{LANDON}

If there was ever a king of the world, a king who could bend the world to his will, a king who kept everyone in fear, that would be his brother.

Xander Martin preferred to be the most disciplined one in their family. Most of their childhood, Landon had spent being forced into practice by his older brother, and resenting him for it.

He might've been a son of Mercury, but Xander believed in following the rules that had been carved out by their predecessors. He would always find a right or wrong in everything, no matter what.

Landon had never been too close to his brother he had been with Luke. Xander had always tended to keep to himself for most of the time, he didn't participate much in family activities, he didn't talk to many people besides the ones he felt comfortable enough with.

Landon wasn't one of those people.

Landon was jealous of the people Xander did let in, he was jealous of Claire and Jason. The daughter of Janus was the only person who'd managed to get Xander even to show some empathy.

He was jealous of Jason because Xander treated the son of Jupiter more like a brother than him. But it had always been like that. Xander had always preferred everyone over him.

That was what drove Landon to get too attached to Luke.

Luke was different, the late son of Hermes had always helped him. He'd always been there when Landon needed someone to guide him. He'd always been there when Landon felt alone at camp.

Landon had loved Luke with his whole heart.

That was until the Castellan boy betrayed them, Luke went insane and every single ounce of that love was snatched away from him.

He had Ethan but the son of Nemesis left and died just like Luke. He lost a lot of friends in the war. Landon had wondered if maybe it was him that made everyone leave, that there was a problem in him that made every single person leave him, maybe there was.

After what happened in the woods with Percy and Luke at Camp Half-Blood, everyone started avoiding Landon, they shut him out, and he knew why, they all thought he was a spy too. At first, he could handle it, but there was a line to how much he could take.

It was fine when he had Evangeline, he knew she understood what it felt like, but even she grew apart and his mind always told him that she left because she didn't trust him. She had Grover, Percy, and Annabeth, she found people she trusted, and he was happy for her. But it felt alone after she was gone too.

It felt so alone he wanted to leave camp, he wanted to disappear off the face of the earth, to never be seen again. He wanted to run away, but where would he go?

He couldn't bother his aunt with his problems, she had enough problems to deal with. His mother wasn't an option, she didn't deserve to have a son who messed everything up after all she had done for him, she might not blame him for the incident but he did, he blamed himself.

His father had never cared and never would. And at one point the god had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Landon, Hermes was ashamed of him. Landon was like a big spot smeared in the middle of a beautiful picture to him.

Landon even hated Percy for it, the son of Poseidon had met the god during his second summer at camp. While the son of Hermes had never even heard a word let alone met his father before that day on Olympus during the war and all they had done during that interaction was argue.

That day one thing became clear, that it would always be him against the world, and it took a while before he had come to terms with that.

"You had a productive day," Xander noted.

"What do you mean by that?" Landon grumbled. He flopped down on his bunk and buried his face into the pillow. The soft fabric pressed against his face, blocking out the rest of the world around him.

"That boy who came with Juno," His older brother said. "The son of Neptune must've been a handful."

"Stop it." He said, lifting his head. "What do you want to say?"

Xander's piercing dark brown eyes landed on him. The older Martin boy was wearing a white shirt tucked into black pants, his black hair combed back neatly, looking as fancy as always, meaning he was probably in the Bay Area instead of camp all day.

"I'm waiting," the younger boy said.

"His necklace," Xander started, "that looked a lot like the one in your bag."

"You went through my stuff?" Landon sat up straight, his eyes narrowing into thin slits.

"I have to take safety precautions, I had to make sure you didn't bring some animal to kill us all." Xander sighed.

"I'm your brother. You should trust me." The son of Hermes scowled.

"I'm allowed to have doubts over you, you were gone for eight years, who knows what damage you have caused." The son of Mercury started pacing back and forth at the foot of Landon's bunk. "But that isn't what I'm talking about. The boy—"

"Percy," Landon grumbled. "His name's Percy."

