now on I want the wall to be patrolled at all times. Every cohort has one month of wall patrols, figure out the rotations among yourselves." I order before making my way to the Principia.
The principia is a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank with Roman guards standing out in front of it. Over the doorway, hangs a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.
Inside, on the ceiling glitters a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under Lupa. The floor is polished marble. The walls are draped in velvet, along the back wall stands a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals, and military symbols.
In the center is one empty display stand for the eagle standard lost in Alaska by Michael Varus. In the back corner, a stairwell leads down and is blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans. Behind the table, there are two high-backed chairs meant for the Praetors, and where Azula is currently sitting.
"I see you made it back without even a scratch" she says as she gets up from her seat and makes her way to me.
Hugging her by the waist, I pull her in close and kiss her. We remain there for a few seconds before separating.
"Did you know that Hylla is now the leader of the Amazon's. Apparently Reyna and Jason ran into her while on their way back from their supply run." says Azula.
"I'm really not surprised. There's a fire in her, it'll take her far. However that's not why you wanted to see me, is it?" I answer.
"Of course not. I just wanted to spend some alone time with you and knew that if I didn't say that I wanted to see you, you'd most likely spend the rest of the day training before coming to bed dead tired." she says as she makes her way to our bedrooms, a slight sway in her hips as she walks.
With a chuckle I follow her to the bedroom, already knowing what she has in store for me.
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"It's peaceful" says Azula as we make our way through the streets of New Rome.
"It is." I answer back. "It's too bad that it won't stay like this. The titans unfortunately won't let us live in peace."
"Hmmm. Unfortunately for them, we are prepared." replies Azula.
And she couldn't have been more correct. In our time as Praetors, we've changed a lot about Camp Jupiter. The Legion, which previously could only field about two hundred soldiers, now numbers around five hundred, with many of the previously retired Legionnaires coming back into service in preparation for the upcoming war. Other than the retired Legionnaires returning, the other bulk of our forces come from legacies entering the Legion earlier than they planned, most of them being around the age of twelve.
"You're thinking about our logistics again." says Azula as she interrupts my train of thought.
"I am." I reply. "Even though I know that we are more than ready, I cannot help but feel as if I missed something."
Azula turns her head to face me and raises an eyebrow.
"Interesting." she says "What do you think that you missed?"
"Alex's death. Something about it has been bothering me." I reply
"What about it? According to Julia she died in the middle battle during a monster hunting exercise, and her body was damaged beyond recovery. She was buried on the battlefield." replies Azula.
"Except none of us were there to witness it. I was in the Sea of Monsters, while you were in Camp Jupiter. If it weren't for the fact that Julia decided to let Alex do whatever she wanted during their tenure as praetor, I would have believed her. However, we both know that Julia let Alex walk all over her out of some misguided feeling of owing her life to Alex." I reply
Azula stops walking and turns to face me.
"You do know that you are basically accusing her of treason." she says.
"And I would not put it past Julia to do it for Alex. How long has it been since Alex's death? About a year and a half?" I ask as Azula nods in affirmative.
"A year and a half, and not once has she mourned , or asked for leave to mourn. If it was not for a lack of proof, I would have already dragged her to prison."
"Fine. Say she did commit treason, what do you think she did?" asks Azula in exasperation.
"Desertion. I think that she helped Alex desert. Normally I wouldn't care since they are supposed to be discharged. However, we recalled all veterans back into service during our second year as praetor, one year after we were elected and started the reforms. From there she spent another two years in service under us, learning everything new that we implemented, whether it be combat formations or defense protocols. Then, Julia returns from a standard monster hunting exercise, with feelings of guilt practically hanging from her, claiming that Alex died and that she couldn't recover the body, and had to bury her on the battlefield. Lastly, and this is definitely the most damning piece of evidence, Julia has not mourned a single day, or asked for leave to mourn. Maybe it's the Batman training in me, but something about this isn't right." I reply.
"You may have a point." she answers "However, we have more important matters to worry about. Besides it has been a year and a half since then, the Legion, and the camp's defenses have evolved."
"I know. It's that I just wouldn't put it past a child of Nemesis, the literal goddess of vengeance, to fake her death and come back to attack the camp just to get to us." I reply.
"Good, now stop worrying for a day, and let us enjoy our first day off in a while." she says as she pats my cheek before turning around and walking towards a cafe.
Before we can even make it to the door, the ringing of bells sounds throughout the camp, alerting us of an incoming attack.
Before Azula and I can react, a voice rings out from behind us.
"Praetor Ambrosius, Praetor Azula, an invading army is coming from the Little Tiber." says the voice.
Turning around, I immediately come face to face with Leila, optio, or second in command, of the fourth cohort.
"How?" I question.
"We don't know sir. The only reason that we know about the attack coming at all is because the army set off the traps we put under there." she replies.
"Very Well. Return to your cohort and send a messenger out to deliver my orders. All cohorts are to split into squads, half of those squads are assigned to the Caldecott entrance, a quarter are assigned to New Rome, and the last quarter is with me on the Little Tiber." I command.
Without missing a beat, Leila salutes and runs back to the fourth.
"It seems that the war is officially here." Azula says as she faces me. "You can leave the Caldecott entrance to me, go deal with Ocean's forces."
"What I wish to know is how he managed to maneuver his troops into that position to begin with. As far as I know, none have been able to find it's entrance, nor where it goes once it reaches The Lake." I say
"We will figure out how later, right now we have an army to destroy." replies Azula with her sadistic grin.
Without saying anything, I nod and begin to sprint towards The Lake while Azula makes for the barracks, not even bothering to go back to the Principia, home of the praetors, to get our armor. After becoming praetor, one of the first rules we changed was the uniform. Previously members of the legion could wear casual clothes under their armor, however Azula and I noticed how impractical it was to wear jeans and sneakers to a war. Therefore we changed the rules, making it so that in times of war, or impending war, all legionnaires must wear a mandatory uniform of military issued combat pants and boots at all times. What shirts they wear is up to them, as long as the color is purple. Even I abide by that rule.
Arriving at The Lake, I immediately notice a group of legionnaires standing at attention waiting for me.
"Archers mount that wall. Prepare the water canons, and arm the scorpion ballistae. Everyone else's assignment is simple, make sure that nothing climbs these walls, and protect the archers should anything make it up." I order as I arrive.
When I went over Camp Jupiter's defenses with Azula, one glaring weakness made itself known, the Little Tiber. While it is true that no one in camp knows where it leads to, that doesn't mean that our enemies wouldn't know how to get there and use it to their advantage. Therefore, starting from The Lake, to the mountains, where we could go no further, a fifty feet tall wall was built on each riverbank, and armed with siege weapons. The lake itself is also surrounded by the wall, with only an iron portcullis serving as an entrance point from The Lake to the camp.
By the time I finish giving out orders, I can feel the enemy nearing the armed part of the walls with no indication of them slowing down in sight. From estimation alone, I can tell that the siege weapons won't be enough to stop them from making it to the portcullis, breaking it, and going into Camp Jupiter.
Making my way onto the wall, I walk over to the man in charge of this group of squads. Justin, a twenty five year old son of Mercury, legionnaire veteran, and one of the most skilled swordsmen in The Legion.
"Julian, you are in charge of the wall. I will be in the water minimizing the amount of monsters that come through. Should it seem as if the defense here will end in failure, regroup with the legionnaires defending the Caldecott Tunnel and stop them from going any further." I order before diving into the river and swimming over to the opposing army.
From my position in the water, I can tell that the opposition's ranks are mainly made up of sea serpents, cyclops, and mermen, most likely from Oceans' court. The cyclops should be easy to outmaneuver, especially in the water. The sea serpents and mermen however are a different story. They have a certain maneuverability that I will never be able to replicate under water, not even as the son of Neptune. Their bodies just have a certain flexibility that a human body cannot replicate.
Swimming down the river, I quickly arrive at my first opponent, a cyclops. Without giving him time to react, I summon my trident and behead him. I pay him no mind as he turns into dust and attack the next one with a stab through the chest. Evidently this army of monsters has absolutely no idea how to fight as a unit underwater, a fatal mistake that will cost them.
Having figured out my opponents' weakness, I no longer hesitate, and attack them with no mercy. I swim under a club aimed at my face, prompting it to hit a merman in the ribs, and maneuver myself behind the cyclops and stab him through the head, killing him. Floating to the right, I evade a sword stab, and retaliate with a conjured spear through my opponent's throat.
From there I begin to move into the enemy's ranks while dodging and evading every blow, and parrying those I cannot into an enemy. Naturally I know that this tactic will not take care of this army, however that is not my objective.
Judging that I have made it far enough into the enemy's ranks, I set about putting my plan into action. First I sent an omnidirectional shockwave throughout the water to give me space. Then I concentrate on every lifeform in the river, and with control over the river itself I pull them towards me and hold them in place. Once all enemy combatants have been immobilised, I begin to drastically increase the water pressure.
As a son of Neptune, I cannot be harmed by water. Whether it be water pressure, temperature, or suffocation, it does not work on children of Neptune/Poseidon. While cyclops are also children of Poseidon, for some reasons their gifts from him are not as extensive as they are for his demigod children, I have no idea why, and frankly I couldn't possibly care less. Mermen and sea serpents also suffer from this limit, and I plan on taking advantage of that weakness.
Soon enough I hear cracking noises as the water pressure begins to break bones. The first enemy to die is a cyclops exploding in a puff of dust, followed by another, and eventually they all die, leaving only the sea serpents, and mermen, who by now are spitting blood.
The second group to die are the mermen, as their ribs break and impaling their hearts, leaving only a dozen or so enemies.
As I begin to increase the pressure again, a voice interrupts shouts out at me.
"My lord, my lord, please have mercy!" exclaims the voice.
