𝐒 𝐓 𝐀 𝐑   𝐖 𝐀 𝐑 𝐒   !

⎯ 𝘚 𝘐 𝘟 ⎯

( 𝔳𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔶 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔣𝔱𝔥 : 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔢 ! )

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

          "𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐒, 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐒." 

Aurora didn't complain about many things. In fact, complaining was something that Aurora Jake was never known to do. It just didn't match her personality, like it did so many others. But when she had to walk a couple dozen miles only to fight for her life afterwards, she got a little angry at the world.

"You've done this how many times in your life and you still aren't used to it?" Aurora rolled her eyes playfully and knocked her shoulder with Frank's, which nearly sent her to the ground. He was really sturdy.

"Shut up. I'm allowed to whine a little bit after the day I've had." Hazel hummed in agreement while Frank and Percy shared a look of confusion. Boys. They don't understand anything about girls.

Once they got out of camp, the Fifth Cohort formed two lines behind their centurions, Dakota and Aurora. They marched north, skirting the edge of the city, and headed to the Field of Mars—the largest, flattest part of the valley. The grass was cropped short by all the unicorns, bulls, and homeless fauns that grazed here. The earth was pitted with explosion craters and scarred with trenches from past games. At the north end of the field stood their target. The engineers had built a stone fortress with an iron portcullis, guard towers, scorpion ballistae, water cannons, and no doubt many other nasty surprises for the defenders to use.

"They did a good job today," Hazel noted. "That's bad for us."

"Wait," Percy said. "You're telling me that the fortress was built today?"

Hazel grinned. "Legionnaires are trained to build. If we had to, we could break down the entire camp and rebuild it somewhere else. Take maybe three or four days, but we could do it."

"Let's not," Percy said. "So you attack a different fort every night?"

"Not every night," Frank said. "We have different training exercises. Sometimes deathball—um, which is like paintball, except with . . . you know, poison and acid and fireballs. Sometimes we do chariots and gladiator competitions, sometimes war games."

Aurora pointed at the fort from her spot in the front. "Somewhere inside, the First and Second Cohorts are keeping their banners. Our job is to get inside and capture them without getting slaughtered. We do that, we win."

Percy's eyes lit up. "Like capture-the-flag. I think I like capture-the-flag."

Frank laughed. "Yeah, well . . . it's harder than it sounds. We have to get past those scorpions and water cannons on the walls, fight through the inside of the fortress, find the banners, and defeat the guards, all while protecting our own banners and troops from capture. And our cohort is in competition with the other two attacking cohorts. We sort of work together, but not really. The cohort that captures the banners get all the glory."

Percy stumbled, trying to keep time with the left-right marching rhythm. Aurora sympathized. She had spent the first couple days of legionnaire training stumbling and falling left and right. Without Jason, she would have broken an ankle or something.

"So why are we practicing this, anyway?" Percy asked. "Do you guys spend a lot of time laying siege to fortified cities?"

"Teamwork," Hazel said. "Quick thinking. Tactics. Battle skills. You'd be surprised what you can learn in the war games."

"Like who will stab you in the back," Frank said.

"Especially that," Hazel agreed.

They marched to the center of the Field of Mars and formed ranks. The Third and Fourth Cohorts assembled as far as possible from the Fifth. Aurora and Dakota moved over to join the other centurions from the attacking side to hold a war conference to see who would do what first and where. In the sky above them, Reyna circled on her pegasus, Scipio, ready to play referee. Half a dozen giant eagles flew in formation behind her—prepared for ambulance airlift duty if necessary. The only person not participating in the games was Nico di Angelo, "Pluto's Ambassador," who had climbed an observation tower about a hundred yards from the fort and would be watching with binoculars.

Aurora crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at the other centurions. She knew what they would say: take your cohort to the defenses first to soften them up for us better cohorts! That's how it always went. The Fifth would either be the first line of offense or the first line of defense, and Aurora was growing tired of it.

Instead of listening to the bickering of the Third and Fourth, Aurora scanned the field. The fort was relatively impenetrable, aside from potential entrances along the top. Scorpions lined the easter and western sides while water cannons were lined up to shoot head-on. 

Climbing the walls is possible . . . will be a bit hard with those cannons tho— the cannons!

