The Truth Behind The Myths

I'm King of The Wall (Not Really)

Percy POV

My first war games went well...If you call almost dying 'going well.'

The fifth cohort had been put on defense with the third and fourth. We were up in the towers with water cannons and things like that, while the other two were on the ground, one inside and one outside.

I got to man a water cannon for a little while, and I tried to give it some more oomph without anyone noticing.

Then Dakota had everyone switch out, so I was on the wall guarding.

We were knocking ladders off left and right. These Romans sure knew what they needed to do when attacking a fort.

"We've got a breach!" Someone shouted to my left. 

"Fourth cohort, we need backup!" Another voice yelled, from my right.

The situation was falling apart quickly.

Suddenly, a water cannon to my left exploded. There were yells of surprise and pain as pieces flew everywhere. I ducked a large chunk of the machine and felt myself get drenched.

Instantly I was more alert, but I still wasn't in time to respond to the spear that was heading for my chest.

Someone stepped in front of me and intercepted the weapon, going toe to toe with it's owner.

Another look revealed Samuel, of all people, had saved me.

That confused me, but I ignored it as I turned to fight off one of the encroachers on my right.

It quickly became apparent that we were going to be overwhelmed. The people in my cohort were cursing and snarling, but they were unable to reclaim the wall fully.

I pushed an opponent off the wall, watching him land on some of his friends, and suddenly caught a flash of movement that wasn't human.

I tried to track it, but all I was seeing was a black blur that would dart into the attackers and then disappear.

Onyx.

I rolled my eyes at the young wolf's involvement, but didn't want to draw attention to him.

Someone suddenly tackled me and pinned me to the ground. I squirmed, but I was too small to throw off whoever it was.

"Gotcha, kiddo." Someone said in my ear. The voice was goodnatured, but I didn't recognize it. "Nice try though."

"Enough!" Reyna's voice echoed over the field. "The wall has been taken. the first and second cohorts have won." Groans echoed from those of us behind and on the wall. Cheers erupted from the other side.

The person on my got to their feet and I rolled over to see Rowan, the guy who had insisted I fight Praetor Zhang, holding his hand out to help me up.

"You fight pretty well." He told me. "I was watching you while we were trying to get up here."

"Uh, thanks." I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to my feet.

The cohorts streamed off of the wall and towards the barracks, everyone sweating and panting from the fights that had broken out everywhere.

I ducked through the crowds, trying to find Samuel. Usually I'd try to stay as far from him as possible, but I wanted to know why he had helped me.

Finally I spotted him and pushed my way over to him. "Samuel!"

"What do you want, runt?" He growled without turning around.

"I wanted to know why you did that, back on the wall?"

"I may hate your guts, but I'm not going to get in trouble for not helping a fellow legionnaire when I could have saved him. Jesse would have turned you into a Jack-Kabob."

I stared at him. "I thought killing wasn't allowed."

"It's not. But sometimes kids go a little overboard. Reyna makes it clear that we've only had a few deaths in the last twenty five years and if anyone adds to that total, they could be removed from the Legion."

That didn't sound reassuring. At least Reyna had given them a punishment to stay away from.

The mob of legionnaires slowed substantially as we reached the doors to the dining hall. In the confusion, it seemed that no one noticed me as a hand latched onto my arm and dragged me out of the group, then behind the building.

"Wh-Oh, hi Hazel." I crossed my arms. "What do you need?"

 "I saw Rowan tackle you. I just wanted to make sure you're okay, he's pretty much a bear when it comes to strength."

I shrugged at the tiny daughter of Pluto, realizing I was a few inches taller than her. "Maybe some minor bruising and an ego deflation, but I probably needed it anyway."

Hazel laughed. "Well if you can joke about it, you must be fine. Come on, let's go get dinner."

I nodded and followed her in, then stopped when I felt eyes on me.

Turning slowly, I saw a familiar face in the shadows.

I grinned at Nico and flipped a sarcastic salute before going inside. It was faint, but I heard his growl of annoyance.

It had always been fun to annoy him. Nothing about that had changed.

[A/N Near death experiences!]