Chapter 29

Thalia smiled as Hazel led her through most of camp as Frank was stuck with Percy as they had split up. So far she was not regretting their choice of choosing the Cohort that she and Frank were in.

"I've been meaning to ask you Thalia, what kind of weapons are yours cause I've never seen any blades like that before" Hazel asked as she and Thalia walked through the armory.

"Oh my Kiba blades? I don't know much about them anymore" Thalia said with a dry laugh as she made them appear in her hands as she looked them over and to her she swore the silver metal steel of the two blades had flecks gold and bronze.

"Well they look powerful, do you really not remember where you got them?" Hazel asked as Thalia shook her head.

"All I know is that they are the Kiba blades and can channel lightning to help make them cut through things easier" Thalia said as she made her blades spark before making them disappear again as Hazel frowned at her.

"Well I'm sure you and Percy will get your memories back soon. Here, come with me, I might have an idea of someone who can help" Hazel said with a smile as she quickly grabbed Thalia's hand and dragged her out of the armory and back through the town of New Rome.

Thalia still couldn't believe that they basically made a city where the demigods could basically retire away and raise a family all while still safe within the camp's borders.

"Wait where are we going?" Thalia asked with a frown as Hazel smiled at her.

"One of my other siblings should be here today so they can probably help you since they have traveled around a lot they might have seen you before or something" Hazel said as they neared a darker looking temple.

"Siblings? Who's your godly parent?" Thalia asked as Hazel opened up the door to the temple.

"I'm a daughter of Pluto, my brother or sister should be here since they come and go a lot" Hazel said as she and Thalia walked inside the temple.

"Hazel? What are you doing here and who is she?" a girl's voice spoke out as another girl walked out from the temple.

She had olive toned skin with ebony hair. She wore black jeans and a black and grey striped long sleeve shirt. Thalia easily noticed the two xiphos swords strapped to her sides, even though she wasn't sure how she knew the style of sword so easily.

"Bianca! I was just bringing my new friend here to see if you could help" Hazel said as the girl, now named Bianca, walked over with a frown.

"Help with what?" Bianca asked as Thalia swore the girl frowned a bit when she looked towards her.

"W-Well my friend has lost her memory, her and her friend Percy don't remember anything so since you and Nico travel around a lot I was thinking you might recognize them or something" Hazel said as Bianca sighed.

"Hazel, as much as I would love to help but I can't. I have enough trouble to deal with whenever I come here" Bianca said with a frown as Hazel frowned and nodded as she stared at the floor.

"Wait why do you have a hard time here?" Thalia asked as Bianca turned towards her.

"Children of Pluto don't get treated too well. We are treated as bad omens because of our father, we are even treated worse than children of Neptune" Bianca said before letting out another sigh as she rubbed Hazel's back.

"I'm sorry sis but I don't recognize your friend. Nico and I have been busy with Gaea waking up and everything" Bianca said as Hazel frowned and Thalia clutched her head with a frown.

"Gaea? Who is that?" Thalia asked as Bianca rose an eyebrow at her.

"Do you remember something?" Hazel asked as Thalia shook her head.

"I don't know, something about that name just doesn't sound good" Thalia said as Bianca chuckled.

"That sounds about right. Gaea is a powerful primordial, one that represents the earth and she's not a good one. She originally went on a rampage after the gods overthrew the titans and chopped up Kron-I mean Saturn. She got together with the primordial Tartarus and birthed a race of new creatures that were the bane of the gods called the Giants" Bianca said as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Oh I remember that! But the gods won with the help of heroes since that was the only way to kill them" Hazel said as Bianca smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Yes but now the Giants are reforming and they are getting smarter not to attack when gods are near" Bianca said as Hazel frowned.

"But if that is happening then shouldn't Reyna be told?" Hazel asked as Bianca sighed and nodded.

"I already warned them back when I noticed it first but with the way all these Romans are they refuse to accept a threat until they see it with their own eyes" Bianca said with a grumble as Hazel frowned and looked at the ground again.

"For now sis just be careful and I'm sorry I couldn't help your friend" Bianca said as Hazel nodded.

"Its okay, thanks for trying" Hazel said before she turned to Thalia. "Come on Thalia, we still have to get ready for the war games today."

"Okay, it was nice meeting you Bianca" Thalia said with a smile as she and Hazel walked out of the temple.

"Nice meeting you too Thalia, good luck here" Bianca said as she waved to them and let out a sigh of relief once the temple doors closed behind them.

"So what is this war games you mentioned?" Thalia asked as she decided to move away from the whole Giants topic for now.

"Oh it's a war training exercise we do every few months. It varies from chariot races to gladiator battles and even Siege which this year is being done between the First Cohort and our Cohort" she said as Thalia nodded.

"So it's like capture the flag?" Thalia asked as Hazel rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"I guess but Siege is more ruthless. No one gets too hurt, the most the camp has ever had before is I think a broken arm since most of us just incapacitate" Hazel said as Thalia nodded. "This year we are the attacking team while the First Cohort defends. The First Cohort has never lost any war game in the history of Camp Jupiter so we hope to at least put up a fight" she said as Thalia patted her on the back.