It hit her like Hannibal, eyes going wide for a moment. Water cannons! Of course! She glanced over at Percy, who was deep in conversation with Hazel and Frank, before looking back at the cannons. It could work, but only if he had control over his abilities. Gods, she prayed he did.

"Fifth! You attack first to soften the defenses! The Third and Fourth will attack after and get the banners. Understand?" Aurora didn't bother fighting and nodded, Dakota burping out red. "Good."

The horns blew and Dakota and Aurora walked back from the conference, one with a grim frown and the other with an excited grin. 

"All right, here's the plan!" Dakota took a quick swig of Kool-Aid from his travel flask. Aurora quickly took the flask from him and held it as far away from him as she could. "They're throwing us at the walls first to soften up the defenses."

The whole cohort groaned.

"I know, I know," Aurora said, her voice bright and energetic. "But maybe this time we'll have some luck!"

Aside from being an expert swordswoman and a tactful legionnaire, Aurora was chosen as a centurion due to her unending well of hope. She shone with kindness and optimism, trying her best to lighten everyone's moods when they were down on their luck or hopeless. When in the infirmary, Aurora was the one to keep patients laughing despite their injuries. On the battlefield, she was the one to keep them focused on their tasks, convincing them that victory was within their grasp. 

"First line with Dakota!" Aurora said. "Lock shields and advance in turtle formation to the main gates. Try to stay in one piece. Draw their fire. Second line—" Aurora turned on Frank and Hazel's row, nearly bursting with hope. "You seventeen, from Bobby over, take charge of the elephant and the scaling ladders. Try a flanking attack on the western wall. Maybe we can spread the defenders too thin. Frank, Hazel, Percy . . . you're with me. We'll do whatever is needed and make sure Percy doesn't get killed." She met the entire cohort with a smile. "If anybody gets over the wall first, I'll make sure you get the Mural Crown. Victory for the Fifth!"

The cohort cheered halfheartedly and broke ranks. Aurora joined her friends with a bright smile. Percy met her gaze and frowned. "'Do whatever?'"

"Yeah, big vote of confidence there, Aurora." Hazel sent Aurora a look, the brunette shrugging it off happily.

"What's the Mural Crown?" Percy asked.

"Military medal," Frank said. "Big honor for the first soldier to breach an enemy fort. You'll notice nobody in the Fifth is wearing one. Usually we don't even get into the fort because we're burning or drowning or . . ."

Aurora's grin widened when she saw a light go off in Franks eyes. He'd come to the same conclusion she had. "Water cannons."

"What?" Percy asked.

"Those cannons along the walls?" Aurora pointed to the fortress walls with one hand, drawing the trio's attention. "They draw water from the aqueduct. There's a pump system—they're under a shit-ton of pressure in order to shoot out such powerful jets of water." She met his eyes. "If you can control them, like you controlled the river—"

"Aurora, Frank!" Hazel cheered. "That's brilliant!"

Percy didn't look so sure. "I don't know how I did that at the river. I'm not sure I can control the cannons from this far away."

"First of all, no negative thinking on my watch, got it?" Percy nodded, finding her attitude amusing. "Secondly, we'll get you closer. She that wall over there?" She pointed to the eastern side of the fort, where she purposely had left open. "That's where the defense will be weakest. They'll never take four kids from the Fifth seriously. We can sneak up pretty close before they see us."

"Sneak up how?" Percy asked.

Frank turned to Hazel. "Can you do that thing again?"

She punched him in the chest. Aurora rolled her eyes while Percy looked on in confusion. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody." When she noticed Frank's hurt expression, she sighed. "Never mind. It's fine. Percy, Aurora, he's talking about the trenches. The Field of Mars is riddled with tunnels from over the years. Some are collapsed, or buried deep, but a lot of them are still passable. I'm pretty good at finding them. I can even collapse them if I have to."

Aurora remembered how she'd sent the tunnel crumbling down on itself during the gorgon attack, having forgotten it with all the excitement of the day. A pretty useful ability, if she did say so herself.

"Like you did with the gorgons," Percy said. "To slow them down."

Frank nodded approvingly. "I told you Pluto was cool. He's the god of everything under the earth. Hazel can find caves, tunnels, trapdoors—"

"And it was our secret," she grumbled.

Frank blushed and Aurora perked a brow. Oh, she knew about his crush on Hazel. She found it amusing, if she were being honest. The boy gave Hazel a look, "Yeah, sorry. But if we can get close—"

"And if I can knock out the water cannons . . ." Percy nodded, like he was warming up to the idea. "What do we do then?"

