Anchises

Chapter Seven: The Romans

Song: Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes

Ever since it was announced that the Romans would come to Camp for the first of a hopeful annual Roman vs Greek Capture the Flag, every demigod at camp was either training or refining any traps and strategies they could. Draco was certain that the Romans were doing the same thing on their end, it would be disrespectful to not do so. After fighting and winning together against Mother Earth and her children, it would be a disservice to each other not to take the event seriously.

And while everyone at Camp Half-Blood wanted to try out the War Games, especially after Percy’s description, it was decided that Capture the Flag would be easier to organize. Considering that War Games was a game of Cohort vs. Cohort, it was taken into account that there were many Cabins whose total members didn’t even reach half of the total of some Cohorts. With the addition that most campers at Camp Jupiter were descendents of demigods rather than demigods themselves, there was also the difference between godly abilities.

It had to be properly balanced.

Percy, Annabeth, Predator Zhang and Preator Ramírez-Arellano were in discussions on how to do that.

Sure, everyone was slightly disappointed at that, but the idea of winning against the Romans in Capture the Flag was enough to make the fire roar with life.

It was why Draco went to the training arena almost everyday since the announcement. It had become part of his routine, if he wasn’t training at the arena, he was doing the daily activities of his cabin or spending time with his friends or on a call with Mother. All in an effort to forget that despite everything being good and lovely, there was something brewing in both his worlds.

Lester and Meg on a quest in one; Voldemort waging war in the other.

And somehow, Harry was venturing into both.

“That was quicker than last time,” someone whistled behind him and Draco fought down a smile. He had come to expect company whenever he was training, a very specific company. He brought down his sword into a resting stance to the side and turned around.

“And I was wondering when you were going to show up, Anthony.”

Anthony Watson, son of Ares, grinned. He had the classic ‘surfer body’ as Draco’s siblings loved to gush about: the classic blond wind swept hair, toned skin, and pearl white smile. Anthony just needed a surfboard instead of his warhammer and he would complete the image of the perfect Floridian surfer boy. And Draco was his mum’s son, he could appreciate a good looking man when one was in front of him, it would be a disservice as a son of Aphrodite not to.

Anthony Watson was hot and he knew it.

“Done staring or are we going to spar?”

Draco grinned, rolling his eyes at the expected response. “Cute. Did you steal that one from one of my siblings or overheard it from Connor?” He rushed forward, throwing two of his daggers on either side.

Anthony grinned, raising his warhammer to block Draco’s strike instead of trying to dodge the daggers. “Would you believe me if I said I came up with it myself?”

“No,” Draco moved back, conceding to the block and darted to the side. The warhammer was heavy, and no matter how strong Anthony was, he would move much slower than Draco. Conclusion: Draco had to stay moving. “Everyone at camp has used it at least once.”

“Everyone? Who was the lucky guy?”

Draco didn’t respond right away, instead ducking out of the way from Anthony’s swing. He grabbed one of the daggers he had thrown from the floor, and forced Anthony to move back to dodge the sharp end of the small blade.

“Sadly the one I want isn’t here.”

“No Dreamwalking?”

“Want an audience for when I kick your ass?”

Anthony grinned, using his warhammer as support for a double quick that forced Draco to drop his dagger. He cursed and moved to avoid another quick aimed at his torso, but that was clearly what Anthony wanted because instead of kicking, he tripped Draco and in one swift move straddled him.

“More like so he can see me beat you.” Draco struggled, trying to get free, but Anthony weighed much more than him and firmly held his hands against the floor, forcing Draco to let go of his sword. “Accept your defeat, Draco.”

“Fine. Fine. Now get off me--” Anthony laughed as he got off and Draco murmured Greek and Latin curses at the other.

“But seriously, is the mortal watching?”

“No.” Draco tried to hide how sad that made him. He narrowed his eyes at the sudden emotions from Anthony, they didn’t sit right with Draco. Something moved just out of his view, but Draco ignored it. This was more important. “Don’t Anthony.”

The other sighed, dropping his head back down to the floor. “Yeah. I was wondering when you’ll figure it out.”

“I like Harry. You’re attractive, but you aren’t him.”

“Even if you never see him again?”

Draco tugged the towel he put around his neck. It wasn’t as if the thought of never seeing Harry or any of his friends back in England hadn’t crossed his mind, it had and quite frequently. He knew it was a possibility, not because he wouldn’t try, but rather because maybe they wouldn’t survive whatever was brewing in the Magical World.

