The Animal Within

Chapter 34 - The Fall

Percy had never seen Jason so excited before.

"The Thirteenth Legion was one of the greatest, similar to the Twelfth," Jason explained as he took the standard into his hands, studying it intently with a reverence that had Percy raising an eyebrow.

"What made them so great?" Piper asked. She seemed slightly annoyed at Percy for interrupting them, though honestly Percy had been surprised that they'd broken out a picnic with Piper's new cornucopia. Even more surprised to find the half-eaten birthday cake on the blanket.

Jason studied the Roman numerals, the XIII glowing in the afternoon sun. "They were recruited by Julius Caesar himself," he explained. "They were the Legion with him at the crossing of the Rubicon river which kicked off the Roman civil war – the one he won and the one which made him dictator of Rome. The Thirteenth Legion was created a decade before that crossing, and they were the Legion that conquered Rome for him. The Legion was only beaten once, and that was decades later." Jason shook his head, completely amazed. "But after Caesar's rule was safe, he disbanded the original Thirteenth and gave them land in Spello – only a few days walk from here. I guess a few of those veterans decided to return the standard to Rome."

"But how did it end up in Kro – Saturn's temple?" Percy asked.

Jason shrugged. "Well, the standards are imbued with the power of individual deities. This standard was..." His gaze lingered on the proud lion atop the staff. "Ops."

"Oop?" Piper frowned.

Jason glanced over to Percy. "Ops," he said. "The lion – that's the symbol of Ops. Otherwise known as Rhea."

Percy jerked back as if the standard had turned its powers against him. His eyes narrowed at the lion. "Rhea's standard. What about the jaguar?"

Jason shrugged. "Saturn's temple was the treasury of Ancient Rome," he explained. "Until Julius Caesar emptied it to fund his conquest to take over Rome. But since the Thirteenth was in Saturn's temple I guess he decided he'd claim it as his own?"

"Because it was Rhea's legion," Percy guessed.

Jason shrugged, not confirming it but also not denying it. "Who am I to know why? But the Legion was later reinforced my soldiers from another legion, one which we know to have been Saturn's. That's probably why that standard now has both of them."

Piper glanced away from Percy when he met her eyes, and Percy frowned briefly. "So the Thirteenth had two deities," Piper said.

"Yes," Jason mused. "Hence the two figures – lion and jaguar."

"But what's the Legion's name?" Percy asked. "We need to know the name, right?"

Jason smiled. "Gemina – the Twins. Thirteenth Legion Gemina."

"Not like Fulminata," Percy mused. "Armed With Lightning sounds better than The Twins."

Jason shrugged. "Well Jupiter can't have Saturn showing him up, can he?"

Thunder crackled overhead and Percy jumped, eying the sky with suspicion before returning his attention to the standard. "I guess not," he said with a small smile.

Jason wordlessly held the standard out to Percy. "It's yours," he said. "Kronos obviously wanted you to find it."

Percy hesitated. "But I'm not really a Roman." Sure, he'd wielded the Twelfth's standard, but that was to return it. Wielding a Roman standard in a fight would be different.

The son of Jupiter hesitated. "What about the Legion?"

Percy frowned. "What about them?"

Realisation dawned in Piper's eyes. "That's brilliant, Jason," she murmured.