Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Truth Behind The Titans
[Reyna's POV:]
It's good to have a second Praetor again. I doubt he will be half as good as Percy was, but he's better than nothing. I wish I had managed to convince Frank and Hazel to take my place.. I wanted to join the Hunters since it's obvious Percy would never return my feelings and no one else would come even close to him, sure there was Jason, but he left me for Piper who he cheated on. With a tree nymph of all things, I mean no offence, but a strong daughter of Aphrodite versus a unknown tree nymph that has slept around with A LOT of men and women as well as the in between. She's a slut basically.
Anyway, This new praetor was a wolf and I had absolutely no idea how this was gonna work.. Assuming it would work at all that is. I just hope his first action as a leader isn't dragging his ass across the arena as no matter how amusing that would be, it would be shaming to our camp and to me.
Today was the day we picked up Damian's wolf clothes, he thinks he will look ridiculous, but I know for a fact he won't. That black and green toned fur will look fabulous in a half sized toga, especially with a silver sash. I would say gold for roman purposes but it wouldn't match his fur.... I sound like a daughter of Venus.
"Do I really have to wear clothes?!? I have perfectly good fur you know" this was the 9th time today Damian had complained about this and I was at the end of my nerves already.
"YES, YOU DO. NOW SHUT UP AND GET DRESSED OR SO HELP ME I WILL SHAVE YOUR FUR OFF AND FORCE YOU TO MYSELF!" Being a daughter of Bellona has its benefits, intimidation for one and of course the Odikinesis as well, helps when a wimpy legionnaire or lower wants to back out a spar or duel.
"OK sheesh don't have to shout, my ears are more sensitive than yours you know" dear gods, I hope he isn't a wimp...
[Percy's POV:]
I am not enjoying this. At all. She wants to make me wear clothes. I'm a wolf, it just ain't right.
"Soooo, I'm kind of lacking opposable thumbs. Ya know the things needed to grab stuff. So I could use some help here" Reyna simply rolled her eyes with a light chuckle before proceeding to wrap a white toga around my body, allowing it to lightly hang from my belly. She then placed a snug fitting silver coloured sash around my neck and across my right legs. It honestly didn't look all that bad, but no way was I admitting that.
"See? You look rather dashing for a wolf." Looking in the mirror, I was forced against my will and wolf instincts to agree with her. Especially that silver, it just felt right.
"I'm not sure.. It feels weird to have clothes on, but I can put up with this if I have to" like I said, NOT gonna admit it.
"Right It is time to head to the mess hall for dinner, I hear the pasta and sauce has been retoked.. You do eat human food right?" she asked me, more out of a curiosity rather than out of care.
"While I prefer raw meat and digest it easier, I can eat almost all human foods. Including pasta" I was not about to miss out on food. Food is life.
"Good, let's go then" once again she turned away from me and started walking without checking if I followed, which I was. We passed many stalls and even more training arenas, Romans were serious about their training. As we walked I recalled the representatives I had fought during my initiation, I didn't get the chance to ask the names of the fifth, fourth and third cohorts who had impressed me; the fifth and third cohorts representative being my favourite of the bunch. The fifth, while defeated fast, was only lacking the information the others had obtained from watching my fights and showed great instinctual skills and most importantly hard work shone from her very foundation, I was almost certain there was no "luck" or "birthed talent" responsible. Then there was the third cohort's representative, she had an elegance I had literally never seen before. The way she fought was as if she had married Ballet and dagger mastership. True the boy had done outstandingly well, but in my eyes he was more power driven than agile or accurate, something that almost never works out. Even so, he did play his strengths well.
"LOOK OUT" I snapped my head to the left to see a plate of mouth watering chicken flying straight at my face. I instinctively jumped to the side, watching as it flew past me and landed in front of a bunch of demigods that promptly scarfed it down like it was about to disappear any moment. Reyna laughed before speaking to me.
"Finished daydreaming? I swear you remind me of that kelp for brains... we're here so take a seat and say aloud what you wish to eat. I followed her instructions, resisting every fibre in my wolfy being to ask for blue coloured foods or drinks; instead I ordered some raw lamb and water.. And promptly scoffed it down, It was absolutely delicious.
"Did you hear? The Gods have yet to fulfil Percy's Wishes!" Spoke a demigod
Sitting behind us, she was the one who fought "gracefully" during my initiation. The mention of my true name Caught my attention.
"Yeah, I heard that he wanted all the peaceful Titans freed instead of becoming a God. that was over 5 years ago now and not even calypso or Leto have been freed yet!" the little girl, seemingly her little sister, agreed.
"Curious about the peaceful Titans Damian?" Reyna had noticed me eavesdropping on them, I merely nodded.
"Well This links to the old praetor Perseus Jackson -" at this I felt the strong urge to correct her to Percy for some weird reason "- who after the second titan war was offered Godhood. He turned it down and instead asked for Vesta who the Greeks call Hestia and Pluto who the Greeks call Hades. To have a seat on the Olympian council. He also requested that all demigods be claimed by the age of 13 no matter who they are. And finally requested that all peaceful titans be granted amnesty from any previous crimes they committed due to being family of Kronos." The name Kronos stung me as if it hurt to hear the very words, but I listened on.
