Across The Ages (On Hold)

XIX

Achilles and Nico emerged from the labyrinth followed by a man that looked to be in his mid to late forties. They were astounded at the level of preparation the camp had taken already to prepare for the oncoming assault.

"Dad! They'll be here by morning. We found Daedalus and convinced him to come with us. Rachel made it out somewhere back in New York. And Luke has the string."

Perseus nodded. Most of that he had deduced just by simple clues. "Get back from the entrance. We need to finish setting up the final welcoming gifts we have for the enemy."

Achilles pushed Nico along as he moved towards the crew putting more traps and defenses into place. He took charge and started taking over one side of the entrance while Perseus fell into place on the other. To the campers, it seemed they knew what the other was thinking almost all the time.

They didn't know that the two had fought along side each other in countless battles and thought alike. They had little need for words. They spent the next four hours shoring up the defenses of the entrance.

"Alright. We don't know when they will show, so no one leaves. Sit down, lean against your partner and rest. Remember, we've been training you for this. This is but the first battle in the war. I have no doubt that it will be a tough one, but fear not. No matter what happens on this battlefield, you are warriors, and warriors will never die. They will be told in legends that pass on to the next generation. It matters not if I fall, Achilles falls, anyone falls. Every one of you can pick up the mantle that he and I have now as Legendary Heroes. You can be as good as we are. All you have to do is keep pushing through. Fight; fight life, fight death, fight the enemy, fight anything that stands in your way of achieving your goals. Only then will you achieve what we have. People die, but legends always live on in others hearts. 'Legends Never Die,' as the mortals say."

The demigods looked up at Perseus with wide eyes. Suddenly a deafening cheer broke from them at his inspiring words. They quickly took his offer to rest, because he had not been wrong yet.

Perseus glanced back nervously at the rock formation. Even with his speech, there was no doubt that they'd lose some campers this time around, and any more times the two sides clashed from here on out. This was war, and he was sure they were on the same side that Troy had been the last time.

Only difference was, he had no intentions of following Troy into oblivion. Even if it meant sacrificing himself in the end, he would not let this world or his kids meet the same fate. He'd lived a long enough life. It was time his kids finally got to do the same. He turned to Achilles.

"Don't. Even you are not that foolish. This is only the first battle and I will not allow you to run off and be stupid. I came out of hiding at your request. I am your shield-brother, and as such, I will not allow such a foolhardy idea to pass."

"I didn't even say anything yet," Perseus replied.

"You don't have to say anything. I know that look on your face. The same look you had when I refused to help Agammemnon after he slighted me. You lost no ground that day, but gained nothing by going out to fight Hector's forces with nothing but your troops at your back."

"I have to do something. At the rate the enemy is growing, we could not hope to protect New York with these few troops. And even I have a hard time saying troops. They are whelps playing at soldiering. I'd sooner have a monkey with a stick at my back than some of these kids. I have a better chance of doing damage by taking the fight to them than letting them bring the fight to us," Perseus whispered furiously.

"But let them come you must. Otherwise we will never know what these kids are capable of. You convinced me that we had to train them. Now, here I am convincing you that you must trust that training. No, it's not going to be perfect. We had little time, but they are ten times more prepared now than they were before. Calm yourself and think clearly.

"Besides, once the enemy has made it through the traps, we will act as the foreguard and take the brunt of them. Then the Ares kids, and the rest will do the clean up. We have plenty of archers and even, surprisingly, the Hunters are here. Maybe you'll even get an apology. She's been watching you desperately hard since that day you went off on her."

Perseus looked at him just a bit confused as to whom he was referring to, since he had gone off on a very large number of people and saying the gender hardly narrowed that number down, but Achilles eyes just narrowed as the ground rumbled beneath them.

An impersseptible head nod brought Pereus into the here-and-now and he and Achilles walked out in front of their new "Mymridons."