"See," Percy whispered into Thalia's ear, "it all worked out well in the end."
Thalia glared at Percy, "don't think you got off easy Mr. I am still going to kick your ass when we get back to camp."
When Julia was done the Senate began to talk amongst themselves again. Finally Edgar got up, "we understand you all wish to join forces, and the fact that you are willing to swear on the Styx to that is truly impressive. But you have to understand, we have spent thousands of years fighting and fear the Greeks. We need to be sure of your commitment."
"What do we have to do to prove ourselves?" Thalia asked.
"Simple," Edgar replied, "what do you know off the symbol of our camp?"
"You can't be serious!" Julia cried out, "Edgar that is suicide!" Even Rob nodded, the look on his face told Percy he was scared for them.
"We need to be sure they are on our side Julia," Edgar simply repeated himself, "this will prove their power and their loyalty."
"But Edgar-"
"-Enough!" the man said in a harsh tone shutting Julia down. He turned to Percy and Thalia, "so what do you know of our camp's symbol?"
Percy and Thalia shared a look. "Nothing," Thalia admitted.
"Then it is time I gave you a history lesson," Edgar said as he began his tale, "you see we have lost something, something of great value to the whole camp."
"Yeah, thanks to the fifth cohort!" a Ghost floating in the back spat out. Jason and the other Legionnaires of the 5th bowed their heads in disgrace, but Edgar ignored them.
"This symbol was a large Eagle made out of Imperial Gold-"
"-Wait," Thalia interrupted, "Imperial Gold?"
Egar and the other Romans looked surprised, "yes....you have never heard of this?"
Percy and Thalia shook their heads, "we mainly use celestial bronze weapons in the Greek camps."
Edgar and the other campers nodded, "I see... well the imperial gold was a metal made during the time of ancient Rome. It was made by the priests of the time using very ancient and powerful sorcery to create it."
'Like Waverider,' Percy realised as he idly wondered whether about the process of creating the metal. Percy remembered that he had an imperial gold spear stored somewhere in his inventory, maybe he should check it out later.
"Imperial Gold was Rome's answer to Celestial bronze, which was rare itself. We used to have more..., but after the incident with the Fifth cohort and the Eagle..."
"What happened?" Percy asked, his curiosity peaked.
"There was a Praetor, Marcus Varus from the fifth cohort. He believed himself to be part of the prophecy of seven and wished to bring glory to the camp to fulfill it."
"I'm sorry prophecy of seven?" Percy asked.
Edgar sighed, "it is an ancient prophecy, with no signs of being fulfilled any time soon. But that is not important. What is important is that Marcus believed himself to be one of the chosen demigods in the prophecy. He consulted with an Augur-"
"-An oracle," Julia supplied seeing Percy and Thalia's confused faces.
"-And he found that the answers he needed was in Alaska. So Marcus, in his hubris, took the whole of fifth cohort, most of our imperial gold weapons and the Eagle itself and set out to prove himself.....he never came back. He disappeared in that land, no one knows what happened to him."
Percy narrowed his eyes, "wait that doesn't make sense. How can someone just disappear like that?"
"Alaska is the land beyond the Gods," Julia explained, "once Marcus went there the Gods could not help him. Whatever killed him managed to stay hidden up there, scouts found not a trace of the missing cohort, the weapons or the Eagle."
"What's so important about this Eagle anyway?" Thalia asked, "isn't it just a big decoration piece?"
"It is more than just that," Rob said, "it is fused with the powers of the Gods themselves."
Percy's eyes widened, "so that means-"
"Yes," Edgar nodded, "the Eagle that was stolen was empowered by Jupiter," he turned to Thalia, "your father. The Eagle would destroy all the enemies of Rome in it's path, victory was always guaranteed when the Eagle was at the head of our army. We lost it once before, but luckily we found it. The second time we lost it.....it stayed lost."
"So you want us to go to Alaska and get your Eagle back?" Percy asked.
Edgar and the other senators nodded, "yes."
"Although it is understandable that you may not be able to do so," Octavian spoke up, "after all Alaska is a very big place. And if the entire Roman legion can't find it, what luck are two Greeks going to have?"
Percy and Thalia shared a look. "Do you want to take this quest?" Percy asked.
"Do you?"
Percy gave her a smile, "I'm always up for an adventure."
Thalia smiled back, "so am I."
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Go to Alaska, find and retrieve the Golden Eagle!