"The son of Neptune, he's going to bring bad luck to us. I thought you were the bad luck we were warned about, but I suppose he's the one we were truly warned about."

"Where are you going with this?" The younger boy asked, running a hand down his face.

"You know him," Xander's tone was filled with certainty leaving no hint of doubt.

Before Landon could say anything his brother cut him off, "Reyna said you hid when you saw him and that the boy called you by some name, you both have the same necklace around your necks and were both being dropped off by Juno. Seems like an odd coincidence, doesn't it?"

"Accidents happen," Landon chuckled, he hoped Xander couldn't hear the nervousness in his voice.

When he glanced up at his brother he was met with the usual stoic and cold face of Xander Martin. One thing about Xander was that you could never tell what he was feeling. Xander had the ultimate poker face.

It was very annoying at times.

"You think I'm stupid enough to believe that horrible attempt to not answer my question?" Xander raised a brow. "Tell me how you know him,"

"I don't know him," Landon shook his head.

"Try again,"

"I swear I don't,"

Xander clenched his jaw and stopped pacing. He turned to Landon and stuffed a hand in his right pocket. "Tell me how you know the boy, and don't even think about lying."

Landon swallowed harshly. He knew there was no point in trying, Xander deserved the truth and only that, he had to come clean...so he did. He took a deep breath before he spoke in a calm and steady voice:

"I've never seen that guy in my entire life."

"So, you're going to lie about this?"

"I'm not lying,"

Xander took a deep breath. "Fine, don't tell me. You and I both know, it will not be long before I find out how you know that boy, I'm a little surprised, my warnings always used to work when you were little."

"Yeah, but at that time you were my only sociopathic brother then I met another one."

Xander shot him a nasty look. "Hilarious,"

"I'm just the funniest, aren't I?" Landon sent him a false smile as he laid back down on the bunk.

"Just the best," Xander grumbled. The boy checked his watch that was around his wrist and said, "Change your clothes,"

"Why?"

"Because it's time for the war games, Lan,"

The son of Hermes felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach at the nickname. Luke used to call him that, not one soul had called him that in years. Xander knew something and it was more clearer than glass now.

Landon marched his way through the camp along with Percy, Hazel, and Frank to the war games.

He avoided Percy's gaze, as the son of Poseidon was watching him carefully. "Hey, Landon?" Percy grabbed his arm, stopping him as Hazel and Frank walked ahead.

"Yeah?" The son of Hermes tugged his arm out of Percy's grip.

"Do you know about a girl named Evangeline?"

"Nope,"

"You sure?" Percy sounded hurt and disappointed. He would feel bad but then again, Percy always hated him for no reason and called him stupid so he was only a little sympathetic.

"Yeah, what's an Evangeline anyways?" Landon asked, he was praying that Percy wasn't using his only brain cell at the time.

Percy had a faraway look in his eyes. "Princess—she's a princess."

"Is she?"

"Yeah,"

Once they got out of camp, the Fifth Cohort formed two lines behind their centurions, Dakota and Gwen. 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.

In all honesty, Landon thought they took P.E. too seriously at both of the camps.

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 surprises for the defenders to use.

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

"Real bad," Landon murmured.

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

The daughter of Pluto 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," The son of Poseidon said. "So you attack a different fort every night?"

"Not every night," Frank said. "We have different training exercises. Sometimes death ball—um, which is like paintball, except with you know, poison and acid and fireballs."

"Death ball," Percy mumbled. "death girl."

"What was that?" Hazel asked.

"Nothing, um," The raven-haired boy shook his head. "What else?"

"Sometimes we do chariots," Landon said. "Gladiator competitions, sometimes war games." 

Hazel pointed at the fort. "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."

Landon couldn't exactly disagree with that. He mostly got border patrol so he had the easiest job, it wasn't like he did do his job. He would just sit around and do nothing, it was a great way to kill time.

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 competes with the other two attacking cohorts. We sort of work together, but not really. The cohort that captures the banners gets all the glory."

