Chapter Five

And Then There were Twelve

*Third Person Point of View*

Everything was in chaos.

The Romans scurried back and forth, some trying to put out fires that had started all over the fields of Mars, while others were defending against the waves upon waves of monsters. The Greeks were there too, having received an urgent distress call from their brothers and sisters in arms. Luckily, they had arrived quickly, as Hermes himself provided transport. The rest of the gods fought alongside their children, facing the generals of the opposing army who couldn't be identified from the hill the hunters resided on.

"Oh no!" Jessica cried as she ran up the hill. She had woken up from her short nap to the sounds of battle, and was immediately on her feet, ready to investigate.

Her outcry alerted the other hunters, who wake as well from where they had all passed out. They sprinted up the hill to stand at their mistress' side, only for their eyes to fall upon the battle.

"We've got to help them!" Thalia shouted, causing all of her fellow hunters to nod in approval. Just because they didn't like the campers didn't mean that they would let them die.

Artemis seemed unsure. "Are you all well-rested?" she asked. "I know that I forced you all to rush here so quickly. I won't send you into battle only to have you killed."

Thalia smiled at her half-sister. "Don't worry. The adrenaline should keep us alive. Besides, we have a guardian to protect us now, so it shouldn't be a problem. Don't you remember how he took on that army last time?"

The hunters all turned to their guardian expectantly. He merely shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. I'm not exactly sure, but while I was training, the Great One told us that only when a guardian is summoned－or if his or her charge was in great danger－would the guardian be blessed with such untold speed and strength. Without that, I can only fight as an average warrior with my training. I humbly say that I can best thousands of monsters myself, but even I cannot be in all places as once."

The hunters looked away, disappointed. "Wait! I have an idea!" Jessica exclaimed, and the other girls present could practically see a light bulb floating above her head.

"What is it Jessica?" Artemis asked the daughter of Athena.

"What if the other gods summoned their guardians? They only do it in times of great need, right? This seems like one of those times," she said, pointing towards the battle down below.

"A brilliant idea Jessica! I will inform the others of this plan. Meanwhile, I wish for you to partake in the battle, but if you feel too tired to fight, I order you to stay here where it's safe." Artemis then disappeared, reappearing in the rabble below to aid the other Olympians.

The guardian turned to his charge's prized pupils. He wanted so badly to protect them all, but he had a terrible feeling that at least one of them would die in this battle. Though he saw that they had such determination in their eyes, he also saw exhaustion. They wouldn't be safe if they fought in such a condition. They wouldn't be safe anyway, but their chance of death nearly doubled if they chose to fight in their current states.

"I will protect you all the best I can. Please stay close if you wish to fight. Those of you who are too young or too tired, stay here. That is an order. I do not wish for you to die here today," he said, then turning as well and marching down the slope into the throng of monsters,

He approached them from behind, as their attention was mostly focused on invading the camp in front of them. Taking a deep breath, the guardian rushed forwards with his enhanced speed, and carved a wide line in the monsters, parting them like the Red Sea.

The hunters followed behind him, cutting away at the monsters with their arrows as they ran down to defend the Romans and their camp.

***

As the battle raged on around them, the Olympian gods and goddesses fought to defend their children. Their opponents, the Titans, were nearly overpowering them. Hyperion, Oceanus, Koios, Iapetus, Kronos, and Krios were all there, but there was something different about them, Their eyes were glazed over and their fighting style was different than usual. It was almost as if they were... brainwashed.

It didn't matter though. The plain truth was that they were endangering the Roman demigods and their camp. The gods didn't know what the sudden attack meant for Olympus, but for the moment, they would have to focus on the battle.

Suddenly, as if by some miracle, Artemis appeared, letting loose a barrage of arrows, sending a whole squadron of monsters back to Tartarus.

"Olympians!" she called, "Summon your guardians! They will help us best this army!" She continued firing, taking down the monsters that flanked the Titans. The Olympians all paused in their battles for a split second, realizing that what she said was true. Why hadn't they thought of it?

Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, and Dionysus immediately performed the summoning ritual, while the others continued fighting. The summonings weren't as amazing as Artemis' summoning, as they weren't using it as a last resort, but suddenly－after a bright flash that stunned everyone around them－five hooded figures appeared. They all attacked at once, taking out half of the Titans present. They then went on to destroy many of the monsters in the army.

Soon though, after nearly half of the army had been demolished, the Initial Summoning Energy wore off, and the five guardians slowed to a normal pace. Six more guardians were suddenly summoned as well－this time by Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hades, Ares, Demeter, and Apollo.

With the aid of the new allies in play, the Olympians were able to finally put a stop to the Titans leading the army.

Once all the monster had been defeated, the Olympians stood in a semicircle in front of the campers. Standing at their sides were their guardians. All except Hera and Hestia had guardians.

"My lords and ladies, who are these strangers?" Reyna－the Praetor of the camp－asked.

"Romans, Greeks, these are the guardians of Olympus," Zeus announced to the ensemble of demigods that stood before him. "I'm sure you've all heard the tale. Well, it is not a myth. Like most other legends you've heard, this story is true."

"If it were true, then why didn't you summon guardians earlier when we needed them in the last two wars?" a demigods called out from the crowd, causing an uproar of angry shouts of agreement.

"Silence!" Zeus shouted over the indignant exclamations of the crowd. They all immediately fell silent.

Athena stepped forwards to explain. "We did not summon guardians before because until now, we were unaware of their existence. In the ancient times, during the period directly after we defeated the Titans for the first time, we did not have demigods to defend us. As a part of an ancient pact, an all-powerful and neutral being agreed to train warriors for us, so that if we needed them, they could defend us. Unfortunately, when Gaea awoke the first time, and tried to overthrow us by birthing the giants, every single guardian was killed. After that, since our companions had been slayed, we stopped summoning them, and eventually we forgot about the agreement, and history faded into legend."

The campers were fascinated by the truth of the story they'd all heard so many times in their lifetime. They loved the story, training and studying to become one of the fabled heroes.

Athena continued, "Only recently, Artemis' hunters entered a battle they could not win, and Artemis attempted to summon a guardian, surprisingly succeeding. I know that the Greek campers have met him during the hunters' stay at their camp. Now you know who he is, so you should now know not to aggravate the hunters, as he has sworn to protect them as well."

At that statement, the campers all nodded, as they had already seen what Artemis' guardian had done to the unlucky Ares camper that had approached the hunters.

It was silent for a moment, before the guardian of Zeus stepped forwards and turned to face the gods directly. "My lords and ladies, we have been waiting millennia to be summoned. We have all trained tirelessly and faithfully. Therefore, we wish to work without masks, as it is customary for a guardian to reveal themselves directly after being summoned." Her head tilted as she turned her gaze upon Artemis' guardian. "Though, there are some exceptions..." she added as an afterthought.

Zeus nodded, and the other gods shuffled awkwardly, having forgotten exactly how the guardianship deal worked. Artemis smiled in sympathy, as she had felt the same when she had first summoned her guardian.

"I shall go first," she said. "My name is Aikaterine, and I am the guardian of Zeus." She removed her hood and mask, revealing light blonde hair and fairly tanned skin. Her eyes shone bright blue, and she gave off a calm aura.

She first bowed to each of the gods, and then turned to face the campers－giving a salute－before returning to Zeus' side.

Next, Poseidon's guardian revealed herself. "I am Kleopatra, and I am the guardian of Poseidon." Her hair was blonde as well, but her skin was pale, unlike Aikaterine's. She had sharp features, like those of the Hermes cabin, and she gave a mischievous smile as she saluted the campers.

"I am Dareios, guardian of Demeter." His introduction was short, and he quickly flicked off his hood and mask, revealing dark brown hair, which was cropped short－army style. His face was stoic, and carried many scars, but if one looked close enough, they could see a kind nature hiding beneath his solomness.

"Hello, my name is Eulalia. I chose to be the guardian and companion of Ares." The guardian smiled as her light brown hair fell in delicate curls around her face. She has pristine cream-coloured skin and small, heart-shaped lips. Everything about her practically screamed "breakable". She gave a small wave to the campers, smiling brightly.

