Camp Half-Blood, PJO World
March 2008
With a flash of light Aemon and his companions arrive at their destination, though Aemon did not expect for Percy to teleport them directly to the Big House; the main administrative building of Camp Half-Blood.
They appear on the deck, the location that Aemon remembers being where Dionysus and Chiron spend their time playing Pinochle. It is furnished with lawn chairs and tables like a vacation home, and wraps around the Big House's entire perimeter, giving an excellent view of the Long Island Sound and Camp Half-Blood's immense forest.
As Aemon expected, they find Chiron and Dionysus sitting at one of the tables playing Pinochle, their appearance barely phasing the god but succeeding in startling the centaur.
"Have you finally come to fulfill your end of the deal, Aaron?" asks Dionysus as he barely looks up from his game.
"Chiron. It is a pleasure to meet the legendary trainer of heroes." says Aemon with a nod and not even bothering to spare the god a glance.
His action causes those around him, save for Malenia and Algrim, to tense up.
Looking up from his game, Dionysus regards Aemon with narrowed eyes that threaten madness; yet still Aemon does even glance at him from the corner of his eye and continues to look at Chiron, awaiting his response.
"This is Dionysus." he finally says while gesturing to said god. "And, you must be Aemon, the commander of the fey that have been training my students. Your knight has done good work so far." says the centaur with a slight smile as he adjusts himself on his wheelchair.
"I will be the judge of that." replies Aemon as he narrows his eye at the compliment extended to Dairic and his Seelie Knights. "Before that however, I wish to speak to the cabin leaders. Would it be alright to make use of this house to hold such a council?" he asks
"Naturally." replies Chiron with a nod. "Percy will show you to the rec room while Annabeth summons them." he says while looking at the daughter of Athena who looks between Aemon and Dionysus before hesitantly nodding and jogging away.
By this point flames can be seen emanating from the god's eyes while his cards have long since been discarded.
Turning towards Dionysus Aemon regards him sneer as he says, "Whatever amusement you derive from mispronouncing the childrens' names, lose it when speaking to me. Just because I am currently in alliance with your pantheon does not mean that I am adverse to finding out if an Olympian can be sent to The Pit as easily as a cyclops can."
Rather than explode in rage Dionysus merely smiles back, though it is not a gentle or kind one but rather one filled with teeth and promising repercussions. "There is madness in you, boy. You should tread lightly around me." he tells Aemon, causing Malenia and Algrim to draw their sword..
"Aye, it is the dragon blood that flows through my veins. Would you like to see what a mad dragonkin is capable of?" questions Aemon with a grin as the memories of the worst acts of House Targaryen comes to his mind. Maegor, Aerion, and Aerys may have been mortals but the acts of violence that they committed in their moments of madness are bad enough to make even kings and criminals of the ancient world pale. Not to mention his Stark and Other ancestors, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster should Dionysus go through with his threat.
He would not survive the wrath of the other Olympians once they find out that their children were wiped out because Dionysus decided to turn Aemon mad. And that is not mentioning whether the god would even succeed doing so in the first place.
With a scoff Dionysus stands from his chair and enters the Big House, Algrim and Malenia slowly sheathing their swords as they see him leave..
Watching the god disappear within the building Aemon cannot help the light scoff that escapes from him. Aemon can tell that Dionysus' earlier action was not done as a challenge to Aemon himself or to be disrespectful, rather the god is displeased that it has taken moons for him to come to the camp and personally train the demigods despite his deal with the gods to prepare them for the coming war. While Aemon understands this, he is now a king in his own right and must carry himself as such. He cannot allow himself to be disrespected by anyone, especially not in the way that Dionysus has just done. Of course concessions and compromises can be made depending on the context or situation, however the matter of his name is not one of them.
"Show me the way to this rec room that Chiron speaks of." says Aemon, breaking the silence.
"Yea." mutters Percy as he reluctantly turns his wide eyes away from Aemon before leading the way.
The rec room is exactly as it sounds, a recreational room filled with board and card games with a ping pong table in the middle surrounded by nine plastic foldable chairs.
Seeing the room in which the campers hold important meetings, Aemon cannot help the look of disgust that briefly flashes across his face.
"This is a disappointment, my liege." says Algrim as he takes stock of the room. "To have this as their war room is a gross oversight, not something I would expect from the Greeks. When I knew them they placed much importance on appearances for formal and important events. I would never expect them to fall to such a state."
"You should see what form they take nowadays." replies Aemon. "Poseidon typically takes the form of a common fisherman now even during their solstice meetings." he adds.
"Surely you jest?" asks Algrim.
"Hey! What's wrong with that?" interrupts Percy.
"What do you remember of the trappings of power?" asks Aemon.
"What does that have to do with this?" replies Percy.
"Think on it and tell me, and until you have the answer you are not allowed to speak." Aemon tells him.
"Wh—?" Percy begins to argue, only to stop as Aemon turns his lone eyes towards him and raises an eyebrow.