Percy stumbled and Landon caught him before the raven-haired boy fell. The son of Poseidon was trying to keep time with the left-right marching rhythm.

"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. Battles skills. You'd be surprised what you can learn in war games."

"You forgot about the part where they fight to the death," Landon added.

The daughter of Pluto shook her head.

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.

The centurions for the attacking side gathered for a conference. 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 who wasn't participating was Evangeline's demon spawn of a brother.

Nico had climbed an observation tower about a hundred yards from the fort and would be watching with binoculars.

"What if I hurt somebody?" He heard Percy ask.

"You won't," Landon said.

"Yeah, and besides, we heal them," Frank said. "or try to. The legion medics are pretty good with ambrosia and nectar, and unicorn draught."

"No one dies," Hazel said. "Well, not usually. And if they do—"

Frank imitated the voice of Vitellius: "They're wimps! Back in my day, we died all the time, and we liked it!" 

"Or it would be something like: 'Don't be a wimp, your hands are just bleeding, nobody even cut them off yet," Landon added.

Percy shot him a weird look.

Hazel laughed. "Just stay with us, Percy. Chances are we'll get the worst duty and get eliminated early. They'll throw us at the walls first to soften up the defenses. Then the Third and Fourth Cohorts will march in and get the honors if they can even breach the fort."

Horns blew. Dakota and Gwen walked back from the officers' conference looking grim.

"All right, here's the plan!" Dakota took a quick swig of Kool-Aid from his travel flask. "They're throwing us at the walls first to soften up the defenses."

The whole cohort groaned.

"I know, I know," Gwen said. "But maybe this time we'll have some luck!"

The campers grumbled and complained. Nobody believed in luck for the Fifth, nobody.

"First line with Dakota," Gwen said. "Lock shields and advance in turtle formation to the main gates. Try to stay in one piece. Draw their fire. The second line—" she turned over to their row. "You seventeen, from Bobby over, take charge of the elephant and the scaling ladders. Try a flanking attack on the western hall. Maybe we can spread the defenders too thin. Frank, Landon, Hazel, Percy...well, just do whatever. Show Percy the ropes. Try to keep him alive."

She turned back to the whole cohort. "If anybody gets over the wall first, I'll make sure you get the Mural Crown. Victory for the Fifth!"

The cohort cheered half-heartedly and broke ranks.

The son of Poseidon frowned. "Do whatever?"

"Yup," Landon patted his shoulder.

"It's a big vote of confidence," Hazel sighed.

"What's the Mural Crown?" He 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..."

He faltered and looked at Percy. "Water cannons."

"What?" Percy asked.

The son of Hermes pursed his lips, he glanced over at the walls and then back at Percy.

"The cannons on the walls," Frank said, "they draw water from the aqueduct. There's a pump system—hell, I don't know how they work, but they're under a lot of pressure. If you could control them, like you controlled the river—"

"Frank!" Hazel beamed. "That's brilliant!"

"I don't know how I did that at the river," Percy said, he looked unsure. "I'm not sure I can control the cannons from this far away."

"We'll get you closer," Frank pointed to the easter wall of the fort, where the Fifth cohort wouldn't be attacking. "That's where the defenses will be weakest. They'll never take four kids seriously. I think we can sneak up pretty close before they see us."

"Sneak up how?" Percy asked.

"Easy," Landon pointed at the ground with his sword as Frank and he shared a look and glanced at Hazel.

"Can you do that thing again?" Frank asked.

She punched him in the chest. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody!"

"I'm not just anybody," Landon frowned.

Hazel muttered under her breath. "Never mind. It's fine. Percy, they're 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 and using them. I can even collapse them if I have to."

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

"You guys fought gorgons?" Landon asked.

Hazel nodded and Landon held up his hand for a high five to which Frank and Hazel responded.

"I told you Pluto was cool." The Zhang boy said.  "He's the god of everything under the earth. Hazel can find caves, tunnels, trapdoors—"

"And it was our secret," she grumbled.