"Nereus, guardian of Athena." He carelessly revealed his black hair and sea green eyes, obviously a son of Poseidon. His features were sharp though, and he'd obviously gotten the rest of his looks from his mother, because his facial features made him look nothing like his father. Sharp intelligence gleamed in his eyes.

"My name is Lysandra. I'm the guardian of Apollo." This guardian had bright blonde hair－nearly golden－and her cloudy grey eyes caught the light in the most amazing way.

At that point, everyone turned expectantly towards Artemis' guardian, as they had been going in order by the thrones in the Olympian throne room. He merely shook his head. Instead, Artemis spoke up."My guardian wishes to remain anonymous for reasons unknown to me, but I will respect his wishes as he has respected mine."

Her answer did not spark any uproars, so the revelations continued, skipping over Artemis.

"I'm Korrina, pleased to meet you. I'm the guardian of Hephaestus." Korrina carefully removed her hood and her mask, revealing light brown hair with streaks of blonde. Her face had a gentle splash of freckles, which only accented her farmer's tan. She smiled, showing off pearly white teeth.

The next guardian, unlike the others, removed his coverings before speaking. "Hello, my name is Kallias, guardian of Aphrodite." He shook his hair out, letting the black locks flutter. His striking blue eyes flashed with lightning as they caught the light, showing that he was obviously a son of Zeus. A few campers swooned as he grinned.

"Yes, yes, Kallias thinks he's wonderful. Anyways, my name is Galene, and I'm the guardian of Hermes, the most fun god." Galene gave a mischievous grin, nodding her head. The movement caused her ginger waves of hair to sway. Her dark grey eyes－which were nearly black－held curiosity and the potential for causing havok, but also a controlled side, showing that she was able to reign herself in if things got too far.

"The name's Demetria, and I'm the guardian of Dionysus." Demetria just let her hood fall and turned in a full circle, saluting and returning to her place. Her shiny black hair whipping around as she did so.

"Um... hello. I guess I'm last." the shortest of the guardians stepped forwards from Hades' side. She pulled off her hood and mask, revealing a young face. She looked like she was about thirteen or fourteen years old. She was definitely younger－physically－than all of the other guardians. "My name is Berenike. I chose to be the guardian of Hades over three thousand five hundred years ago. I've been training hard ever since," she said. Her hair fell to cover her face as she spoke, the pale, white-blonde strands shining like morning frost. Her eyes were a pale grey colour, which made her irises almost appear to have merged with her sclera.

Once she had stepped back, it was silent again, until Alkaterine－Zeus' guardian－spoke up again. "Well, now that we've all been introduced, we should head back to Olympus. I fear that this battle is only just the beginning. We guardians must get to know our charges better so that we can administer our skills in battle properly. We all know the basics, but nothing is better than meeting someone face-to-face," she said, clapping her hands together.

Zeus nodded, suddenly snapped out of his trance-like state of mind as he desperately tried to remember the names and features of each of the guardians. "Oh, yes. Of course. That is very important. Let's go," he said, though his voice didn't have its usual confident tone.

With that said, he and his guardian vanished along with Hera, and soon, the rest of the Olympians had gone as well, leaving only the hunters and Artemis, the Romans, and the Greeks.

"Lady Diana, on behalf of Camp Jupiter, we'd like to invite you, your hunters, and your guardian to stay here while you recuperate," Reyna offered.

Artemis' form flickered for a second, but she smiled. "That is very generous. We will accept," she answered the maiden.

"Very good. We hope your stay here is a pleasant one." Reyna then turned to her comrades and sent them on their way. The Greeks were escorted to the extra bunkers－which were built especially for such an occasion.

Artemis turned to her hunters, "We will stay here until we are at full strength again. Please try not to sever any male limbs during our stay."

The hunters all smiled at their mistress. "No promises," Thalia joked.

***

Word Count: 2473

Average Words Per Chapter: 2003

Word Total: 10,014

Posted: Saturday, September 24th, 2016

Edited and Re-Posted: October 3rd, 2016

~CSP2708~

*Dylan_Walts*