Roman Chronicles: Book 1, Apollo: Chapter 12, Heir of Gaea

(Pro: Gaea- Gee-ah) (Mackenroth- Mack-in-roth)

Sunlight was streaming through the black-curtained windows. The lion skull was right over the window, with a long, silvery-black mane. There was a glass cage with pieces of shattered obsidian. An adult black mamba was sunning in a tiny pool of water. I walked to the closet and took out a camp shirt. "Hey." I stumbled back. Swiveling around, I looked to see who was behind me. A black-haired kid in a black leather jacket, jeans, shirt, shoes, and sunglasses. A black sword hung by his side. I sighed. "Nico. Don't scare me like that. Why are you- I mean, I thought you left yesterday?" He sighed. "Almost. Well, this... Ian. He intrigued me." He took out the sword and took the mamba out of the cage. He grabbed a rock and put the snake back in. He talked as he sharpened his sword. "So. I uh, the Hunters of Artemis. They left?" I shook my head. "Oh. I would've thought they would." He threw the obsidian out the window. "I'm tired. Good night, gods." He raised his hand and motioned it in a circle. A sphere of obsidian rose around him. Probably soundproof. I grabbed a pair of jeans and put them on with the t-shirt. I walked to the door. Just as I was reaching the handle, I stepped on something. The floorboard flipped open. A cloud of dust rose out. Aeolus, grant me your power... A gust of wind blew and the dust cleared. It was a simple brown package. Like UPS, without the black print and white code sticker. I picked it up. I closed the floorboard and opened the box. Inside was an object wrapped in white paper, tied with a string. A note was on it. I picked it up. It said:

 Bearer of this weapon, be as careful with this as thy can be.

I bid you, do not maim and bloody the innocent. For I am a                                                                                          hero, thee must be a hero too. I have worked with no watchers                                                                                      to hide this, for it is powerful and will kill those you bid it to.                                                                                 You shall be the hope of the world. Save Greece as it falls.                                                                                    The Romans are after you and your homeplace. War will                                                                                         start. Lives are to be lost. This was written by heir and son                                                     Of Zeus banished from a kingdom, Loved and Loving                                                                                           Andromeda, Perseus, Slayer of thee monster Medusa.

I gawked. The Perseus? Not the measly Percy Jackson? Wow. I placed the note on the dresser and touched the string. It was soft, thin, and was not normal. It was like... horsehair. But seeing as we're demigod, probably Pegasus hair. I pulled it, and the paper was like papyrus. It fell away and exploded into dust on the way to the floor. I looked at my hand and gasped. A long, beautiful sword, made of glowing silver that radiated so much power, I felt like I was going to be blown back. The handle was smooth, beautiful bronze. Sapphires, emeralds, and rubies lined the sword hilt. On the pommel of the sword, two beautiful shimmering gold wings were sprouting. The primary feathers of the wings each had a star- like diamond on the tip. The sword itself was so sharp, it looked like it could slash through a hardened rock of obsidian. The sides of the swords looked smooth, but the edges itself were incredibly sharp. It glowed with an incredibly bright light. In the floorboard, there was a silvery-gold scabbard. A lovely emerald-eyed drakon was carved on. It had such detail, I thought it was real. I sheathed the sword, and it fit beautifully. I hooked it on my belt and walked to the big house to ask Chiron about it. Chiron turned his head, smiling. "Yes, Roman?" He asked. I unhooked the sword scabbard from my belt. I held it in my hand. He examined it. "Incredible design. Where did you get this? We do not have a sword like this in the weaponry. I'll ask Annabeth. She will know." 

