Solace [Plot]

Tiberius stood and waited, his hands folded. The wonder that was Temple Hill surrounded him, barren. For the moment, it was barren because all of the Cohort's were busy with either drill or war games. The timing was right, and yet, this place was empty far too often. He remembered the stories his dad told, when Temple Hill always had enormous foot traffic. Now, only so many demigods came to pay homage to their parents. Ungrateful, is what it was. It saddened Tiberius, to know that his people had lost so much touch with the traditions that their parents, and all ancestors before, carried.

This trip wasn't to pay his respects, not right now. The Senate House was just too busy, so much was going on right now in House affairs. Not to mention, it was more natural to call Corinne to a place closer to Camp for something so urgent. Alexander had held his end of the bargain up, and now it was Tiberius's turn to deliver. He kept his eyes on the pathway up, his armor gleamed in the early moon's light. He was proud to have it, but it simply wasn't enough.

Soon, he assured himself. They were close.

Corinne had been busy for most of the day. Recently she had been running cohort five with the one of the optio's as Lennie was still in a coma to her knowledge and Christian had been busy with quite a few things. She had been running the morning drills until the afternoon. From there she got a small break to eat something and make sure the barracks were clean and tidy. In late afternoon she ended up devising a plan for the war games that her cohort would be taking part in later.

She did know she had other things going on during that time. She had to do some paperwork for the senate and she also was going to take some time to visit Lennie. Corinne felt that Lennie would have done the same for her if it were her in the hospital bed. The daughter of Chione however on her way to go see Lennie was notified that Tiberius one of the praetors wanted to see her and to meet him at temple hill.

It was much later in the day now. The sun had already gone down and the moon was just rising. After good fifteen minutes she had made it to temple hill. A place she had seen some demigods go a few times to give offerings to their parents. Something she had seen some of the more respected families to do. Not nearly as many as there used to be when she in camp prior to now.

"You wanted to speak to me?" She asked in a calm matter. Curious as to what Tiberius wanted to speak to her about. Maybe she did some paperwork wrong, maybe he wanted her to promote a new optio in case Lennie didn't make it. Corinne wasn't entirely too sure, but in minutes she was sure she was going to find out.

"Corinne. It's so nice to see you." Tiberius greeted. He had a high opinion of the girl, which wasn't entirely surprising, given her story. He kept his tone in check, he realized that what he was going to tell her wasn't the easiest thing in the world for her to process. Tiberius and Rosalind had always trained their Centurions to last, and tragic or not, Corinne would beat this. Any of their Centurions would. They didn't make units who needed to be carried, Tiberius was sure of that. "Sometimes when you're a leader, Corinne, bad things happen that effect you more than they effect everyone else." He started. There was no good way to break the ice on this.

"This morning, a senator involved in the interrogation of Stephen Cordell went in to check on him. When he entered the holding cell, the man was found dead, a brutal scene involved. He was killed by force, there were signs of a struggle, and ultimately, hack marks in his head. From a hatchet." Tiberius gave Corinne a moment, just to process what was happening, before continuing. "We must have done all of the tests a dozen times over. The evidence is clear. Fingerprints left at the scene were Christian's, and the marks from the attack match Lennie's axe, which Christian has held onto. His bunk has been looted, and we have seen no signs from him at camp. I'm sorry, Corinne." He finished. There was more to discuss, but he needed her to fully grasp this first.

Tiberius greet her, and out of respect she had done the same to him. She hadn't spoken to Tiberius a whole lot, but she had a few run ins with him. Mostly just talking about business matters. Rosalind the other praetor was someone she had spoken a little more to than Tiberius, but her and Rosalind where from the same cohort. Corinne had taken over her place when she got promoted to praetor. However, the way Tiberius was starting off didn't sit well with the daughter of Chione.

As he continued to speak, Corinne didn't speak a word and didn't let an ounce of emotion show on her face. It was a lot to take in. A lot of facts being thrown at her, at lot of words. It didn't feel real. None of it felt real or made sense. How could this be? Rinne was in disbelief, but grief was internally wrecking her. It was slowly seeping in like a poison. It left a bad feeling in her gut, but what was she supposed to do? Question a praetor? that wasn't likely. That was a very disrespectful thing to do. Especially to question a man and his intelligence.

What was she supposed to say? What did you say, when someone you considered to be your friend, maybe even starting to be your best friend was being convicted of a murder and was gone? What was she supposed to do? It felt like after getting over the shock of everything and finally feeling like she fit in and had people important in her life again that they were ripped from her.

Lennie was in a coma. Christian was now gone. Rinne could feel the emotions well up inside her. She felt like she could burst into tears at any moment, but she refused to show any signs of weakness in this time.