"Yeah, sorry. But if  we can get close—"

"And if I can knock out the water cannons..." The son of Poseidon nodded like he was warming to the idea. "What do we do then?"

"The rest is up to me," Frank said as he checked his quiver. "Let's go."

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, Landon could see the main line of the Fifth Cohort advancing in turtle formation, shields 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."

A defender appeared on the wall above them. "Hey!" He shouted to his companions. "Check it out! More victims!"

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

Percy closed his eyes. He raised his hand.

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

Then the cannon exploded in a starburst of blue, green, and white. They all screamed and toppled over the walls but were snatched by giant eagles and carried to safety.

Then the entire easter wall shuddered as the explosion backed up through the pipelines. One after another water cannons on the battlements exploded.

Everything seemed to be going their way. At the main gates, the Fifth Cohort forgot about their formation. Mystified, they lowered their shields and stared at the chaos.

Frank shot an 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 yelled.

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

"Yeah, and you know what they say ladies first," Landon smiled.

Frank hesitated. Then he slung his bow on his back and began to climb.

Landon was the next to climb. When he glanced back he saw the Fifth Cohort's main group staring at Frank, dumbfounded.

"Well?" Frank screamed. "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.

Landon got to his feet as he reached the top of the wall. With that, the two charged.

The son of Hermes ducked as an arrow was shot at his head and slashed at a defender, knocking him down and bashing his head with the hilt of Mencadius. Then Hazel appeared next to him, swinging her big cavalry sword like she was born for battle.

Percy leaped onto the wall and raised Riptide. "Fun," he said.

Together they cleared the defenders off the walls. Below them, the gates broke. Hannibal barreled into the fort, arrows, and rocks bouncing harmlessly off his Kevlar armor.

The Fifth Cohort charged in behind the elephant, and the battle went hand-in-hand.

Finally, from the edge of the Field of Mars, a battle cry went up. The Third and Fourth Cohorts ran to join the fight.

"A little late," Hazel grumbled.

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

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

"I'm tired," Landon panted. "Why don't we just call it a day? Let's just let them win."

The other three all shot him disappointed looks and he rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's go fight to victory or something like that,"

No more talk seemed necessary. 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.

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.

Mostly because Percy was fighting like a Greek and that caught them off-guard, causing a mass panic.

Octavian screamed in a shrill voice—maybe ordering the First Cohort to stand their ground, maybe trying to sing soprano—but Landon swept Octavian's feet from underneath him and the blond landed on the ground.

"I wanted to hit him," Percy frowned as he reached the Martin boy's side.

Landon stepped aside and motioned toward the legacy of Apollo who was getting up.

The son of Poseidon smiled and slammed the butt of Riptide straight into Octavian's helmet and the centurion collapsed like a sock puppet.

They were joined by Frank and Hazel and the four of them ran to the center of the base.

The inner keep was virtually unguarded. 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. The cohort's emblems were propped carelessly against one wall.

Hazel and Hannibal rode straight into the room, and the standard-bearers fell backward out of their chains. The elephant stepped on the table, and game pieces scattered.

By the time the rest of the cohort caught up with them, Landon, Percy, and Frank had disarmed the enemies grabbed the banners, and climbed onto Hannibal's back with Hazel.

They marched out of the keep with the enemy colors.

The Fifth Cohort formed ranks around them. Together they paraded out of the fort, past stunned enemies and lines 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. Landon saw plenty of minor injuries—but it was something that could be fixed.

He slid off the elephant. Everyone swarmed Frank, and Landon saw his brother a few feet away with Claire Van Doren, the daughter of Janus who was also Xander's girlfriend.

Claire smiled and waved at him, the son of Hermes sent her a tight-lipped smile as he waved back at her.

Claire was the polar opposite of Xander, she was always smiling and baking things, and she didn't care about winning and power and most of all she loved everyone. So it always remained a mystery to him how she could be in love with someone like his brother.

"Help!" Somebody yelled. A couple of campers rushed out of the fortress, carrying out a girl—Gwen. They set her down, and the other kids started running over.

She was in bad shape. She lay on her side of the stretcher with a pilum sticking out of her armor.

Frank shook his head and ran to her side. Landon followed closely. He felt his hands twitching, he rubbed the pad of his thumb across the bandage wrapped around the tip of his index finger.

The medics barked at everyone to stand back and give her air. The whole legion fell silent as the healers worked—trying to get gauze and powdered unicorn horn under Gwen's armor to stop the bleeding, trying to force some nectar into her mouth. Gwen didn't move. Her face was ashen gray.

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.

The daughter of Bellona surveyed the campers from her pegasus. Her expression was as hard and dark as iron. "There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, cost the legion a good officer. Honorable death is one thing, but this..."

Landon figured the pilum was from the First Cohort because of the marks engraved in the wooden shaft. He recognized that knife perfectly since that same knife had been stabbed at him countless times when he was a kid.

He glanced over at Octavian who was watching with more interest than concern, as if he was examining one of his gutted teddy bears. Then the centurion met the Martin boy's gaze and offered him a slight smirk.

The son of Hermes clenched his jaw and looked away. He wanted to see how flammable Octavian was.

Then Gwen gasped.

Everyone stepped back. Gwen opened her eyes. The color came back to her face, "Wh—what is it?" she blinked. "what's everyone staring at?"

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

The centurion 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 knelt next to her. "Don't try to get up. Just close your eyes for a second, okay?"

Frank grabbed the shaft of the pilum below its tip, but his hands looked shaky. "Landon, Percy, Hazel—help me."

One of the medics said, "Don't! You might—"

"What?" Hazel snapped. "Make it worse?"

"Hold her steady. One, two, three!"

He pulled out the pilum from the front and Gwen didn't even wince. The blood stopped quickly.

The daughter of Pluto bent down to examine the wound. "It's closing on its own," she said. "I don't know how, but—"

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

With Landon and Percy's help, she got to her feet.

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

"I...what?" She stumbled against Landon. Her hand pressed against the ragged hole in her armor. "How—how?"

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

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

He glanced at Hazel as if warning her to stay quiet. Landon shifted on his feet. Then a thunderous voice rolled across the field: Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning.

Everyone drew weapons. Hannibal trumpeted nervously. Scipio reared, almost throwing Reyna.

"I know that voice," Percy said. He didn't sound pleased. Landon's eyebrows scrunched together, he recognized it too but he couldn't exactly pinpoint who it belonged too.

Amid the legion, a column of fire blasted into the air.

Campers who had been soaked by the cannons found their clothes instantly steam-dried. Everyone scrambled backward as a huge soldier stepped out of the explosion.

The soldier was ten feet tall, dressed in Canadian Forces desert camouflage. He radiated confidence and power. His black hair was cut in a flat-topped wedge-like Frank's.

His face was angular and brutal, marked with old knife scars. His eyes were covered with infrared goggles that glowed from inside. He wore a utility belt with a sidearm, a knife holster, and several grenades. In his hands was an oversized M16 rifle.

As everyone else stepped back, Frank stepped forward. Landon shared a look with Xander who was watching with a careful expression.

Frank took three more steps. Then he sank to one knee.

Everyone followed his example and knelt. Even Reyna dismounted.

"That's good," the soldier said. "Kneeling is good. It's been a long time since I've visited Camp Jupiter."

Landon knew who the soldier was once he saw that Percy hadn't knelt. Riptide was still in his hand and he was glaring at the god of war.

"You're Ares," Percy said. "What do you want?"

It seemed like Percy's subconscious hadn't forgotten about the battle with the God of War at the end of his first quest.

The Martin boy nudged the raven-haired boy as a collective gasp went up from two hundred campers and an elephant.

The god bared his brilliant white teeth.

"You've got spunk, demigod," he said. "Ares is my Greek Form. But to these followers, to the children of Rome, I am Mars—patron of the empire, divine father of Romulus and Remus."

