I glanced behind me, checking to see if the dracenae were still behind us. Of course they were. There were two of them, the dracenae, I mean. They had been on our trail for what, two, maybe three days? That sounds about right. I hoped we found that place that Ryan told me about soon. My little sister Julia was only five. She needed a secure home. It was my job to find her one.
I understand you might be confused. Why am I, a sixteen-year-old girl on the run with her five-year-old sister and not-really-friend Ryan? Well, my honest answer is that our parents abandoned me and my sister. Even that isn't the whole truth though. Only our dad abandoned us. I have never met him in my life, not even when Julia was born. Then our mom passed away a few months ago. Ever since, monsters-like the dracenae-swarmed around our home is western California. After about three days, they took control of it. I tried to protect Julia as best I could, so it wasn't much help when Ryan, who I barely knew, showed up at my door. I recognized him from school, and knew that he had a bad limp and that he wasn't very popular. Neither was I, though. I guess that makes sense with my dyslexia and ADHD. If you have that, it basically means you're a freak. Anyway, when he arrived at my door I shouted at him to go away, worried about his safety. We weren't friends or anything, but I didn't want him getting hurt. He didn't leave. Instead, he calmly told me that he would, but Julia and I had to go with him. He promised a land of safety, and I decided to go pack my bags. Little did I know that he was a satyr, otherwise called faun from where he's from.
The dracenae neared closer as we came up to a highway in southern California. There were two tunnels with cars driving in and out, and right in between the two tunnels was a door. Two kids that looked about my age were guarding the gates, dressed in full Roman body armor. Purple plumes sprung from their helms, probably made to match their purple shirts that were underneath their gold breast plates.
"Ryan!" I shouted over the wind that tore through the valley. "Take Julia inside those gates! I'll fight them!" I motioned to the monsters that were licking their lips about fifty feet away from us.
"I'm not leaving you here to die, Juliet!" He shouted back. Yeah, my name is Juliet. My mom was a historian, and a Julius Caesar fan, so she named my sister and me after him.
"I can handle it! GO!" I screamed. The monsters were thirty feet away.
He gave me a long look, and my sister was holding my hand. Ryan sighed, and slung my sister over one shoulder, carrying her to the doors. She was laughing, and I was relieved that she thought of this whole journey as a game of tag between us and the dracenae. She was too young to know the truth.
Ryan had told me at around eight last night—when Julia was sleeping—that Julia and I are demigods. He said that we were on our way to a special camp called Camp Jupiter. He said that Julia and I had a special scent—which attracted the monsters—but we didn't smell Roman. He said that we smelled like Greeks, whatever that meant.
I raised my bow. It had been a gift from my father for my twelfth birthday. It was made of a special bronze, with a quiver that always replenished itself with whatever arrows I needed. I aimed for a dracena's neck, let go of the string and an arrow sprouted from her before she crumbled to dust and blew away in the wind. After I shot the other one, I ran for the gates.
Ryan had gotten inside. I think that the kids recognized him. They let me in too, and a boy led me through a weird tunnel thing. At the end of the tunnel, a valley opened up. There was everything: a river, an aqueduct, a city, and temples… even unicorns. Ha, maybe Julia had been right when she was convinced that they existed.
The boy helped me get across the river, which he called the Little Tiber. Once I was inside, Ryan and Julia ran over to me.
"Unicorns! I TOLD you they were real!" Julia said happily, skipping around in circles. I bear-hugged her.
"Julia, do you know where we are?" I asked.
"A place with Unicorns?" She asked.
"No. Well, yeah, that's right, but we're home."
"YAY!" I smiled as she hugged my legs. A girl with brown hair and brown eyes walked up to us.
"Ryan! I'm glad you're home. Could you please bring your friends to se Octavian? And bring them to see me when you're done."
"Sure thing, Reyna." Ryan replied. The girl trotted away on her horse.
As Ryan started walking towards a hill with temples scattered across it. Before I started walking after him, Julia held up her arms. I sighed and picked her up, and then I followed Ryan.
We were only a few yards away from the biggest temple when Julia asked, "Can I have Cocoa? I'm scared." I nodded and handed her her favorite stuffed bear. Ryan looked back once, and we followed him into the temple.
"Welcome to the temple of Jupiter," He said. We entered the temple, and below the statue of Jupiter there was a boy. He looked about two years older than me, and scattered around him were stuffed animal remains.
"I thought I heard someone come in." He said. "Hello. I am known as Octavian. I understand you're here for a reading. I'll take that." He said, taking my sister's teddy bear. He stabbed it with a gold knife and started ripping it to shreds.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. Julia started crying. "You can't just do that!"