“You think I haven’t thought of that?” He whispered, eyes on the ground. “Or that when I see him again, he moved on?” Or that I could? He didn’t say out loud, he didn’t really think it was a possibility. Sure, during his time at Hogwarts he had other fancies, but in the end, Harry always had this pull to him that Draco couldn’t ignore. He recognized that now, even last year when Draco was so focused on the prophecy, he always ended up on Harry’s orbit. “I’m aware of all that. It doesn’t change that I like Harry. That I left him to protect him and our friends from this world -- my world.”

Anthony stayed silent long enough for Draco to finish wiping the sweat off himself and cleaning up what he used during his time in the arena.

“Alright,” the sudden answer startled Draco. “I’m sorry. Can we still be friends?”

Draco paused, unsure of what to answer and looked at Anthony, trying to interpret the other’s feelings. It was genuine, Draco could tell that much. “I don’t want a friendship where you think you could jump in for a ‘possibility’.”

“I know,” Anthony smiled, and it was pearl white and perfect. It was a nice smile, Draco knew that, but it was not the smile that would give him butterflies. That one was a bit more crooked and with slightly chapped lips. “But I do enjoy our friendship, Draco. You said no, I’ll respect it.”

“Ok.”

“Just a warning though, my friends will tell you that I’m a bit flirty even with them. In a total platonic way.”

Draco laughed. “Why else do you think I was fine with your flirting? I already knew that.” It had been the emotions that had given it away. Anthony nodded, grinning even more, probably getting to the conclusion of exactly what gave his intentions away.

It was common knowledge that all Aphrodite children could sense emotions, some could even manipulate them too, to an extent.

“Ok, just tell me if I ever go too far.” Anthony insisted and Draco nodded. The horn for lunch sounded and Draco hesitated for a moment. “Go. You packed your things, I’ll finish cleaning the sweat on the floor.”

Draco nodded and stepped out of the arena, happy that he didn’t lose a friend in the end. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry walked beside him with almost a skip to his step and the smile that made butterflies fly. Draco hadn’t been lying when Anthony first asked about Harry, the other just decided to show up not long after the conversation began.

But even if he hadn’t been there, Draco would have said the same things because they were true. He was just happy Harry knew them too, and it was a nice confirmation that Harry could not just see but also hear while in this state. For some reason, that confirmation wasn’t as warming as Draco thought it would be.

Suddenly, he wondered exactly how much Harry knew about Draco’s world and if the other had any idea of the possible world ending things that could happen if anything went wrong during Lester’s quest. Draco had left to keep the people he loved protected, but it seemed that wasn’t enough… maybe… maybe he needed to find a way to stop Harry’s dreamwalking.

Permanently. No matter the consequences.

***

It was the day they had all been waiting for. Draco grinned, crouching even lower to hide from the patrolling Romans. He was with one of the scouting groups, a mix of Hermes, Apollo, and Aphrodite children. While they knew that they had Roman siblings, they also knew those were very few compared to the ones found in Camp Half-Blood.

Meaning, the Greeks were going to take full advantage of not just being in familiar grounds but also the upper hand in godly abilities. The Romans had numbers, but Percy had mentioned that their training was always focused on teamwork. Camp Half-Blood was not the same. Their training was focused on survival, almost as if trying to create an army out of one demigod.

“Have you heard anything?” Roman A asked Roman B, as Draco categorized them in his head.

Roman B shook her head, her braid so tightly weaved that not even a strand moved. Draco wondered if she would be willing to give tips to him and his siblings once this was over.

Beside Draco, Will gestured to his ears and everyone in their group got the hint. Quickly, they covered their ears as Will let out a shattering whistle, pitch high enough that it caused the two romans to drop their weapons in favor of taking off their helmets and covering their ears. Seizing the opportunity, Draco and Cecil jumped the Romans and tied them up quickly, disarming them from any hidden weapons possible.

“What the--?!”

“Hyper-sonic whistle,” Will grinned, kneeling down beside them, checking their ear while they remained in shock at what happened. “Your ears will be fine, there’s no bleeding and nothing seems damaged inside. But if you feel dizzy just come to the infirmary. Will, son of Apollo.”

Roman A blinked before letting out a chuckle. “Ok. So are you leaving us here?”

“Nope!” Cecil grinned, and took out a small bag filled with powder. “You might want to brace yourself.”

That was all the warning they got, because Cecil blew some of the green and purple powder towards the Romans and with a pop they vanished from sight. If it was made correctly, they should reappear in the middle of The Greek’s prison along with any other Romans that were captured. If it wasn’t… Draco was sure he had heard Lou and her siblings murmur something about the strawberry fields. At least it wasn’t the climbing wall. Draco hadn’t had a fun time getting down without the proper gear after allowing himself to be used as a guinea pig for the first batch.

