III

Nick Calliope

I walked into the barracks for the Fifth. I went over to my bunk and took a picture off the wall. It was me when I was seven. I was caught mid-laugh, holding hands with my mom. It was embarrassing, but it was my favorite photo.

I sat on the bunk. "Mom, what am I going to do?"

"Well, you should figure it out," I jumped. Jason walked in the room. He had changed from his toga into the usual shirt and jeans. "The prophecy's talking about you, you know."

"Not necessarily," I stood up. "You're a son of Jupiter too."

Jason grinned. "Nah, I'm not going. I've got to stay. There's a problem we have to solve."

"What is it?"

He grimaced. "Well, there's an army coming. It's being led by…Arachne."

I gulped. "No."

"Yes," Jason nodded. "Keep it a secret. Tell no one. Understood?"

"Sure," I agreed.

"Thanks," He walked out. "By the way, you're late to training, but I'll cover for you. You need a minute."

I decided that training was good for me. "Yes, it would,"

I whipped around. A ghostly Lar was floating in front of me. "Hey, Augustus."

"You do realize that your mother was a member of the legion, right?" Augustus was a young man who had died fighting in the Punic wars.

This statement shocked me. Mom was in the Twelfth? That meant that she was descended from a god.

"Have you ever seen your mother in a short-sleeved shirt?" Augustus asked. I shook my head. Even in the summer, she wore long sleeves. "It's to hide her tattoo. Now, she was a fighter."

"Tell me more later," I ran to training.

My sparring partner, Terra Lynn, was creaming me, mainly because I was thinking about my mom, and not sword training.

After that was congregating Latin verbs. I whizzed through without blinking an eye. After that was digging ditches…I could go on.

Then it was muster. The horns blew, and I ran to my place. I was the next-to-last of the Fifth to get there. The last was Erin.

"Nicholas Calliope."

"Present."

"Erin Rye."

"Present."

Reyna stepped forward. Diana grimaced in nervousness. "Fellow legionnaires, this is Diana Silvers. She has proven herself a daughter of Trivia by defeating a dracanae with a spell. Octavian, is she worthy?"

Octavian stood tall. "I have read the entrails!" He made it sound like he had killed Hannibal instead of a Beanie Baby. "She is worthy of the Twelfth."

"Good." Jason turned to the cohorts. "Who will stand for her?" Several hands shot up in each cohort, including myself and Erin. Jason raised his eyebrows. "Diana, choose."

She pursed her lips in thought. "First through Fifth, right?" Reyna nodded.

Samuel from First shouted, "First is best, Fifth is worst."

I shouted, "Watch your mouth, Sam, or you'll need an iron lung!"

Diana grinned. "I choose the Fifth."

"Does the cohort approve?"

Everyone in the Fifth pounded their shield on the ground. Dakota shouted, "My cohort approves! Welcome to the Fifth, Diana."

Jason smiled as he handed Diana her probatio tablet. "All right, then. Death-ball is tonight. Senatus Populusque Romanus!"

The rest of the legion repeated the cry. We marched to the dining pavilion. Well, marched isn't adequate. We all ran up to the pavilion like hooligans.

We dined on couches. The Fifth sat next to the kitchen. The invisible aurae, wind nymphs, served us whatever you wanted. I mentally ordered a cheeseburger and a Coke. An aura plunked my food in front of me.

Erin, Diana, Frank, Hazel, and Dakota all sat at our table. Hazel ordered shrimp gumbo. Diana had a steak and a glass of apple juice. "So, welcome to the Fifth," Hazel smiled.

"Thanks," Diana grinned. Everyone liked Hazel. "We're not very popular, I take it."

Dakota burped, his teeth stained permanently pink. "Welcome to Diana, Fifth. Fifth, Diana, Who cares?" Suddenly, he shook all over, like he was having a seizure.

Frank grimaced. "Red Kool-Aid. Don't ask."

Diana scooted away from Dakota, who was banging his goblet on the table, singing some kind of drinking song. "I won't. Now, can someone tell me why he's allowed to have that stuff?"

Erin laughed. "Well, if you take it away, he'll go into withdrawal. If you don't like him like this, you don't want to see him in withdrawal."

I shuddered. "Anyway, death-ball is tonight. You ready?"

"What's death-ball?"

Hazel grinned. "Imagine paintball with acid and fire."

Diana got a strange light in her gold-flecked eyes. She held up a hand like she was holding a ball. She muttered, "Acidum," A floating glob of clear liquid suddenly appeared, floating over her hand. She took a piece of my cheeseburger and dropped into the liquid. It started fizzing, and the cheese dissolved. "Like that?"

Frank's jaw dropped. "Wow. Diana, it took a month for Janet to master that. It normally takes something like years."

"This coming from the guy who can turn into an elephant," I scoffed.

Diana closed her hand into a fist, and the liquid disappeared. "Am I some type of magician?"

Hazel's golden eyes softened in pity. "I guess. It's a hard path."

