ALEA IACTA EST ; GRACE

011.

"TODAY WE STAND ON    the verge of triumph. On the top of this mountain lies a challenge that will test our strength, our courage and our resolve. But remember, we are Romans – descendants of the great gods of Olympus," Julia spoke to the gathered Legion, her voice carrying over the castra.

Each and every one of the legionnaires listened, standing to attention, unmoving and slowly getting carried away by the speech their praetors were giving for them before they would embark on the journey up Mount Tam.

Marcus went on, his voice firm as he spoke to his subordinates, "Look around you. See the faces of your comrades, people you have known and lived with for a long time, with whom you have fought side by side. Each of you should remember that we do not fight for ourselves alone but for the honor of Rome, for our families, and for the preservation of the world as we know it."

"The enemy we face may be fierce, but they are weakened," Julia continued, beginning to explain the strategy. "We have sent eagles on lookout and just as predicted, Saturn and his followers have left the fortress almost defenseless, there are only few monsters remaining and they are not anticipating our attack."

"We will fight as we have trained countless times. The cohorts will merge and the swordfighters build lines, remember, when you are exhausted or injured, fall back, the next line will take over to give you a chance of regaining strength," Marcus elaborated.

They would be using the techniques that their ancestors, the ancient Romans had already used and were proven to be successful. "Meanwhile, the archers divide themselves on either Hannibal or Imilce. You will have a lifted position and lead us through their rows. The elephants will try to overrun as many enemies as possible, your job is to injure bigger monsters or disable our opponents."

Their explanation went on and on, most of this strategy wasn't new to the legionnaires but it was always good to remind them of it. After all, their lives kind of depended on the strategy the senate had carefully crafted.

"Keep in mind that they do not possess our discipline, our training or our unwavering will. They may hope to break our lines, but they will only find a wall of iron that will not be broken. We are the descendants of gods. Fear has no place in our hearts; only the resolve to triumph," Marcus spoke with a steady voice but at his last words Philomena had to suppress a chuckle. She could see emotions after all, so she knew pretty well that their whole surroundings was a mix of black, blue and dark red, the colors of fear, sadness and anger.

Julia continued, raising her gladius in the air to fire their spirits up, "Remember all of the victories we have already achieved in anticipation of this war. The many quests we have fulfilled, all the enemies we have killed. Remember the stories we learn of our forefathers and their battles; today we add our chapter to the history of Rome."

Together, in total sync Marcus and Julia cheered, "Onward to victory! For Rome! For Glory! Ad victoriam!"

The legionnaires banged on their shields and raised their swords and pilums in the air, echoing their leaders' words in a battle cry that the monsters and titans on mount Tam probably could hear.

Philomena made her way over to Imilce, one of their two war elephants who was named after Hannibal Barca's wife. She would sit atop her with the other archers of Camp Jupiter and try to eliminate as many enemies as possible.

Her sword hung heavily on her side as she walked through the many legionnaires who were gathering in their assigned positions, running into many people and a few times Philomena almost managed to impale herself on a pilum or another weapon that was not stored properly. But it was also kind of her fault, she was looking for Alex, she wanted to see her only friend once again before they would go into battle and fight for their lives.

Someone straight up ran into Philomena pulling her out of her thoughts, both of them almost falling to the floor and she was ready to curse out whoever it was, until she noticed that the asshole was actually Rome's golden boy.

As she looked at him, she thought that it was really unfair.

Jason Grace managed to stand in front of her, in full armor and everything and still managed to somehow look good. The only thing that bothered her was the way he was fiddling with the golden coin in his hands, it was driving her insane that he could drop it any moment and lose the weapons he loved fighting with.

Putting her hand over his, she stopped him from fiddling with the coin, "Good luck out there goldie. The one who kills fewer enemies has to sneak out to the city and buy me the new Barbie movie."

He looked down at their connected hands and then into her red eyes, the same eyes he had once found kind of creepy but now found comfort in. "So it's a win-win situation for you?"

"That's the point of it, Goldie." She smiled cheekily up to him, removed her hands and turned to walk away, "And please don't try to play the role of hero, I'll kill you if you die because of that."

Jason just watched her walk away, a smile on his face as he morphed his coin into a javelin and went to his position in the first row. He would fight in the first row and would therefore be one of the first people to arrive face to face with the enemies.

For some reason Jason couldn't wait for this battle to be over so that he could finally spend more time with Philomena without the sword of Damocles hanging over them.

But first they would have to win this final battle and weaken Saturn by toppling his throne, so that the gods would have an advantage when fighting against him.

HOPE speaks!

I really do hope you liked this chapter and stay tuned for the next one where shit will go down :)

(&& if anyone here knows how to make covers maybe you would want to make one for me (pretty please) 👉🏼👈🏼  bc i'm shit at it :))

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