Rise of House Neptune

A Date With Destiny

Chapter 21

Percy was in the barracks preparing for his date with Gwen for the evening. He took extra care to make sure his hair was styled, and his outfit wasn't his usual purple camp shirt and jeans. Tonight he wore khaki shorts, and a collared shirt that hugged his body well, and he borrowed some cologne from Jason who had been gifted the bottle by some fangirl from the third cohort. Usually Percy would've teased his cousin about such a thing, but knew he was at Jason's Mercy for once so ignored it.

He spent the remainder of his evening in his office with Jason chatting about the Praetorian Guard, and what kind of missions they could get sent on. Both were hoping for action soon, but neither talked about the fact that scouts had now been sent out three days ago, and none had returned. That wasn't a good sign for locating Titan headquarters.

The two were finally getting the opportunity to share the cokes in celebration of their successful quests, and Percy's appointment to Centurion, "Should've known you wouldn't do things the traditional way. A year ago you nearly refused to be my Optio, now look at you Centurion Jackson, Captain of the Praetorian Guard. You get to give Primus Pilus orders, your father is getting a new temple, and you are taking Gwen out on a date tonight. You must be feeling pretty good about yourself."

Percy grinned at his best friend, "On top of the world my brother. I only had to nearly kill myself to defeat the Trojan Sea Monster, get electroctured half to death by a Spartan King, and prevent World War Three among the gods. All in a day's work."

Jason raised his coke to him, "But it all worked out. We continue to defy the odds, and come out on top. The sons of the Eldest Olympians, and the best fighters of our generation. We will lead Rome to war, and win. Become immortalized in the minds of men, women, and children."

Shaking his head at the son of Jupiter he merely smiled, "We used to have such simple ambitions. Build my father a temple, sail the Mare Nostrum, and split a few heads along the way to make a name for ourselves. Oh how things have changed."

The two said nothing further as they sipped on their drinks. Bianca arrived at Percy's office shortly after silence fell between the two with a pale expression on her face, "We all need to talk."

Percy looked at the girl in alarm, "Is everything okay?"

At her silence Jason stood up putting an arm around the girl, "Bianca, talk to us what's going on?"

Percy noticed immediately the girl had a new weapon on her belt. A short pure black sword that radiated sometype of power, "B, where did you get that sword?"

She took a seat and Jason and Percy watched her in concern as she started to speak, "I was communing with the dead in my fathers temple. It is something I do fairly often to try and gather intelligence for our side, but this time was different. I managed to summon my father, but only he wasn't..."

Jason and Percy exchanged nervous looks, before Jason said, "You summoned Lord Hades didn't you?"

She nodded her head, "Not on purpose at all. I was merely trying to establish a connection with my brother, but he appeared. He isn't much like my father. He held a stonier demeanor, and seemed more sinister with his intentions."

Percy stared at her hard, "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, "No..." A pause, "He told me I would be reunited with my brother sooner than we thought..." A longer pause, "He gave me this sword as a gift. Stygian Iron. Said that the son of Neptune would need the sword of the sea for a job assigned to him by Olympus. He told me that for now I should wield this blade, and eventually study the style of dimachaerus when riptide is returned to me."