Aurora looked down at her ring while Frank checked his quiver and Hazel grabbed the hilt of her spatha. She knew that she would have to use the full extent of Solstice's powers if she was to win, and she was going to have a fun time doing so.

"The rest is up to me," Frank said. "Let's go."

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

Aurora was pretty sure Frank had never felt so sure in his entire time at the camp about anything. She had to admit that most of the things the boy planned didn't go well, and he always managed to break something or ruin something or burn something to the ground. Or knock something over or sit on something important. Though, she had a feeling he knew this strategy would work. Just like she did.

Hazel found them a tunnel with no problem. In fact, Aurora had a sneaking suspicion she didn't just find tunnels. It was as though tunnels manufactured themselves to suit her needs. Passages that had been filled in years ago suddenly un-filled, changing direction to lead Hazel where she wanted to go.

They crept along by the light of Percy's glowing sword, Riptide. Above, they heard the sounds of battle—kids shouting, Hannibal the elephant bellowing with glee, scorpion bolts exploding, and water cannons firing. The tunnel shook. Dirt rained down on them.

"There's an opening just ahead," Hazel announced. "We'll come up ten feet from the east wall."

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," she said. "But I'm sure."

"Could we tunnel straight under the wall?" Frank wondered.

"No." It was Aurora who answered. She knew the ground of the Field of Mars better than most. "The engineers are smart. They build the walls on old foundations that go down to bedrock. Jason—" she paused, swallowing hard. "Jason and I figured it out together during one of our first war games."

Frank stumbled over something an cursed. Percy brought his sword around for more light. The thing Frank has tripped on was gleaming silver.

He crouched down.

"Don't touch it!" Hazel said.

Frank's hand stopped a few inches from the chunk of metal. It looked like a giant Hershey's Kiss, about the size of Frank's fist.

"It's massive," he said. "Silver?"

"Platinum." Aurora frowned. Hazel sounded scared out of her wits. "It'll go away in a second. Please don't touch it. It's dangerous."

Aurora didn't understand how platinum could be dangerous, but she took Hazel's word and didn't touch it. As they watched, the chunk of platinum sunk back into the ground.

"How did you know?" Aurora shared a look with Percy. An understanding passed through them: Hazel was hiding more than one secret from the world.

In the light of Percy's sword, Hazel looked as ghostly as a Lar. "I'll explain later."

Another explosion rocked the tunnel, and they forged ahead.

They popped out of a hole just where Hazel had predicted. In front of them, the fort's east wall loomed. Off to their left, Aurora could see the main line of the Fifth Cohort advancing in turtle formation, shield forming a shell over their heads and sides. They were trying to reach the main gates, but the defenders above pelted them with rocks and shot flaming bolts from the scorpions, blasting craters around their feet. A water cannon discharged with a jaw-rattling THRUM, and a jet of liquid carved a trench in the dirt right in front of the cohort.

Percy whistled. "That's a lot of pressure, all right."

The Third and Fourth Cohorts weren't even advancing. They stood back and laughed, watching their "allies" get beat up. The defenders clustered on the wall above the gates, yelling insults at the tortoise formation as it staggered back and forth. War games had deteriorated into "beat up the Fifth."

Aurora frowned, her eyes narrowing into slits with anger.

"Let's shake things up." Frank reached into his quiver and pulled out an arrow that Aurora knew well. The iron tip was shaped like the nose cone of a rocket. An ultrathin gold rope trailed from the fletching. Shooting it accurately up the wall would take more force and skill than most archers could managed, but Aurora had faith in Frank. He had both strong arms and good aim.

"What does that do?" Percy asked. "Grappling hook?"

"It's called a hydra arrow," Aurora said while Frank aimed. She faced Percy. "Can you knock out the water cannons?"

A defender appeared on the wall above them. "Hey!" he called to his buddies. "Check in out! More victims!"

Aurora scanned the wall closely, eyes narrowing in on every defense and every weakness that it had. Their engineers may be good, but they were still human. They still made mistakes. And she could spot every individual mistake that an engineer had made. Some spots were more fragile than others, and other places held perfect footholes for climbing and scaling the wall.