Annabeth looked at it. "Hmm. It certainly is not from the weaponry. This scabbard is imperial gold-plated hellhound leather." Chiron looked in awe. "Yeah. I was trying to tell you, this was the original sword of Perseus." Annabeth laughed. "Percy's sword is Riptide! He never used anything this gods fancy!" I shook my head. "Not Percy Jackson. Perseus. Slayer of Medusa. This was his sword." Annabeth stared at the scabbard. I took it and pulled out the sword. Annabeth's eyes widened. "No. No. I thought it meant Percy! It's supposed to be Percy's sword! Thee villain shall fall by the Hand of Percy! It was meant to be Percy, right, Chiron?" Chiron looked up at her. "My dear, I am sorry. But it means by Roman." Annabeth silently screamed. "No." She walked out. Chiron looked at me and laughed. "She's having a fit." I stared. "That was a fit?" Chiron nodded. "Yes. A deep one, may I add." I shook my head. "Man, you guys don't talk well, huh?" Nico was sitting there, yawning. He bit into another square of Ambrosia. "Want some?" He asked Chiron. Chiron looked at him in disgust. "Son, you must stop eating that. It will kill you." Nico ate the rest. "Whatever." He licked his fingers. "Mm." He took out his sword, which was rusty now. I grabbed my sword and scraped the rust off until he actually looked at it. "Quo in inferno..." I glared at Nico. "Cut the Latin. It's... Harpe." Nico dropped the sword. "No. No. NO NO." I stared at him. "What? What's wrong?" He dug his hand into his pocket and thrust a piece of yellowed parchment on the table. He grabbed his sword scabbard, hooked it to his belt, and ran. I slowly slid the parchment towards me. I read it aloud.
"Back to life is the wizard queen Circe. Only one shall defeat her. The villain shall fall by the Hand of Percy. Harpe shall slay the very last monster. Shall bloody one of the innocent. The vow of the bid shalt be broken. The kill of Circe will be imminent. Let swords fall like leaves. The Delphi shalln't be a one to live through this. She shall lose her will. And it must be passed on to the child of divine Prophetic." I looked at Chiron. He was as confused as I was. I tapped my fingers on the table and hugged myself. I decided I needed a hug. I walked from the big house to lunch. I chewed the stale sandwich. They really had a bad racket going. I took out my sword and cut the sandwich in half. Just then, Ian walked in. Apparently, he's too dense to notice the fifteen A-girls following him. I thought. He had almost every Aphrodite girl following him, along with an Athena and a Hermes. Even Jamie. She had long copper hair and tan-ish skin. Her eyes were sparkling golden amber. She always wore stylish clothes. Apparently today, that meant tall white-leather boots with Prada peacock stretch jeans tucked into them. She had bright silvery earrings and a shirt-dress that was purple velvet. Her wrists were lined with beautiful silver bangles. Her necklace was a short silver linked chain with a tiny sapphire hooked to the middle. She also had a dog. Her dog was an all-white Shiba Inu with a golden collar that had a diamond-shaped copper tag. Ian was just wearing a camp shirt and beat-up Percy's old jeans. His white Stygian sword hung by his side. His aviators were propped on his head. He was showing off his beautiful green-silver eyes. Then he sat at my table. He smiled. "Yo." I scowled at him. Who did he think he was? Then, before I knew it, the words were out of my mouth. "Go die in a hole." He looked taken aback. "Uh..." He stood up and walked to the dessert area. He scooped a slice of pie and threw it into the fire. As he was walking back, he took a closer look at me. Then he pulled out his sword. "Duel." I stared at him. "Um. No." He glared. "Yes." I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine." I pulled out my sword. He looked at it nervously. "Uh, somehow that looks familiar. In the ah, bad way." I looked at my sword. It glowed silver. "Harpe. It's Harpe. The one that.... that sword... is connected to...Gaea." His face hardened. "Her downfall." He put his sword in fighting position. I put mine. He just watched. Then, I brought my sword down with a fatal blow. He swung his sword in front of his face and they caught each other. He snarled and pushed his sword up. I lost my grip and the sword flew behind me. He put both hands on the hilt and swung with all his might. I thought all my thoughts at once. All gods of Chaos, destruction, bloodshed and death, bid me your power! It shot out in a fiery blast. Ian used his sword as a shield and the blast dissolved against it. The sword wasn't even dented. He grinned. "Sword of Peleus. Makes the bearer always successful in a battle, no matter how hard." He did one of those 'phony grins'. He put his hands into a double finger gun and said, "Chk Chk." He sheathed his sword. Slowly, his eyes shifted over the cookies. "Ah, kind of..." He walked over to them and grabbed four. "A bit hungry." He stuffed one in his mouth and walked off. I grabbed a cherry chocolate-chip cookie and said, "Hog."