"The Gods agreed, even swearing upon the Styx to uphold their promise, in the following few months Leo returned from Ogygia, claiming that Calypso had disappeared from her island. Many thought it was the God's doing, but when no sign of the titan or any other titan was found we Realised that was not true. Ves-Hestia confirmed our suspicions directly when we asked. The Titans are nowhere to be found and any queries made to Zeus have been deflected. Soon everyone had no choice, but to give in since no progress was being made. Knowing Perseus would not react well the camp deemed it best to not tell him lest he got himself killed by sassing Zeus too much." I felt angry. No Livid, even if I had no memories of the event. For them to go back on their word and abandon the Titans that had only followed their family like so many gods do? It was disgusting to me. I had to find them and she was right. Zeus was gonna get some sass alright.
We returned home in relative silence, the new information felt like bricks of weight on my shoulders, I do have shoulders right? Reyna removed my old name plate from my room and placed it in a basket filled with things Percy related including an old predators toga. I went into my room, shook off the clothes and jumped out the window, beds suck, I needed a nice tree to sleep in. on the way I heard the sound of crying, a sound I could never just ignore. I listened to the sounds closely judging the distance before taking off in the direction of the distressing noise, weaving in and out of buildings and legionnaires. The sound seems so far away yet clear to my defined ears.eventually I came across once again the elegant woman I had fought in my initiation.. Only this time her gracefulness was nowhere to be seen from the mess her tears brought to her makeup. She was quite the looker, not Reyna level, but close. a child of Venus most likely.
"Why do they still Hate me so much? I did there stupid makeup and I even fought well in the arena! So why do they treat me like an outcast still?!? Why do my other half siblings hate me so much.." I felt my heartbreak for her. She was different from her siblings, stronger like Piper.. whoever that is. I had decided She was going to be the demigod I train. Shrinking to the size of a small dog I leapt into her lap and watched as she submitted to the calming nature that is my ultra fluffy fur. Once her tears dried up she spoke in a heart warming melodic tone.
"My name's Anna DuPain. Thanks for the fluffy cuddle Damian It means more than you think" I guess just shrinking in size didn't do me any favours at all. I jumped down, already half missing the warmth.
"You've a lot of skill, I saw that first hand. I will find you tomorrow to train you" I decided to take a leaf out of Reyna's book and left without waiting for a response. I then resumed my search for a cosy tree to sleep in. The sky had darkened and the moon shone bright, I couldn't help, but feel connected to the beautiful thing. Probably a Lupa thing or It could be a Wolf thing they do love howling at it which I still don't get, was it like a ceremony? A means of talking to each other? Or was it just something stupid like hating the moon. ADHWID sucks. I climbed a nice Tall tree and plodded myself on the thickest branch I could find. Before letting sleep overcome me. Tomorrow I will begin the search for the Titans.
[Elsewhere:]
[??? POV:]
"How long must we hide here, cousin?" She looked at me with eyes that had the hope ripped from them.
"I don't know, how long must you call me cousin?" she replied back. She was so like her mother Tethys. So caring yet stubborn to everything, then again so was I.
"Well saying 'hey cousin's daughter' or ' hey cousin once removed' every time is long. Besides, I am your cousin on your mother's side." we, alongside many other Titans, had been trapped on Alaska. At first we thought the Gods were freeing us... until we overheard Zeus plotting to frame and kill all of us. We fled to Alaska, the only safe place for us from the Olympians. Sure we were strong, but we were more than tired of fighting. We may be almost mortals here, but we can survive almost like we have partial immortality. It's actually quite fulfilling this way.
[The "Cousins" POV:]
It was cold here, which I couldn't help since my Aerokinesis was gone here. Else I'd have used it to block the cold winds and retain any warm air. Weirdly I missed Ogygia.. Sure it was painfully lonely and I hated that curse of false love so much, but I was free of physical conflict. At first I thought Percy had abandoned me like all the others, but he came through somewhat forcing the Olympians to swear on the Styx they'd release us all. The seaweed brain forgot to specify a time or way to be treated.. So Zeus just left us to rot at first, Then i guess the demigods got sick of waiting and began complaining. Zeus being the asshole he is, "saved us" only to try and kill us. Leo was also there. He did nothing to stop it...
I'm sure life will get better for use soon.. Leo may have abandoned and betrayed me.. But I haven't given up hope on Percy.. He swore he'd get me released and almost succeeded if not for Zeus breaking his agreement.
Percy will come save us... I know he will, I don't know what we will do if he doesn't.
[Not far from the peaceful Titans:]
[Another ??? POV:]
Why are all these Titans huddled in my domain? Are they hiding from the Gods? I thought that Percy Jackson had wished for their freedom. Then again knowing Zeus, he probably either tried to impregnate them all, marry them off, kill them or probably all three. Still, they must be desperate to stay here especially during the winter season. I'll show them some pity and divert the snow storm west of them towards the ocean for a while. I'm sure Poseidon won't mind cooling off a little.
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