Raising an eyebrow, I survey the surviving enemies with interests clear on my face. As I study them, I notice one of them staring at me in earnest with pleading eyes.
"Mercy, you say. Were you not part of the army that invaded my home with the hopes of destroying it and eating us?" I ask it.
"We were only following orders. Surely you must understand!" it pleads.
I swim closer to the creature and look it in the eyes.
"Naturally I can understand having to follow orders, hence why you are about to die without being tortured. Sure the death may not be painless, however it is the best I can do given the circumstances. A storm would damage the camp, killing you one by one would take too long, and I don't want to take any chances by electrocuting you. Who knows what will happen when lightning strikes these mysterious waters." I reply
"Perhaps a bargain then?" asks the serpent
"A bargain? Interesting. That would depend on how valuable the information you have is. If it is worth it I may even let you live, if not I shall at least give you a quick and painless death as thanks." I tell him.
Joy overcomes its eyes before it composes itself and talks.
"The Titans are coming soon. Koios, Krios and Perses, they're coming. I heard Lord Ocean talking to them. He says that he should be finished with Atlantis by this time next year to join them in next year's attack. He wants to capture you my Lord, to make you his slave as an insult to your father." he says.
"Koios, Krios and Perses you say? Interesting." I mumble to myself before once more focusing on the serpent. "You have earned your life. However, from henceforth you are to stay in The Lake and never leave the camp's boundaries. Understand?" I ask.
The serpent simply nods, and I let him go before turning back to the other creatures in my grasp, only to realise that they died during my conversation with the serpent. Not paying them any mind, I make my way back to The Lake with the sea serpent following behind.
Arriving at the portcullis, I launch myself into the air, using the water as a booster, and land on the wall.
"Julian" I command "Report"
He immediately makes his way to me and salutes.
"The Caldecott entrance was not attacked, and we have suffered no casualties or injuries sir. Also legionnaires Grace and Ramirez have returned from their supply runs, and Praetor Azula wishes to see you in the Principia." he reports.
"Good. From now on I want the wall to be patrolled at all times. Every cohort has one month of wall patrols, figure out the rotations among yourselves." I order before making my way to the Principia.
The principia is a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank with Roman guards standing out in front of it. Over the doorway, hangs a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.
Inside, on the ceiling glitters a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under Lupa. The floor is polished marble. The walls are draped in velvet, along the back wall stands a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals, and military symbols.
In the center is one empty display stand for the eagle standard lost in Alaska by Michael Varus. In the back corner, a stairwell leads down and is blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans. Behind the table, there are two high-backed chairs meant for the Praetors, and where Azula is currently sitting.
"I see you made it back without even a scratch" she says as she gets up from her seat and makes her way to me.
Hugging her by the waist, I pull her in close and kiss her. We remain there for a few seconds before separating.
"Did you know that Hylla is now the leader of the Amazon's. Apparently Reyna and Jason ran into her while on their way back from their supply run." says Azula.
"I'm really not surprised. There's a fire in her, it'll take her far. However that's not why you wanted to see me, is it?" I answer.
"Of course not. I just wanted to spend some alone time with you and knew that if I didn't say that I wanted to see you, you'd most likely spend the rest of the day training before coming to bed dead tired." she says as she makes her way to our bedrooms, a slight sway in her hips as she walks.
With a chuckle I follow her to the bedroom, already knowing what she has in store for me.
What fight are you talking about? The only battle in this whole chapter was the one that took place in the river.
Prelude to War
So this chapter was annoying to write simply because I had to describe his new armor. Since I'm pretty sure that I did a horrible job of it, here's a link to the picture of his armor:
Also don't forget to comment ideas for his skills and noble phantasms for the nasuverse.
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It's been a tense year since the attack on camp, and for once I finally have time to relax. I'm currently laying down under The Lake, enjoying some peace and quiet. The date is August 11, 2009, the day of Percy's attack on the 'Princess Andromeda' and of Charles Beckendorf's death. It's also four days before the Battle of Manhattan begins.
Normally knowing all of this information would be useful, however a few factors make it so that the information is close to useless for me.
For one I am in the Roman part of the story, the part that is spectacularly vague about how the war went on the Roman front of things. The only thing that is known for a fact is that Jason defeated Krios, the only Titan there, and destroyed Kronos' throne in Mount Othrys. However the information is no longer useful as Krios is now joined by Koios and Perses, which brings me to my second hindrance, canon is no longer the same.
Not only is there the possibility of ROB changing things, but I have changed so many things since coming here that I've given up relying on my foreknowledge for anything. My first major change was upgrading the camp's defenses and having The Legion actively hunt down monsters on the west coast. My second major change was sinking a whole island in the Sea of Monsters and attracting Kronos' attention to Camp Jupiter. In canon Kronos' had sent the majority of his forces to attack New York. However, ever since the Sea of Monsters, I've made myself into a bigger threat than Percy by forcing all of the Titan's Lord forces on the west coast to hide in Mount Othrys. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Beckendorf survives his and Percy's assault on the 'Princess Andromeda' simply because the majority of Kronos' forces are either dead or positioned in Mount Othrys to attack Camp Jupiter.
"My Lord. What has you so lost in thought?" says a strikingly familiar voice, interrupting my thoughts in the process.
I open my eyes and turn to face my visitor.
"Portunus, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" I ask.
Portunus, also known as Palaemon to the Greeks, is the god of sharks, harbors, sailors, and one of the commanders in Neptune's army. Currently he takes the form of a speartooth shark, one of five known species of true river sharks, an extremely rare and threatened species.
"I have come with a gift from Lord Neptune and Lady Salacia. They wished to personally present it to you, however the war is currently at a crucial point and they are needed there." replies the shark as a rectangular box materialises on the ground.
"I understand." I say.
"I must be going now." he says with a bow before disappearing in a flash of light.
Swimming to the floor of the river, I open the box to see a set of armor and a note over it.
"Since you have outgrown your previous armor, both of your mothers and I have decided to give you that will grow with you in preparation for the upcoming battles. These will be far more dangerous than ever. According to our sources, Ocean has set the Carthaginian Serpent to attack the mortal city near Camp. This battle will not be easy. No matter what, do not hold back. Remember, The Carthaginian Serpent is a 120 foot snake that emerged from the River Bagrada in North Africa to confront General Marcus Atilius Regulus and his troops during the First Punic War. The only reason the Legion managed to defeat it is because they had a mountain of rocks to bury it under. You will not have that advantage. ~N" reads the note
Putting the note down, and momentarily ignoring the fact that I will have to face one of the most dangerous sea serpents to exist, I turn my attention to the armor in the box.
Similar to the first piece of armor I received, this one is also colored blue and black. Unlike my previous one however, this armor is split into pieces. The first piece is a sleeveless blue cuirass made of an unknown material with horizontal lines going down it and a single vertical line that travels through them, five black sea shells going across the chest. Attached to the cuirass are blue tassets to protect the upper thigh, and a cloth that hangs between the legs. On the left tasset are five purple sea shells, while the right has one.
The legs are one piece separated into two colors, with the division occurring just above the knee. The top is made out of the same scales as my previous armor, colored black, and ending at just above the knee. The bottom covers from the knee down to the ankles and made from the same materials as the cuirass.
The boots are colored blue, reaching just under the knee, with the part of the feet covered in a grey armor that makes it indistinguishable from the greaves that go over the part of the boot that covers the shins.
The pieces that go over the arm are similar to the old armor. There are two blue vambraces, with a single fin each, that go over two black sleeves that start from the biceps and end at the wrist.
The final pieces of the armor are two pieces of purple cloth that can be used for a cape, a black belt that is suspiciously in the shape of Aquaman's symbol, and a blue circlet for my head, no doubt signifying my status as a prince of the sea.
Closing the box, I picked it up and made my way out of the lake to prepare for dinner.
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"Lady Lupa, it is good to see you." says Azula as we bow to the wolf goddess.
The Legion had just finished another game of siege after dinner, when the goddess appeared.
"Likewise. Unfortunately this is not a simple visit." replies the goddess. "I bring with me grave news. The enemy is officially on the move. A majority of their forces have left Mount Othrys and are on their way to the camp as we speak. Their time of arrival should be around two days. However my wolves and I shall run interference, you can expect to have an extra day to prepare at most."
"We will be ready." I answer.
"Do not be hasty. This, unfortunately, is not the end of my report. As you know, Ocean and Neptune have been at war with each other for the better part of two years. From your spy's report we know that he expected to win the war in time to join the Titan's army assault on the camp, naturally he failed and is still fighting the war. In fact, from Neptune's reports, we know that Ocean is being pushed back and will not be able to join his brethren."
"Isn't that good?" asks Jason from behind Azula.
"Normally, yes. However, seeing as he won't be able to join himself, he sent the Carthaginian Serpent to attack the mortal city of San Francisco. The atlanteans have attempted to intercept it to no avail. It will arrive in time to aid the Titan army in their assault of the camp." explains Lupa.
"Well shit." says Reyna as she voices everyone's thoughts.
"Crude, but aptly said little one." answers Lupa.
"You have three days at the most to prepare, do not squander it." says the wolf goddess before leaving in a flash of light, prompting us to avert our eyes.
Looking over the cohort, I can tell that most of them have already come to terms with the fact that the deciding battle for the war's outcome is coming. For years we have battled against the enemy in skirmishes, like the battle in the Little Tiber a year ago. The battles started out a year after my fight with Alex, when Azula and I took over as praetors.
At first it was simply us hunting hordes of monsters to give the Legion real life and death experiences. Then, a few months after my trip in the Sea of Monsters, the monsters became organised and even started to employ mortal mercenaries. It was easy for Azula and I to figure out that Atlas had been freed, he isn't called The General for nothing after all. However, despite the enemies' organisation and newfound tactical prowess, we were prepared. I had been drilling military formations and tactics from every era in history into the minds of the legionnaires for years in preparation for Atlas' release. Naturally that didn't make them as proficient as Atlas, however it definitely reduced the number of casualties we've received by a large margin compared to if we stuck to Roman tactics only.
