No Octavian in this chapter but soon, soon I promise.
Replies:
Undeath9087: I mean, Hera's gone but we all know who's gonna show up after War Games. And no, Leo not getting possessed shouldn't be comforting. Hahahahaha.
The Official Clarisse: Yep, and yes she will- and Bianca will be incredibly relieved.
Guest: I mean, Reyna knows that Percy is capable of submerging an entire island- she's pretty scared of what the girl might be capable of now after four years to get even stronger. And you will get a Hazel chapter fairly soon.
G: I think they're a lot more strict with it yeah, while the Greeks are like, 'eh, we're gonna die young we might as well enjoy it'.
Weirdhead: Puns are always good.
Captain Obvious: Yes Sally will be a Legacy of Terra and a daughter of Venus.
On the way out of the camp Hazel brought Percy and espresso and a cherry muffin from Bombilo, a two headed coffee merchant. Both the muffin and the coffee were amazing- Hazel had laughed at how fast Percy inhaled her muffin- but she could hardly be blamed for that after the time she'd had lately.
It made her feel a thousand times better than she had. The coffee helped perk her up a lot. Now if she could only get a nice hot shower- she figured a bath was probably too much to ask for, a change of clothes and some sleep she'd be golden- maybe even Imperial golden.
She watched a bunch of kids in swimsuits and towels head into a building that had steam coming out of a row of chimneys. Laughter and watery sounds echoed from inside, like it was an indoor pool—Percy's kind of place. "Bath house," Hazel said. "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath."
Percy sighed with anticipation.
As they approached the front gate, the barracks got bigger and nicer. Even the ghosts looked better—with fancier armor and shinier auras. Percy tried to decipher the banners and symbols hanging in front of the buildings.
"You guys are divided into different cabins?" she asked. "Sort of." Hazel ducked as a kid riding a giant eagle swooped overhead. "We have five cohorts of about forty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten—like roommates, kind of."
Percy had never been great at math, but she tried to multiply. "You're telling me there's two hundred kids at camp?"
"Roughly."
"And all of them are children of the gods? The gods have been busy."
Hazel laughed. "Not all of them are children of major gods. There are hundreds of minor Roman gods. Plus, a lot of the campers are legacies—second or third generation. Maybe their parents were demigods. Or their grandparents."
Percy blinked. "Children of demigods?"
"Why? Does that surprise you?"
Percy wasn't sure. The last few weeks she'd been so worried about surviving day to day. The idea of living long enough to be an adult and have kids of her own—that seemed like an impossible dream. She felt as if she'd been raised knowing she'd live fast and die young- living to old age was- unfathomable.
"These Legos—"
"Legacies," Hazel corrected.
"They have powers like a demigod?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes not. But they can be trained. All the best Roman generals and emperors—you know, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth. The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He's got the gift of prophecy, supposedly."
"Supposedly?"
Hazel made a sour face. "You'll see."
That didn't make Percy feel so great, if this dude Octavian had Percy's fate in his hands.
"So the divisions," she asked, "the cohorts, whatever—you're divided according to who your godly parent is?"
Hazel stared at her. "What a horrible idea! No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. If we were divided according to god, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be alone."
Percy felt a twinge of sadness for the younger girl- she didn't think she'd ever really had to feel like that but- it was a sad thought anyway "Why? What's your ancestry?"
Before she could answer, someone behind them yelled, "Wait!"
A ghost ran toward them—an old man with a medicine-ball belly and toga so long he kept tripping on it. He caught up to them and gasped for air, his purple aura flickering around him.
"This is her?" the ghost panted, "A new recruit for the Fifth, perhaps?"
"Vitellius," Hazel said, "we're sort of in a hurry."
The ghost scowled at Percy and walked around her, inspecting her like a used car. "I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Does she have all her teeth? Can she fight? Does she clean stables?"
"Yes, yes, and no," Percy said before pausing- "Or- maybe. I dunno." She had the vague feeling that there was something about cleaning a stable- though she didn't know what it was. "Who are you?"
"Percy, this is Vitellius." Hazel's expression said: Just humor him. "He's one of our Lares; takes an interest in new recruits."
On a nearby porch, other ghosts snickered as Vitellius paced back and forth, tripping over his toga and hiking up his sword belt.
"Yes," Vitellius said, "back in Caesar's day—that's Julius Caesar, mind you—the Fifth Cohort was something! Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to. Look at Hazel here, using a spatha. Ridiculous weapon for a Roman legionnaire—that's for cavalry! And you, girl—you smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"
"Uh, not in the last few weeks no." Percy twitched slightly, "I've been a bit too busy being chased by Gorgons that didn't want to die."
"Vitellius," Hazel interrupted, "we've got to get Percy's augury before he can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armory doing inventory. You know how much he values your help." The ghost's furry purple eyebrows shot up. "Mars Almighty! They let the probatio check the armor? We'll be ruined!"
He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga.
"O-h-h-kay," Percy said.
"Sorry," Hazel said. "He's eccentric, but he's one of the oldest Lares. Been around since the legion was founded."
"I feel like you should probably be apologising to Frank, not me." she paused, "He called the legion…Fulminata?" Percy asked.
'Armed with Lightning,'" Hazel translated. "That's our motto. The Twelfth Legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We've been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America."
As bizarre as that sounded, Percy had no trouble believing it. In fact, it sounded familiar, like something she'd always known.
"And you're in the Fifth Cohort," he guessed, "which maybe isn't the most popular?"
Hazel scowled. "Yeah. I joined up last September."
"So…just a few weeks before that guy Jason disappeared."