Rewards,
You will be considered as a friend of the 12th Roman Legion forever
Honorary membership
200,000 Exp
10 points
Failure,
Your death
Alcyoneus will be released onto the world.
Do you accept?
YES/NO?
Percy was surprised reading the failure option, 'who the hell is Alcyoneus?' Percy wondered as he pressed yes.
"We accept," Thalia spoke out surprising the Senators and the Praetors.
"Are you sure?" Julia asked, "it will be dangerous, I can't guarantee your life."
"We'll be fine," Percy assured her, "it's going to take a lot to put us down."
Thalia nodded, "yeah," she turned to the Senators, "just to be clear, we get this giant golden Eagle for you and you agree to become our allies in this war?"
"We were already allies," Edgar said, "this will just prove to us that we can trust you."
Percy nodded, "understandable. Just because we both serve the Gods doesn't mean we like each other. Hopefully our success in this quest will change your mind."
Edgar nodded, "yes, hopefully."
With that the Senate meeting was dismissed and Julia approached Percy and Thalia, "do you have any idea what you two just did?" she hissed out.
"I am assuming we did something very stupid," Percy said with a shrug.
"Not just that," Julia shot him a glare, "you also endangered this fragile alliance. If you had denied this quest then the Roman would have still worked with you! Couldn't have ever said no to your request! Edgar is an old fool, he remembers his brother dying in the fifth cohort during the expedition of 85, that's why he tricked you into this! And you two feel right into his trap!"
Percy and Thalia looked down, "we're sorry."
"But in our defence he did have a point," Thalia said.
"We need to prove to them that they can trust us," Percy said with a node, "and this is the only way."
Julia rubbed her temples, "Gods give me strength."
"Excuse me," Jason spoke up, "but I would like to join this quest."
Everyone looked at Jason, the boy looked confident, ready. Thalia spoke up, "Jason it's too dangerous."
"It would be easier with the three of us," Jason replied.
"Not really," Thalia shook her head at her brother, "Percy and I have been training together for a long time. We know each other's moves and powers. If you come you would just get in the way."
Jason was stumped that his sister just said that, "b-but-"
"-Enough Legionnaire Jason," Julia spoke, "she is right. Plus this is a quest for the Greeks, they have to do this alone."
"But why?!" Jason asked in anger, "I just found my sister and now she's suddenly going on this dangerous mission and I can't do anything to help her!"
"Relax Jason," Percy said stepping up with a calming smile on his face, "nothing is going to happen to Thalia as long as I'm around. I promise, I would sooner die than let anything bad happen to her."
Jason looked surprised, "w-why would you promise something like that?"
"Because I care for her, duh," Percy said bringing a fist up, "so we have a deal Jason?"
Jason looked unsure when Thalia spoke up, "I would take up the deal Jason," she smiled, "after all Percy was responsible for reviveing me in the first place. And I happen to know for a fact that he always does his best to keep his promises."
The blonde boy looked at the first. He smiled as he fist bumped Percy, "yeah, we have a deal."
Percy nodded and soon the group moved out of the Senate. The group of legionnaires following them quickly broke up into little groups flying all around New Rome and Camp Jupiter to spread the news about the quest given to the Greeks.
Julia and Rob lead Percy and Thalia into a cafe and bought them coffee and some snacks to eat. Percy offered to pay, but Julia refused. In her words, 'consider it a last meal of sorts.'
Percy really didn't appreciate the lack of confidence. Jason joined the Praetors and the Greek demigods and they all sat down near a corner of the cafe. They immediately started talking about the quest.
"So do you two have any idea on where to even start?" Rob asked as he sipped his triple shot espresso.
"No," Thalia admitted as she and Jason shared a lemon square, something that brought back fond memories of the past for the siblings.
"I think I might," Percy said remembering back to what he read about Alcyoneus guy. The name sounded familiar but Percy had no idea why.
"What is it?" Julia asked.
"A name," Percy said, "I don't know how it's related to the quest, I just know that it is."
"And the name?"
"Alcyoneus."
"Never heard of him," Julia said shivering from the cold. Was it just her or did the temperature in the room drop?
Percy noticed the room had gotten cold the moment the name 'Alcyoneus' was mentioned. The others explained it off as a breeze, but Percy knew better. This name had something to do with the quest. If he was to guess it was the name of the monster that the expedition of 85 faced and died too. Meaning he needed to get as much information he could about this monster.