"So, I need a new fellow centurion then. Is what you're saying, and a new optio?" She asked looking Tiberius in the eyes. Corinne couldn't believe this man. Not a single word he said. Christian wasn't a murderer, and Rinne knew it. She refused to believe it. She wanted to see the body for herself, she wanted to some how find Lennie's hatchet untouched prove Tiberius he was wrong, but she didn't have that kind of authority. Roz did though.

"Yeah, I guess you will." Tiberius replied to her, his tone wasn't as matter of fact as hers was. "I'd have recommended Lennie, but you and I both know she isn't exactly available." He stated. Cohort Five wasn't exactly Tiberius's pick for people he'd trust, with possibly Corinne as an exception. The campers there were simply too loose in their judgement. While Corinne and Christian had done a better job than he ever could have given them credit for, he still wasn't swimming in a pile of answers for the girl. "I didn't bring you up here to get an answer for your new partner, I didn't even bring you up here to ask you to think about it." He told her.

"Right now, only a handful of people know. It's locked down, tight. No Davenports, Virgos, Precotts. I know it, Roz knows it, and those involved in the investigation know it. Now you know it." Tiberius made the point clear that this was sensitive information. "Obviously with a Centurion just missing in action, keeping this quiet is impossible. I could make a statement, or Roz, but it's been a while since she's been a member of your Cohort. I think you should be the one to tell your people what happened."

Tiberius' response was a bit lacking compared to what Corinne thought it was going to be. She figured she would be making the call to promote and Optio. However her first choice wasn't really able to be in a centurion position at the moment. If anything she was going to have to fill Lennie's place with another legionnaire in the fifth. Corinne had many thoughts run through her mind. She ahd been able to run the cohort and sustain on her own, but it was a lot of work, and with the sudden news of Christian leaving? She was going to have to promote someone soon.

When he finally said what he brought her up here to say, she felt like rolling her eyes, but she knew it'd be disrespectful. Of course. She has to break the news, she knew she could do it, but you'd think with such information it'd be the job of the praetors. Then again Corinne knew that her cohort needed to know what was going on. Rinne didn't like the feeling she was getting though. She didn't feel like confirming anything to her cohort about what happened when she didn't entirely believe it.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful to the abundance of work you guys have put into this, but I feel like in order for me to deliver this news to my cohort and have them believe me, I need to believe it. I would like to see the body if that would be okay." Corinne asked. She hoped she wasn't stepping on toes, but she needed to know.

"We're Roman, Corinne. You know what we do to the dead." Tiberius said, he kept his tone in neutral check. He had to admit, it did tick him, how many people had chosen alternative means to give their loved ones funerals. Even with that percentage being so small, it angered him. Romans burned their dead, and sent them off to Pluto with the best of luck. It was a core principle even the Greeks understood. "We already gave him his denari. We already passed him over to the Underworld." Tiberius said, and to his pleasure, he actually wasn't lying. They had organized a burning for Stephen Cordell, but kept it low. At least for now.

"I can show you the forensic data. We have pictures. It isn't exactly the easiest thing to look at." Tiberius finished his sentience. "Do you need anything? Roz and I can watch Cohort Five, if you don't feel you're up to it." He made the offer, but he only made it as a test. A Centurion should be stronger than to let this break them.

Corinne could feel a bit of anger boil inside of her. Of course she knew what they did to the dead. What they did to did Romans. Was Stephen Cordell even Roman? Why did they make the call on how he was sent off? Rinne had been in the legion before, she knew the ideals, but she also knew people out there had different ones. Wouldn't it be something his family should decide? Corinne wasn't stupid.

She was angered that they already burned the body and didn't say anything about it. Sure they wanted to keep this on the down low, but did that make enough excuse to burn a body in practical secret? The daughter of Chione never felt such an anger swell up inside her before. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"I want to see the forensic data. I don't need anything else from you. I'm good. But thank you for the offer." She said said in a polite manner, even though it took everything she had not to snap or say something she wasn't supposed to.

Tiberius could tell something was up. He couldn't tell what; Corinne was locked up tighter than a bank vault. "I'll have it to you before light's out." Tiberius simply replied to her. With the right doctors in the right places, it was easy to get everything he'd need verified. Alexander had put on a good act, enough that the pictures were convincing. Then, on the medical side, he had plenty of people who could forge the documents he'd need. Even still, he was painfully aware of Corinne in front of him. Asking for proof wasn't a simply 'just to be sure' suggestion. It meant she didn't trust her praetors. It was a shame.

"Some food for thought, Corinne. People can only take the news as well as their leader gives it to them." He said to her, turning back to Camp Jupiter. It was going to be a busier night than usual. "You'd do well to remember that you aren't the only person in the legion who lost someone because of this."