With a frown Percy makes his way to one of the chairs around the ping pong table and sits. Meanwhile Aemon makes his way to the head of the table where he stands with his hands crossed behind his back, Algrim and Malenia standing behind him to his left and right respectively, Huginn perching on his left shoulder, and Ghost laying down at his feet. As he begins to await the arrival of the other demigods, Aemon wraps the Mist around him and his party as if it were a massive cloak, masking their presence from any who would enter.
Not long after they have taken their positions, the head counselors of the cabins make their way inside with Annabeth in the lead. Following her are Miranda Gardiner from Demeter's cabin, Clarisse La Rue from the Ares cabin, Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin, Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin, Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite Cabin, the Stoll twins from the Hermes cabin, and Castor and Pollux from Dionysus' cabin.
The demigods enter the room with no discipline, or awareness of their surroundings. Their voices are loud as a smattering of conversations is being held by different groups among them. Even as they take their seats, only Annabeth, Clarisse, and the Stoll twins begin to warily look around the room as if searching for danger or an intruder.
Turning towards Percy, Annabeth makes to asks him where Aemon has gone, only for him to dismiss the Mist and make his presence known.
"If I held malicious intentions, you would all be dead now." says Aemon, causing many of the demigods to shuffle awkwardly in their seats. "I understand that you are children and as such should not be burdened with matters of war. However, this is your reality and no matter how much you wish it were not so it will not change. As such, it would be best if you embraced it for what it is, faults and all." he tells him.
Throughout his speech many of the children had looked around with frowns on their faces, no doubt not liking what Aemon tells them at all. Especially Clarisse whose face is set into a scowl.
"And who the fuck are you to be saying this." she asks with a snarl.
"Dairic's commander." replies Aemon, causing many of their expressions to lighten.
Clarisse however is not satisfied and continues to scowl at him, though she remains seated and quiet.
"I have come here to officially begin your training, or rather take it to the next level. Before that however, some matters must be taken care of." Aemon tells them before turning to Percy. "Perseus, what are the 'trappings of power'?" he asks
Hearing his first name spoken in full by Aemon Percy straightens himself in his seat while his face becomes unreadable before answering.
"The trappings of power are basically the outward symbols or decorations that's associated with a position of power or authority. For example, the crown of a king or the sword of a knight." he explains.
"Good." says Aemon with a nod and a slight smile on his face before turning to the other demigods, their eyebrows raised and surprise and their jaws hanging open in shock.
"As a young lad, during my first time as a proper commander, someone told me this "It is never wise for a ruler to eschew the trappings of power, for power itself flows in no small measure from such trappings"" quotes Aemon before falling silent and letting the demigods digest his words.
Finally, after some time of letting them ponder his words, he asks "Does anyone understand the meaning of those words?"
"It means that someone in power or position of authority shouldn't shun the decorations or perks of that position because part of the power of that position comes from those perks and decorations." says Annabeth, causing Aemon to smile at her.
"Correct." says Aemon before elaborating. "A king who wears no crowns nor dresses like a king will never receive the same amount of respect or deference as one who wears the crown and dresses like a king. A commander who can be summoned by anyone that is not above his station will have a harder time than most in commanding the respect of his soldiers."
"What does that have to do with anything?" asks one of the Stoll twins.
"Look around you. What do you see?" replies Aemon.
"The rec room." replies the other twin immediately, causing some of his peers to chuckle.
"Aye the rec room. Yet also the room where you meet to discuss important matters, almost as if it is all a joke to you." says Aemon, killing any amusement that the children found in the Stoll twin's blunt joke.
"Are you saying that we're not taking this seriously?!" demands Clarisse as she violently stands from her seat, sending the chair flying behind her.
"Consciously, you are taking these matters as seriously as your minds can. Subconsciously however, the direness of your situation has yet to set in." Aemon tells them. "Two summers ago the boundary around your camp failed due to your enemy's actions, and yet you all sit here with nary a weapon in sight, not a sword, a spear, or even a dagger in case the fleece is stolen. An opening that leads directly to the center of your camp is theorised to exist and none of you wear armor in case your enemies find a way to said opening. I understand that you are children and as such should not be burdened with such dire matters however, Winter is Coming; nay, it is here and you are not prepared for it."
Silence falls around the room as the demigods digest his words. They take in their state of dress, their lack of weapons on their persons, the room they plan the war in, and Aemon sees it on their face the moment they realise that he is right.
Nodding to himself, Aemon is somewhat satisfied with the outcome of his words. This is his true purpose here, to prepare them psychologically for this war. In truth the demigods have no need for his or his people's training to survive the war, they can do it by themselves. However, the outcome would be one where they barely survive and Aemon has no interest in seeing that happen. He does not want them to merely survive, he wants them to win, to triumph, and to come out of the war with more bargaining chips against the gods. As such he assigns himself the duty to teach them what they are missing, the X factor so to speak; and in truth it is all psychological. They have the power, the strength, the intelligence, and ingenuity, but not the mindset, and he means to fix that.
