Tight Turns and Loose Ends

Lennie could feel the tears come to her eyes as the fire in front of them burned brightly. Her eyes were weary, tired, and bloodshot. They hadn't slept that night following tracks, and when they found the Moon Chariot, acted too fast. They'd lost one of their own, and now they were doing all they could for him by giving him his last rites.


"Hey." Christian put two fingers on her shoulder. He'd always thrown away traditional comfort barriers when needed. Usually it was in social situations to make people more comfortable, but this was different. This was devastating. It was her quest to bring the Moon Chariot back, and she'd lost one of her people. "I miss Aticus too." Christian had told her, referring to their questmate. He'd been a legionare for their Cohort for a few years now.


"He signed up for this though, and that's why I thought it would be a good idea to bring him. He was loyal, Lennie, to us and everyone back home. And we can remember him forever. Remember him how he was." Christian insisted. Lennie only gave a shaky nod, before she put her arms around Christian, and he returned the hug. "Always be strong, Lennie. You're still alive. Aticus would want us to keep going. And we will, for him."

-----

Lennie could see a bright flame ahead of her. It was her first time at War Games where she was calling shots instead of being depended on, but even for a rookie at this, she was intelligent enough to identify what a bright flame was in a war game against Cohort Four.

"It's one of the damn Prescotts." Lennie pointed towards the northern end of the field. "The Centurion, the middle, or the kid. You wanna get them, or should I?" She asked Corinne who as standing next to them. Their strategy for Capture the Tower was simple. They wanted to span as many people in ranged position as they could to dwindle any numbers the Fourth could send to the tower. That plan was becoming more and more difficult. Lennie was certain that none of the Prescotts would torch their people, but it was a hell of a way to flush people out.

Lennie wanted to win this one, and she wanted to win it bad. It felt like it was a test of her competence, if she was worthy of the boots she stood in. She looked to her partner, Corinne, with a fire burning in her eyes to go and get that kid out from their people's positions.

"Probably Roy." Corinne said stating firmly. It was weird, this was her first war games where Lennie was her partner and not her optio. Instead Lauren was her optio and now Denise Sinclair was also her Optio. It would be a real different dynamic this time and would definitely put them at a disadvantage until they worked out their team. For the most part it was always herself, Christian, Lennie, and Lauren and they had a good thing going even though Lennie and Lauren didn't always get along with each other.

"Lauren get the archers ready, you know what to do when I give you the signal." She called out to her Optio and looked over to Lennie, "I think this is a job for you Lennie. I trust you to get the job done. He's the most dangerous when it comes to fire powers as far as I have been able to tell in these war games. The Prescott girls could have hidden power we haven't seen yet for a secret weapon, so always be weary for that. Take Denise with you for training purposes."

It was a winter meeting, the last Centurion Meeting before Christmas that year. Christian felt a hit of joy, but also one of nervousness, at the thought of the night ahead of him. He'd be in the same house as the Sinclairs, Davenports, and Virgos, plus whatever other rich and influential people would be packed in the Virgo estate. But as long as Christian had Aspen, he knew he'd make it. She wouldn't leave him in any odd conversation.

He'd given Corinne a big hug and wished her a Merry Christmas. He'd see them all again in the morning, but for tonight it was time to meet up with Aspen, who he hoped with all of his heart was the one to answer the door when he left. He'd given Aspen a peck on the lips before he left, but they both had to change for this party anyway, and after Aspen left, only him and another centurion remained in the Senate House.

"You look anxious." Christian said, making absolute sure he used that word, which caught Cassia's attention that had been split. She looked up in what looked like a slight panic. "Are you going to be at the Virgo's party?" He asked.

Cassia looked up, instantly she was beginning o analyze the situation. She hated that he used the word 'anxious,' it was just too compromising. "What?" She asked, looking to him to repeat his words.

"I said you look anxious." Christian repeated, this time more gently, before he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small bottle. He placed it on the table and it caught Cassia's eyes, before she looked back to Christian. "Me too."

-----

Lennie was stuck with Denise for 'training purposes,' but Lennie was smart enough to know that roughly translated to 'keep her and Lauren separated purposes.' "C'mon, Denise." Lennie ushered her down from the tower, and the pair made their way out. They were meant to be recon, and take down one person before sneaking back. Lennie took it to heart that this could be done without causing too much damage to someone.