Studying the faces of the veterans, I can easily tell that they have accepted the fact that they may not survive the upcoming battle. Many of them have lost friends, comrades, brothers and sisters in arms, and some even their blood relatives. I can feel many of their needs for revenge, and frankly I don't blame them. The battle in the Little Tiber was not the last attempt to circumvent the camp's defenses and enter through the lake. Over the single year that passed since then, I haven't always been available to fight alongside them. The casualties during those times easily outnumber our casualties in other skirmishes. Eventually I had enough and completely diverted the river's path coming from the mountains away from camp. While that didn't stop the attacks, it certainly reduced it to a significant amount. After all now that the river no longer reaches the camp, the monsters have to get out of the river and walk from the mountain to the camp. The amount of monsters that can survive in both sea and land are in the minority, with the cyclops being the most populous.
However, not all of the legionnaires have experienced enough life and death battles to immediately mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming one. Naturally they are not as confident as the more experienced members of the legion. However behind that uncertainty, lies a fire of conviction. A conviction to fight for Rome and to make its enemies bleed. Like the veterans, they have felt the sting of casualties, and like the veterans they too want to make the enemy pay dearly.
"Legionnaires!" I scream, bringing all their attention to me. "In three days the enemy shall arrive at our steps in an attempt to subjugate us. You know our pantheon's history, you know what the Titans and their army of monsters are capable of. I have no need to tell you what the consequences of failure will be. You all know. Unfortunately for the Titans, we are ready. We have been preparing for years, even before we knew for a fact that a war was coming, because it is who we are. It is in our blood, we are the swords and shields of New Rome, and woe betide all those who stand against her."
Also don't forget to comment ideas for his skills and noble phantasms for the nasuverse.
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It's been a tense year since the attack on camp, and for once I finally have time to relax. I'm currently laying down under The Lake, enjoying some peace and quiet. The date is August 11, 2009, the day of Percy's attack on the 'Princess Andromeda' and of Charles Beckendorf's death. It's also four days before the Battle of Manhattan begins.
Normally knowing all of this information would be useful, however a few factors make it so that the information is close to useless for me.
For one I am in the Roman part of the story, the part that is spectacularly vague about how the war went on the Roman front of things. The only thing that is known for a fact is that Jason defeated Krios, the only Titan there, and destroyed Kronos' throne in Mount Othrys. However the information is no longer useful as Krios is now joined by Koios and Perses, which brings me to my second hindrance, canon is no longer the same.
Not only is there the possibility of ROB changing things, but I have changed so many things since coming here that I've given up relying on my foreknowledge for anything. My first major change was upgrading the camp's defenses and having The Legion actively hunt down monsters on the west coast. My second major change was sinking a whole island in the Sea of Monsters and attracting Kronos' attention to Camp Jupiter. In canon Kronos' had sent the majority of his forces to attack New York. However, ever since the Sea of Monsters, I've made myself into a bigger threat than Percy by forcing all of the Titan's Lord forces on the west coast to hide in Mount Othrys. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Beckendorf survives his and Percy's assault on the 'Princess Andromeda' simply because the majority of Kronos' forces are either dead or positioned in Mount Othrys to attack Camp Jupiter.
"My Lord. What has you so lost in thought?" says a strikingly familiar voice, interrupting my thoughts in the process.
I open my eyes and turn to face my visitor.
"Portunus, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" I ask.
Portunus, also known as Palaemon to the Greeks, is the god of sharks, harbors, sailors, and one of the commanders in Neptune's army. Currently he takes the form of a speartooth shark, one of five known species of true river sharks, an extremely rare and threatened species.
"I have come with a gift from Lord Neptune and Lady Salacia. They wished to personally present it to you, however the war is currently at a crucial point and they are needed there." replies the shark as a rectangular box materialises on the ground.
"I understand." I say.
"I must be going now." he says with a bow before disappearing in a flash of light.
Swimming to the floor of the river, I open the box to see a set of armor and a note over it.
"Since you have outgrown your previous armor, both of your mothers and I have decided to give you that will grow with you in preparation for the upcoming battles. These will be far more dangerous than ever. According to our sources, Ocean has set the Carthaginian Serpent to attack the mortal city near Camp. This battle will not be easy. No matter what, do not hold back. Remember, The Carthaginian Serpent is a 120 foot snake that emerged from the River Bagrada in North Africa to confront General Marcus Atilius Regulus and his troops during the First Punic War. The only reason the Legion managed to defeat it is because they had a mountain of rocks to bury it under. You will not have that advantage. ~N" reads the note
Putting the note down, and momentarily ignoring the fact that I will have to face one of the most dangerous sea serpents to exist, I turn my attention to the armor in the box.
Similar to the first piece of armor I received, this one is also colored blue and black. Unlike my previous one however, this armor is split into pieces. The first piece is a sleeveless blue cuirass made of an unknown material with horizontal lines going down it and a single vertical line that travels through them, five black sea shells going across the chest. Attached to the cuirass are blue tassets to protect the upper thigh, and a cloth that hangs between the legs. On the left tasset are five purple sea shells, while the right has one.
The legs are one piece separated into two colors, with the division occurring just above the knee. The top is made out of the same scales as my previous armor, colored black, and ending at just above the knee. The bottom covers from the knee down to the ankles and made from the same materials as the cuirass.
The boots are colored blue, reaching just under the knee, with the part of the feet covered in a grey armor that makes it indistinguishable from the greaves that go over the part of the boot that covers the shins.
The pieces that go over the arm are similar to the old armor. There are two blue vambraces, with a single fin each, that go over two black sleeves that start from the biceps and end at the wrist.
The final pieces of the armor are two pieces of purple cloth that can be used for a cape, a black belt that is suspiciously in the shape of Aquaman's symbol, and a blue circlet for my head, no doubt signifying my status as a prince of the sea.
Closing the box, I picked it up and made my way out of the lake to prepare for dinner.
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"Lady Lupa, it is good to see you." says Azula as we bow to the wolf goddess.
The Legion had just finished another game of siege after dinner, when the goddess appeared.
"Likewise. Unfortunately this is not a simple visit." replies the goddess. "I bring with me grave news. The enemy is officially on the move. A majority of their forces have left Mount Othrys and are on their way to the camp as we speak. Their time of arrival should be around two days. However my wolves and I shall run interference, you can expect to have an extra day to prepare at most."
"We will be ready." I answer.
"Do not be hasty. This, unfortunately, is not the end of my report. As you know, Ocean and Neptune have been at war with each other for the better part of two years. From your spy's report we know that he expected to win the war in time to join the Titan's army assault on the camp, naturally he failed and is still fighting the war. In fact, from Neptune's reports, we know that Ocean is being pushed back and will not be able to join his brethren."
"Isn't that good?" asks Jason from behind Azula.
"Normally, yes. However, seeing as he won't be able to join himself, he sent the Carthaginian Serpent to attack the mortal city of San Francisco. The atlanteans have attempted to intercept it to no avail. It will arrive in time to aid the Titan army in their assault of the camp." explains Lupa.
"Well shit." says Reyna as she voices everyone's thoughts.
"Crude, but aptly said little one." answers Lupa.
"You have three days at the most to prepare, do not squander it." says the wolf goddess before leaving in a flash of light, prompting us to avert our eyes.
Looking over the cohort, I can tell that most of them have already come to terms with the fact that the deciding battle for the war's outcome is coming. For years we have battled against the enemy in skirmishes, like the battle in the Little Tiber a year ago. The battles started out a year after my fight with Alex, when Azula and I took over as praetors.
At first it was simply us hunting hordes of monsters to give the Legion real life and death experiences. Then, a few months after my trip in the Sea of Monsters, the monsters became organised and even started to employ mortal mercenaries. It was easy for Azula and I to figure out that Atlas had been freed, he isn't called The General for nothing after all. However, despite the enemies' organisation and newfound tactical prowess, we were prepared. I had been drilling military formations and tactics from every era in history into the minds of the legionnaires for years in preparation for Atlas' release. Naturally that didn't make them as proficient as Atlas, however it definitely reduced the number of casualties we've received by a large margin compared to if we stuck to Roman tactics only.
Studying the faces of the veterans, I can easily tell that they have accepted the fact that they may not survive the upcoming battle. Many of them have lost friends, comrades, brothers and sisters in arms, and some even their blood relatives. I can feel many of their needs for revenge, and frankly I don't blame them. The battle in the Little Tiber was not the last attempt to circumvent the camp's defenses and enter through the lake. Over the single year that passed since then, I haven't always been available to fight alongside them. The casualties during those times easily outnumber our casualties in other skirmishes. Eventually I had enough and completely diverted the river's path coming from the mountains away from camp. While that didn't stop the attacks, it certainly reduced it to a significant amount. After all now that the river no longer reaches the camp, the monsters have to get out of the river and walk from the mountain to the camp. The amount of monsters that can survive in both sea and land are in the minority, with the cyclops being the most populous.
However, not all of the legionnaires have experienced enough life and death battles to immediately mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming one. Naturally they are not as confident as the more experienced members of the legion. However behind that uncertainty, lies a fire of conviction. A conviction to fight for Rome and to make its enemies bleed. Like the veterans, they have felt the sting of casualties, and like the veterans they too want to make the enemy pay dearly.
"Legionnaires!" I scream, bringing all their attention to me. "In three days the enemy shall arrive at our steps in an attempt to subjugate us. You know our pantheon's history, you know what the Titans and their army of monsters are capable of. I have no need to tell you what the consequences of failure will be. You all know. Unfortunately for the Titans, we are ready. We have been preparing for years, even before we knew for a fact that a war was coming, because it is who we are. It is in our blood, we are the swords and shields of New Rome, and woe betide all those who stand against her."