"Actually, Juliet, he kind of can. That's how he does readings."
"That teddy bear was my mom's."
"Oh."
"Ah… This is an interesting reading. You are Greek… I don't like Greeks. But it also says we're related, so I guess that's okay. Children of the God of Prophecy all have something in common, don't they?"
"I'm nothing like you. I don't rip little kid's teddy bears to shreds." I said, turning on my heel and walking out. Julia gripped my hand, still crying. I knelt down next to her.
"Julia, I'm sorry about Cocoa. I'll get you a new one, I promise. And it'll be twice as fluffy."
"R-Really?" She asked.
"Yes."
The boy who helped me into the camp ran up to us. This time, he wasn't wearing armor. "Ryan, Reyna sent me to get you guys."
"Okay." Ryan said.
"Oh, hi! What's your name again?" The boy said, looking at me.
"I'm Juliet. This is Julia, my little sister." I laughed. "What's your name?"
"I'm Frank. C'mon. I'll show you to Reyna, and if she accepts you I'll show you around camp."
"That'd be cool, thanks." I said. He led us down the hill. We walked through this little town with shops and cohorts, and a bath house. Then we walked into this place called Principia. There were two metal dogs with ruby eyes, one dog made of silver and the other made of gold. They sat next to Reyna.
"Please, sit down." She said coldly, motioning to a chair across from her. There was only one, so I sat down while Julia played with the dogs.
"Put your weapon on the table." She said.
"Okay." I replied, setting my bow down next to a bowl of Jelly Bellies.
"I understand that you are Greek. I normally wouldn't approve of bringing a Greek into my camp, but since you are so new to being a demigod, I'll let it slide. As long as you don't cause trouble, that is. If you do, I'm afraid you'll be exiled, along with your sister." She said, glancing at Julia. Reyna smiled warmly.
"We'll be good."
"Very well. Frank, find Hazel so she can get…I'm sorry, your name is Juliet, correct?" She asked. I nodded.
"Frank, find Hazel so she can show Juliet and her sister to the baths. You may show them the rest of the camp."
"Yes, Ma'am." Frank said. Reyna didn't detect it, but he said it sarcastically. I held back a laugh.
Frank led us out of the Principia and over to Cohort Five. He told us to wait outside while he went to find Hazel.
When he came back, he was with a girl who had curly brown hair and golden eyes.
"Hi. You two need to get ready for later. You're probably going to get into Cohort Five. Not many Cohorts think it's helpful to have a five year old."
"I'm almost six!" Julia said.
"Cool!" Frank said, trying not to laugh.
I smiled. Hazel brought us to the bath house where we got cleaned up, and then Frank and Hazel brought us to New Rome. At the gates, a man with no hands asked to take my weapon. I let him. When we were inside, I saw so many people just living their lives. It was kind of amazing.
As we walked past a grocery store/market, I saw an old woman who looked vaguely familiar. Her gray hair was tied back in a bun, and her eyes were light blue. I knew her.
"Grandma?" I asked. "Is that you?"
The woman turned, and her eyebrows shot up. "Juliet? Julia? What on earth are you doing here?"
"Grandma! What are you doing here?" I exclaimed, as Julia ran up and hugged her legs. I walked over and hugged her too.
"I live here. I… Oh. You found out about your true family, didn't you?"
"Well, I know that our father is a god, but why are you here?"
"My great-grandfather was Mars, god of war. This makes him your great-great-great grandfather." I looked at her blue eyes. They looked sincere.
"So… We're Greek and Roman?" I asked. Grandma nodded.
"Wow." I said.
Our Grandmother showed us her house, and then it was time for Julia and I to go. Frank and Hazel led us out of New Rome, and back to the little town thing with the cohorts.
We were taken by these guard people, and Julia held my hand tight. Reyna trotted up on her coffee colored Pegasus, and we were led out in front of five groups of demigods. They were all ordered neatly, with the big strong kids in the first few groups, the kids that looked strong but not nearly as fit as the first two groups were in the third and fourth, and the outcasts in the fifth.
"Would anyone like to take in these two demigods?" Reyna asked doubtfully.
There was murmuring among the cohorts. I heard snippets about Julia, but nothing about me. Mostly they were saying that if they trained her well enough at this age, she could be amazing by the time she was twelve.
Hazel spoke up. "We'll take them!" She shouted. The rest of her cohort agreed. Reyna turned to me.
"Juliet, Julia, welcome to Cohort Five."