Celestial Flames (Percy Jackson Universe)

The Roman Troops

Long chapter ahead. Everyone brace yourselves

It had originally been Malcolm's idea. It was a good idea too. 

I volunteered because I needed to do something useful after two weeks of laying around. 

Will volunteered because despite my heavy arguing, he had just delivered Mellie's satyr baby and needed some fresh air. 

Cecil was asked to join us because he knew how to mess with things. 

Lou Ellen volunteered because she was good with the Mist and could camoflauge us. Mostly. 

There were a few stops that had to be made. One of the features of Cabin Ten was an unlimited magic closet, that could generate clothes in a person's perfect size and what they needed. So we went to Cabin Ten and grabbed camo gear since the sun was coming up. I grabbed a beanie for Will since his bright golden hair would stick out in the underbrush of Half-Blood Hill. 

The other was to my cabin to grab my backpack. One of the features I discovered was that it was able to blend into it's atmosphere, like my clothes. So I loaded my bow, two dozen arrows in a quiver, ambrosia, band-aids, and an extra camp jacket, just in case. 

Then, it was off to Half-Blood Hill. 

The situation was a lot worse than I thought. The Romans had moved into the valley below Half-Blood Hill. It was laid with trenches form the Roman legion, the legionnares a small force compared monster allies their leader had called. They were terrible. Centaurs with horns and harsh weapons. Dog headed men and other creatures I didn't recognize. The worst part were the catapults. Chiron had called them onagers. They were bigger than Thalia's pine tree, possibly bigger than the Big House. Their slings were filled with golden and metal shrapnel that was sharp and smoked. There were six of them, each one primed to fire. 

"This is bad," I whispered. 

"If those onagers don't destroy the camp, the monsters will," Lou Ellen pointed out. 

She had a point. There were thousands of them, outnumbering the demigods twenty to one. 

I licked my lips. Before I could say anything, something appeared from the shadows around Thalia's pine tree. I focused on the figure, as the shadows receeded. My eyes nearly bulged from my sockets at the sight. Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades I hadn't seen since last year leaned against Thalia's pine tree for balance. He was taller and skinnier, his black sword hung at his belt. What made my brain unable to function was the sight of him in a bright pink and orange Hawaiian shirt. It had parrots and looked like something Mr D might wear. The son of Hades didn't seem to notice us as he looked over the Roman troops. 

It was Will who found his voice first. He stood from the bushes and called, "Nico?" 

I was barely able to pull Will back in time before Nico took his head off with that black sword. 

"Put that down!" Will hissed. "What are you doing here?" 

"Are you crazy?" I whispered. "Get down before someone sees you, which is incredibly likely in that shirt." 

Nico blinked in shock but kneeled down in the bushes with us. "Me? What are you doing? Getting yourselves killed?" 

I liked to think I knew Will pretty well. I had never seen him get this irritated with someone this quickly. He tugged down the edge of the beanie on his head to cover his golden curls. "Hey, we're scouting the enemy, we took precautions," Will defended. 

I scoffed. "They were gonna go in all black until I intervened." 

Nico glared at Will. "All black? As the sun was coming up? Let me guess, you didn't even think of covering up your bright blond hair."