"I gathered," She brushed her brown hair behind her ear. "I just…I never wanted to have anything to do with Rome. My dad kind of forced Rome on me. I had to train with swords, spears…I thought that when I grew up, I could just forget it all. Now I'm a demigod. Rome will always be a part of me, whether I liked it or not."

Suddenly, someone put their hand on my shoulder. I whirled to come face-to-face with Octavian. "Diana, Nicholas, would you come to the praetor's table?"

We all stood up and followed Octavian to Reyna and Jason's table. Their faces were grim. "Diana, there is a very important matter we'd like to discuss with you," Jason's face was stony and hard. "You two are excused from death-ball tonight."

Suddenly, Diana's eyes turned pure gold. I mean she looked like someone had popped her eyes out of her head and put gold marbles in their place. She rasped,

"Amissis domum pueri in ignem,

Vicesima legio est patrem tergo,

Ut quis coelo viam

Ne omnes deperit araneae ira

Proelium optime nec inmemoratus videret mortem,

Heros ad moriendum exstinguo frigore

Pretium tritici, et est vinculum,

Ne ista sit cassus."

Then she slumped forward. My lightning reflexes responded, catching her and lightly patting her arm, trying to wake her up. She gasped, and her eyes turned back to their goldish brown color. "What-what happened?"

Reyna and Jason exchanged glances, and I swear Jason was thinking, I told you so. Then Reyna got up from the table.

Jason leaned forward. "Diana, you just recited the Prophecy of Mystery. You do realize that you are the first child mentioned?"

She rolled her eyes. "Old news."

He smiled. "Yeah, I gathered. There's an army of monsters marching to Camp from the east. They're led by…have you heard of Arachne?"

"Yeah."

"If this army gets to camp, we're doomed."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, I can officially say I've heard everything. No kidding?" Her voice turned hard. "Dude, I have had nightmares that would make you wet your toga. I have been to hell and back every night for the last week. I've been afraid to fall asleep for months. Imagine being overrun by millions of spiders, crawling everywhere, biting you thousands, sending toxins into your veins that make you hallucinate about your worst fears."

She leaned in. "I've dreamed of this camp burning." She hissed. Blue sparks were running through her hair, making it float in a dark curtain around her face.

If Jason was moved by Diana's barely contained rage or her hairstyle, he didn't show it. "That means that the prophecy is for you."

Her eyes widened, and before she could turn Jason into a rat, I held out my palms. "Let's calm…"

That's when she punched me in the face. Pain flared in my eye. I fell out of my chair. Jason laughed. "So, we'll have a senate meeting about the quest, but you will lead it. We'll overlook the rules about only centurions leading quests for now."

I scrambled back into my chair. I rubbed my eye and grinned. "Thanks for the black eye."

She raised an eyebrow. "So, is that some macho guy thing, thinking of black eyes as medals?"

Suddenly, a horn sounded. "Death-ball." I sighed. "I'd like to go, but we need quest briefing. But why do you want me? I'm not part of the quest!"

Jason leaned forward. "Do you want a part?"

I thought a minute, wondering what Mom would say. I imagined Jason asking her. I could almost see her boldly saying yes. But could I? "But…I'm not experienced."

Jason arched an eyebrow. "Nick, you have six stripes on your arm. You are experienced enough. Diana doesn't even have a tattoo and she's in it."

Diana grinned and punched my arm. "Come on, Nick. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I left it home." I responded.

She rolled her eyes. "After killing that dracanae and the serpent? There is no one else I want by my side. Except maybe Erin."

Jason slapped the table. "No. Erin is too young."

"Too young?!" A high voice boomed. We all whirled around to see Erin storming to the table, her blue eyes blazing. Okay, what she said next originally had a whole lot of cussing, but I've edited it out. "I have survived in the woods for two months alone with nothing but a rock, an apple, and the clothes on my back! I have almost been killed by twenty seven monsters at once! I have trained with Lupa for five weeks, and she said I was strong enough to join this stupid camp! And you're telling me that I'm too young?!"

Tiny saplings started growing on the table. When we get angry, our powers tend to go crazy. "No." Jason crossed his arms. "I won't allow it."

Diana stood up. The blue sparks flew back into her hair. She leaned in really close, as before. "What was that?" I would have been a lot more scared if she yelled. If she yelled, that would mean that she was only going to yell. Sure enough, she opened her palm, and flames danced inches from Jason's face.

Okay, let's back up. I have seen Jason kill monsters that eat heroes like cereal, that haven't been bested in thousands of years. I have seen him lead armies into battle and win. Heck, I've seen him face down armies of monsters by himself. But I've never run across a demigod brave or stupid enough to threaten him and walk away alive.

Jason coughed. "Um, right. Erin, Nick, Diana, if the senate approves, you've got yourself a quest."

"Thanks." Diana whipped around and strolled out the hall. Now I can check that off my List of Impossible Things I've Seen Happen. I've also added Diana to my list of dangerous foes.