Quest

"A quest?" wonders Lucas.

He and the rest of the senate are currently sitting in the Senate House to discuss the upcoming quest. The inside of the senate house is designed as a semicircle of tiered seats facing a dais with a podium and two chairs. Sitting on the tiered seats are the senators, while the praetors sit on the two chairs on the podium.

"Yes. However, let me be clear, we are not gathered here to discuss whether to allow the quest, it was given to us by Lady Lupa herself after all. Rather we are here to discuss who to send on the quest." says Ambrosius from one of the praetor seats.

It has been five years since his battle with Alex, and since then he's changed from the mature child he used to be, to what most in the legion consider the perfect general. The most noticeable change about him is his physical growth. Standing at five nine, he cuts a handsome and regal figure in his praetorian armor, with his eagle medal and purple cape.

Sitting next to him, on the other praetor seat, is Azula, his co-praetor and girlfriend. Like him, she wears the standard praetorian armor. Unlike him however, she wears a purple toga with her eagle badge instead of a cape. She stands about an inch or two shorter than him, and has taken to wearing her hair in a warrior braid. All together she cuts a regal and beautiful figure, many in the legion have taken to jokingly calling her the empress to Ambrosius' emperor.

"What we are here to discuss---" she begins as she leans back in her chair and crosses one leg over the other "---is who will be going on the quest."

"What exactly is the quest?" asks Kyle from his seat next to Lucas.

"According to atlantean scouts, there has been an increase of monsters traveling by ship to reach the Sea of Monster. While monsters travelling by ships isn't exactly unheard of, what is alarming about the situation is the fact that now whole ships filled with monsters are traveling to one specific location. The quest is to travel to said location to gather intelligence." explains Ambrosius.

"I'm sorry," says a senator. "But did you just say that ships filled with monsters are traveling to rendezvous in a single location, and we're only finding out about this now? How did your scouts miss this?" asks the senator as he stands.

The question sparks a wave of agreements as the other occupants nod.

"It's simple---" says Ambrosius as he places his cheek on his palm "---they were smart about it. Unlike what you may think, the monsters did not travel in droves. They traveled using one ship a few times a year over the course of a few years. From what the scouts have gathered, it was approximately four to five ships per year, over the course of four years."

"Why can't the atlanteans just sink any monster ship that travels by sea? As a matter of fact, why can't the atlanteans complete this mission themselves? Why do we need to spill Roman blood to---"

Before he can finish his sentence, a weight seems to drop on him, causing the senator to be pushed back onto his seat.

"I would suggest that you do not finish that sentence Julian. You are very close to crossing the line. I believe that we had an agreement, correct? Unless you have something constructive to contribute, then your mouth remains shut. Isn't that right?" asks Ambrosius as he stares into the senator's eyes.

Julian's eyes wildly look around the room for support, only to, naturally, find none. The incident with Alex's words enraged Neptune and Salacia, especially since the majority of Romans seemed to somewhat agree that Rome has no need of Neptune, although they made sure to never vocalize it. Neptune and Salacia were enraged to the point that not a single body of water was safe for the Romans to venture in, not even a lake or river. After many near deaths by drowning, Jupiter had to step in before Neptune decided to cut his losses and drown the camp. In return for Neptune to back off, Camp Jupiter had to replace Neptune's fishing shack with a proper temple, and respect him and his family, naturally Salacia added her own terms about also respecting atlanteans.

Ever since then, whenever someone was caught disrespecting a god, or deity, under Neptune's banner, they were punished by said deity. After seeing citizens and comrades turned into dolphins, horses, or punished in some other way, the Romans have decided that anyone that would incur the wrath of the seas is to be kept as far away from them as possible, less they become collateral damage.

Realizing that no one is going to come to his aid Julian hurriedly nods yes.

Ambrosius holds the stare for a second longer before nodding and relieving the pressure.

"To answer Julian's question, the reason why Atlantis can not personally deal with them is because Ocean has decided to throw his hat into the ring and challenge my father for the right to rule the seas. He amasses his forces even as we speak."

