Chapter 9
Percy
The Roman Camp kind of freaked Percy out.
Yeah, they were nice enough to give Percy a new purple t-shirt and a pack with the nesseccities(toothbrush, change of clothes, nectar, ambrosia, and some gold coins), but otherwise it was just eerily strict and disciplined. Ditches surrounded the camp filled with sticks sharpened to the finest point and capped in a metal that Lupa called Imperial Gold. Inside of that ring of fire that had to be magical kept both mortals and monsters from getting in. It was constantly changing color from orange to yellow to red, never dropping a centimeter or rising higher. Instead stayed a safe distance from the nearest tree and Percy's head. When Percy asked why it couldn't be higher Lupa told him it was because if the dryads's trees were burned they took to battling the demigods. It was a waste of fighters and time according to the old wolf. Percy could see why. Walking through the camp, Percy couldn't help but think that for a Roman Legion, this was pretty pathetic.
Most of the children who made up the camp were at least 2 and at most 30. Apparently, many had not left the camp since they were brought there at ages varying from 2 to 15. Percy had to admit the two 2 year old warriors he saw were the most impressive toddlers he had ever seen, if he could remember any children from before he came to the camp. Academy he corrected himself. They actually think to call this an Academy. The more Lupa showed him, from the quarters of the lesser fighters, which couldn't fit Blackjack inside of them, to the Castra in the center of the bustling camp, the more Percy felt like he didn't belong there. It was just too . . . disciplined. When were these kids supposed to have fun? To him it seemed like all they did was train, learn, train, eat, and, well, train. The fighters only got 5 hours to sleep a day!
"Percy," a voice that was filled with an age and tragedy that Percy recognized. For some reason the next time he looked at Lupa the phrase 'Party Ponies' came to his head. Tracing that memory, Percy found only fierce loyalty at the end. He had no clue otherwise. Percy was looking at the wolf for several minutes before she finally spoke, " Your Pegasus has been taken to the stables and will be cared for. You will come with me, we have things to discuss I would rather not be overheard." The wolf then turned and walked across the Castra's courtyard.
The Castra was an impressive structure. On two sides were walkways, shaded under red tiled coverings. The other sides were walled except for a single corner that led into the surrounding camp. From that corner was a path that led to a large three story building. It looked like a mansion, one of those the snobby rich people live at. Large with many windows that looked like they would afford people amazing views of the surrounding miles of forest. Red tiles formed three peaked rooftops on the main structure while several smaller building seemed to grow out of it. All of this was constructed of some light stone mixture that Percy could never identify. Ivy clung to the walls of both the main structure and the surrounding out buildings. When they got closer, Percy could see the ivy was spiked with venomous thorns. He followed Lupa inside the main building.
The main room was lit with electric light bulbs; the walls lined with shelves containing books, newspaper, and magazines; and there were a few computers along one wall, but when Percy took a peak at the screens he found them all logged onto training programs for strategy and tactics. It was probably the most modern room in the entire place and better than Percy had expected. Honestly, he had thought it would be lit with torches, the walls lined with weapons, and filled with kids fighting one another then picking the meat off one another's bones like in some Medieval action movie. This was the much better option. Yet despite the comfort, Percy was wary. He knew dangerous places came in all disguises, from what experience though he did not know.
Percy had been keeping Lupa's tail in the corner of his eye so that he could keep following the hunter and still observe the big room. When you think about it though, it was kind of gross. Just so that he could gawp at the accommodations, he focused on a wolf's butt. Anyway, after walking across that whole room, and it was a very large room, they reached a set of doors on the other side. They went through one door then another and another and another, then up a flight of stairs and through even more doors. Once they went through a room where uniforms were washing themselves. Another time they were in a room that was filled with the heads of creatures that Percy thought looked familiar. The funniest of them all was a room filled with wolves cooking. He thought they were making pizza by the smell of it, and it did smell good, but Percy made a mental note to look for wolf hairs in his food.
The amount of navigating Lupa was doing to get to this one room made Percy felt like he was in a labyrinth, which he had a feeling he wasn't good at navigating. Finally they stopped in a small sitting room.
The chairs were fancy, made of red velvet with curvy designs on the arm rests that reminded Percy of twisting vines. With a gesture from Lupa, Percy gingerly sat in one of the chairs, not wanting to ruin such delicate furniture. Lupa paced back and forth while Percy watched. She reminded him of the people on those corny cop shows that ran interrogations. The only thing he wondered was when she would strike. Finally she sat three feet in front of Percy, tail lying flat on the floor behind her,looking at him almost as if she were sizing him up.
"Where did you come from?" she asked calmly.
"Uh," Percy said, once again trying to dig through the void that was his memory. "Your guess is as good as mine, cause I have no idea."
"You honestly have no clue of your identity, your background, or," the wolf paused and said, "Your past actions."
"No," he replied, "Do you?"
"I have several," the beast retorted giving him an odd look. "For one thing, you carry a blade made of celestial bronze. Another thing is in the testing grove, which shows destinies, it showed a past one. I think that at one time your destiny was tied to that golden eyed boy, but now the connection is severed for one reason or another. Instead it is tied to that girl and her captor." Percy stared at her. It took him a few seconds to realize that his mouth was hanging wide open and to then shut it tightly closed. He hadn't realized the wolf had been watching as he fought those two people. Despite his obvious shock and confusion, Lupa pressed on, "You were called a Son of Neptune and proved it when you pulled water from that nearby stream. Oh yes and right now I'm speaking Greek and you understand every word that I'm saying."
"Ttoia eivai n . . ." Percy began then stopped as he realized what he was saying wasn't english. What language was it? Greek she said? That was weird. Then the wolf got even freakier and took it's nose and nudged the necklace around Percy's neck. He'd forgotten it was there.
"That also contributes to my suspicions," Lupa stated, pulling her furry wet nose from Percy's chest. He picked up the necklace really examining it for the first time that day. There were five beads, each with a different design. The one that struck him the most was a bead that had the Empire State Building carved on its surface. Names traced the silhouette of the building. Silena Beauguard . . .Beckendorf . . . they stirred smething in Percy that wasn't there any longer. Who were these people? What had they done to get their names carved onto this bead? Percy struggled to remember, receiving only a migraine for his efforts when his thoughts were interrupted.
It was what's her face, Reyna, who had tried to kill him and the girl who had ordered him to follow Lupa. She was holding a guitar. Both were breathing heavily, despite the great shape they were obviously in. Percy thought they must've run the whole way there which had to be at least the length of twenty blocks. Reyna was the first to speak.
"Sorry to interrupt you Lupa," she said then paused to take a breathe.
The black haired girl finished the sentence, "but I just showed her a new prophecy and we need your help figuring out what it means."
Lupa looked at Percy, curiosity riddled on her face, then back at the two girls "Sit,"she ordered. They complied easily, flopping onto the two nearest chairs. "Now," Lupa said in a commanding voice facing the black haired on. "Play me the prediction."
