Chapter six

Family freaking reunion

The road we seemed to be following was made of cobblestone, and could have only been a foot road. We passed several buildings grouped together that arced into the air, porcelain and polished. Dylan had explained that they were temples, worship places to various gods and goddesses. 'Temple hill', Dylan had called it. More like temple mountain.

Kids were everywhere, walking the roads, standing in grassy areas playing ultimate frisbee with a rather weapon-like frisbee. I even caught a boy and girl sword fighting in full armor in an arena. As we passed, the girl waved for the boy to stop and pulled the visor on her helmet up. "Dylan? You're back!" Her voice had a chirpy tone that made me want to punch her voice box. I was talking to a girl, not tweety bird,

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Dylan muttered. "It's great to be back." He finished loud enough for the girl to hear. By then, people had started to notice us. Someone pointed and shouted something. A flock of kids ran to us, a good number in purple shirts, and a handful dressed like Dylan. A kid with a pile of badges across his shirt and a silver goblet approached first.

"D-dog!" He shouted, throwing his arm around Dylan. "You didn't die." Someone of the liquid in his cup splashed out onto the street. I saw it was red, like wine. Great. I had left a school full of punks, druggies and alcoholics and joined a city of them. Dylan laughed, a fake smile playing across his face. It disappeared to a severe look just as quickly.

"Don't call me that." He stepped out from under the other boy's arm.

"Come now, we're all friends! No need for snappiness." The boy roared, slapping Dylan on the back.

"Go home, Dakota, you're drunk." Dylan rolled his eyes.

"Not at all. Only Koolaid my friend. Only Koolaid." Dakota assured us, tilting his cup so we could see. Sure enough, the liquid was too clear to be wine. So he wasn't an alcoholic. Just a Koolaid addict. I feel reassured. "So, where have you been? I thought you were only going to be gone a few weeks." Dakota was either completely oblivious, or choose to ignore Dylan's tone. That wasn't very wise.

"Staying away from you." Dylan said. Dakota only laughed, like he thought Dylan meant it as a joke

"Ahem." Behind us, someone cleared their throat. Two people, a boy and girl, large crown badges pinned to their shirts, stepped forward. The crowd parted, and even Dakota backed away. "Centurion Rise!" The girl called out. Dylan took a mocking bow.

"At your service."

"You were late for your scheduled meet. Is this the girl you talked about?" The girl asked. She had tan skin and black hair and eyes.

"Yes." Dylan raised his head. "This is Leila. Leila, this is-"

"Reyna and Frank." I finished. "I'm not dumb."

"Good. From Centurion Rise's description, I wouldn't expect any less. He speaks highly of you." Frank smiled at me. He had a faintly Asian look to him, but spoke with a Canadian accent. He seemed nicer, if not less strict than Reyna. "I trust my brother's instincts."

"We're not brothers." Dylan insisted.

Frank shrugged. "Of course. But we are related."

"Cut the small chat." Reyna said. "We need to figure out what to do with you." She said, turning to me. "Who are you?"

"I'm a nobody, from No-name U.S.A." I felt like being difficult. I didn't appreciate the way she was talking about me.

"You are somebody. And I want to know who that somebody's parent is." Reyna snarled.

"What the heck makes you think I know? We don't all get star wars moments were our dad shows himself. Some just run off without another word." I shout. Reyna stepped back.

"She should have been claimed by now, but she hasn't." Dylan jumped in.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Your welcome, sergeant Sarcasm,"

"Rachel." Frank jumped forward to diffuse the tension. "Maybe she can help." The name meant squat to me, but both Dylan and Reyna were nodding. "Leila, come with us. The rest of you, carry on. We'll have an update at dinner." Frank called out.

"And remember, war games tonight!" Reyna added. The dispersing crowd cheered and shouted.