"We've met," The son of Poseidon said. "We...we had a fight..."

"Is that so?" Xander asked, his gaze on Landon. "Do tell."

"Xan," Claire sent him a knowing look.

The god scratched his chin. "I fight a lot of people. But I assure you—you've never fought me as Mars. If you had, you'd be dead. Now, kneel, as befits a child of Rome, before you try my patience."

Around Mars's feet, the ground boiled in a circle of flame.

"Percy," Frank said, "Please."

Percy didn't look pleased but he knelt.

Mars scanned the crowd. "Romans, lend me your ears!" He laughed. "I've always wanted to say that. I come from Olympus with a message. Jupiter doesn't like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he has allowed this exception, as you Romans have always been my special people. I'm only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up."

He pointed at Gwen. "This one should be dead, yet she's not. The monsters you fight no longer return to Tartarus when they are slain. Some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again."

He glared at the son of Hades. "Thanatos has been chained," Mars announced. "The Doors of Death have been forced open, and no one is policing them—at least, not impartially. Gaea has allowed our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. Her sons the giants are mustering armies against you—armies that you will not be to kill. Unless Death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. You must find Thanatos and free him from the giants. Only he can reverse the tide."

Mars looked around and noticed that everyone was still silently kneeling. "Oh, you can get up now. Any questions?"

Reyna rose uneasily. She approached the god, followed by Octavian who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler.

"Lord Mars," Reyna said, "we are honored."

"Beyond honored," said Octavian. "So far beyond honored—"

"Well?" Mars snapped.

"Well," The daughter of Bellona said. "Thanatos is the god of death, the lieutenant of Pluto?"

"Right," the god said.

"And you're saying he's been captured by giants."

"Right."

"And therefore people will stop dying?"

"Not all at once," Mars said. "But the barriers between life and death will continue to weaken. Those who know how to take advantage of this will exploit it. Monsters are already harder to dispatch. Soon they will be completely impossible to kill. Some demigods will also be able to find their way back from the Underworld—like your friend Centurion Shish kebab."

Gwen winced. "Centurion Shish kebab?"

"If left unchecked," Mars continued, "even mortals will eventually find it impossible to die. Can you imagine a world in which no one dies—ever?"

Octavian raised his hand. "But, ah, mighty all-powerful Lord Mars—"

"Kiss up," Landon coughed.

"—if we can't die, isn't that a good thing?" The blond continued, "If we can stay alive indefinitely—"

"Don't be foolish, boy!" The god bellowed. "Endless slaughter with no conclusion? Carnage without any point? Enemies that rise again and again and can never be killed? Is that what you want?"

"You're the god of war," Percy spoke up. "Don't you want endless carnage?"

Mars's infrared goggles glowed brighter. "Insolent, aren't you? Perhaps I have fought you before. I can understand why I'd want to kill you. I'm the god of Rome, child. I am the god of military might used for a righteous cause. I protect the legions. I am happy to crush my enemies underfoot, but I don't fight without reason. I don't war without an end. You will discover this. You will serve me."

"Not likely,"

Mars grinned like they were two old buddies talking trash.

"I order a quest!" The god announced. "You will go north and find Thanatos in the land beyond the gods. You will free him and thwart the plans of the giants. Beware Gaea! Beware her son, the eldest giant!"

Hazel made a squeaking sound. "The land beyond gods?"

Mars stared down at her, his grip tightening on his M16. "That's right, Hazel Levesque. You know what I mean. Everyone here remembers the land where the legion lost its honor! Perhaps if the quest succeeds, and you return by the Feast of Fortuna...perhaps then your honor will be restored. If you don't succeed, there won't be any camp left to return to. Rome will be overrun, its legacy lost forever. So my advice is: Don't fail."

"Great advice, man," Landon deadpanned.

Mars nodded, he looked pleased of himself. "I know."