She bit her lower lip anxiously and glanced down at the ring on her finger. With a sigh, she pressed down on the sun engraving, her heart speeding up as she felt the familiar weight of Solstice form in her hand. The Celestial bronze and Imperial gold blade shone in the fading light of the sun, some of the defenders backing up or hesitating along the wall.

They were afraid of the blade that she had. Good. Aurora may have been a daughter of Apollo, but she was dangerous with a sword. Just as deadly and skilled as a Mars child. She could feel Percy's eyes on her as she spun the blade in her hand, her mind racing with thoughts on how to take down the defenders after they destroyed the water cannons. 

Hazel sent her a look. "Please tell me you're about to whip out your . . . what do you call them, Frank?"

"Master jedi skills." Hazel nodded in agreement.

Aurora gave the group a smirk. "Of course. When do I ever go into battle unprepared?"

And with that, Aurora closed her eyes. She focused on the heat of the sun beating down on her back. The energy that coursed through her veins as the beams of light hit her skin. She concentrated on the heat and began to form it into a ball in the pit of her stomach. Aurora moved the ball of heat from her stomach and into her sword hand, feeling the hilt begin to burn brilliantly. She forced the heat to extend through her hand and into the blade, and when she heard the gasps from the people around her, she knew it was working.

Aurora opened her eyes, the cerulean irises glinting gold. The blade of Solstice was alight with a honey-gold glow, her powers of photokinesis bending the light of the sun into the blade that was meant to contain her power. The air around the blade was blistering with heat, but Aurora was unaffected.

She twirled the blade again and noticed that the defenders had backed up even more. She met Percy's gaze and noticed his look of shock. Aurora went to explain how she was doing what she was doing, but before she could, Percy blurted out, "You have a lightsaber?!"

Aurora laughed. "Looks like it, huh?" She noticed the growing crowd of defenders and got back into battle mode. "Percy, now would be a good time to explode some cannons."

More kids came across the battlements to laugh at them. A few ran to the nearest water cannons and swung the barrel toward Frank and Aurora.

Percy closed his eyes. He raised his hand.

Up on the wall, someone yelled, "Open wide, losers!"

KA-BOOM!

The cannon exploded in a starburst of blue, green, and white. Defenders screamed as a watery shockwave flattened them against the battlements. Kids toppled over the walls but were snatched by giant eagles and carried to safety. Then the entire eastern wall shuddered as the explosion backed up through the pipelines. One after another, the water cannons on the battlements exploded. The scorpions' fires were doused. Defenders scattered in confusion or were tossed through the air, giving the rescue eagles quite a workout. At the main gates, the Fifth Cohort forgot about their formation. Mystified, they lowered their shields and stared at the chaos.

Frank shot his arrow. It streaked upward, carrying its glittering rope. When it reached the top, the metal point fractured into a dozen lines that lashed out and wrapped around anything they could find—parts of the wall, a scorpion, a broken water cannon, and a couple of defending campers who yelped and found themselves slammed against the battlements as anchors. From the main rope, handholds extended at two-foot intervals, making a ladder.

"Go!" Frank said.

Percy grinned. "You first, Frank. This is your party."

Frank hesitated. He looked at Aurora for reassurance, which the girl gladly gave. A smile made its way to her face and she nodded. Then, Frank slung his bow on his back and began to climb. He was halfway up before the defenders recovered their senses enough to sound the alarm.

Aurora glanced back at the Fifth Cohort's main group. They were staring at the group, dumbfounded.

"Well?" she shouted. "Attack!"

Gwen was the first to unfreeze. She grinned and repeated the order. A cheer went up from the battlefield. Hannibal the elephant trumpeted with happiness, but Aurora couldn't afford to watch. She noticed that Frank was at the top of the wall and turned to the others. Hazel went up first, which left Percy and Aurora alone.

"Go on," Percy said, motioning towards the rope ladder.

Aurora nodded and grabbed ahold of the rungs, beginning to haul herself up. Halfway, she looked down to see Percy staring up at her, and she grinned. "Enjoying the view down there?"

She could have sworn Percy's cheeks lit up pink, but she ignored it and continued to climb, reaching the top seconds after Hazel had. She watched as Frank barreled into the defenders and Hazel unsheathed her weapon, Percy popping up beside her.

"Fun," he said.