Frank and Reyna led me back the way we came. I wasn't one for pointless talk, but the silence cut me to the bone. I hung back by Dylan, matching his stride for mine. "Who are you, really?" I asked suddenly. It had taken a while for me to realize anything I knew about Dylan could be-and probably was-a lie.

"You know who I am." He said, shaking his head.

"I know who you said you were. It was all a lie though," Dylan quickened his pace as if to get away from me.

"Not lies. Just not the whole truth. My mom was a native Iranian and a freedom fighter. It attracted the attention of my dad, Mars. Women like her were rare to come by. When I was four, my mom went to investigate a suicide bomber threat. It hadn't been just a threat." Dylan stopped talking momentarily, letting that hang in the air between us. "So I was shipped off here. I was raised knowing I was a demigod, my mom had known who Mars was. Been in the legion twelve years. Technically speaking, I'm not even required to serve anymore time in it. But us war children, we aren't suited for much else. A few months ago, Reyna sent me on a recon mission. A suspected demigod, in too unique of a position for Lupa to reach her." He didn't have to spell it out for me. Like I said, I'm not dumb. "I fought in more wars and battles then I care to remember. Fought Kronos, Krios, Gaia, and every monster in the book. Read about any major war in the past ten years, I've been there." It seemed like such a sad thing to live for. Killing things was the only thing Dylan had to offer.

"You always knew who your dad was?" I couldn't hide my jealousy. Dylan had grown up knowing who he was, why his dad had left. I didn't.

"Not always. My mom suspected my dad was Mars, but she told me no guarantees. You only know for sure once your claimed. Traditionally, that happens on your sixteenth birthday, but nowadays, some...mixed cultures have started to change that. At any rate, I was claimed early. A few weeks after I joined the legion. And from the looks of it, you'll be claimed late." Of course my godly parent had to be the one with no sense of time. With my luck, he's the god of amnesia, and forgot I even existed. Frank glanced back at us, and gave me a reassuring smile. I tried to return it. It seemed odd Dylan could hate Frank as much as he did. I don't hate them, I hate their power. Dylan had said that...or something like that.

"What do you have against them?" I asked. Dylan looked away, as if he was embarrassed to be caught smack talking his authority.

"The elections. I was running to be elected praetor. But Reyna and Jason were elected instead. That part was fine. They deserved it, though Jason's been hit on the head so many times, I question his sanity. Anyway, Jason went missing, but Reyna held off elections. Then they elected Frank, who technically didn't even get elected. His power was passed onto him. He hasn't even been in the legion a year, and he gets to be in charge. Being praetor is all I ever wanted, and I've been cheated out of it again and again. Demigods die young. Leila, someone as involved as me makes it to eighteen on average. I'm running out of time to make my dreams come true, and it's months 'till the next election. I don't want to die knowing all I was was a foot soldier." He hit the nearest thing, a temple, which I figured was at least ten years bad luck. "Frank is a good praetor, but he...he doesn't...deserve it." Dylan choked out. I understood now. Dylan had been in the legion twelve years, but Frank, who was only a newbie, got the power.

That sucked.

Reyna turned around, stopping at the temple Dylan had hit. "We're here. I need to go and talk to Mika and get the report from this morning. You can handle this, right?" She asked Frank. He nodded and turned to lead me inside.

"I can take her," Dylan said. "I heard Percy arrived this morning. I'm sure you want to catch up." He put a hand on my arm. Frank frowned. "Aww come on. You can trust me. We're brothers."

Frank relaxed a little. "Sure. Fine. But tell me everything." Dylan smiled. He led me inside. If this place was so sacred, why did I feel like a sheep being led to the slaughter?

The temple was massive and the ceiling was painted to look like the sky. Words were etched into the marble floors. In the center of the room, a red headed girl was waiting for us. I assumed she was Rachel. She had a contagious smile. "The new recruit." She said. She took my hand. "You don't mind, do you? This is the only way to get information on you and I-" Rachel's smile faded. "Oh dear. Your going to cause a war."

I said something that most certainly was not sacred.