Atlantia's Beginning

Chapter 24: The New Praetors are elected.

I drummed my fingers nervously on the chair I was sitting in. Owen and Leila had immediately called an emergency meeting the following morning with the senators of the camp. These were the centurions of the cohorts so of course Octavian and Reyna were here. The Roman meeting room was of course way different then the ping-pong table meeting room that Camp Half- Blood had. It resembled that of a lecture hall with rows of seats behind a semi-circle of chairs, which was where I was sitting, that were in front of a dais with two podiums. Owen and Leila stood behind the podiums while the centurions took the other seats in the front row. Retired demigods and ghosts of those who had died filled the seats behind the semi-circle.

"I have called this emergency meeting," Owen began looking at the gathered demigods, "because of a statement from Atlantia, the daughter of all the Romans gods. She has said that something bad was going to happen after an episode of her not being responsive and her eyes glowing a blue color. Now we haven't had a chance to get to know her that well but I trust she wouldn't mislead us." Leila turned to me.

"Atlantia, would you mind telling us what you saw and how you saw it?" I nod standing up.

"As Apollo is one of my fathers, I was born with the power to see the future. This can normally be seen when my eyes glow the blue color you saw before." I begin, "Unfortunately, sometimes that power can take over me showing me visions I wasn't aware of or chose to ignore due to the horror in them. Are you aware of the monsters beginning to join ranks?"

"Yes, we have heard that the monsters that we have encountered recently have said that a leader is rising." Owen confirmed. "What do you know of it?"

"I know that in about two years, you will have a battle that will determine whether or not the Roman gods and goddesses will still be here and if we will be still here." I say. "Now I can't say much since Apollo will have my ass if I share too much but I would recommend if you are going to be switching leadership, I would do it now."

"How can we know you are telling the truth?" Octavian said standing up, "You are saying that we will be attacked but you can't tell us who or when."

I turn to him, "I can't because if I do, worse things will happen. Apollo has already threatened me if I told information about certain events that I will be killed. So, yeah, I won't tell you but you are going to have to trust me. I am telling you that you need to begin to prepare now! If you wait or don't change the leadership in time, if you wish to change it, then the world will not be the same."

Owen looked at me carefully, "I'm going to ask this but I'm not sure if you can answer this...Is it better for Leila and I to stay in the praeter position? Or would it be better for us to step down and allow for our successors to take the role?"

"From what I see," I begin, "It may be better for you to step down. I can see that either path will lead to success but one has less deaths."

Leila and Owen exchange a look before Leila speaks, "Then we will step down sooner then originally planned. We will host the election tonight at roll call. Any objections?" Silence rang through the hall. "Well, if there is no objections, then this meeting is over." Everyone moved to leave but I stayed in my seat feeling uneasy about my talk with Kronos. I knew cordelia was dangerous to me but I guess I never knew it was that dangerous. How could a little herb have the power to change who I fight for?

"Hey, Atlantia," Reyna calls breaking me out of my thoughts. She looked concerned, "You coming?"

"You go ahead," I say smiling weakly at her, "I need a minute." She nods before walking out of the hall not before tossing me one more worried look. Once she's gone, I drop the facade. I wanted to talk to someone about what happened so I decided to Iris message Chiron. Maybe he could help me feel better. I dig in my pockets for a golden drachma before summoning a rainbow. Figuring I shouldn't allow for this to be seen by the Romans, I put a barrier around the entrances before tossing the coin into the rainbow and whispering the phrase. Immediately the coin disappears and Chiron appears. I see he is not alone. He is with Percy and Annabeth. Figuring it would be a while before Percy and Annabeth left, I decided to just call out to them.