Together, Percy and Aurora cleared the defenders off of the walls. Below them the gates broke. Hannibal barreled into the fort, arrows and rocks bouncing harmlessly off his Kelvar armor. The Fifth Cohort charged in behind the elephant, and the battle went hand-to-hand. Finally, from the edge of the Field of Mars, a battle cry went up. The Fourth and Third Cohorts ran to join the fight.

"A little late," Hazel grumbled.

"We can't let them get the banners," Frank said.

"No," Percy agreed. "They are ours."

Aurora smirked and faced the group, eyes glittering blue and gold. It was dangerous and beautiful. "Let's go take what is rightfully ours, then."

No more talk was needed. They moved like a team, as if the four of them had been working together for years. They rushed down the interior steps and into the enemy base. After that, the battle was mayhem.

Frank, Percy, Aurora, and Hazel waded through the enemy, plowing down anyone who stood in their way. The First and Second Cohorts—pride of Camp Jupiter, a well-oiled, highly disciplined war machine—fell apart under the assault and the sheer novelty of being on the losing side.

Part of their problem was Percy. Well, Aurora wouldn't call him a problem since he was half of the reason why they were winning, but his fighting style was strange, even to her. He fought like a demon, whirling through the defenders' ranks in a completely unorthodox style, rolling under their feet, slashing with his sword instead of stabbing like a Roman would, whacking campers with the flat of his blade, and generally causing mad panic.

Octavian screamed in a shrill voice—maybe ordering the First Cohort to stand their ground, maybe trying to sing soprano—but Aurora put a stop to it. She rushed into battle alongside Percy, somersaulting over the line of shields, and slammed the butt of her sword into Octavian's helmet. The centurion collapsed like a sock puppet and Aurora twirled her sword with a smirk.

"Oh, I have wanted to do that for a long time." Percy chuckled and nodded, Aurora diving back into battle at his side.

The duo took down enemies left and right without a problem, seeming to understand each other's every move after only knowing each other for a day. It was a truly magical and enchanting sight, watching the two of them battle together. It was as if they could read each other's minds, knowing exactly what to do and how to take down an enemy together. They stabbed and parried and slashed their way through enemy lines, and Aurora was sure she had never felt so alive in her entire life.

The heat from Solstice burned through layers of armor and metal, melting them at the touch. It didn't harm the campers too much, only leaving minor burns, but it completely destroyed their armor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Frank firing arrow after arrow and Hazel climbing onto Hannibal the elephant, spatha drawn proudly. She could also see Percy watching her with amazed eyes, which made her heart melt and her cheeks burn brightly.

At some point, Percy and Aurora had been back to back, and Percy's height had made her seem incredibly small in comparison to him. However, that didn't stop her. When a line of First Cohort campers came rushing towards them, Percy had picked Aurora up by the waist and tossed her over the line, the two of them striking at the same time at both the front and back of the line, taking out the campers with ease.

"Let's go, slowpokes!" Hazel shouted from her place on Hannibal. 

Aurora and Percy found themselves locking hands as they ran to the center of the base. The inner keep was virtually unguarded. Obviously the defenders never dreamed an assault would get this far. Hannibal busted down the huge doors. Inside, the First and Second Cohort standard-bearers were sitting around a table playing Mythomagic (which Aurora found hilarious) with cards and figurines. The cohort's emblems were propped carelessly against one wall.

Hazel and Hannibal rode straight into the room, and the standard-bearers fell backwards out of their chairs. Hannibal stepped on the table, and game pieces scattered. By the time the rest of the cohort had caught up with them, Percy and Aurora had disarmed the enemies while Frank had grabbed the banners, the trio climbing onto Hannibal's back with Hazel. They marched out of the keep triumphantly with the enemy colors.

The Fifth Cohort forms ranks around them. Together, they paraded out of the fort, past stunned enemies and line of equally mystified allies. Reyna circled low overhead on her pegasus. "The game is won!" She sounded as if she were trying not to laugh. "Assemble for honors!"

Slowly the campers regrouped on the Field of Mars. Aurora saw plenty of minor injuries—some burns (caused by both the scorpions and her blade, which she had put out and turned back into its ring form, slipping it onto her index finger), broken bones, black eyes, cuts and gashes, plus a lot of very interesting hairdos from fires and exploding water cannons—but nothing that couldn't be fixed.

The group of four slid off of the elephant. The Fifth Cohort swarmed them, pounding each of them on the back and complimenting them. Aurora looked over to see Frank grinning brightly alongside Hazel, and her heart warmed to know that they were proud of their victory. She spotted Percy's lopsided grin and her heart did flips, becoming a full gymnast when his eyes met hers.

During the fight, she hadn't had time to think about just how familiar it all seemed. Being back-to-back with Percy . . . him tossing her over the lines . . . holding hands as they fought an unimaginable amount of enemies. Her muscles ached with memory, like she'd done it all before. But she just couldn't remember.

"Good job, Sleeping Beauty." Aurora's brows shot up in surprise, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

"'Sleeping Beauty?' Where did that nickname come from?"

Percy shrugged. "I remember the Disney movie about the princess named Aurora. It was called Sleeping Beauty, right?" She nodded. "And your name is Aurora, and you are a beauty, so I think the name fits." Her cheeks reddened more at the compliment, and she noticed his cheeks dusting pink as well. "That, and you already have a nickname for me, so . . ."

Aurora grinned and bumped shoulders with him, laughing softly when he stumbled a bit. "I like it, Kelp Head."

"Great, 'cause you're never getting rid of it."

"Good." The two locked eyes, and Aurora was pretty sure that her heart had never beat so fast in her entire life. That day was becoming one of the best days she had ever had—until she saw Gwen. "No."

"Help!" Somebody yelled. A couple of campers rushed out of the fortress, carrying a girl on a stretcher. They set her down, and other kids started running over. Aurora was at the front of the group, Percy close behind with Hazel and Frank. She couldn't believe her eyes. No, she didn't want to believe her eyes. Gwen couldn't be hurt.

But, even from a distance, she knew it was true. As she neared the girl, she saw how badly she was hurt. She lay on her side on the stretcher with a pilum sticking out of her armor—almost like she was holding it between her chest and her arm, but there was too much blood.

Aurora felt her eyes burning with tears as she fell to her knees beside her best friend. With shaking hands, she pressed against the wound, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her hands were quickly covered in Gwen's blood, but she continued to apply pressure, praying hard to her father.

Dad, you can't let her die! You can't! Just— just help me heal her! I promise I will be the best daughter ever and give you plenty of offerings! Please just— just let me save her! She's my best friend!

Words left her mouth in a muddles of consonants and vowels, alerting the other medics of the problem. Her mind was at war with itself, fighting between handling the injury like a medic and crying over her friend. Her hands shook as she added more pressure, shouting for someone to hand her something to soak up the blood and clear the wound.

Medics surrounded her, barking at everyone to stand back and give them room to work. Aurora blocked out all the noise, closing her eyes as she focused on her powers. Heat seared through her blood, her body becoming shrouded in light that pulsed with life. She could feel Gwen's pulse growing fainter, causing her to push harder. She couldn't let her friend die. No. She wouldn't let her die.

Another child of Apollo kneeled to help her, their lips moving in gentle hymns to their father, praying that he would lend a hand. Aurora could feel others adding powdered unicorn horn to the cut in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but nothing seemed to work. Gwen had stopped moving. Her face was ashen gray. And her pulse . . .

Finally, one of the medics looked up at Reyna and shook his head.

For a moment, there was no sound except water from the ruined cannons trickling down the walls of the fort. Hannibal nuzzled Gwen's hair with his trunk sadly.

Then, a heartbreaking sob shattered the air. Aurora fell forward onto her friend's unmoving chest, hands and legs covered in blood and skin colorless from an overuse of power. Her trembling fingers clutched Gwen's shirt as she wailed, tears drowning out her vision and salt coating her tongue. The victory was pointless to her now as she laid before her dead friend. How could she celebrate when she knew Gwen wouldn't be there with her?

The legion watched on, their hearts shattering. Aurora, a girl with so much life and laughter and light, was breaking apart right in front of their eyes, and they could do nothing. They couldn't bring her back.

Someone knelt down beside her, arms wrapping tight around her body and pulling her to their chest. She gripped their shirt with bloody hands and sobbed, her chest aching with each shout and plead. A shout for her father to do something—anything—to bring Gwen back. She'd been the first girl to befriend Aurora, and now she was lying in a puddle of her own blood. It wasn't fair.

Hazel crouched down on her other side and placed a hand on her shoulder, muttering comforting words to her in hopes of easing the girl's tears. But it wasn't working. 

