I just really want to write this chapter so that’s why you’re getting it early :)

Chapter Quote:

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”

~Og Mandino

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Chapter 8: My Friend Is Flanked

Derek

The guards escorting the trio to the city were three girls: Havana Bourke (she said to call her Ana), Vanessa Grace, and Prerana Ateya.  Vanessa Grace was the daughter of Piper and Jason Grace, but apparently she’d taken on more of her mother’s powers rather than her fathers.  She had the Charmspeak ability and could create enough lightning from her fingertips to catch things on fire or knock someone out.  She was seventeen, had blonde hair, and her eyes changed color a lot.  It was cool to watch but Derek avoided doing so for long.  He didn’t want Silena getting the wrong idea.  He was already keeping something from her that made him feel guilty.  Ana was fifteen, and she had a medium brown hair and brown eyes.  She was a daughter of Mercury (or Hermes in Greek), and the mischievous glint in her eyes supported her heritage.  Lastly was Prerana.  Like Ana she was fifteen as well, but she had raven black hair and dark brown eyes with gold flecks in them.  She was daughter of Apollo and granddaughter of Venus (Aphrodite in Greek).

When they reached the entrance to a city, a statue suddenly popped up next to him.  He had no arms, but for some reason, Derek felt like the guy was searching him anyway. “GIVE ME ALL YOUR WEAPONS!” The statue screeched.  Silena, Derek, and Rachel jumped back.  Prerana, Vanessa, and Ana seemed unfazed.

“Here you go Terminus,” Ana said, handing her spear and shield over.  Prerana and Vanessa did the same thing. “You guys don’t have any weapons on you so you’re fine.”

“SO HELP ME IF YOU GREEKS CAUSE TROUBLE!  I BLAST YOU INTO TARTARUS!” Terminus yelled before disappearing.  Derek raised an eyebrow and said, “Has he always been that spastic?”

“Yeah, but it’s been worse ever since the war.  Come on,” Vanessa said.

“So how long did it take you to rebuild New Rome after the Giants attacked?” Silena inquired.

“Only a few days to build, but it took weeks to decide the design of the city and its structures, who would build what, what structures would go where, and all those shindigs.  That took a couple weeks from what I heard,” Prerana said.

“Interesting.  So you can actually live here?”

“Yep.  Hold a job, live in a house.  We’re actually a lot bigger than we used to be.  We had a lot of demigods move here after the war.  My parents were some of them.”

“My parents decided to live outside of here.   My dad turned more Greek during the war, so he decided to live near the Greek camp.  I wanted to come here though,” Vanessa explained.

“Are there any Greeks here?” Derek asked.

“No, not that I know of.  The Romans and Greeks are starting to argue again.  Since the Greeks were minorities here, they decided to up and leave.  I think our generation is a little more open to the Greeks, but one of our Praetors isn’t.  He’s annoying as hell.  His name is Antony.  Thinks he is right about everything.  You’ll meet him later.  He’s the one that commanded your trial so don’t think it’ll be a fair one,” Ana warned.

“Thanks for the warning.  So who are Bradley and Brady?  Who is their parent?”

“No one knows, but it’s pretty obvious they’re Ares.  I’ve never seen anyone fight like they do.  They’re phenomenal at sword fighting.  So who are your parents?”

“My dad’s Apollo,” Derek said.

“My granddad is Poseidon and my grandmother is Athena,” Silena said.

Vanessa, Ana, and Prerana all gasped. “Do you mean-” Vanessa began.

“-Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase-” Prerana added.

“- are your parents?” Ana finished incredulously.

“Um, yeah.  I have an older brother too, but he’s sort of missing and we’re on a quest to save him.  Bryn is leading it.”

“Why is she leading it?” Vanessa queried.

“She was completely adamant about it.  My parents told her and us to stay at camp while they went after Luke, my brother, but she obviously didn’t listen and she gave us the option to go with her and we said yes.  Rachel tagged along.”

“You’re rebellious, just like your father,” Ana laughed.

“Actually my brother is.  I take on after my mother really.  I mean I can control water and everything but I’ve always been better at strategies.”

“So when is this trial thing?” Rachel asked.