“Let’s go,” Will nodded and the three ran through the woods, making sure they remained hidden as much as possible. Typically, they would have gotten help from the dryads in the forest, but it was decided to even things out a bit that the dryads would only be spectators.

The two Romans they had ambushed had mentioned something about the flag, and while there was a main group of people assigned to capture the flag, Annabeth and Percy had agreed that if there was an opportunity, to take it. Draco figured they were pretty close to the location when they neared a small clearing filled with the familiar sound of metal against metal.

“Nice of you to join us!” Percy yelled, grinning wide as he dodged various attacks. He was the one with most enemies compared to the other Greeks in the clearing.

“Had two packages to send!” Will yelled back, jumping back as a Roman joined the fray. “Anyone need healing?”

Draco ducked down, taking out his dagger. He had decided to forgo his sword once he learned he was going to be part of the scouting group. It would have been more of a hindrance than help. He nicked the wrist of his opponent, a nerve that forced the Roman to drop his weapon, but it would cause no lasting damage. Being friends with an Apollo kid had its benefits.

“Look out!”

Draco rolled just as Cecil used his sword to block an attack. From the corner of his eye, Draco saw Will hit specific nerves that caused his opponents to become paralyzed, even if temporarily. Will was more of a medic, but he was a combat medic and that meant he knew how to defend himself. Every demigod knew how to, it was just a matter of method and it seems the Romans were recognizing that Camp Half-Blood did training very differently.

While they had New Rome, Draco and the other Greek demigods only had Camp Half-Blood and a need to survive. Not everyone had Percy’s skills with a sword, or Nico’s control over godly abilities, or even Piper’s charmspeak, but everyone knew how to use any weapon available if needed. They were taught how to use random objects as weapons on the fly.

Because Greeks were trained to survive.

The Romans were trained to complete a quota and that made all the difference.

Draco jumped over a knocked out Roman and ducked and weaved through the fighting demigods. Everyone was distracted and Draco had been told to take the opportunity if there was one to take. He jumped over a rock, managing to dodge a Roman’s attempt on grabbing his shirt, and landed right in front of the flag. Without hesitation, he grabbed it and ran, ignoring the yells or the thundering feet of the opposing team.

“Cecil!” He yelled, catching the son of Hermes’ attention. Cecil’s eyes widened, but Draco didn’t need to say more because the other demigod took out the powder and threw it right at Draco’s face.

Despite having been the guinea pig for Lou and her siblings’ invention, the traveling would never not be disoriatating. But, because he had been the testing subject, he managed to find his footing quicker than the first time he was subjected to the powder. Ignoring the confused looks of the imprisoned Romans, Draco ran, aware that the way Cecil threw the powder not only sent him back to the Greek base, but some of the Romans that had been chasing him.

“I got the flag!” He yelled, running down from the small hill that had been agreed to be the temporary jail. Since it was neutral ground, the flag was still purple with Camp Jupiter’s logo. If he wanted it to change, he needed to cross the imaginary line of the make-shift prison.

He announcement caught the attention of not just his teammates, but also the Romans who were trying to get Camp Half-Blood’s flag.

“Everyone! Make sure Draco crosses the jail line!” Annabeth yelled out, and suddenly it was a race of who got to Draco first.

He ran faster, his legs were burning, but he ignored the pain. He was determined to win against the Romans, he just needed to get to Zeus’ Fist and the flag would change, declaring Camp Half-Blood as the winner. One of the captured Romans tackled him, forcing Draco to hit the ground hard. He groaned and began to fight off the opponent, never once letting go of the flag. Suddenly, the weight was off him and Draco blinked, already standing up to continue on running.

“Go, we’ll buy you time!” Anthony yelled just as one of his sisters tackled another Roman.

Draco nodded and bolted, he was closer. In his hand, the flag began to shimmer, the purple slowly giving away to a bright orange and the golden laurel into a pegasus. He pushed himself to run faster and the shimmering stopped, the orange and black pegasus became permanent fixtures.

“CAMP HALF-BLOOD WINS!”

The silence after Chiron’s announcement only lasted a few seconds before Draco was ambushed by his teammates. Cheers erupted all around him as he was lifted up. Draco cheered and waved the capture flag high for all to see, and even in the face of their defeat, Draco could spot some of the Romans clapping good heartedly.

Suddenly the ground shook, and it was a testament of their training that everyone found their footing quickly, and that not a single person carrying Draco dropped him while doing so. In silent shock, everyone’s gaze was on the giant golden robot that had not been there mere seconds before.

The thrill of the game had left as suddenly as it had arrived, replaced by the need to protect their home; as one, both Greeks and Romans, took out their weapons and ran towards the intruder.