The pair snuck off, and Lennie was grateful that they weren't to speak, it meant she wouldn't have to talk to Denise. Tensions were high, especially because Denise wasn't taking any of Lauren's sass. The pair moved, keeping out of the sight of many. When they reached the peak, things were suddenly silent from above. Lennie gave a countdown to the Optio, and they stormed up on three, revealing something they hadn't expected.

Samuel Sinclair stood, with two beings next to him, and some 70 people, they had 7 hostages overall, and Denise looked shocked. She began to speak, but Lennie held out her hand to shush the girl. Lennie was getting tired of Being held captive, but she gave her wrists to be bound. She could see the boy that was bound, he could be their best chance when they found an opening.

"Everybody drop your arms and bring me a Centurion to talk to." Samuel loudly declared to the Fields of Mars.

Cassia had been leading the centurion games today for her cohort. She had been calling out different orders and walking through the tower to make sure they were secured at the different points of entry that could be taken. She heard the commotion up on the top floor and she began running up the stairs as fast as she could.

The girl was worried about what would be happening, it didn't sound typical of war games, and she had no idea what would happen. She came up the final steps when she made it to the top and saw the scene. It was Samuel. The guy who had taken a 'gap year' and disappeared except for to be back soon enough to take the Moon Chariot and them resulting in losing one of their centurions and legionnaires.

"What do you want Samuel?" She asked trying not to let her anger get the best of her in the situation, but it was fairly hard to keep it contained.

"Are you sure it's safe to be on the phone?" Christian asked Camilla. She was technically Lauren's mom, but when it came to moms, she was the closest Christian had to one.

"Of course, Christian. My strategy on the phone is to be an hour from home and on the move. What's wrong, sweetie?"

"It's Lauren's birthday soon- I mean, I know you know that, but, I'm having trouble tying the last piece together. Of her gift." Christian nervously explained.

"Well, how can I help you?"

"She used to talk about your book all the time, and how you'd changed some of the stories a little? So, when we were kids, she really liked the one where you lived in that little cave? I sto- well, took a vintage vinyl player from some bad people, I guess it belonged to Apollo once. But I just don't feel like it's perfect. I want to bring her to that place she's always talked about and have it there. My point is, I need a map."

"I can mail you one, it's no problem at all honey. But, you know what she'd really like-"

"Holy hell, Camilla." Christian interrupted, before hearing laughter erupt on the other side.

"I'm sorry, but you know it's true. Anyway, I gotta go, love you, be safe!"

"Love you too."

-----

"Cassia Prescott, Centurion of the Fourth Cohort." Samuel spoke, educating his colleagues in addition to addressing the figure that stood before him. The amazons stood on Samuel's right, which Lennie recognized, and was enraged by. Then there were others on his left, who looked less fierce, and two unique figures stood with him. Ones that made Lennie feel uneasy just by association and vibe.

"I want Katrina, for one." He replied, simply. "I want her healthy and in ropes, and if that's not going to cut it, I want the other one healthy and in ropes. You can decline this offer, our eight for your one, but we will get your praetor one way or another, and your brother will die right here, and more hearts in this forsaken place can be shattered." Samuel mused to the girl. He put his hands behind his back, taking a stance that made him look like this wasn't even serious to him.

"You're certainly not bringing me the Moon Chariot back, so I'll settle for this. It's all up to you, young Cassia." Samuel left on the table, waiting for a response from the girl.

Cassia looked at everyone who had been held hostage by Samuel and his goon squad. This was one of the worst outcomes and at this point she felt like she might have a full blown panic attack, but she tried to steady her breathing to keep it all under control. Her eyes finally landed on her younger brother and she was worried for him, she knew he was more than capable of handling things on his own, but it still didn't stop the worry and heart ache that she had seeing her younger brother over there.

"Ethan." Cassia called up and the boy emerged from the stairs, she leaned over and whispered in his ear to go get Katrina and as fast as possible. There was a lot of minutes that passed as everyone stood there. The daughter of Vulcan felt like she was playing a game of chess with Samuel Sinclair, every time it felt like they made they right move and they were about to create a checkmate on Samuel, he pulled a move no one had been expected and was about to capture the king. In this game of chess she felt like a mere pawn and not knowing how to proceed in this war.