“Whenever Antony and Cora call it to session.  My guess is it’ll be soon.  As soon as Antony sees the twins with Bryn, he’ll get suspicious, probably start thinking the twins are planning to overthrow him, and call it.  The guy is paranoid beyond belief,” Prerana said.

“I think he’ll meet his match with Bryn,” Derek laughed.

“We’re betting on her.  Someone needs to knock down his ego.  He hates the twins because they don’t really listen to him.  They’ve never been good with rules.  We’ve always tried to vote them in as Praetors but Antony won’t hear of it.  Anyways, how about we show you the main attraction of New Rome?” Vanessa offered.  The group agreed and followed the three girls, buying some gelato on the way there.  The group received a lot of stares.  Terminus’s shouting must’ve brought a ton of attention to them.  They ignored it however, and tried to continue on as casually as they could.

A fountain loomed into view.  It was unlike any fountain Derek had ever seen.  High up on a rock in the center of the fountain were statues of Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus.  Below them were the rest of the gods, scattered around the rock.  Hera had a peacock at her feet, Hephaestus sat with an anvil resting on his knees, Athena had an owl on her shoulder and a scroll in her hand, Ares held a nasty looking sword, Aphrodite sat near the water with doves sitting around her, Demeter held a basket of fruit, Hermes held his caduceus and wore winged shoes, Dionysus held a bottle of wine and a wine glass, Apollo had a lyre and was looking up at his sister who pointed an arrow with her bow at him, and Hestia held a flame in her hand.  Each god and its specific props were all gold, about three feet tall each.  Then on the ring of the fountain were satyr statues, or fauns Derek decided since they were in Rome, on columns eight feet tall.  The fauns spouted water into the fountain.  They were made of marble.  In fact, the rock the gods sat on was marble too.  Except for the gods and they’re decorations, everything was a white marble.

“This is breathtaking,” Silena gasped in awe.  Her eyes lit up with excitement.  Derek smiled at her.  She was like a child in a candy factory.

“Hey guys,” Bryn greeted, appearing out of seemingly nowhere.  Derek, Silena, Rachel, Prerana, Vanessa, and Ana all jumped from surprise. “Beautiful isn’t it?”

“It’s amazing,” Silena agreed.

Derek eyed Brady and Bradley carefully.  They flanked Bryn, and they looked down at her.  Derek couldn’t tell what the twins were thinking, but he was almost positive he wasn’t going to like it.

“What did you guys talk about?” Derek questioned as casually as he could.

“They wanted to talk to me about Antony, ask my advice for stuff because apparently one of the gods told them to speak to me about stuff of which I cannot divulge.  Anyway, have they been treating you well?”

“Yeah, they’re really nice.  Are you ready for the trial?”

“Yes, just let me do all this speaking.  If this Antony guy is as much of a nuisance as he’s said to be, then I want to have some fun with him.”

“Bradley, Brady, Prerana, Vanessa, Ana, it’s time to take the prisoners to the trial,” a man informed.

“All right you four, let’s get going,” Vanessa said.  The four Greeks followed the Romans to the Senate house where other demigods were filing in.  Bryn, Rachel, Silena, and Derek were led to a section of the Senate that was only accessible through a locked metal door.  Once they were shoved onto the floor, the guards locked the door, leaving the four demigods the subject of everyone’s viewing.

Bryn grabbed her group and whispered, “If I say ‘timber,’ move next to me.  No questions.  Just trust me.”

“The trial is now in session,” a guy spoke up.  The group looked up to a balcony where two people wearing purple capes stood.  One was a girl with black hair, brown eyes, and a very serious face.  The other was a rather nosy looking guy with blonde hair and blue eyes.  He stared accusingly at the four Greeks.  Derek tore his gaze from the blonde guy and looked around the crowd.  He found the twins in the front, looking alert and uneasy.  Prerana, Vanessa, and Ana sat next to the twins.

“Quiet in the house!” The purple-caped guy shouted.  Immediately a hushed silence fell over the crowd. “Greeks, you have been brought here for an interrogation on what you have been hiding from us.  The two of us will be conducting this.”

“My name is Cora Valdez,” the purple-caped girl said.  She gave the guy next to her a disdainful look but he didn’t see it.

The blonde rolled his eyes. “My name is Antony, son of the augur Octavian.  If you tell the truth, your punishment will be less severe.”

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