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Arimai
Curmudgeon
xandou that armour is painful to look at. It should be much more tapered and form-fitting. Barrel-shaped cuirass are a sign of shoddy workmanship. Where is the gambeson underlayer? If a god made that it should be an example of practical armour, as it is, it appears to be a Hollywood or Chinese mass-produced knockoff
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Are you really using real life logic for mystical armor?
Arimai
Curmudgeon
The way the cuirass is shaped unless it is as flexible as cloth he won't be able to bend his waist. It will need to be soft when moving and hard as hell when struck. That thing ends at his hips and is too big for his torso. It will rattle as he moves and with how loose it is the weight distribution will hurt and flay his skin. From the picture, he isn't wearing anything underneath it. That would be painful even with shirt and gambeson. Without them wearing that will be the death of a thousand cuts.
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The armor is in fact that flexible. I hinted at it being more than meets the eye when I said "... made of an unknown material...". The next chapter goes more in depth about it
Arimai
Curmudgeon
Well alright then. He really should wear gambeson under that. The chafing will be murder, I hope he has a cup protector on.
- Location
- Oregon
I know magic armor and all that but.... gambeson?!?! I could understand some kinda mythical hydra scale mail or something but waterlogged gambeson just seems like a major design flaw unless they make it super thin and out of mythical materials. I mean yeah Child of the Sea instant cloths dryer but come on.
I never said that it was gamberson. I said "...made of an unknown material..."
- Location
- Oregon
lol that was more @Arimai not you don't worry.
My bad bro
Arimai
Curmudgeon
Any sort of padding will work. As it is if he fights out of the water he'll be racking up the injuries and bruises. Then again hopefully the armour's magic will have an anti-kinetic gel equivalent inside.
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That's actually pretty close to what it is
Arimai
Curmudgeon
xandou you use an apostrophe s on plurals and no apostrophe on possessive. It should be the other way around.
On another note I really, really want the new gels that DARPA is experimenting on to help with impacts and those used to help fighter pilots and astronauts survive higher G forces.
For example:
The Amazons are coming. Instead of how you've used it in the story: The Amazon's are coming.
That's an Amazon's spear.
The Amazons are coming. Instead of how you've used it in the story: The Amazon's are coming.
That's an Amazon's spear.
On another note I really, really want the new gels that DARPA is experimenting on to help with impacts and those used to help fighter pilots and astronauts survive higher G forces.
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Thanks for the heads up
War
Link for Azula's armor:
Also don't forget to post ideas for Azula and Ambrosius' skills and noble phantasms.
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Azula looks down at her armor on her bed. She had received it three days ago before dinner, around the same time as Ambrosius received his. Her brother, Cupid, had stopped by while she was filling out some paperwork in her office. It would appear that she and Ambrosius were originally supposed to receive a pair of spartan armor each, however Neptune and Venus opposed the idea vehemently. Why? She doesn't know, and frankly she doesn't really care. She does wonder however whether ROB had something to do with this, or if it's just a natural part of really living and affecting whatever world they're in.
Shaking her head free from such distracting thoughts, Azula begins to arrange her hair into a warrior's braid, leaving two bangs to frame her face similar to how she wore it back in her home world. With that done, she begins to put on her armor.
Ambrosius' armor is made up of the skin of a mythical sea creature, coated in a flexible some unknown metal, and charmed with for extra flexibility and durability. Her armor however is made up of the same metal, except it has gone through a forging process instead of just being used as a coating. Like his however, her armor is charmed for extra flexibility and durability.
The first piece to go is the ebony colored battle skirt that covers part of her black padded leggings. The skirt itself ends at her mid thigh, with a purple belt, that slightly glows, to hold it to her waist. Following that are her knee high boots that clack against the wooden floor along with their greaves. The boots themselves are in the exact same design as Ambrosius', with hers being all black.
Next, she puts on her chest plate that is composed of a purple eagle whose wings are spread, under black shoulder pads. Purple padded under shirt comes out from under the breast plate and ends at the wrist, where the dark grey vambraces cover them from her elbow to her wrist.
Then she puts on the helmet that covers the majority of her head while leaving her lips and eyes exposed. Finally she puts on her dark purple cape with highlights that glow purple every few seconds.
Having put her armor on, Azula executes a few of her firebending katas, only to notice that Ambrosius is correct. The armor barely weights anything, feels like a second skin, and doesn't restrict her movement at all. In addition, she can already feel the cape's enchantment at work. According to Cupid, the cape is supposed to help her control the wind better, and to fly.
Once her armor is in place, Azula makes her way out of the praetors' quarters to the Caldecott Tunnel, Camp Jupiter's only official entrance.
Arriving at the entrance, Azula is glad to see the first and second cohort already there, posted just before the entrance and standing in formation.
Not wanting to go through the trouble of having them make a path for her, Azula jumps into the air and uses her powers over the wind to float herself to the front of the formation, her cape heroically blowing in the wind.
Arriving to the front of the formation, Azula gently lands and nods towards the centurions of the first and second.
"Report" she commands.
"Centurion Ramirez sent a message. The fourth and the third's guerilla attacks on the enemy have been successful. She and Lady Lupa have been able to reduce the Titan's forces by about thirty percent at the minimum. They are currently on their way to assist Centurion Grace." reports the Centurion of the first, Michael, as he steps forward and salutes.
Azula nods and turns towards the Centurion of the second.
"Has Centurion Grace sent word of his progress?" she asks.
The centurion of the second, twin brother of Michael, steps forward and salutes before reporting.
"Centurion Ramirez's diversion worked. His troops have bypassed the enemy and have almost made it to Mount Othrys. They should arrive at around noon." says Justin.
"Any word from Praetor Ambrosius yet?" asks Azula.
"No mam. We haven't received word from Praetor Ambrosius ever since he left two days ago to intercept the Carthaginian Serpent." replies the centurion before stepping back into formation alongside his brother.
The plan to defeat the Titan army is a simple one. Ambrosius will intercept the Carthaginian Serpent in the sea before it reaches the shore. Reyna will take the fourth and third cohort to meet up with Lupa and her pack to launch as many guerilla attacks on the enemy as possible, drawing their attention to her. Meanwhile Jason will take his cohort, the fifth, to strike at Mount Othrys in the hopes of destroying Saturn's, also known as Kronos, throne. In the meantime, she will command the first and second in Camp Jupiter's defense. A simple yet adaptable plan.
So far everything has been going according to plan. Even better if she were to be honest. She never expected Reyna to be able to reduce the enemy's forces by thirty percent.
Before she can sink deeper into her thoughts, Azula feels the enemy enter her domain. Based off of Ambrosius' sensory domain, Azula created a technique that lets her sense anything based on wind currents. Similar to Ambrosius when in the sea, Azula has yet to find a limit to what she can sense. She also can't succumb to sensory overload since she isn't truly sensing with her traditional senses, but instead with her supernatural sense that lets her control the wind. However she does prefer to set her domain at about three miles when preparing for large scale combat, like the upcoming battle.
"Form up!!!" orders Azula.
Immediately the cohorts lock shields, stand their ground, and prepare to enter a standard phalanx formation.
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Michael is a member of the Legion, a veteran to be exact. As legacies of Mercury, he and his brother, Justin, served New Rome as members of the Legion for the standard ten years of service. After that they were honorably discharged and allowed to reside in New Rome as proud citizens. However, they quickly found that the peaceful life wasn't for them, so when Praetor Ambrosius and Praetor Azula started to recall veterans in preparation for the war, they quickly and excitedly rejoined.
Unfortunately nothing could prepare them for the new Legion. Like the Legion before them, the Legion of New Rome heavily emphasised teamwork and cooperation to defeat the enemy. While this made them a formidable army, it however made them weak individually.
The new Legion however, forced one to work on their individual skills to survive the harsh training. Now one's swordsmanship and spearmanship skills need to be at a certain level. After that it was a constant hunting of monsters to gain real life life and death experiences before the war came.
Eventually the war came in the form of skirmishes, and Michael was more than happy to kill the enemies of New Rome.
Now at the ripe age of twenty three, Michael and his brother Justin stand proudly next to one of their praetors as they prepare for the coming enemy.
Before an order can be given however, the wind starts to pick up, clouds cover the sun, and lightning flashes while accompanied by the roars of thunder.
"Michael, Justin," comes the voice of Praetor Azula from his side "I will personally meet the enemy and attack. Your job is to stay here with your respective cohorts and to kill any monster that I miss. Understand?"
Yes, mam." he and his brother answer.
With a nod Azula launches herself into the air and flies off to meet the enemy.
Michael watches in awe as she disappears into the storm clouds, her purple cape billowing behind her and glowing every few seconds. Soon enough he loses sight of her, with the storm clouds behind the only indication of her continued presence.
Before Michael can ponder about her action, a lightning bolt, the likes of which he has never seen before, strikes the middle of the monster army disintegrating a big part of it.
Michael and Julian can't help but watch in awe as the enemy's forces begin to combust into dust for no reason. It didn't take long for him and his brother to figure out that their Praetor was in fact the giant bolt of lightning that struck the enemy earlier.
Before he can continue to admire her however, he notices some monsters coming towards them and gives the order to prepare for battle.
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Koios is in a bad mood. He has been in a bad mood ever since his return from Tartarus. When he had first been released from Tartarus, Koios had been ecstatic. After all he is no longer suffering in the pit and the Titans were in the process of making a comeback. He expected to return to Mount Othrys and find legions of monsters waiting there for him and his siblings to order and conquer the Olympians with. Unfortunately reality is far more disappointing than fantasy.