It was several minutes before Ethan had come back with Katrina and once she walked into the room with handcuffs on, Ethan held her arm before releasing her. The Praetor held her head high in the moment and looked to Samuel Sinclair. "I heard I was wanted, Sinclair. I'm here now, I will be released when you release the others. We can make this a peaceful transaction."

Lennie rushed through the bush, the trees, looking down at every track she could identify. She held Xena's head by her long red hair, which still looked vibrant and lively despite the decapitation. She put trust in the Greeks to bring the Moon Chariot back where it needed to go, but she had done it for herself. She needed to find where Christian had died. She needed more revenge, because Xena just wasn't enough.

She saw the old stone staircase leading up a mountain and she knew that was it. She rushed up the stairs, she didn't take the time to scout or check ahead. She sprinted up, a small tinge of her believed that maybe he could be alive, and she'd get there just in time. Then she reached the top, and two amazons stood, some blood left on them, looking back at the demigod.

Lennie reacted instantly, her hatchet came from her belt in an instant, and was wedged in the head of the amazon on the right immediately. She didn't react, only fell down, and Lennie was smart enough to know that this was the second life she'd taken. Lennie glanced left just in time to duck the spear coming from her, before using Xena's head as a counter-weight, and throwing it flail-style into the amazon's head, who lost her footing and dropped her spear. Lennie let the head of Xena fall on the ground of the temple, before she drew the blood-stained pugio and engulfed it into the neck of the living amazon, who wasn't living for long.

Lennie looked back, to the massive pile of clothes and shoes behind the temple. They were gathered from all of the people that had been blood-let into the pit of this temple. Lennie then saw it, on the far right, the outfit and gear Christian had been carrying on the quest. 

Her heart stopped, as reality unfolded before her. The girl picked up the head, and dropped it down the pit of the temple for their god to find. Lennie recovered her hatchet and Christian's pugio before dragging both bodies to the pit, and bloodletting them into the pit before dropping their bodies in too. She looked back at the clothes. Hundreds of people must have been dropped in this pit. It left Lennie with a pit in her stomach. All she could do was take Christian's and leave.

-----

By the time that Ethan had come back with Katrina, dozens and dozens of Romans had taken battle positions around the. Samuel noted their numbers, they were outnumbered at least five to one. Even still Samuel didn't take any fear at the situation. Then, finally, their star lady had arrived to greet them. "Your gods are tired of you." Samuel replied with the irrelevant statement. "You who would be handed everything and take it for granted. You are the past, we are the future." Samuel lingered on the issue at hand.


"I'll give you half first, then you come, then we release the rest." Samuel offered. "It's either that, or I start with the boy, then the rest down the line. Your call, star Praetor." Samuel cooed in a sly tone. "My colleagues-" He began, referring to the man and woman on each of his sides. "They are strong. Stronger than anyone you've ever fought. You're coming with us whether no Romans die or 100 Romans die."

Katrina had never expected to be in a situation like this in her life. It wasn't completely common to happen, but she knew when she took the role on as Praetor that she would have to face some hard choices and ones that would impact her image in the legion on what kind of person she was going to be. This was one of those moments, she told the other praetor what Ethan had told her and instructed him to take care of the legion while she was dealing with these matters.

The choice was as hard as they came, and she knew that Samuel could be playing her, but half was better than none of them right? Then later they could send some search parties out to retrieve the rest.

"Alright, let half go and then Ethan will release me. If half aren't released you're going to have a fight on your hands to get me, and I wont make it easy for you."

Lennie raised her hand in the air, making a cue for the people behind her to hold. They had both entrances covered. It was the middle of the night, but Lennie hadn't spotted anyone on the guard towers. She waited for Lauren's signal from the other gate. She had two people on the gate on her side, and all they waited for was the whistle from Lauren. After a few long moments, the whistle came from a distance. Lennie gave a nod, and the two broke the hinges on the gate before pushing it in, leaving the gate as a formed blockade, laying on the floor. 


Lennie took point on her side and went forward, lights came on from several people behind her, and she saw them come from Lauren's gate as well. Several small teams dismounted and began going through buildings. Lennie gave Lauren a nod, as the two approached each other. There wasn't a sound from any of the buildings, only the gentle patter of Cohort Five's movements through the amazon's settlements.