Hearing this the senators can't help but frown. They know that a war is coming and that the Titans that have escaped Tartarus are leading the charge. They have been seeing the signs for years now, between the increased monster population and the attacks on their armories such as Fort Sumter, they would have been fools not to expect a war. However, they didn't expect for the Titans that were neutral in the first Titanomachy to side with their brethren now. This doesn't bode well at all.

"Alright, so who did you have in mind?" asks Lucas.

"I will personally be going." states Ambrosius.

"And who will be going along with you?" asks Azula.

"No one" he replies.

The room erupts into roars of disagreements as every senator makes their reason for disagreeing known.

"Silence" Azula calmly orders.

Immediately the room is plunged into silence.

With a satisfactory nod Azula turns to her co-praetor.

"Explain yourself" she commands with a small hint of charmspeak.

Ambrosius raises an eyebrow, and can't help the small twitch that threatens to turn his calm expression into a smiling one. Ever since they regained their memories, Azula has taken every opportunity to use her powers, even though anything mind related like charmspeak doesn't work on him. Ambrosius can't help but find it adorable, like a child playing with a new toy.

Turning back to the senators, Ambrosius explains.

"My reasoning is simple. The Sea of Monsters is simply a set of islands inhabited by dangerous monsters. Should anything happen I can merely sink the island I find myself on and survive in the sea. Having companions will only serve to hinder me."

The senators don't want to admit it, however he is correct and arguing further would just be stubbornness.

"Very well. When do you leave, and what will you need?" asks Julian.

"The only thing I will need is a ship, a pack of food, a first aid kit, and some ambrosia and nectar. I will be leaving tomorrow morning." answers Ambrosius.

"The ship will be no problem. The construction of the navy is complete, and any new ships built are just surplus. The other supplies are also a non issue. Everything should be ready tomorrow." says Kyle.

"There's no need to worry about the ship." says Ambrosius "The Sea of Monsters is in the Bermuda Triangle. I'll borrow a ship from the mortals when I get to Florida."

Lucas frowns. "How do you plan to get there?" he asks.

The praetor merely smiles mysteriously without giving an answer.

"Very well. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?" asks Azula.

The senators look around the room, and seeing no one coming forward, Azula adjourns the meeting.

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"Be careful." Azula tells me.

"Of course I will. I never take unnecessary risks. Who knew that living a life without a psychotic father and neglectful mother could make you such a worrier." I reply with a smirk.

She's clearly not amused. With a frown on her face she grabs me by the collar of my shirt, pulls me closer, and places her gladius near my throat.

"Listen well. If you die I will personally go to the underworld and torture you, not only for leaving me, but also for your weakness. And if I find out that you died by some pathetic monster's hand, I will double your punishment. If you die, then die by the hands of a worthy adversary. Understand?"

I nod slightly and wait for Azula to release me. It seems that she has a different plan however, as she stares into my eyes for a second longer before dismissing her sword, pulling me closer and kissing me. The kiss is slow, soft, and passionate. We remain there for a few seconds before separating.

"Don't die" she whispers.

"I won't" I reply.

Pursing my lips, I release a shrill whistle and wait.

"What was that?" asks Azula.

Before I can answer a neigh sounds out, followed by the sound of galloping, and finally the appearance of a horse. The horse is tall, perhaps taller than all other horses, mythical or otherwise, with caramel fur, black mane and tail, and brown eyes. The horse is Arion, Hazel's horse, that she frees from the Amazons in 'The Son of Neptune'. I saved him from getting captured two years ago on a supply run to Fort Sumter. As payment, he's agreed to do me one favor.

"So you finally decided to use your one favor, uh shithead?" speaks the horse.

I take a deep breath to prepare myself for Arion's dirty mouth and horrible attitude before turning to Azula and saying goodbye one more time.

"Alright you insufferable creature, the favor is simple. Take me to Florida and your debt will be paid." I tell the horse as I climb his back.

