Camp Half-Blood, PJO World
March 2008
Once more they convene within the rec room, and though none of the head councilors have changed, the demigods are not the same as they were a week ago. They sit at attention, no feet on the ping pong table, no slouching, and there is barely any fidgeting; an impressive feat considering they are riddled with ADHD. Though considering the little trinkets in their hands that reminds Aemon of fidget spinners, he is not completely surprised. In addition, they all wear at least one dagger on their person, sheathed at their waists, thighs, or chests.
"It has been a week." Aemon tells them as he looks around the room. "And judging by your expressions I anticipate that you have exceeded my expectations. Come, let me hear what you have thought of." he says while sitting in his own plastic chair, Algrim and Malenia continuing to stand behind him.
As expected, the person who steps forth is Annabeth. Expected, but somewhat disappointing since Aemon privately wished for Percy to step up. Despite knowing that it is not within the boy's nature to take a position of leadership unless required of him, Aemon had hoped that his lessons for the past few moons may have changed that.
"Over the week you told us to take inspiration from ancient and modern times. So, that's what we did." says Annabeth. "For military ranks we chose to follow ancient Greece's example; it's simple and fits perfectly for us." she continues before looking towards Percy.
"Percy will be our Polemarchos, our supreme commander. The position will only be filled during times of war, and the leader has to be elected by the Strategos, our generals and the position under the Polemarchos. Right now our head counselors and Strategos are one and the same, but that won't always be the case. Under the Strategos are the Lokhagos, the captains, and the lowest rank." explains Annabeth.
It is an odd choice for them to leave the position of Polemarchos empty during times of peace, but it is not the first time it has happened. What is also interesting is the fact that they omitted two military ranks above Lokhagos; an interesting yet logical choice considering the fact that they do not have the numbers for those ranks.
"Very well. I trust that you have slotted everyone into their fitting roles?" asks Aemon, receiving a nod on return. "Good. Since you no doubt know your peers better than I, I shall not input my thoughts on the matter. Although I do have one question."
"Yes?" replies Annabeth.
"Why did you elect Percy as Polemarchos? He is the most powerful of you, would he not be best served fighting in the thick of the battle where he is needed most rather than having him worry over strategic and tactical matters?" asks Aemon, his eyes never even glancing at Percy even when a slight frown makes its way across his face after hearing the question.
"Isn't that why you've been training him?" asks Annabeth with a frown. "To lead the camp during the war?"
"Are you trying to say he's not good enough?" demands Clarisse as one of her hands finds its way to her dagger. "Say what you will about Prissy, but he knows war. His strategies might be unorthodox but they're good." she says while glaring at Aemon.
Silence falls around the room as Clarisse and Annabeth glare at Aemon.
"And what of the rest of you?" asks Aemon. "Are you as confident in Percy as these two? Would it not be better to have a child of Athena making your strategies?"
The response is unanimous as they all give their support to Percy, with some of them, like Beckendorf, joining Clarisse and Annabeth as they glare at Aemon.
"Good." says Aemon, shocking the room and causing Percy to curse under his breath.
"This was one of your tests wasn't it?" he asks.
"Aye." replies Aemon. "An army that does not trust in its leader is doomed to fail." Aemon tells them, releasing some of the tension in the room.
"However, while your peers have passed the test with flying colors, you have failed." Aemon tells Percy. "You should have never allowed me to question you in front of your subordinates even if you are sure of their loyalty. The outcome here was the best result that could come from such a situation. If there was even a shred of doubt in their minds I could have sowed seeds of discord, doubt, or even betrayal in the worst case scenario." Aemon says.
"Right, don't let the enemy bad mouth you in front of your subordinates." paraphrases Percy.
"Or let them but make sure that they pay severely for doing so." Aemon adds.
"Right." says Percy with a nod.
"Now, onto the next matter." says Aemon, causing the demigods to regard him with intense stares while the vigor with which they play with their trinkets increases. "An army functions on many components. Food, arms, armor, and discipline to name a few. For the next few moon turns I wish to place most of the focus on food, arms, and armor." he tells them.