"Hazel, this year you got me and Percy on your team so it'll be way different" she said as Hazel's smile grew and she nodded.

"Yeah! This year we could actually win! Come on Thalia, we need to hurry and get to our Cohort so we can get ready for the match tomorrow" Hazel said excitedly as she grabbed her hand and pulled Thalia away again, who merely smirked and let the excited golden haired girl pull her along.

She had a feeling this experience would be fun.

-Next Day-

Thalia couldn't have been more right as she found herself standing in the Fields of Mars, which was essentially a massive wide open field, as she stared down the fort they would have to siege soon.

It was a two-story sized building armed to the teeth. It reminded her of a medieval castle more than a fort as it was armed with water cannons, scorpion ballistae, and iron portcullis as well as barbed wire.

Luckily they got to have Hannibal, who was an elephant that was trained to fight in battles, which she thought was pretty badass.

"Don't worry guys, we've got this" Gwen, another senior centurion and daughter of Ceres, said as they walked through the field to their position. She was one of the main leaders of the Fifth Cohort and the main one trying to bring up their team's spirits.

Gwen was interrupted as they heard Reyna clear her throat as she arrived on the field riding her Pegasus that was named Skippy.

"We are here to conduct the annual war games as usual before the Feast of Fortuna! This year it is Siege! We have the First and Second Cohort defending while the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cohorts attack with Fifth in command! The rules are as always! No maiming or killing! Incapacitation only!" Reyna commanded from the center of the Fields of Mars.

"All gifts and tools are allowed as long as they follow the previous rule of incapacitation! Do you all understand?!" she asked as the teams cheered.

"Remember the plan, Percy and Thalia you try and disable the defenses with the first charge. With you all we should be a shoe-in to win" Gwen said with a smile as Percy and Thalia nodded with a smile as they drew their swords just as Reyna declared the start and flew off into the sky to act as referee.

"Victory for the Fifth!" Gwen yelled as the team charged forward with Hannibal.

Thalia smiled at Percy as she could see her friend already starting his attack as he stopped the water being shot at them midstream before pushing them back towards the cannons, easily destroying them.

"All out?" Percy asked with a smile as he drew the remaining water towards him.

"Well we don't want to end this too fast. You go with Frank, me and Hazel will draw fire" Thalia said as Percy nodded and ran his hand through the seals as he saw the ballista get loaded and aimed towards them.

"Water Style: High Pressure Stream!" Percy yelled as he took a deep breath before a strong, very thin, stream of water shot out of his mouth, breaking the ballista ammo in midair as well as breaking a few of the ballista themselves.

"Victory for the Fifth!" Thalia yelled as she watched Percy along with Frank charge the fort.

"Come on Hazel, we need to make a scene" Thalia said as she pulled out a few of the only other thing she could make appear. She thinks they were called kunai but she had found that the paper tags on the end of them could be used as stunning grenades.

Thalia chuckled as she knocked out a few attackers with the backs of her swords while she watched Hazel throw the kunai. "Good now cover your ears!" she yelled as she held up a one-handed tiger seal.

"Kai" she said with a smirk as the kunais exploded, exposing a massive hole in the side of the fort.

"Don't just stand there is shock! Charge!" Thalia yelled as she urged her shell-shocked teammates out of their stupor, allowing them to use the opportunity as she watched Frank and Percy rush in first.

"Whoa what were those?" Hazel asked in admiration as she blocked a strike from one of the other team before Thalia knocked them out with a powerful kick.

"Bomb kunai, those were weaker ones though I think" Thalia said as she stabbed her swords into the ground before sending a powerful bolt of lightning through the ground and towards the defending team that was going towards her.

"I think I'm normally use to fighting tougher targets as these guys are weak!" Thalia yelled as she watched the electricity knock the campers out just as Frank and Percy jumped out of the base just as water exploded from it, allowing them to escape safely and knock out the remaining campers.

"Victory goes to the Fifth and the attacking team!" Reyna yelled as the attacking team cheered before a few campers yelled out for help.

"Medic! We need a medic! Gwen's been hurt!"

Thalia frowned as she and Percy ran towards the yelling campers since they both knew some first-aid, Percy could make the water around him healing if he channeled his energy into it and she had this weird green glowing healing powers at times.

As she got to Gwen her face paled as she saw the pilum stabbed straight through her back and coming out from her stomach. "Oh god, who did this!" she yelled as the camper at Gwen's side clenched his fists.

"I don't know! One second we were cheering for Frank and Percy to escape the fort with their symbol and the next Gwen cried out in pain. By the time I turned around I couldn't see anyone nearby by Gwen had already fallen over with the pilum stabbed through her back" the boy said as Thalia tried to heal the stomach wound.