"Fine, where do we start?" asks Annabeth after a brief discussion with her fellow demigods.
"We begin with clearly defined roles and positions. You must assign everyone roles based on their abilities and competence, who will be commanders, who will be healers, who will be in charge of intelligence, etc… Such roles must clearly be defined and adhered to. A healer cannot be on the battlefield unless they are a field-medic, a commander who cannot properly swing a sword must not lead the charge, etc… For now this meeting is adjourned, you have one week until the next meeting and in that time everyone must have a role to play regardless of age. If you have any questions during that time you can find me in the camp. Dismissed." says Aemon as he exits the room with his companions, leaving the demigods to their heated discussion.
"You speak with the wisdom of one much older than you." says a woman's voice as Aemon exits the Big House.
Turning around Aemon finds himself looking into the steely grey eyes of Athena.
"A wisdom that was learned through hardship." she continues as she steps into Aemon's personal space and gently caresses the area around the eyepatch.
"Athena." greets Aemon with a nod while removing her hand from his face.
"Your knowledge, it cannot be obtained merely by reading. One must either experience such matters themselves, or be in a situation where they can observe it." she says as they walk towards the woods.
"Matters of the mind have always come easily to me, especially pertaining to things like politics and warfare, something that I am sure has caused Lady Catelyn many sleepless nights." says Aemon, causing Athena to regard him with a raised eyebrow.
"Lady Catelyn?" she asks.
"The mother of my siblings, for you see I am a bastard. Born out of wedlock and raised in my family's fort with the education of a trueborn, much to the lady of the house's dismay." explains Aemon.
"I see." says Athena. "And the lady feared that you would usurp her children." she remarks.
"She need not have worry, for I was always loyal to Robb. Though had Eddard Stark not been such an exemplary father her scorn may have driven me to do just that." he tells her as they enter the forest.
"Ahhh, a self-fulfilling prophecy." says Athena.
"Aye, though I cannot blame her for it is a trap that even a goddess of wisdom has almost fallen for." he says as his piercing cold blue eye regard the goddess before him.
"You do not agree with my actions during the solstice." she notes, her eyes hardening while her voice gains an edge to it.
"It was a folly that I would expect from your father, not you." he remarks lightly as if he has not just criticized a goddess.
"Explain." Athena demands, her lips pursed into a hard line.
"Regardless of your belief or logic, you did not have the political clout for your suggestion to be voted into action. Let us ignore Poseidon for now and instead focus on the other Olympians. The twins, Apollo and Artemis, owed him a debt and would have always voted in opposition regardless of the veracity of your argument. Demeter is more often than not neutral in such matters, preferring to follow the majority and the same can be said for Hephaestus. Hermes has grown fond of Perseus and is hoping that through their friendship his son can be saved. Dionysus for as much as he acts otherwise does not hate Perseus and sees the potential in him. This leaves you with Hera, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hestia. Aphrodite would never vote for Perseus' death for the love that is blooming between him and your daughter is so great that songs will be sung of them centuries later."
At the mention of the growing relationship between her daughter and the son of Poseidon, Athena cannot help the scowl that grows on her face.
"Zeus, for as much as he dislikes Percy, would not vote for his death in fear of inciting Poseidon so close to the war, and Hera will not vote against Zeus in this. That leaves you with Ares who, as far as this situation is concerned, is not a vote that you would wish for. For he has a grudge against Perseus and his mere support damages your cause no matter how logical your words prove to be." Aemon explains.
"Like I said, it was folly that I expected of your father and an act that should have been beneath your intelligence." he finishes.
"I see." whispers Athena before falling silent.
"Even if the vote had been put to action it would have been a greater folly than suggesting it." Athena says after a moment. "His death may have turned his father against Olympus, and with Thalia joining the huntresses that would leave my eldest uncle's son as the child of prophecy."
"That is not an outcome you should want." Aemon says.
"No. My uncle below is unpredictable whereas the one in the sea is a known quantity." agrees Athena before turning. "You have given me much to think of. It seems that the years of peace have dulled my edge." she says.
"It was no burden. I enjoy such experiments of the mind." says Aemon with a shrug.
"I should hope so, your mind is as sharp as your sword. No doubt you are a fearful commander and politician." Athena remarks before disappearing in a flash of light.
For the rest of the week Aemon does naught but walk around Camp Half-Blood, answer any questions that the demigods may have, or spar with Athena; at least that is what they believe. They do not see the many conversations he holds with Algrim and Malenia, the sketches he draws of arms and armors for the demigods, nor the messages he commands Algrim to carry to the Unseelie Court.
Soon a week has passed and the day of Aemon's deadline to the demigods has arrived.
Author's Note: Here's the latest chapter. As usual, tell me what you guys think. If you want to support me or read ahead, you at my patreon: patreon.com/servantambrosius