Descendants of Olympus

Liam IV

Liam walked into Camp Jupiter without any issues. He entered the gates and then a blonde 16-year-old guard asked him, 'Name?'

'Uh… Liam Zhang?', Liam answered, 'I'm new in the legion, well I want to start my years of service.'

'Have you already visited the praetors?'

'Damn! I forgot it! Stupid me! Well anyways, I have to go! Bye!'

'See you soon! And good luck!', the guard responded.

Liam ran as fast as he could along the Via Praetoria, towards New Rome and stopped in front of the Senate House.

'I'd like to speak to the praetor. I want to join the legion.', Liam told the guard.

'Very well', the guard responded and talked on his walkie-talkie. Then out of the small machine, somebody said, Access Granted, and the door opened.
As Liam stepped into the Principia, he was jaw-dropping. The principia was impressive inside. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf. The floor was polished marble. The walls were draped in velvet, looking really majestic. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals - military symbols, Liam guessed. In the back corner, a stairwell led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. Liam wondered what was down there – torcher machines? A dungeon? New recruits who failed the interrogation? In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans, which seemed kind of out of place. Library. Two life-sized statues of greyhounds—one silver, one gold—flanked the table.
Then only he realized somebody was sitting behind the desk using a tablet computer, playing Candy Crush. Liam figured this was the praetor. Liam then cleared his throat and only then the praetor noticed him.

'What? Okay you're the new recruit?', said the praetor trying to pause the game. Then he looked up, 'Liam? Is that you? Yes, it is! Liam, my old friend, you decided to join the legion!'. Then Liam recognized him. The face did seem familiar to him. Santiago Ramirez-Arellano, son of Apollo and descendant of Bellona. Member of the fifth Cohort and praetor of the twelfth legion fulminata.
He had curly black hair, combed to the side and black eyes. He had a slightly tanned skin, being half Puerto-Rican. And half god. He wore a purple toga and gold armor. On his belt, he was wearing a typical roman spatha, made out of imperial gold.

'Eh… so how do I join the legion?', Liam asked

'Oh, it's very simple you just have to say - Ego, Liam Zhang, iurare fide et officio, ut in duodecimo legionem fulminate. It means – I, Liam Zhang, swear loyalty and allegiance to the twelfth legion fulminata'

'Okay...', Liam said clearing his throat, 'Ego, Liam Zhang, iurare fide et officio, ut in duodecimo legionem fulminate'.
Then Liam felt a surge of power go through his body. It was cooling his body down, equalizing the heat. Liam not only felt more energetic, he felt good. He felt invincible.

'Congratulations, Liam Zhang. You are now on probatio and a member of the third cohort', Santiago said with lots of enthusiasm in his voice.

'Thanks, Santiago. I really feel…good. It's good to see you, man.'

'That comes when joining the legion. It's a blessing from Mars Ultor. I guess you got even more of an advantage because you're a descendant of him.'

'Okay…so I can just go to the barracks and tell them I am new?'

'Yeah, something like that. Remember that you still have to prove yourself to become a full legionnaire.'

'Uh-uh. So, bye then. See you in the evening. Wargames is today, right?'

Santiago nodded his head. Before Liam could exit the principia, Santiago said, 'Liam. It's good to see you too.'

Liam was preparing for wargames. In his bag, he got 100 denarii he got from his parents to start his life in the legion. And then he put 90 denarii in his cabin locker and headed towards the Field of Mars 30 minutes early, where he planned to meet Miles, his barrack mate. He already met all of his barrack mates – Phil Yearning, legacy of Apollo (The best archer in the camp), Jake Copperfield, son of Bacchus and then there was Miles Dawson, son of Mars and a legacy of Hades. He was close to Liam because he was also 14 unlike his other cabin mates who were 17. He was on his way to the Field of Mars through the via praetoria. Liam could already see Miles standing in front of a marble statue.

'Hey Miles! Good to see you! Will you now show me the Field of Mars?', Liam said

'What? Oh, yeah I wanted to do that right', Miles replied. He was a skinny boy with pale skin, brown hair and yellow-brown eyes. He was wearing a red sweatshirt and denim shorts.

'But first let me tell you what this statue means.'

'Oh, okay', Liam replied. Liam took a glance at the statue. It was a boy, around seventeen years old, holding a roman spatha. He was wearing a Camp Jupiter t-shirt and a jeans. Then Liam looked closer at his face. He could see a small scar on his lip.

'This is Jason Grace. Former pontifex maximus of New Rome and twice saviour of Olympus'

Then only Liam recognized him. Jason Grace. The mighty Jason Grace of New Rome.

'I guess you know his story. Went into the Labyrinth with Apollo and et cetera. After your father finished his years in the legion, he was made pontifex maximus.'

'Yeah, I knew that. Pretty tragic, huh. My mother told me that Grace's girlfriend, Piper McLean also died, searching for Jason as it said in the new Great Prophecy.'

'Yeah. But the prophecy says a son of Jupiter. Can be any of Jupiter's children. Doesn't need to be Grace. Anyway, are you participating in the exchange?'

'The one where we go to Camp Half-Blood? Yeah. You?'

'Me too. I'm going to see my sister over there.'

Then their conversation ended, as they heard the Camp horn blowing, indicating that the war games are about to start

A/N - Hey Guys! I (roughly) revealed what happened to Piper but stay tuned for more detailed in the next Chapter! It will be late (next Friday) because I will be writing exams next week.

Edit (5/27/18): Hey! I am REALLY busy so the next one will be even more late (Next Monday, probably). So sorry!