When he arrived in Mount Othrys he was met with an army of approximately one thousand two hundred monsters. Voicing his disappointment, Koios had asked why their forces were in such low numbers, only to be informed about a demigod son of Neptune reforming much of the legion and using them to wipe out any monster that has the gall to come to the west coast, forcing them to hide in Mount Othrys.
When Koios heard this, he had been skeptical. After all, what danger could a demigod possibly pose. As it turns out he had been wrong, and the numbers of monsters that joined their forces continued to plummet as less monsters stepped foot in the west coast, and the majority of those who did died at the hands of the Roman legion.
Eventually he was joined by Perses in commanding the army after Atlas returned to holding up the sky. With his help Koios was able to convince Ocean to attack the camp using the river inside as an entrance. Unfortunately that too failed, no matter how hard they tried.
Eventually the day of attack came and they began to march towards the enemy. Unfortunately they were constantly attacked on the road, and lost about four hundred out of one thousand forces. They never caught the Romans who attacked.
Now he watches next to Perses as a lone demigod decimates his forces, and he can't help but want to rip her to shreds. Koios watches in anger as she jumps on a hellhound's head and uses it as a springboard to jump to a cyclops' eye level and decapitate it.
Having had enough, Koios roars in rage and joins the fray. Quickly reaching the demigod, Koios swings his sword at her unsuspecting head, only for her to duck and cut off his sword hand at the wrist as she turns to face him. With a pained yell Koio holds his wrist in his remaining hand and looks at the demigod.
Finally getting a good look at her, Koios admits that she is in fact very beautiful. Between her armor, midnight black hair and eyes that glow with the color of lightning, and the arcs of lightning traveling up and down her form, the demigoddess poses a beautiful and regal figure. As Koios observes Azula he makes the mistake of being caught in a trance, completely missing Azula as she launches herself at him and decapitates him, sending him back to Tartarus.
Azula's actions surprise the rest of the army, as they freeze in shock to process what happened. A fatal mistake, since Azula takes the opportunity to summon a massive bolt of lightning, and using her sword redirects it at the enemies all around her, further cutting the army down in half.
The surviving monsters look around and quickly realize how outmatched they are. With the Telekhines taking the lead, the majority of monsters quickly turn around and run for their lives.
Perses, who had been watching from the very back can't help but snarl in disgust. Making his way to the front of the now hundred or so strong army, Perses grips his spear and runs towards the demigoddess.
Azula, seeing him coming, easily sidesteps his stab, ducks under his swing, and easily redirects his slash.
"Honestly, you are such a horrible lancer. You flail that spear around with a minimal amount of skill and all brute strength" she says as she tilts her head to the right to dodge another stab.
"Who taught you how to swing that spear? A monkey?" she taunts as she redirects another slash.
By now Perses is no longer thinking straight and is completely consumed by rage as he watches Azula dodge and parry his strikes with a minimal amount of movement while taunting him. His judgement is so clouded that he never realizes that she is using his reckless attacks to continue to thin out his forces.
Eventually Azula deems it enough, she sidesteps a stab, using the opportunity to cut the shaft of the spear in half, she then proceeds to step into his guard and impales Crocea Mors between his eyebrows. Realizing what happened, Perses tries to speak, only to go to Tartarus before even making a sound.
"Good riddance" says Azula as she wipes his ichor from her blade.
Before Azula can do anything else, something crashes on the ground in front of her and continues to skid past her.
Turning in the direction of the object, Azula sees Ambrosius with one knee on the ground, his trident impaled on the ground with a trail from where he used it to slow his momentum, and in the sorriest state she has ever seen him in. You can easily tell that he had been in a major battle. For one, his left arm hangs by his side in a limp, on his face he has a deep cut exactly where his scar used to be when they first met, and blood can be seen leaking from his nose.
With a groan he slowly gets up, before coughing out blood once on his feet. Looking up he turns his eyes to something behind Azula with a weary smirk, bringing her attention to the giant sea serpent that's slowly disintegrating into golden dust. Before it completely disintegrates however, Azula gets a good look at what it originally looked like.
The serpent is about one hundred twenty feet long, its skin is a glistening flesh, green and brown ridged with serrated dorsal fins. Its triangular forehead is wide enough to provide parking for about two or three cars, and it's now dead eyes slowly lose their orange glow.
Before Azula can continue to observe the serpent, she hears Ambrosius groan behind her. With urgency she turns to help him only to see a chain wrap around his throat drag him into a doorway before it closes. The doors are clearly elevator doors framed in Stygian Iron, with black and silver doors etched with art deco designs.
With haste Azula sprints to help him, only for the doors to disappear just as they close, leaving her standing there in shock as fear and worry courses through her very being. She remembers those doors from Ambrosius' description, she knows that the only time they came into play in canon was when Gaea started to come back. She knows for a fact that the only place that Gaea would open the Doors of Death to is the pit itself, Tartarus.
Also don't forget to post ideas for Azula and Ambrosius' skills and noble phantasms.
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Azula looks down at her armor on her bed. She had received it three days ago before dinner, around the same time as Ambrosius received his. Her brother, Cupid, had stopped by while she was filling out some paperwork in her office. It would appear that she and Ambrosius were originally supposed to receive a pair of spartan armor each, however Neptune and Venus opposed the idea vehemently. Why? She doesn't know, and frankly she doesn't really care. She does wonder however whether ROB had something to do with this, or if it's just a natural part of really living and affecting whatever world they're in.
Shaking her head free from such distracting thoughts, Azula begins to arrange her hair into a warrior's braid, leaving two bangs to frame her face similar to how she wore it back in her home world. With that done, she begins to put on her armor.
Ambrosius' armor is made up of the skin of a mythical sea creature, coated in a flexible some unknown metal, and charmed with for extra flexibility and durability. Her armor however is made up of the same metal, except it has gone through a forging process instead of just being used as a coating. Like his however, her armor is charmed for extra flexibility and durability.
The first piece to go is the ebony colored battle skirt that covers part of her black padded leggings. The skirt itself ends at her mid thigh, with a purple belt, that slightly glows, to hold it to her waist. Following that are her knee high boots that clack against the wooden floor along with their greaves. The boots themselves are in the exact same design as Ambrosius', with hers being all black.
Next, she puts on her chest plate that is composed of a purple eagle whose wings are spread, under black shoulder pads. Purple padded under shirt comes out from under the breast plate and ends at the wrist, where the dark grey vambraces cover them from her elbow to her wrist.
Then she puts on the helmet that covers the majority of her head while leaving her lips and eyes exposed. Finally she puts on her dark purple cape with highlights that glow purple every few seconds.
Having put her armor on, Azula executes a few of her firebending katas, only to notice that Ambrosius is correct. The armor barely weights anything, feels like a second skin, and doesn't restrict her movement at all. In addition, she can already feel the cape's enchantment at work. According to Cupid, the cape is supposed to help her control the wind better, and to fly.
Once her armor is in place, Azula makes her way out of the praetors' quarters to the Caldecott Tunnel, Camp Jupiter's only official entrance.
Arriving at the entrance, Azula is glad to see the first and second cohort already there, posted just before the entrance and standing in formation.
Not wanting to go through the trouble of having them make a path for her, Azula jumps into the air and uses her powers over the wind to float herself to the front of the formation, her cape heroically blowing in the wind.
Arriving to the front of the formation, Azula gently lands and nods towards the centurions of the first and second.
"Report" she commands.
"Centurion Ramirez sent a message. The fourth and the third's guerilla attacks on the enemy have been successful. She and Lady Lupa have been able to reduce the Titan's forces by about thirty percent at the minimum. They are currently on their way to assist Centurion Grace." reports the Centurion of the first, Michael, as he steps forward and salutes.
Azula nods and turns towards the Centurion of the second.
"Has Centurion Grace sent word of his progress?" she asks.
The centurion of the second, twin brother of Michael, steps forward and salutes before reporting.
"Centurion Ramirez's diversion worked. His troops have bypassed the enemy and have almost made it to Mount Othrys. They should arrive at around noon." says Justin.
"Any word from Praetor Ambrosius yet?" asks Azula.
"No mam. We haven't received word from Praetor Ambrosius ever since he left two days ago to intercept the Carthaginian Serpent." replies the centurion before stepping back into formation alongside his brother.
The plan to defeat the Titan army is a simple one. Ambrosius will intercept the Carthaginian Serpent in the sea before it reaches the shore. Reyna will take the fourth and third cohort to meet up with Lupa and her pack to launch as many guerilla attacks on the enemy as possible, drawing their attention to her. Meanwhile Jason will take his cohort, the fifth, to strike at Mount Othrys in the hopes of destroying Saturn's, also known as Kronos, throne. In the meantime, she will command the first and second in Camp Jupiter's defense. A simple yet adaptable plan.
So far everything has been going according to plan. Even better if she were to be honest. She never expected Reyna to be able to reduce the enemy's forces by thirty percent.
Before she can sink deeper into her thoughts, Azula feels the enemy enter her domain. Based off of Ambrosius' sensory domain, Azula created a technique that lets her sense anything based on wind currents. Similar to Ambrosius when in the sea, Azula has yet to find a limit to what she can sense. She also can't succumb to sensory overload since she isn't truly sensing with her traditional senses, but instead with her supernatural sense that lets her control the wind. However she does prefer to set her domain at about three miles when preparing for large scale combat, like the upcoming battle.
"Form up!!!" orders Azula.
Immediately the cohorts lock shields, stand their ground, and prepare to enter a standard phalanx formation.
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Michael is a member of the Legion, a veteran to be exact. As legacies of Mercury, he and his brother, Justin, served New Rome as members of the Legion for the standard ten years of service. After that they were honorably discharged and allowed to reside in New Rome as proud citizens. However, they quickly found that the peaceful life wasn't for them, so when Praetor Ambrosius and Praetor Azula started to recall veterans in preparation for the war, they quickly and excitedly rejoined.
Unfortunately nothing could prepare them for the new Legion. Like the Legion before them, the Legion of New Rome heavily emphasised teamwork and cooperation to defeat the enemy. While this made them a formidable army, it however made them weak individually.
The new Legion however, forced one to work on their individual skills to survive the harsh training. Now one's swordsmanship and spearmanship skills need to be at a certain level. After that it was a constant hunting of monsters to gain real life life and death experiences before the war came.
Eventually the war came in the form of skirmishes, and Michael was more than happy to kill the enemies of New Rome.
Now at the ripe age of twenty three, Michael and his brother Justin stand proudly next to one of their praetors as they prepare for the coming enemy.
Before an order can be given however, the wind starts to pick up, clouds cover the sun, and lightning flashes while accompanied by the roars of thunder.
"Michael, Justin," comes the voice of Praetor Azula from his side "I will personally meet the enemy and attack. Your job is to stay here with your respective cohorts and to kill any monster that I miss. Understand?"
Yes, mam." he and his brother answer.
With a nod Azula launches herself into the air and flies off to meet the enemy.
Michael watches in awe as she disappears into the storm clouds, her purple cape billowing behind her and glowing every few seconds. Soon enough he loses sight of her, with the storm clouds behind the only indication of her continued presence.
Before Michael can ponder about her action, a lightning bolt, the likes of which he has never seen before, strikes the middle of the monster army disintegrating a big part of it.
Michael and Julian can't help but watch in awe as the enemy's forces begin to combust into dust for no reason. It didn't take long for him and his brother to figure out that their Praetor was in fact the giant bolt of lightning that struck the enemy earlier.
Before he can continue to admire her however, he notices some monsters coming towards them and gives the order to prepare for battle.
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Koios is in a bad mood. He has been in a bad mood ever since his return from Tartarus. When he had first been released from Tartarus, Koios had been ecstatic. After all he is no longer suffering in the pit and the Titans were in the process of making a comeback. He expected to return to Mount Othrys and find legions of monsters waiting there for him and his siblings to order and conquer the Olympians with. Unfortunately reality is far more disappointing than fantasy.
When he arrived in Mount Othrys he was met with an army of approximately one thousand two hundred monsters. Voicing his disappointment, Koios had asked why their forces were in such low numbers, only to be informed about a demigod son of Neptune reforming much of the legion and using them to wipe out any monster that has the gall to come to the west coast, forcing them to hide in Mount Othrys.
When Koios heard this, he had been skeptical. After all, what danger could a demigod possibly pose. As it turns out he had been wrong, and the numbers of monsters that joined their forces continued to plummet as less monsters stepped foot in the west coast, and the majority of those who did died at the hands of the Roman legion.
Eventually he was joined by Perses in commanding the army after Atlas returned to holding up the sky. With his help Koios was able to convince Ocean to attack the camp using the river inside as an entrance. Unfortunately that too failed, no matter how hard they tried.
Eventually the day of attack came and they began to march towards the enemy. Unfortunately they were constantly attacked on the road, and lost about four hundred out of one thousand forces. They never caught the Romans who attacked.
Now he watches next to Perses as a lone demigod decimates his forces, and he can't help but want to rip her to shreds. Koios watches in anger as she jumps on a hellhound's head and uses it as a springboard to jump to a cyclops' eye level and decapitate it.
Having had enough, Koios roars in rage and joins the fray. Quickly reaching the demigod, Koios swings his sword at her unsuspecting head, only for her to duck and cut off his sword hand at the wrist as she turns to face him. With a pained yell Koio holds his wrist in his remaining hand and looks at the demigod.
Finally getting a good look at her, Koios admits that she is in fact very beautiful. Between her armor, midnight black hair and eyes that glow with the color of lightning, and the arcs of lightning traveling up and down her form, the demigoddess poses a beautiful and regal figure. As Koios observes Azula he makes the mistake of being caught in a trance, completely missing Azula as she launches herself at him and decapitates him, sending him back to Tartarus.
Azula's actions surprise the rest of the army, as they freeze in shock to process what happened. A fatal mistake, since Azula takes the opportunity to summon a massive bolt of lightning, and using her sword redirects it at the enemies all around her, further cutting the army down in half.
The surviving monsters look around and quickly realize how outmatched they are. With the Telekhines taking the lead, the majority of monsters quickly turn around and run for their lives.
Perses, who had been watching from the very back can't help but snarl in disgust. Making his way to the front of the now hundred or so strong army, Perses grips his spear and runs towards the demigoddess.
Azula, seeing him coming, easily sidesteps his stab, ducks under his swing, and easily redirects his slash.
"Honestly, you are such a horrible lancer. You flail that spear around with a minimal amount of skill and all brute strength" she says as she tilts her head to the right to dodge another stab.
"Who taught you how to swing that spear? A monkey?" she taunts as she redirects another slash.
By now Perses is no longer thinking straight and is completely consumed by rage as he watches Azula dodge and parry his strikes with a minimal amount of movement while taunting him. His judgement is so clouded that he never realizes that she is using his reckless attacks to continue to thin out his forces.
Eventually Azula deems it enough, she sidesteps a stab, using the opportunity to cut the shaft of the spear in half, she then proceeds to step into his guard and impales Crocea Mors between his eyebrows. Realizing what happened, Perses tries to speak, only to go to Tartarus before even making a sound.
"Good riddance" says Azula as she wipes his ichor from her blade.
Before Azula can do anything else, something crashes on the ground in front of her and continues to skid past her.
Turning in the direction of the object, Azula sees Ambrosius with one knee on the ground, his trident impaled on the ground with a trail from where he used it to slow his momentum, and in the sorriest state she has ever seen him in. You can easily tell that he had been in a major battle. For one, his left arm hangs by his side in a limp, on his face he has a deep cut exactly where his scar used to be when they first met, and blood can be seen leaking from his nose.
With a groan he slowly gets up, before coughing out blood once on his feet. Looking up he turns his eyes to something behind Azula with a weary smirk, bringing her attention to the giant sea serpent that's slowly disintegrating into golden dust. Before it completely disintegrates however, Azula gets a good look at what it originally looked like.
The serpent is about one hundred twenty feet long, its skin is a glistening flesh, green and brown ridged with serrated dorsal fins. Its triangular forehead is wide enough to provide parking for about two or three cars, and it's now dead eyes slowly lose their orange glow.
Before Azula can continue to observe the serpent, she hears Ambrosius groan behind her. With urgency she turns to help him only to see a chain wrap around his throat drag him into a doorway before it closes. The doors are clearly elevator doors framed in Stygian Iron, with black and silver doors etched with art deco designs.
With haste Azula sprints to help him, only for the doors to disappear just as they close, leaving her standing there in shock as fear and worry courses through her very being. She remembers those doors from Ambrosius' description, she knows that the only time they came into play in canon was when Gaea started to come back. She knows for a fact that the only place that Gaea would open the Doors of Death to is the pit itself, Tartarus.
Honestly Azula's armor looks like something a Sith from SW would use, khehe.
There's about five chapters of this setting left, six at the most.
Son of Neptune
Panting as he sprints through the woods, Percy can't help but lament on his misfortune. He woke up in the middle of these woods near a road with no recollection of his life so far, except for a single name, Annabeth.
He had made his way down the road where he encountered his attackers. Percy first saw her in a Bargain Mart store posing as a greeter. At first Percy thought that her name was "Beano" until he decoded a big green button that said, "Welcome! My name is Stheno." She appeared to be a dumpy old grandmother, but her hair is actually made of vipers. She also has bat wings on her back and tusks sticking out the corners of her mouth. She also carries around a big silver platter of free samples of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners.
Accompanying her was an old lady that looks exactly like her, except scarier and seemingly the dominant of the two.
At first he had attempted to ask them for help, until they had recognized him and immediately tried to kill him. He doesn't know how he managed, but he somehow knew how to fight before he died. With skills he didn't know that he had, Percy managed to kill the duo, only for them to immediately reform a few hours later and attack him again. He had retreated to the woods, hoping to lose them. Ever since then he's been running for his life.
"Percyyy, why don't you stop running darling and let auntie Stheno take care of you." says a sickeningly sweet voice from somewhere behind him.
Ignoring the voice, Percy continues to make his way through the woods in hopes of finding a safe haven. One thing he's learned these past two days is that they love ranting and monologuing. That's how he's learned that his name is Perseus Jackson, he killed somebody called Medusa, Stheno and Euryale want to kill him for killing Medusa who's their sister, and somebody called Mother Earth is making it so that monsters can't die. Also, he apparently has a brother that's going on a rampage in someplace called Tartarus.
Before Percy can lose himself in his thoughts, he comes upon a cliff and is forced to stop running, lest he fall to his death.
Percy turns around in hopes of changing directions, unfortunately Stheno and Euryale have caught up and are blocking his path. If he wants to go back he'll have to somehow get past them.
"Are you finally seeing reason, darling." says Euryale in her nauseatingly sweet voice.
"Or maybe he just wants these delicious Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners!" cheers Stheno as she presents him bags of chips on a large grey platter.
"Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a front! You're far too engrossed into your role! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this sea spawn." says Euryale through gritted.
Seeing the two distracted in their argument, Percy makes a judgement call and rushes Stheno. Once close enough he grabs the tray from her, bashes her head with it, then ducks under Euryale's lunge. Without a second thought he jumps off the cliff while using the tray as a sled.
Arriving at the bottom of the cliff, Percy looks for the best option to escape his the bottom of the cliff is a highway that runs into the mountain, turning into a tunnel. Next to the highway is another cliff that leads to the sea. Before he can make a decision however, a voice interrupts him.
"You could always turn to the sea." says the voice.
Turning to face the voice, Percy is met with an old hippie lady sitting on the side of the road. Looking the old lady over, Percy gets the feeling that it may be best to listen to her. Something in his gut is telling him to accept her request.
"What do you mean?" asks a puzzled Percy.
"You may call me June." says the lady. "And what I meant is that you can jump into the sea, live the rest of your life there in peace. Or you can carry me across the highway, and gain the chance to regain your memory. Also, you might want to hurry."
As soon as June finishes speaking, Percy hears Stheno screech as she jumps off the cliff. Making another judgement call, Percy lifts the old woman and begins to run across the highway.
"Where are we going?!" he asks.
"Next to the highway boy. There's another tunnel, it's only big enough for people to pass. Focus on the mountainside across the highway." replies June.
Listening to her instructions, Percy looks to the mountainside and squints his eyes. As soon as he focuses, the mountainside shimmers and is replaced by an entrance big enough for people instead of cars. Next to the tunnel are two people dressed in typical Roman armor, with military issued combat boots and pants instead of skirt and sandals.
"Good. You can see them." says June. "Those are members of the Legion, New Rome's army."
Making it across the highway, Percy quickly sprints towards the entrance, while desperately trying to ignore the sound of his enemies getting closer.
Once about ten yards away from the entrance, Percy sees one of the soldiers grab his bow from his shoulders. Before he can even say anything the person knocks an arrow and fires it at him, only to miss. Soon after however, Percy hears both of his pursuers scream in pain. Taking a glance backwards, Percy sees an arrow sticking out of both of the gorgons, and wonders how did he miss the soldier shooting a second arrow.
Before he can ponder anymore however, he's grabbed by the shirt by one of the soldiers and dragged towards the tunnel.
"Admire the view later, right now we need to get into camp." says a feminine voice.
"Get him inside Hazel. I have enough poison tipped arrows to hold them off, even if they can't die they'll be in too much pain to follow." says the soldier.
Hazel seems to hesitate for a second before nodding and leading them into the tunnel.
"Wait. Why are we going?! We can't just leave him by himself, he'll be killed!" exclaims Percy.
"Don't worry. Frank is just behind us. We need to get inside to call for reinforcements." replies Hazel just as they make it out of the tunnel.
Once his eyes adjust to light the first thing he sees is a big river that runs across from the tunnel's entrance. Looking past that, Percy can make out that on the other side is a big military camp obviously inspired by ancient Rome's military.
Following Hazel, Percy steps into the river, only to suddenly feel as if he plunged into an acid bath and is hit with a sudden feeling of vulnerability. Before he can comment on it he hears Frank screaming from behind him.
"Why are you two still here?! They're coming." exclaims Frank as he arrives next to Percy
As he finishes speaking, the two gorgons emerge from the tunnel with a screech.
Before they can do anything however, both are suddenly struck by the biggest bolt of lightning that Percy has ever seen, disintegrating them. His gut tells him that lightning shouldn't be this big.
As he ponders this, a voice speaks out from above him.
"Lady Juno, to what do I owe the pleasure." says a beautiful and alluring feminine voice.
Turning his gaze upwards, Percy is met with the most beautiful woman he's ever seen floating at least ten feet in the air.
Wearing nothing but black sneakers, jeans, and a purple shirt, Percy estimates that she's around five feet seven inches tall. Her skin is a natural tan, with midnight black hair flowing behind her, and golden eyes that seems to glow. Her face has high cheekbones and full lips, giving her aristocratic features and a majestic air, and it's easy to tell that her body is made of toned and defined muscles.
"Why my dear Azula, can't a mother visit her child at work." replies June, breaking Percy from his trance.
June gets off of Percy to stand in the river, and promptly turns into a seven feet tall goddess. Gone is the old hippy grandmother, now Juno stands at about seven feet tall, while her face is stern and stately. She is dressed in a blue dress with a cloak made of goatskin, which hangs over her shoulders, and her hand holds a staff with a white lotus flower on top.
"Jokes aside, I bring you a new demigod. Perseus Jackson, Son of Neptune." says Juno.
Hearing her words, Frank and Hazel's eyes widen while Azula merely raises an eyebrow.
"Oh? A son of Neptune you say?" replies Azula as she slowly descends from the air. "You wouldn't happen to be trying to replace our kidnapped praetor would you?"
"Ah" says Juno, as if she's just heard the funniest joke ever.
"Replace him?" she continues. "Let me ask you something my dear. Can a cat replace a tiger?"
"Of course not." replies with a scoff Azula.
"Then you have my answer." says Juno.
With a nod, Azula turns and studies him.
"He doesn't look like much." she says.
"You're doing it again. You're comparing every demigod by Ambrosius' standards." replies Juno.
"There is nothing wrong with those standards. After all, using those standards he was able to transform the Legion into the formidable force it is right now." says Azula.
"My dear, you're exaggerating the Legion has always been powerful. You merely added to your numbers." replies Juno.
"Exaggeration?" says Azula with a raised eyebrow. "How many armies can you name that can reduce an army of one thousand monsters by forty percent using guerrilla warfare, and decimate a force of five hundred monsters in Mount Othrys while only losing ten percent even though outnumbered."
"Fair enough. However, I'm sure that New Rome is not as broken up about it as you make it." replies Juno.
"The Senate elected to not demilitarize after the war. All of his wartime policies are still in effect, even the one stating that praetors have full power during wartime."
Hearing this, Juno frowns before shaking her head.
"Regardless, that is not my concern. I only came to lead the new demigod. You may count my words as his recommendation. Now I must leave before Jupiter gets jumpy." says Juno as she disappears in a flash of light, prompting the demigods to avert their eyes, and for Hazel to block Percy's.
Once the light disappears, Frank and Hazel turn to Azula and salute.
Now that he is no longer running for his life, Percy finally notices what his saviors look like.
Standing at about six feet three inches, Frank is very tall. He looks to be of Asian descent and can be considered handsome. He would be more handsome were it not for some of the baby fat on his face and the babyish brown eyes. He has close-cropped black hair cut into a military haircut. His frame is large and stocky, and with muscles can be made out from under his armor.
Hazel is of Louisiana Creole descent with shoulder-length, curly, cinnamon brown hair tied in a braid,and gold eyes. She stands at about five feet two inches with dark skin. Like the previous two demigods, Percy can make out well toned arms under her armor, suggesting that she may also have a toned or muscular build. All in all a very beautiful girl.
"Hazel, Frank, you know the procedure. I leave him in your hands." says Azula, breaking Percy from his train of thought.
Hazel and Frank salute and watch as Azula flies off.
"Wow, who was that?" asks Percy.
"Taken." replies Frank
"Not what I meant." says Percy.
"That was retired praetor Azula, child of Jupiter, crush of every male in camp, and idol of every female." replies Hazel.
"Not every male." whispers Frank under a cough.
Hazel merely ignores him and begins to lead them out of the river and into the camp.
"Go on without me." says Franks as he runs off towards a cabin. "I have to get someone to replace us in guarding the tunnel."
"You have high expectations to meet." says Hazel once Frank is out of sight.
"What?" asks Percy.
"You're a son of Neptune. The last one here is being hailed as the greatest general in Roman history, and the most powerful demigod to ever live." she answers.
"Why does everyone keep saying Neptune? Isn't it Poseidon?" says Percy.
He doesn't know why, but Poseidon just seems to be right.
"No. Why would it be Poseidon? That's what the Greeks use to call him." she replies with a raised eyebrow.
Percy merely shrugs
"So who's this Ambrose everyone keeps mentioning. Was he really that great?" he asks
"I wouldn't know. I came here a few months after he was kidnapped. But the stories around camp say that with him around Rome would never lose a war, and that even if he dies his reforms would still make Rome unbeatable. He even has a bunch of titles." replies Hazel.
"Titles?" says Percy.
"Ambrosius Malphas, Son of Neptune, Prince of the Sea, Sword of Rome, Praetor of the Twelfth, Slayer of the Carthaginian Serpent, Most Powerful Demigod to Ever Live, and One Man Army." she answers.
Before Percy can process and comment on it, they arrive at a cabin, where inside they are met with a group of people lounging around a wooden table.
Hazel salutes before speaking.
"We have a new probatio, personally recommended by Juno. He is Perseus Jackson, Son of Neptune" says Hazel.
Hearing Hazel's words, the room's occupants immediately sit up and scrutinize him.
"Are you sure?" asks one
"He doesn't look like much." says another one.
Percy can feel his left eyebrow twitch in annoyance, and knows that this will become a constant occurrence.
He had made his way down the road where he encountered his attackers. Percy first saw her in a Bargain Mart store posing as a greeter. At first Percy thought that her name was "Beano" until he decoded a big green button that said, "Welcome! My name is Stheno." She appeared to be a dumpy old grandmother, but her hair is actually made of vipers. She also has bat wings on her back and tusks sticking out the corners of her mouth. She also carries around a big silver platter of free samples of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners.
Accompanying her was an old lady that looks exactly like her, except scarier and seemingly the dominant of the two.
At first he had attempted to ask them for help, until they had recognized him and immediately tried to kill him. He doesn't know how he managed, but he somehow knew how to fight before he died. With skills he didn't know that he had, Percy managed to kill the duo, only for them to immediately reform a few hours later and attack him again. He had retreated to the woods, hoping to lose them. Ever since then he's been running for his life.
"Percyyy, why don't you stop running darling and let auntie Stheno take care of you." says a sickeningly sweet voice from somewhere behind him.
Ignoring the voice, Percy continues to make his way through the woods in hopes of finding a safe haven. One thing he's learned these past two days is that they love ranting and monologuing. That's how he's learned that his name is Perseus Jackson, he killed somebody called Medusa, Stheno and Euryale want to kill him for killing Medusa who's their sister, and somebody called Mother Earth is making it so that monsters can't die. Also, he apparently has a brother that's going on a rampage in someplace called Tartarus.