"Percy, you try to help her" Thalia said as she stood up, angry that someone would attack someone else when they knew it was over and in the back no less.

"I want to know who the hell is missing a pilum from the First Cohort!" Thalia yelled as she noticed the Roman numeral for one on the pilum before her body burst out with lightning and she felt her left eye start to burn but she paid it no attention as she was furious.

"Relax Thalia, we will find out who did it" Reyna said as she was looking around as well. "Everyone hold onto your weapons! Whoever is without a weapon will be questioned since we all know not to destroy weapons as we are in low supply!" she ordered as Frank pointed into the crowd.

"Octavian is the only one in the First Cohort without a weapon!" he yelled as Thalia turned towards where Frank was pointing to see a scared looking Octavian trying to run away.

"Not so fast you ass!" Thalia yelled as she disappeared in a burst of Swift release speed before she tackled down the fleeing legacy.

"Unhand me! I am your superior!" Octavian yelled as Thalia glared him down, unaware of the spectral green aura that surrounded her as a spine formed behind her.

"Admit it! You are such a baby if losing angered you so much to kill someone else just because of it!" she yelled as a skeleton hand grabbed Octavian. As the hand lifted the auger up she was oddly not even surprised by the construct around her as something in the back of her mind told her it was under her control and safe.

"Answer or I will crush you!" she yelled as Octavian squirmed in her grasp.

"Fine! Just don't crush me! I killed that pathetic centurion in anger! How dare her team ruin my Cohort's record! How dare her Cohort get both of the strong new recruits! And how dare she mock Lord Jupiter!" Octavian yelled before Thalia slammed him into the ground, knocking him out instantly.

"Enough Thalia! Let him go now! We will deal with this in a civil manner!" Reyna yelled as she watched Thalia's massive skeleton around her fade away as she turned toward her, allowing her to see her left eye had turned blood red with an intricate black pinwheel on it.

"Fine but you better lock him the hell up!" Thalia said as a second later they heard coughing coming from Gwen.

"W-What's wrong? Why is everyone crowded around me?" Gwen asked as everyone looked at her in shock.

"G-Gwen? What is the last thing you remember?" Dakota, the son of Bacchus said as he helped Gwen sit up.

"W-Well I was cheering alongside with everyone just as Frank and Percy retrieved the other team's symbol then I felt a sharp pain in my back and then I think I was in the Underworld" Gwen said as she rubbed her head.

"Then I saw Charon and he asked for payment. Though before I got on the boat I saw this exit door appear out of nowhere and it called me to it so I went through and here I am" Gwen said as she frowned down at the pilum impaling her.

"C-Can someone get this out of me?" she asked as Percy nodded before he and Hazel carefully pulled the pilum out of her only to see the wound heal up immediately after.

"What does this all mean?" Reyna thought aloud as she had two centurions grab Octavian and take him to their jailhouse.

"It means kids that the Doors of Death have been stuck open, allowing the dead to revive" a booming voice spoke out behind them all as they turned and quickly bowed, sans Percy and Thalia as they saw who it was.

The man had a flat-top hair cut as his face was covered with knife scars. He wore night-vision goggles that seemed to glow from the inside before they turned to sunglasses while his outfit flickered between numerous military outfits before it settled on one.

"Lord Mars, to what do we owe this honor?" Reyna asked in respect as the god of war smiled towards Frank.

"Why, isn't a father allowed to congratulate his son on a well-deserved win and issue a quest?" Mars said with a smirk as Frank's jaw dropped.

Mars smiled before it fell a bit as he walked forward towards Percy and Thalia "and why aren't you two bowing?" he asked as the two demigods frowned.

"I just don't feel like it" Percy said as he rubbed his head feeling a headache coming on.

"I just don't bow unless you earn my respect" she blurted out as she felt that was her answer.

Mars let out a booming laugh as he patted Thalia on the back with a hard slap. "Just like your father it seems. That man seems to only show people respect if they either earn it or are his direct family and even then he still says they need to earn it" Mars said as Thalia looked up at him in shock.

"Wait what? You know my dad as well!?" she asked as Mars chuckled.

"Of course I do, he is awfully close with the Juno after all. He's basically the new king" Mars whispered to her before clearing his throat.

"Anyways I am here to issue a quest to the Mural Crown winner, my son! Thanatos has been kidnapped, Frank and as many others as he wants up to four total must go to Alaska and free him" Mars said as Percy rubbed his head.

"Aren't quests supposed to come with a rhyming prophecy?" Percy asked as something about the god annoyed him though he felt it was something to do with his past.

Mars chuckled as he lowered his sunglasses, exposing his fiery eyes to Percy before smirking. "Fine how about this. 'Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die'. How's that?" he said as he walked over towards Frank before pulling him to the side to talk to him alone.

"Well this is going to get interesting" Percy said with a chuckle as Thalia nodded along.

"And this way we can maybe figure out more about our past" Thalia said as she looked forward to the quest, figuring Frank would hopefully take them along.

She needed to go on this quest, she just knew it.