VII
Percy
After participating in a battle, knocked out of conscious and forced to fight for his life, Percy was ready to call it a day. Lupa's outburst had really freaked him out. I'm just confused. Is it really necessary? He sighed. I nearly got my throat slit back there. Guess I have to watch my attitude in front of her.
His shoulders sagged. Even though he didn't show it, his fight with this Mark guy had exhausted his reserves. Still, there was something about this guy that puzzled him. The way he fights was unlike anything Percy had ever seen. He glanced at Mark walking behind him. The guy seemed okay, but his attitude before the fight and now was completely different. What have I gotten myself into?
The girl was walking in front of him, glancing at him once in a while. She had honey blonde hair tied in a ponytail and a bow slung over her shoulder. A quiver hung from her waist. She seemed friendly, but there was still an air of seriousness around her.
"Its Hazel right? You haven't answered my question. Who's Mercury?"
She turned around. There was a puzzled look on her face. "Well, you're obviously a half-blood, seeing the way you fight and all, so how could you not know Mercury? He's the god of thieves, travelers, anyone who uses the road." Mark was also looking at him curiously.
"Uh…isn't that Hermes? Why Mercury?" Percy was even more puzzled now.
Now it was Mark's turn to look confused. "Hermes? What the heck is hermes?"
Hazel thought for a while. "I remember Gwendolyn telling me that the gods were called differently in Greek times. If I'm not mistaken, Hermes is the Greek name of Mercury, which is Roman. We use the god's Roman names. You're one of us, so why would you use them?"
"I don't know." His head started throbbing again. "It just comes natural." They fell silent.
Percy watched his surroundings as he was lead through camp. The buildings around him look like Roman architecture, with arches and other characteristics. He noticed that most of them were rectangular. And they were all new. Wow, I'm impressed. Torches hung on braziers, casting everything in an orange glow.
Then he noticed a four-storey building that was much bigger than others. It had an air of authority, with big windows and an eagle statue on top, with its wings spread out as if about to take off, and its beak slightly open. The eagle was huge, at least 5 meters across and three meters in height. It seemed to be shrieking at the sky.
"What is it with you people and eagles? I've been here for some time and the only statues that I've seen are all eagles." Percy turned toward Hazel.
Hazel frowned. "This is the camp of the First Legion, otherwise known as Castra Primea Legionis. The eagle is the emblem of our legion. It is also the symbol of Jupiter, king of the gods." She was eyeing him as if he was an idiot. "That's it. Enough questions. Come on, I want to check something before we leave media castra."
Percy was about to ask what the heck was a media castra, but he stopped himself. I do not want her shooting at me. He has no doubt that her aim was flawless. He didn't want to get turned into a porcupine. I'd have enough fights for one day.
Hazel led them through a few streets, bending into side-walks. All the way, teenagers stared at Percy, their gaze burning into him. Finally, they stop before a massive building. A purple banner was draped in front of the entrance. Blazing braziers hung on large marble columns. The entrance was flanked by four guards in full body armor. They had spears in their hands and swords strapped to their sides. Each of them carried those rectangle shields Percy saw hanging on the wall in the arena.
"Wait here." Hazel told him and Mark before disappearing into the building. Percy gave Mark a questioning look. "This is the centrumcommunicationum. From here, we handle communications from camp to the outside world. For example, when we sent out scout teams, they'll be equipped with earpieces that allow them to talk with us and one another."
"Earpieces? Like the things FBI agents use during an operation?" Percy was puzzled again.
Mark gave him a small smile. For some reason, he found Percy's confusion amusing. "We take the design, but ours is magical. As long as the user is within 10 kilometers of one another, we can communicate. We don't use electronics. They tend to go haywire."
"Um…, fine then." Percy could imagine himself walking into an appliances store and suddenly all the televisions and stereos started dancing cha-cha. That would be awkward.
"Hey, you're not seriously going to use a phone or something right? You'd attract tons of monsters. Demigods using cell phones would be like sending a flare up, asking monsters to give you a facial make-over." Mark gave him a nervous.
Percy's head started hurting again. Where have I heard that before? Someone told me that before…Ugh, this is painstaking. He felt as if he was close to remembering something, like a picture was solidifying in his mind, but the key puzzle is still missing.
Just then, Hazel came back out of the centrumcommunicationum. She looked tensed. "Any luck?" Mark asked. Hazel shook her head. "Nay, they're still looking." "Um, looking for who?" Percy asked, his nerves shaking.
Hazel ignored his question. "Come on Percy, let's get you settled down." And at that, she strode of towards the east side of camp, leaving Mark and Percy to follow her.
Percy sighed. So much for a first day.