Octavian somehow managed to bow even lower. "Um, Lord Mars, just one tiny thing. A quest requires a prophecy, a mystical poem to guide us! We used to get them from the Sibylline books, but it's up to the augur to glean the will of gods. So if I could just run and get about seventy stuffed animals and possibly a knife—"

"You're the augur?" The god interrupted.

"Y-yes, my lord,"

Mars pulled a scroll from his utility belt. "Anyone got a pen?"

The legionnaires stared at him.

Mars sighed. "Two hundred Romans and no one's got a pen? Never mind!"

He slung his M16 onto his back and pulled out a hand grenade. There were many screaming Romans. Then the grenade morphed into a ballpoint pen, and Mars began to write.

Landon wondered if Mars could turn a rock into a bomb and give it to him, for research purposes obviously.

"There!" Mars finished writing and threw the scroll at Octavian. "A prophecy. You can add it to your books, engrave it on your floor, whatever."

Octavian read the scroll. "This says, 'Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.'"

"I'm not hearing a problem," The son of Hermes said earning a smack on the back of his head from Xander.

"Yes," Mars said. "Is that not clear?"

"Well, my lord...usually prophecies are unclear. They're wrapped in riddles. They rhyme, and..."

Mars casually popped another grenade off his belt. "Yes?"

"The prophecy is clear!" Octavian announced. "A quest!"

"Good answer." Mars tapped the grenade to his chin. "Now, what else? There was something else...Oh, yes."

He turned to the Zhang boy. "C'mere, kid."

Frank stepped forward, he looked like he was about to pass out.

Mars grinned. "Nice job taking the wall, kid. Who's the ref for this game?"

Reyna raised her hand.

"You see that play, ref?" Mars demanded. "That was my kid. First over the wall, won the game for his team. Unless you're blind, that was an MVP play. You're not blind, are you?"

The praetor looked like she was trying to swallow a mouse. "No, Lord Mars."

"Then make sure he gets the Mural Crown," Mars demanded. "My kid, here!" He yelled at the legion, in case anyone hadn't heard.

"Emily Zhang's son," Mars continued. "she was a good soldier. Good woman. This kid Frank proved his stuff tonight. Happy late birthday, kid. Time you stepped up to a real man's weapon."

He tossed Frank his M16, and the gun changed midair, becoming smaller and thinner. When Frank caught it, the weapon was a spear. It had a shaft of Imperial gold and a strange point like a white bone, flickering with ghostly light.

"The tip is a dragon's tooth," Mars said. "You haven't learned to use your mom's talents yet, have you? Well—that spear will give you some breathing room until you do. You get three charges out of it, so use it wisely."

"Now," Mars said. "my kid Frank Zhang is gonna lead the quest to free Thanatos unless there are any objections?"

Of course, no one said a word. But many of the campers glared at Frank with envy, jealousy, anger, and bitterness.

"You can take three companions," Mars said. "Those are the rules. One of them needs to be this one."

He pointed at the son of Poseidon. "He's gonna learn some respect for Mars on this trip or die trying. As for the second and third, I don't care. Pick whomever you want. Have one of your senate debates. You all are good at those."

The god's image flickered. Lightning crackled across the sky. "That's my cue," Mars said. He turned to Landon and threw a grenade at him.

The younger boy managed to catch it, his eyes widened in panic. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Use it well, kid," Mars said as if that was helpful. "Until next time, Romans. Do not disappoint me!"

The god erupted into flames, and then he was gone.

Reyna turned toward Frank. She raised her arm in a Roman salute. "Ave, Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

The whole legion followed her lead, but Frank looked like he wanted to disappear.

Landon glanced down at the grenade in his hand. He had no clue what he was supposed to do with it but something in his mind told him to keep it safe with him.

------✧------

A/N: My English teacher slapped this guy who sat three rows behind me, and then this kid poisoned a substitute by putting super glue into his food...it's been wild af at this new school guys.

I love writing angst, Landon and Luke are very I bet on Losing Dogs by Mitski coded.

And Xander, he's going to be mean to Landon but it will get better, just trust me guys.