Percy knew she'd hit a sore spot. Hazel looked down. She was silent long enough to count every paving stone. "Come on," she said at last. "I'll show you my favorite view."
They stopped outside the main gates. The fort was situated on the highest point in the valley, so they could see pretty much everything.
The road led down to the river and divided. One path led south across a bridge, up to the hill with all the temples. The other road led north into the city, a miniature version of Ancient Rome. Unlike the military camp, the city looked chaotic and colorful, with buildings crowded together at haphazard angles. Even from this far away, Percy could see people gathered in the plaza, shoppers milling around an open-air market, parents with kids playing in the parks.
"You've got families here." Percy's voice was quiet, thoughtful.
"In the city, absolutely," Hazel said. "When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out whenever you want. Most demigods go into the mortal world. But for some—well, it's pretty dangerous out there. This valley is a sanctuary. You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, retire when you get old. It's the only safe place on earth for people like us. So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there, under the protection of the legion."
Adult demigods. Demigods who could live without fear, get married, raise a family. Percy couldn't quite wrap her mind around that. She got the feeling that adult demigods weren't common wherever she came from since it all seemed too good to be true. "But if this valley is attacked?"
Hazel pursed her lips. "We have defences. The borders are magical. But our strength isn't what it used to be. Lately, the monster attacks have been increasing. What you said about the gorgons not dying…we've noticed that too, with other monsters."
"Do you know what's causing it?"
Hazel looked away. Percy could tell that she was holding something back—something she wasn't supposed to say.
"It's—it's complicated," she said. "My sister says Death isn't—"
She was interrupted by an elephant.
Someone behind them shouted, "Make way!"
Hazel dragged Percy out of the road as a demigod rode past on a full-grown pachyderm covered in black Kevlar armor. The word elephant was printed on the side of his armor, which seemed a little obvious to Percy.
The elephant thundered down the road and turned north, heading toward a big open field where some fortifications were under construction.
Percy spit dust out of her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. "What the—?"
"Elephant," Hazel explained.
"Yeah, I read the sign- which, by the way, do you really need a sign to tell you that an elephant is an elephant- and also, why do you have an elephant in a bulletproof vest?"
"War games tonight," Hazel said. "That's Hannibal. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."
"We can't have that." Percy deadpanned.
Hazel laughed. It was hard to believe she'd looked so moody a moment ago. Percy wondered what she'd been about to say. She had a sister. Yet she had claimed she'd be alone if the camp sorted her by her godly parent.
Percy couldn't figure her out. She seemed nice and easy going, mature for somebody who couldn't have been more than thirteen. But she also seemed to be hiding a deep sadness, like she felt guilty about something.
Hazel pointed south across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-colored light.
"Octavian is busy," Hazel said. "We'd better get over there."
On the way, they passed some goat-legged guys hanging out on the side of the road.
"Hazel!" one of them cried.
He trotted over with a big grin on his face. He wore a faded Hawaiian shirt and nothing for pants except thick brown goat fur. His massive Afro jiggled. His eyes were hidden behind little round rainbow-tinted glasses. He held a cardboard sign that read: WILL WORK SING TALK go away for denarii.
"Hi, Don," Hazel said. "Sorry, we don't have time—"
"Oh, that's cool! That's cool!" Don trotted along with them. "Hey, this guy's new!" He grinned at Percy. "Do you have three denarii for the bus? Because I left my wallet at home, and I've got to get to work, and—"
"Don," Hazel chided. "Fauns don't have wallets. Or jobs. Or homes. And we don't have buses."
"Right," he said cheerfully, "but do you have denarii?"
"Your name is Don the Faun?" Percy asked.
"Yeah. So?"
"Nothing." Percy tried to keep a straight face. "Why don't fauns have jobs? Shouldn't they work for the camp?"
Don bleated. "Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"
"Fauns are, um, free spirits," Hazel explained. "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but—"
"Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are like, 'Go away, Don.' But she's like, 'Please go away, Don.' I love her!"
The faun seemed harmless, but Percy still found him unsettling. She couldn't shake the feeling that fauns should be more than just homeless guys begging for denarii.
Don looked at the ground in front of them and gasped. "Score!"
He reached for something, but Hazel screamed, "Don, no!" She pushed him out of the way and snatched up a small shiny object. Percy caught a glimpse of it before Hazel slipped it into her pocket. She could have sworn it was a diamond.
"Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!"
"Don, please," Hazel said. "Go away."
She sounded shaken, like she'd just saved Don from a charging bulletproof elephant.
The faun sighed. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time you walk by—" "Good-bye, Don," Hazel said quickly. "Let's go, Percy."
She started jogging. Percy had to sprint to catch up.
"What was that about?" Percy asked. "That diamond in the road—"
"Please," she said. "Don't ask."
They walked in uneasy silence the rest of the way to TempleHill. A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults. Statues of gods seemed to follow Percy with their eyes.
Hazel pointed out the Temple of Bellona. "Goddess of war," she said. "That's Reyna's mom." Then they passed a massive red crypt decorated with human skulls on iron spikes.
"Please tell me we're not going in there," Percy said. "I doubt she'd like me any more than her daughter does."
Hazel shook her head. "That's the Temple of Mars Ultor."
"Mars... Ares, the war god?"
"That's his Greek name," Hazel said. "But, yeah, same guy. Ultor means 'the Avenger.' He's the second-most important god of Rome."
Percy wasn't thrilled to hear that. For some reason, just looking at the ugly red building made her feel angry, like she wanted to get into a fight.
She pointed toward the summit. Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof. "I'm guessing that's Zeus—uh, I mean, Jupiter's? That's where we're heading?"
"Yeah." Hazel sounded edgy. "Octavian reads auguries there—the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus."