Throne of Rome

Side Story: The Smiling Seasons

Sleep was something that had become more and more of a hassle in the months after Charleston. Maybe it was because I had been on so many reconnaissance missions or helping the probatios with swordplay but my dreams featured nothing but war. Except for tonight because all I saw was snow and a forest. This forest felt oddly familiar for some reason, as if I'd been there numerous times. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice roar through my head "Saving Grace..... Can you hear me?". Only one person ever thought to call me that and when I turned to meet her sure enough Lupa stood in the snow with her pack behind her. I asked her why she visited me in my dreams and her response was " Because I can't always visit you when you're awake". She nudged me on the leg and I fell into the snow, the rest of her pack howling and laughing until my wolf stare came out. " I see.... it's still as strong as ever. That's good" she said as I brushed the snow and leaves off my jeans. " Jason I have a quest for you, Prosperina has been captured on her way back to Ceres by Eriskhiton. She's in Vermont, you will take Brett and Maya, 48 hours till he kills her, do you understand?" she said and I had a multitude of questions. She told me to hush and prepare and that I would learn more when I came to the wolf house but for now I must gather Brett and Maya, Vince was already informed of our mission and get going. I shook my head for confirmation and tried getting back to sleep when she appeared in my head again, yelling " I SAID NOW BOY".

Getting Maya was simple since she was on the other side of the barracks. She slept in regular pajamas and the only way to wake her up was by whispering " New Gladius" and she sprung up. She said she was right in the middle of a dream and I stopped her to explain what she had probably seen. Her mouth dropped as i grabbed my stuff and she followed me out of the 5th and to the 4th to get Brett. She was swinging her gladius into pretend soldiers while we walked towards the 4th and met Lillian by the door. She was reading The Hunger Games when we walked up and Maya asked her " did you get to the part with Rue yet". I wasn't at that point of the book yet Ariana had let me borrow hers and now I knew a huge spoiler. After seeing that she spoiled both Lillian and I Maya slumped down a bit as Lillian asked why we were disturbing the 4th. That was when Brett sat up and told her that we were here for him at the request of Lupa. Lillian understood and Brett grabbed my shoulder while whispering " Sup Senator" as we walked towards the entrance to camp.

     Getting to Minnesota in 48 hours sounded nearly impossible but one of the good things about being a son of Jupiter is that you can fly. The only issue is that a son of Apollo and a daughter of Mars have no ability to do so. So as the three of us stood outside in the cold I knew I had to think of something on such short notice. I closed my eyes to think of something and that was when Ceres arrived. I was kind of startled I mean every time I closed my eyes and prayed for help Juno was the one that appeared. Ceres's eyes were red and puffy and her presence caused the snow to melt and freeze in succession. " Son of Jupiter I.....my daughter..... she's been kidnapped" and that was all she could muster before she started bawling. I assured her that we would rescue her and as she left Maya asked her for transportation. Ceres told me to " call out for the eagles" and disappeared, the leaves fluttering behind her. Brett said she looked like a nervous wreck and he wasn't wrong. The few times I've met gods I've never seen one be that distraught. I closed my eyes like she said and called out for the eagles and sure enough 2 gigantic eagles appeared. They said their names were Flutter and Whirl and they were " at my service". I told them that we needed to get to Vermont in a day and they ensured me that we will arrive in 12 hours. Maya and Brett hopped on Flutter and Whirl and we flew off into the wind.

     Vermont wasn't a place that I was familiar with and if it wasn't for my winter jacket I might have not lived to be familiar. Brett couldn't really keep us warm with his healing hands but at least we weren't freezing our toes off. The city of Berlington was host to a lot of things but maybe the best thing was Ben and Jerry's. At least that was what Brett was the most excited about and luckily that was exactly where we were headed. The guy that kidnapped Prosperina ran the place in secret and we intended to get our spoils of victory after we rescued her. Getting to the main factory would be the issue since I'm pretty sure we were bound to run into distraction or force that would try to kill us. We walked through the streets while the sun shined brightly and Brett couldn't stop smiling. He got really moody in the winter because the sun would be gone too quickly for his liking so this was a pretty sight for him. Maya was humming a song from the radio and Brett instantly picked up and started expertly singing " ITS A LOVE STORY BABY JUST SAY YES". He knew I hated it when he sung no matter how effortless he could do it. He kept going through albums and Artists and was right into a cover of Hey ya when we came face to face with drachnae slithering towards us and two of them holding swords.