Of Greeks And Romans (Leo Valdez x Reader)

XX

You

I had to split from the others after eating. I would have loved to stay with the fifth cohort, but the third apparently needed me. Honestly, I would have been completely fine being in the fifth cohort, but it would make gaining the camp's trust a little harder.

The third cohort was forming a line a short distance from where the fifth cohort was forming theirs. I filed into line, a couple of the other campers nodding to me in respect. Most of them seemed to scared to talk to me, which was a little weird. Their stares were a mix of awe and just 'I want to run away'.

Percy caught my eye from where the fifth cohort was and gave me a small wave. I lifted my eyebrows, a little surprised that Percy was waving, but I still raised my hand.

The third cohort was ready to go before the fifth. We 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. It was a little intimidating.

"You know how to play?" One of the campers said from beside me.

"Kinda, but a refresher would be good," I said honestly. It looked a whole lot more intimidating when it was right in front of me.

The camper had short brown cropped hair, his brown hair freshly cut. I don't think he was ever mentioned in the books either.

“Yeah, well, I'm warning you that it’s a little 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 gets all the glory."

"Sounds fun," I said, but I was only half telling the truth. I was a little scared too.

The boy gave me a grin. "You'll do fine. With you on our team, we are practically guaranteed to win. Name's Mike, by the way." He held out his hand.

"Ummm thanks. I'm Y/n," I gave his hand a firm shake.

He let out a small laugh. "I think everyone in camp knows that. Congratulations on becoming a full member too. It's impressive that you just got here and completed your act if valor in such a short time."

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. I was still determining wether or not I help the fifth win, or take it for myself... 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 not participating in the game 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.

Hank cleared his throat, our centurion getting ready to prep our cohort.

"All right, we're going to throw the fifth cohort at the walls first, soften up the defenses. Once their lines have thinned a bit, that is when we will clear our way through."

A couple of people snickered a little, clearly amused that the fifth was breaking defenses again.

"First line will be on the south side with Hank," our other centurion said. I couldn't remember what their name was. "Form tight in eagle formation, flank the attack while the second line will attack from the north with me." She then paused, her gaze catching mine.