"We already know how to make weapons and armor." says Beckendorf as he leans forward in his seat.
"True, however your designs are shit." replies Aemon. "Honestly, chestplate, bracers, and grieves over casual clothes. It is almost as if you all wish to die." he continues while ignoring Beckendorf's frown. "Unlike your ancient predecessors, you possess the knowledge of near every civilization that has ever walked this earth. Why constrain yourself to one design when you can take pieces from all of them to create what works best for you?" he asks.
"We don't have the resources to experiment." Beckendorf replies.
"Do not worry about the resources. As of this moment I am giving your camp unrestricted access to my personal mines. Gold, silver, iron, mithril, and even metal from meteors. Simply relay to Malenia what you require and it shall be provided to you." Aemon tells him.
"Wait, did you say mithril?" Beckendorf and Clarisse ask as one, causing all to look at the daughter of Ares with evident surprise.
"What? Those are good movies?" she says defensively.
Accepting her answer, the group returns to the topic at hand.
"Aye, I did say mithril. The same metal from The Lord of the Rings." Aemon confirms receiving cheers from around the table as a result.
Though Beckendorf is the least animated in his celebration, the fire in his eyes tells Aemon all that he needs to know.
"What about the food?" asks Miranda Gardiner, head counselor of Demeter's cabin.
Reaching into his inventory, Aemon brings out a bag filled with grain and flower seeds, both of which are from his purchased perk from the DCG Store, Food of the Divine. Of course he is not giving them the basket that constantly replenishes the grain from Valinor, nor the pouch that does the same with the flower seeds from the West. Rather he has given them a basket and pouchfull worth of grain and seed. It should be more than enough for them to make a self sustaining farm.
"The flower grown from the seeds produces a nectar which using a specific recipe can produce a liquid with healing properties on par with your nectar without the danger of burning you. As for the grain, should it be harvested and prepared by hand, the food it produces will be nourishing to both the body and spirit. The instructions for both are within the bag. Do with it as you will." Aemon says as he passes the bag to Miranda, the girl clinging to it as if it were her most precious treasure.
The reaction of the others is not much better than hers for they stare at Aemon as if he hung the stars in the sky.
Before any of them can fully recover from the shock of his gifts, Aemon abruptly stands from his seat. "Now, onto the third matter in today's agenda." he says while walking out of the rec room, the children almost stumbling into each other as they race to follow him.
He walks out of the Big House and into the monster infested with the demigods warily following behind him.
"Last week I brought attention to the fact that you do not possess a proper headquarters or war room. The Big House is an administrative building however it is near useless in times of war. As such I had this built to serve as your military headquarters." Aemon says as he leads them into a clearing in the woods where a two storied building made of marble can be seen in the middle.
"Woah." says Percy.
The building is of Greek architectural design. Over the doorway hangs a black flag that has the symbol of Olympus blazing in the middle in orange with the letters CHB at its center. Surrounding the symbol of Olympus is every Olympian god's personal symbol, Zeus' lightning bolt, Poseidon's trident, Athena's owl, etc… Even Hades and Hestia's symbols can be seen surrounding it.
Inside, on the ceiling, is a massive painting of Nike, goddess of victory, looking at all those within the building as if silently giving her blessing. Around the room are sculptures of the Olympians garbed in armor and wielding their weapons as if preparing for battle.
At the very center of the room is a rectangular marble table surrounded by throne-like chairs of the same size except for the one at the head which is slightly elevated. On the table is a sculpture of the Empire State Building the miles surrounding it.
Lastly, on the walls are shelves filled with books, scrolls, and parchments with signs on top denoting what they contain. One sign reads "Maps", another reads "Siege Warfare", another reads "Psychological Warfare", and many more.
"Welcome to your War Room." says Aemon as the group enters. "Familiarise yourselves with it for here is where much of the outcome of your war will be decided." he tells them.
"Where are these books from?" asks Annabeth as makes her way to a shelf that reads "Architecture in War"
"Much of these books are the accumulated knowledge of my ancestors from my mother's house. Others are the assembled experience and knowledge of mine own generals throughout their thousands of years. Algrim, for example, has contributed much to the shelf labeled "Discipline". And others are merely texts that were copied from the greatest libraries around this world, digital or otherwise. All things considered, before you is tens of thousands of years worth of knowledge on warfare and any other topic related to it such as blacksmithing, hunting, city development, etc… And all translated to ancient Greek for your little dyslexic minds to understand." explains Aemon with a grin on his face.
The silence that greets him is not one he expected, yet it is not unwelcomed either for he knows that this is the first anyone has ever gifted them with anything and it will take them time to process it.
Still, he is surprised that when the silence is broken it is not by any of the demigods, but rather by a goddess.
"It is a magnificent gift." says Athena as she appears next to Aemon, causing all the demigods to bow in greeting. "I did not think you capable of this." she comments.
"I made a promise did I not? To prepare them as much as possible for the war to come" replies Aemon "What they need is knowledge that is easy to access and resources to bring their ideas to fruition." he says.
"Chiron is one of the greatest teachers that has ever lived." says Athena.
"And Chiron specialises in training heroes. Men and women who accomplish great quests and impossible feats. Heroes do not win wars. Soldiers, warriors, healers, resources… do" retorts Aemon. "Besides, they have the only hero they need right there." he adds while pointing at Percy.
"You put too much trust in him." Athena says without even acknowledging his presence.
Before Aemon can come to his defense, Percy does it for himself. "He is right here." says Percy with a frown.
"Indeed." acknowledges Athena before she turns back to the building. "May the plots, plans, and strategies that you design here be worthy of Athena." says the goddess before leaving as quickly as she came.
Unseen by the demigods, the building gains a glow about it that permeates the air while surrounding and gently entering the body of the demigods.
With a slight smile on his lips Aemon too leaves the demigods to their devices as he adjourns the meeting and leaves the building.
"That was kind of you." says Aemon to specifically no one as he decides to delve deeper into the woods rather than returning to the camp.
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Middle Earth, The Lonely Mountain
This did not go remotely as he planned, Bilbo thinks to himself he tightly grips the ring around his finger and does his best to breathe as silently as possible even as his lungs burn and his heart feels as if it will soon beat hard enough to leap from his chest.
Nothing in this quest went as planned and not for the first time since he chose to follow Gandalf and his company of Dwarves he thinks on whether he shall survive this.
The dragon is awake, aware of his presence and Bilbo silently prays that the ring's magic shall be enough to hide him from it. And yet even as he prays Bilbo knows that it will not be enough, not if he wishes to survive this encounter whole and completely unroasted.
As his mind races with ideas the strange screen that calls itself the Dimensional Chat Group appears before his eyes.
[The Song of Ice and Fire: Shepard, are you available?]
The screen reads.
[The Song of Ice and Fire: Shepard, you have not answered my hails for sennights now. I know that you have not muted the chat, it would tell me had you done so. And I know that while time moves differently between all of our worlds it has been longer than days for you. If my calls continue to remain unanswered I will assume that you are in need of aid and appear at your location with Caraxes. I am sure a dragon will be enough to solve whatever problem you may have.]
The screen reads once more.
Upon reading the messages that appear before him an idea forms within Bilbo's mind and hope blooms in his chest.
If the messages from this Dimensional Chat Group are the truth then the "Song of Ice and Fire" possesses his own dragon, and if Bilbo's memories serve him correctly then this very same person has admitted to being a member of a family with a long history of dragon riding. This may be Bilbo's opportunity at survival. Some say fight fire with fire, why not fight a dragon with another dragon.
So engrossed in his thoughts is Bilbo that he barely notices when Smaug's eyes turn to his direction, and panicking without a second thought he sends out a message through the Dimensional Chat Group.
[The Hobbit: DRAGON! HELP!]
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Author's Note: Irl's still kicking my ass, but here's the latest chapter. Sorry that it's late. As usual, tell me what you guys think.