Reyna surveyed the campers from her pegasus, eyes pained as she watched one of her closest friends break down. Her expression hardened when she realized the campers were looking to her. "There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, you cost the legion a good fighter and friend. Honorable death is one thing, but this . . ."

Aurora didn't understand what she meant. She didn't want to know what Reyna meant. It had to have been an accident. Because if it wasn't, Aurora was going to make whoever killed Gwen pay. Part of her wondered who could possibly kill Gwen, and then it hit her.

Gwen was one of the people that the campers wanted to be their next praetor. Even though there was only allowed to be one girl and one boy, they were willing to bend the rules a bit for a camper such as Gwen. And if the role of praetorship was in danger of becoming someone else's other than Octavian's . . .

Eyes blazing amber with anger, Aurora turned to face her distant relative. Octavian watched the scene with interest, not concern. His eyes flickered at the sight of Gwen's dead body, causing her blood to boil. Red began clouding her vision as she moved to get up, but the arms around her held her back. They grounded her, fighting to calm her down. She had never felt such rage since . . .

Suddenly Gwen gasped. Aurora's head whipped to the side to face the girl, every ounce of anger dissipating. The legion stepped back and Gwen opened her eyes. The color came back to her face.

"Wh—what is it?" She blinked. "Why is everyone staring at me?" She then focused on Aurora. "And why is she crying? Why are you crying?"

She didn't seem to notice the seven-foot harpoon sticking out through her chest.

Aurora couldn't believe it. How was she alive? She searched the area for Nico, but couldn't find him, so she focused on Hazel, who gave her a shocked shrug from her left. Dakota and Frank seemed just as confused as her.

Gwen tried to sit up, but couldn't. "There was a river, and a man asking . . . for a coin? I turned around and the exit door was open. So I just . . . I just left. I don't understand. What's happened?"

Everyone stared at her in horror. Nobody tried to help.

"Gwen." Frank patted Aurora's shoulder before kneeling next to the girl. "Don't try to get up. Just close your eyes for a second, okay?"

"Why? What—"

"Just trust me."

Gwen did what he asked.

Frank grabbed the shaft of the pilum below its tip, but his hands were shaking. The wood was slick. "Percy, Hazel, Aurora—help me."

Aurora's eyes widened a bit. One of the medics cried out, "Don't! You might—"

"What?" Aurora snapped, her voice shaking a bit. "Make it worse?"

Frank took a deep breath. "Hold her steady. One, two, three!"

He pulled the pilum out from the front. Gwen didn't even wince. The blood stopped quickly. Aurora heard someone pass out in the crowd behind her, their head bashing against a shield and creating a loud sound that resonated throughout the field. Aurora shakily breathed in and met her friend's eyes.

"It's closing on its own." Hazel studied the wound. "I don't know, but—"

"How do you feel?" Aurora asked, concerned.

"I feel fine," Gwen protested. "What's everyone worried about?"

With Frank and Percy's help, she got to her feet. Hazel helped Aurora up and wrapped an arm around her waist, hugging her tightly in an attempt at comforting her. Despite the girl being younger, both her and Aurora were the same height.

Aurora's eyes glanced down at her blood-coated hands. "Oh, gods."

"Gwen," Hazel said gently. "There's no easy way to say this. You were dead. Somehow you came back."

"I . . . what?" Gwen stumbled against Frank, eyes wide. Her hand pressed against the ragged hole in her armor, eyes locking on Aurora. "How—how?"

"Good question." Reyna turned to Nico, who was watching grimly from the edge of the crowd. "Is this some power of Pluto?"

Nico shook his head. "Pluto never lets people return from the dead."

Aurora ignored the look shared between the siblings of Pluto and studied Gwen. She looked healthy and said she felt healthy, but how had she survived? And how had the wound closed to quickly.

Before Aurora could ask any more questions, a voice thundered across the field, chilling her to her very core.

Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning.

Aurora's eyes grew wide and she met Reyna's gaze, a feeling of dread filling her up.

Mars.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 𝐒   𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄   !

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

In here, you see a bit of Percy and Aurora's relationship in battle, as well as her complete obliviousness to Hazel's past. You also see her connection with Gwen a bit and get to see a glimpse into her past, which will be explained a bit more later in the story, I promise. Also, there's some more dark-Apollo characteristics being shown.

Anyways, please comment and vote!

Love you all!

~ a.h.