"Do you guys have a library?" Percy asked.
Rob nodded, "obviously. We have a college here and you don't think we would have a library?"
Percy glared at him, "fine, I'll admit that was a stupid question."
"Maybe it would be best to split up," Thalia said, "if we are going to Alaska we will need clothes and other provisions."
Percy nodded, "right. How about you get the clothes and other items we might need. Like a map."
Thalia nodded, "I saw a clothes store a few buildings down. I can go there."
"And I'll go to the library and dig up all I can about this Alcyoneus guy. Hopefull I can find out something that will lead us right to him."
Thalia nodded, "you have cash?"
"How much do you need?"
"A thousand bucks, just to be safe." Percy nodded and took out the amount from his inventory and gave it to her without a second's hesitation.
"And what about finding out where this guy is?" Thalia asked.
"I think I might know of a way to find out where he is," Percy replied scratching his head, "what about transportation?"
"Couldn't you just take us there the way you brought us here?"
Percy shook his head, "way too far for me. Boat?"
"Do I have to?'
"Would you rather fly?"
"Boat it is. How are we going to get a boat?"
Percy turned to Julia and Rob, "can we borrow a boat?"
"Ah, we don't exactly have a boat," Julia said.
"Hm, fine. Maybe I can ask dad for a favour," Percy grumbled out, "I'll ask him later tonight." Thalia nodded and just like that they had formed their plans for the quest.
Julia and Rob were impressed. The way Thalia planned spoke volumes about the way they both trusted and knew each other well. They took on their own assignments and didn't complain, it reminded them of soldiers who fought side by side for a long time. Or maybe a better example would be like a couple that knew each other well.
After the snack Julia took Percy to the library while Jason stayed with his sister and took her around New Rome showing her around, helping her pick out whatever she would need for Alaska.
Percy was taken to a giant building near the Colosseum. The building was made of marble and stood four stories tall. The front was covered with open windows and on the top was a painted glass celine depicting all 12 Olympians looking down into the library. The outside was filled with college age students hanging out by the stairs but the inside was empty. Which made sense, after all how many college student want to spend their summer break inside a library?
The inside itself was just as big as Percy thought. There were shelves going up to 15 feet in height reaching the floor above it. There were four stories in total, and each was filled with books. Each row was marked in latin, and though Percy couldn't read it he got a general understanding where everything was.
"Come with me," Julia said as she lead Percy to the front desk that was just to the right when one enters the library.
Behind the counter was a young woman wearing a green toga over a brown t-shirt with the band Green Day featured on it. 'Huh, didn't realise it was such a popular band,' Percy told himself as he studied the girl.
She was his age with curly red hair and blue eyes. She had lots of freckles gathered around her nose and cheeks. She had a very flat chest but her curvy behind more than made up for that.
Carrie White, The librarian of Rome
Lv— 12
"Carrie," Julia called out, "we need you help."
Carrie looked up and smiled at Julia, "Praetor Julia. So good to see you. How have you been?"
"Fine, thank you," Julia flashed her a smile.
"Right," she ten noticed Percy and scowled, "and who is this?"
"This is Percy Jackson. Long story short he is on a quest and needs you help."
Carrie scoffed, "you want me to help a boy? Really Julia?"
"Please," Julia nearly begged, "I need to get back to my station, things are probably already getting out of hand. Rob needs me, you know that lumex can't do anything right if it doesn't involve fighting."
Carrie tired to argue but sighed and nodded, "alright fine. I'll do it."
Julia smiled, "thanks Carrie!" she then turned and walked to Percy. In a low whisper she spoke, "Carrie is very...untrusting of guys. Just do what you came here to do and try not to piss her off, or else you will have both me and the entire 12th Legion on your ass."
Percy nodded, "got it."
Julia walked off and Percy was left alone with Carrie. The redhead glared at him, "well? What are you waiting for? Tell me what you want to find boy?"
'Damn, she's worse that Ary,' Percy sighed, "I'm not sure what he is, but I know his name Alcyoneus."
"Alcyoneus? Sounds familiar," Carrier looked around, "follow me."
Percy nodded as Carrier took him to the last row of book. Pressed up against the wall was a series of small shelfs each used to house reference cards for every subject available inside the library. The shelves extended across the entire wall, for the letter 'A' alone several drawers were designated for it.