"Florida?" he neighs "That's fucking far you inferior sea spawn. Are you trying to get me killed from exhaustion? It'll take a long ass time to get there."

It hasn't even been a minute, and I can already feel one of my eyebrows twitching in annoyance. Taking a deep breath, I place one hand around his neck and squeeze with enough force to make it uncomfortable, but not enough to hurt.

"Listen here you little shit. I know for a fact that you can make that trip in three hours and not break a sweat, so do your job and we can part ways so that I may never have to suffer your unbearable presence ever again. As for that comment about me being inferior, I'll let it slide on account of the fact that you can't die." I say through gritted teeth.

"Fine, fine. What a fucking shit show of a world, a horse can't even speak his fucking mind without being threatened." he replies.

"Just go already." I sigh as I release his neck.

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The trip to Florida took about three hours, just as predicted. It was mainly uneventful, except for that one time Arion tried to be smart and drop me off at the border of Florida and Georgia. I had to force him to drop me off at the coast.

As I make my way to the ocean, I make sure to hide myself from the mortals in the Mist. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my energy bending from avatar translates to being able to manipulate the Mist on the same level as a child of Hecate.

Once in the water, I swim to a yacht of average size and climb in. Inside I find the captain who seems to be about to bring the yacht into the shipyard.

Stopping short of his personal space, I tap his shoulders to get his attention.

"Excuse me." I say.

He turns to face me, a surprised yell on his lips. Before he can make a sound however, I snap my fingers and manipulate the mist to make him think that he sold me the boat; making an antique sword and giving it to him as payment before sending him on his way. The antique should sell for about a hundred thousand dollars, more than enough to reimburse him.

Making my way to the wheel, I grip it and immediately know how to operate the ship. Without putting much thought into my actions, I set the boat into gear towards 30,31N;75,12W, the coordinates for the Sea of Monsters, and boost the boat's speed with a wave.

"You really do take after your father." comes a voice behind me.

Without thinking I immediately turn towards the voice, an imperial gold replica of gae bolg from Fate/Stay Night already formed in my hands before I even complete my turn. Before the spear can skewer the speaker however, a shield manifests in its path. Before attacking again I take a look at the speaker and immediately recognize my mother, Bellona.

"A bit jumpy aren't we? Then again if you hadn't reacted to an unannounced intruder, then we've failed to train you properly." she speaks as her conjured shield dissolves.

"Interesting design for a spear. I've never really tried to change the appearance of my conjured weapons, just their function and the type of weapon." she says as she notices the spear.

With a sigh I dissolve the spear.

"Mother. To what do I owe the pleasure?" I ask as I perform a standard Roman salute of a fist over my heart.

"I've come to wish you luck, and to give you a task." she replies

Putting my hand in my pockets, I nod to let her know that I'm listening.

"In the Sea of Monsters, there is an island not inhabited by monsters. Circe has made it her home and the home of her maidens. Also on the island, are males that have been turned into guinea pigs by Circe. Normally the island is peaceful, however a passing traveler has turned all the men back to their human forms, and now they are ravaging the island. Some of Circe's prisoners are demigods, such as Blackbeard. I usually wouldn't care about what happens there, but lately a pair of demigods have made the island their home. They are your sisters, Hylla and Reyna. Go to the island and bring them to the wolf house." she explains.

"How long has it been since the breakout?" I ask.

"A few minutes." she replies.

If things were still going according to canon I wouldn't worry, however things are more brutal here, far too similar to actual greek mythology than a children's book. With the way things are here I wouldn't be surprised if Blackbeard raped them instead of letting them go.

"Can you teleport me there? I wouldn't put it past a pirate like Blackbeard to rape them." I say.

Her eyebrows furrow in thought for a few seconds before looking up at the sky, as if waiting for some signal. Whatever she was looking for must have been found because she grabs my shoulder.

"This is the only help I can give you in your quest." she says as she teleports us.