Before Percy can lose himself in his thoughts, he comes upon a cliff and is forced to stop running, lest he fall to his death.
Percy turns around in hopes of changing directions, unfortunately Stheno and Euryale have caught up and are blocking his path. If he wants to go back he'll have to somehow get past them.
"Are you finally seeing reason, darling." says Euryale in her nauseatingly sweet voice.
"Or maybe he just wants these delicious Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners!" cheers Stheno as she presents him bags of chips on a large grey platter.
"Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a front! You're far too engrossed into your role! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this sea spawn." says Euryale through gritted.
Seeing the two distracted in their argument, Percy makes a judgement call and rushes Stheno. Once close enough he grabs the tray from her, bashes her head with it, then ducks under Euryale's lunge. Without a second thought he jumps off the cliff while using the tray as a sled.
Arriving at the bottom of the cliff, Percy looks for the best option to escape his the bottom of the cliff is a highway that runs into the mountain, turning into a tunnel. Next to the highway is another cliff that leads to the sea. Before he can make a decision however, a voice interrupts him.
"You could always turn to the sea." says the voice.
Turning to face the voice, Percy is met with an old hippie lady sitting on the side of the road. Looking the old lady over, Percy gets the feeling that it may be best to listen to her. Something in his gut is telling him to accept her request.
"What do you mean?" asks a puzzled Percy.
"You may call me June." says the lady. "And what I meant is that you can jump into the sea, live the rest of your life there in peace. Or you can carry me across the highway, and gain the chance to regain your memory. Also, you might want to hurry."
As soon as June finishes speaking, Percy hears Stheno screech as she jumps off the cliff. Making another judgement call, Percy lifts the old woman and begins to run across the highway.
"Where are we going?!" he asks.
"Next to the highway boy. There's another tunnel, it's only big enough for people to pass. Focus on the mountainside across the highway." replies June.
Listening to her instructions, Percy looks to the mountainside and squints his eyes. As soon as he focuses, the mountainside shimmers and is replaced by an entrance big enough for people instead of cars. Next to the tunnel are two people dressed in typical Roman armor, with military issued combat boots and pants instead of skirt and sandals.
"Good. You can see them." says June. "Those are members of the Legion, New Rome's army."
Making it across the highway, Percy quickly sprints towards the entrance, while desperately trying to ignore the sound of his enemies getting closer.
Once about ten yards away from the entrance, Percy sees one of the soldiers grab his bow from his shoulders. Before he can even say anything the person knocks an arrow and fires it at him, only to miss. Soon after however, Percy hears both of his pursuers scream in pain. Taking a glance backwards, Percy sees an arrow sticking out of both of the gorgons, and wonders how did he miss the soldier shooting a second arrow.
Before he can ponder anymore however, he's grabbed by the shirt by one of the soldiers and dragged towards the tunnel.
"Admire the view later, right now we need to get into camp." says a feminine voice.
"Get him inside Hazel. I have enough poison tipped arrows to hold them off, even if they can't die they'll be in too much pain to follow." says the soldier.
Hazel seems to hesitate for a second before nodding and leading them into the tunnel.
"Wait. Why are we going?! We can't just leave him by himself, he'll be killed!" exclaims Percy.
"Don't worry. Frank is just behind us. We need to get inside to call for reinforcements." replies Hazel just as they make it out of the tunnel.
Once his eyes adjust to light the first thing he sees is a big river that runs across from the tunnel's entrance. Looking past that, Percy can make out that on the other side is a big military camp obviously inspired by ancient Rome's military.
Following Hazel, Percy steps into the river, only to suddenly feel as if he plunged into an acid bath and is hit with a sudden feeling of vulnerability. Before he can comment on it he hears Frank screaming from behind him.
"Why are you two still here?! They're coming." exclaims Frank as he arrives next to Percy
As he finishes speaking, the two gorgons emerge from the tunnel with a screech.
Before they can do anything however, both are suddenly struck by the biggest bolt of lightning that Percy has ever seen, disintegrating them. His gut tells him that lightning shouldn't be this big.
As he ponders this, a voice speaks out from above him.
"Lady Juno, to what do I owe the pleasure." says a beautiful and alluring feminine voice.
Turning his gaze upwards, Percy is met with the most beautiful woman he's ever seen floating at least ten feet in the air.
Wearing nothing but black sneakers, jeans, and a purple shirt, Percy estimates that she's around five feet seven inches tall. Her skin is a natural tan, with midnight black hair flowing behind her, and golden eyes that seems to glow. Her face has high cheekbones and full lips, giving her aristocratic features and a majestic air, and it's easy to tell that her body is made of toned and defined muscles.
"Why my dear Azula, can't a mother visit her child at work." replies June, breaking Percy from his trance.
June gets off of Percy to stand in the river, and promptly turns into a seven feet tall goddess. Gone is the old hippy grandmother, now Juno stands at about seven feet tall, while her face is stern and stately. She is dressed in a blue dress with a cloak made of goatskin, which hangs over her shoulders, and her hand holds a staff with a white lotus flower on top.
"Jokes aside, I bring you a new demigod. Perseus Jackson, Son of Neptune." says Juno.
Hearing her words, Frank and Hazel's eyes widen while Azula merely raises an eyebrow.
"Oh? A son of Neptune you say?" replies Azula as she slowly descends from the air. "You wouldn't happen to be trying to replace our kidnapped praetor would you?"
"Ah" says Juno, as if she's just heard the funniest joke ever.
"Replace him?" she continues. "Let me ask you something my dear. Can a cat replace a tiger?"
"Of course not." replies with a scoff Azula.
"Then you have my answer." says Juno.
With a nod, Azula turns and studies him.
"He doesn't look like much." she says.
"You're doing it again. You're comparing every demigod by Ambrosius' standards." replies Juno.
"There is nothing wrong with those standards. After all, using those standards he was able to transform the Legion into the formidable force it is right now." says Azula.
"My dear, you're exaggerating the Legion has always been powerful. You merely added to your numbers." replies Juno.
"Exaggeration?" says Azula with a raised eyebrow. "How many armies can you name that can reduce an army of one thousand monsters by forty percent using guerrilla warfare, and decimate a force of five hundred monsters in Mount Othrys while only losing ten percent even though outnumbered."
"Fair enough. However, I'm sure that New Rome is not as broken up about it as you make it." replies Juno.
"The Senate elected to not demilitarize after the war. All of his wartime policies are still in effect, even the one stating that praetors have full power during wartime."
Hearing this, Juno frowns before shaking her head.
"Regardless, that is not my concern. I only came to lead the new demigod. You may count my words as his recommendation. Now I must leave before Jupiter gets jumpy." says Juno as she disappears in a flash of light, prompting the demigods to avert their eyes, and for Hazel to block Percy's.
Once the light disappears, Frank and Hazel turn to Azula and salute.
Now that he is no longer running for his life, Percy finally notices what his saviors look like.
Standing at about six feet three inches, Frank is very tall. He looks to be of Asian descent and can be considered handsome. He would be more handsome were it not for some of the baby fat on his face and the babyish brown eyes. He has close-cropped black hair cut into a military haircut. His frame is large and stocky, and with muscles can be made out from under his armor.
Hazel is of Louisiana Creole descent with shoulder-length, curly, cinnamon brown hair tied in a braid,and gold eyes. She stands at about five feet two inches with dark skin. Like the previous two demigods, Percy can make out well toned arms under her armor, suggesting that she may also have a toned or muscular build. All in all a very beautiful girl.
"Hazel, Frank, you know the procedure. I leave him in your hands." says Azula, breaking Percy from his train of thought.
Hazel and Frank salute and watch as Azula flies off.
"Wow, who was that?" asks Percy.
"Taken." replies Frank
"Not what I meant." says Percy.
"That was retired praetor Azula, child of Jupiter, crush of every male in camp, and idol of every female." replies Hazel.
"Not every male." whispers Frank under a cough.
Hazel merely ignores him and begins to lead them out of the river and into the camp.
"Go on without me." says Franks as he runs off towards a cabin. "I have to get someone to replace us in guarding the tunnel."
"You have high expectations to meet." says Hazel once Frank is out of sight.
"What?" asks Percy.
"You're a son of Neptune. The last one here is being hailed as the greatest general in Roman history, and the most powerful demigod to ever live." she answers.
"Why does everyone keep saying Neptune? Isn't it Poseidon?" says Percy.
He doesn't know why, but Poseidon just seems to be right.
"No. Why would it be Poseidon? That's what the Greeks use to call him." she replies with a raised eyebrow.
Percy merely shrugs
"So who's this Ambrose everyone keeps mentioning. Was he really that great?" he asks
"I wouldn't know. I came here a few months after he was kidnapped. But the stories around camp say that with him around Rome would never lose a war, and that even if he dies his reforms would still make Rome unbeatable. He even has a bunch of titles." replies Hazel.
"Titles?" says Percy.
"Ambrosius Malphas, Son of Neptune, Prince of the Sea, Sword of Rome, Praetor of the Twelfth, Slayer of the Carthaginian Serpent, Most Powerful Demigod to Ever Live, and One Man Army." she answers.
Before Percy can process and comment on it, they arrive at a cabin, where inside they are met with a group of people lounging around a wooden table.
Hazel salutes before speaking.
"We have a new probatio, personally recommended by Juno. He is Perseus Jackson, Son of Neptune" says Hazel.
Hearing Hazel's words, the room's occupants immediately sit up and scrutinize him.
"Are you sure?" asks one
"He doesn't look like much." says another one.
Percy can feel his left eyebrow twitch in annoyance, and knows that this will become a constant occurrence.
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