The pair slowly walked forward, to a large pit in the ground with iron bars covering the top. Not a single soul was located inside. Lennie looked to Lauren, letting out a sigh. "They knew we'd come. Knew none of them would live if they were here still." She was disappointed. She wanted to kill as many of them as she could.

-----

Samuel had a grin on his face, as he left his hand. The girl on his right watched closely to the hostages. They let go four females, and were left with two males and two females. When the amazons gave Lennie and Denise a look, Lennie nodded to Denise to take the freedom while she could. Even though Denise was Samuel's sister, she didn't trust him to not hurt her. She was more worried about how Lauren would react to Denise listening.

The hostages were pushed forward, and Romans came forward, pulling them back behind their ranks. "That's half." Samuel declared. The woman to Samuel's right looked pleased with the hostages that had been let go. Lennie gave Roy a look, only giving subtle nod. "So what's it going to be now, Katrina?"

When half of the demigods were finally let go, Katrina was faced with another hard choice. She could either say 'fuck you' and fight him to try and win, but it was clear that as of present the only person that he had wanted was her and so she was going to have faith that Samuel would let the other half go if she gave herself up. She didn't want to involved more people in this if there didn't have to be, she gave a nod to Ethan even though her heart was pounding hard in her chest. The praetor had no idea what was going to come next for her, but she knew this was the right choice.

Ethan had begun to lead Katrina over to Samuel and he let her go finally and resumed his position back with the other campers.

"I'm over here now, so let my people go."

Lennie could see the effort coming from Crystal. She attacked the dummy in front of her with ferocity. She conserved no energy, which would be a problem in future training. But for an eight year old, she was doing serious damage.

"Letters of recommendation from Aspen and Julia Virgo, Corinne Giroux, Cassia Prescott, Rowan Davenport, and you." Katrina said, showing the stack of papers in her hand. "I'd say that's enough to make it to the first, I'd say. Wouldn't you?" Katrina gave a smile, but Lennie still found her focus laying on Crystal.

"Maybe." Lennie said, haphazardly, before turning back to Katrina to give her her full potential. "I was confused." Lennie admitted to her. "For some reason I thought that the higher we could get her, the happier she could be. I wasn't the only one. I thought it, Corinne thought it, Lauren thought it, and even you think it, Katrina." Lennie wasn't one to dodge her own battles, but it was strange for her to disagree with authority.

"Now I realize I was wrong." Lennie squared up to Katrina, who was giving a strange look back. "I let you and them get into my head. All of us have. Into thinking somehow status will matter, or would have mattered for us. That sticking a number on her that looks shiny and having her hang out with Liam Davenport and Blake Sinclair and the drunk would somehow be best for her. The envy for Cohort 1, 2, and 3? That ends today, for everyone. Christian never had it. Crystal is sticking with us. Where she can have a family, and not a stick up her ass."

-----

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Katrina." Samuel said, only after the girl on his right had possession of her. Lennie heard the words and let out a long and angry sigh. She was so tired of being prisoner. She wasn't going to do it anymore. She felt her arms being tugged, as Samuel's forces began to move backwards.

Lennie thanked the arm of the amazon holding her forward, and threw her own head back as hard as she could into the child of the amazon, which threw her off, hopefully knocking her out. Roy saw the opportunity and immediately pointed his hands behind him, unleasing a blast of fire at those directly behind him, which left a series of five or so horrid screams. Lennie quickly cut her bonds loose, grabbing the spear, she wedged it forward into the shoulder of an amazon holding one of the Romans.

"Of course it's not." Katrina said with a roll of her eyes, but there was nothing she could while being handcuffed, well not much. When she saw people start to fight, Katrina went for a kick in the groin for Samuel before she spun around and she lifted her arms up to smack him in the face, making sure the cuffs could dig in as hard as they could.

Katrina tried taking a few steps back to put some distance between her and Samuel. "If you let them all go now I will go peacefully and you will not get scorched."

The music was soft and quiet. Christian had been surrounded by all the people in the world that he hated. Every name worth knowing in New Rome was here tonight. Granted, in a suit, apparently Christian didn't stick out so bad. He'd gotten very few looks. Aspen hadn't left his side the entire night. When family she had to go greet came, she dragged him with her. She made sure to take care of him. He felt welcome.

Finally, the lights had dimmed for slow dancing between husbands and wives, which was entirely cliche, even for Julia, the mother of all cliches. Of course, Aspen had asked Christian to dance. It made him uncomfortable at first, but the gentleness that came from Aspen was unique. Their slow movement made Christian feel so calm, and looking into Aspen's eyes, Christian felt utterly in love.

"I really wish you wouldn't leave." Christian whispered to her. "We're not far from retirement, Aspen. We could have a future after this. Going on this quest could change that."

-----

Isadora was quick to retrieve the girl, grabbing a tight hold of her. She grabbed the wrist, and pulled, which gave a loud crack from her bones. "I could break every bone in your body without drawing a drop of blood." She whispered to the Praetor, before twisting the broken wrist and pulling her with them.

Samuel drew his blade, approaching the other boy held by the amazons, and stabbed it into the stomach of the boy, who went limp. He boy fell, who Roy watched die. Lennie approached, trying to free the other two while she still could, then suddenly a strong grip grabbed her. She could hear Denise's voice trying to usher her back, but Lennie fought back. It wasn't enough, however, before the woman threw her hand up and razor wire began spreading forward from her feet and Denise pulled Lennie back.

Roy tried to blast more fire, but suddenly the man from the side of Samuel showed up and blocked his path, and the fire hit the man without so much as a flinch. Roy bursted and bursted until he couldn't feel any energy anymore, and he felt himself lose consciousness as he failed to pace his powers.

Katrina screamed out in pain as she felt and heard her bones in her wrist break. It had been one of the few rare times that she had broken any bones, the only other time had been her brother Kyle's fault. She heard the whispers of the woman who had grabbed her and shivers ran down her spine. She wanted to set her on fire, but something told her that she would be in much more pain than she was now.

Cassia was standing there just watching all of it happen, she had been stunned and she didn't know what move to make. She wanted to save her brother, but she knew she was making the right call in staying there, especially after she had heard the bones crush in Katrina's arms. They weren't a force you wanted to fight not like this. Cassia could feel knots in her stomach and she felt the nerves rise up, she wanted to throw up all over the place, how would she even explain this to her mother?

"Aren't you scared?" Dimitri asked. They were just waiting for the cage to open at this point.

Christian could feel himself shake. "I've never been more terrified."

"Christian. Promise me you won't give up." The demigod urged him.

"I'm not exactly pumped up on energy." Christian was absolutely pale. He could hardly feel anything good in his entire being. He was sore everywhere now. He wanted to be high.

"Don't give up. Not 'till you've breathed your last breath." Dimitri forced, holding his hand out, which Christian took.


"Last breath." Christian promised. The entire cage heard the footsteps, and everything was solem silence. Dimitri mentally gripped the water from the well, before he continued.


"Christian. I mean it. Fight. No matter what. 'Till you are passed your last breath."

Christian let out a weak nod, and then the gate slammed open.


-----

The razor wire came quickly, and stopped only inches from Lennie's feet. Spears and orbs came flying their way after, as Samuel fled. Lennie felt rage at Samuel, and the woman with the nerve to break Katrina's wrist. She felt Denise's hand again before she snapped and pushed the girl back. "Report back to Corinne, do it now." She scolded, leaving a nearly devastated Denise. "Tell her I'm going. I have to." Lennie said, before rushing to Cassia, who looked like the horrifying events had still been sinking in.

"Cassia." Lennie called to her, stopping in front of her. "I'm going to go find Marina and tell her what happened. I need you to get people who want to go and see this thing through. We'll track them, find them, and end this. We're not going to lose another one." Lennie put had a hand on Cassia's shoulder, before turning to settle things before they left. She wasn't going to let this one slip through her fingers.

-----

Roy felt himself wake up again, this time was the first time it'd happened where there was no bag over his head, but his hands were still bound tightly. The room was dark, but he could see bright light up a stair well where there was a door cracked open. Roy was officially beginning to freak out.

The door opened, and footsteps came down towards him. Roy looked around for other people in the tiny room, but there was no one. Roy struggled against his chains but nothing was working, until finally, he looked up, and from the sun shining through the door gave him just enough light to suddenly connect the face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Roy angrily shouted.

The man stood there without speaking, before he began to work on Roy's chains. "Glory or surrender?" He asked.