Chapter 2
Natalie Gets A Replacement
Natalie's P.O.V.
As I was walking towards the Principia, I kept glancing at Percy. He had the same eyes as me. I didn't feel like talking to him right now, when I had more immediate things to worry about. First, to help Percy save Frank, I had controlled water for killing those Gorgons, and now the rumours circulating about me would become more than rumours. And that Octavian wouldn't just shut up. And then Juno, she said the word replacement, as if anything could replace what she took from me. But she had warned the legion of an attack, which was serious, since Juno was supposed to warn us of upcoming dangers. And then Percy, I didn't think of him as a replacement or anything, but he was my family. And he was good natured, I could see it in his face. But seeing him, I felt like someone had just rubbed salt over a wound.
As we trudged towards the Principia, something felt different. The Lares, house god's, started muttering Graecus, Latin for Greek and not usually used as a good title. I shivered. Greeks and Romans had a long history, and most of the parts were bloodsheds. And Percy arrived in a time when Jason had disappeared too. He wore an orange shirt and a necklace on his neck with five beads. Those were strange signs. If Percy really was a Greek….
No, he cannot be a Greek. Even Percy felt a bit uncomfortable around the ghosts, but Frank and Hazel told him that they were harmless. I could tell that Percy too, felt it a bit uncomfortable to talk to me right now. He didn't meet my eyes, then I realized that I had been doing the same too. I felt a bit embarrassed, but I decided I would talk to him after Reyna passes her judgement. The legionnaires followed, then stopped as we reached the Principia.
"Legionnaires, continue your daily activities. I would update you of the situation in the evening muster. Prepare for the war games," Reyna said, and everyone went back to their regime, muttering about Percy's fate.
Frank stayed, but Reyna shot him a harsh look. He looked like he wanted to protest, but thought better of it. I knew that Reyna was being harsh towards him, but I appreciated that Frank didn't argue. It was better to not spoil Reyna's already bad mood right now.
Reyna waved, and I followed along with Percy and Hazel. The Principia's interior was impressive, with carvings of Remus and Romulus. Reyna's metal greyhounds, Argentum and Aurum snarled when they saw Percy, but Reyna silenced them. She started pacing to and fro, while Argentum and Aurum eyed Percy. I stood beside Percy.
"So, what do you remember, Percy? Do not lie, because if you do, my dogs will attack you," Reyna asked.
Percy started telling his story. How he woke up at the Wolf House, and Lupa had explained him about gods and demigods, how she had trained him and told him to find Camp Jupiter, and how he had arrived here. Then Hazel verified Percy's story, with some helpful words like brave and heroic.
"So whatever you've told is true till now. You come here when Jason is missing. You are old for a recruit. You have a powerful aura that attracts a lot of monsters. And you're a son of Neptune," Reyna said, still pacing.
"Is that a bad thing?" he turned towards me, his expression inquiring.
I shot him a look like - Don't ask this now. I'll tell you later.
"You wear strange signs, like your necklace and your shirt. And your sword?" Reyna asked.
Percy took out a pen from his pocket and uncapped it. It grew into a long leaf shaped sword, unlike the straight Roman designs. Reyna studied the sword, interested.
"It is not made of Imperial Gold. It is not even a Roman sword. The metal, it's —,"
"Celestial Bronze," I said. Reyna nodded.
"Celestial Bronze?" Hazel asked.
"It's another metal used to make demigod weapons, fatal to monsters like Imperial Gold and Stygian Iron, but even rarer. You are not a legionnaire, because you don't have a tattoo–,"
"Sorry, a tattoo?" Percy asked.
"Every full legionnaire has one, with the symbol of their parent," Reyna explained.
"See, I don't remember, but have I met you?" Percy looked quizzically at Reyna.
"A son of Neptune is usually considered a bad omen. But since Juno brought you, and she herself recommended you….Hazel, take Percy to Octavian. If he says Percy can live, then we'll compare notes on your past," she said, not answering his question.
"Natalie, we have to discuss something," Reyna said to me as Hazel and Percy left the Principia.
"You know him, don't you?" I asked her, after Percy's footsteps had receded.
"We've met, he doesn't remember, but I've seen him before," Reyna said, her tone clearly stating that their previous encounter had not been quite lovely, involving proper welcome and tea and biscuits.
"So what did you want to discuss, if you're still on about offering me the Praetor's post, then I've said it before Reyna, I won't be taking his place. After all he has done for me, I just – I just can't. I don't do leadership. And I think you have heard what rumours Octavian has been spreading about me. After what happened today, even if you and I accept it, the legion won't," I said.
Reyna sat on her chair and started spinning her dagger on the chair.
"We can't delay this topic more, Natalie. The Feast of Fortuna is coming. If we don't, then Octavian will somehow become a praetor. And I'd rather work with you rather than him," Reyna replied.
"But there are other legionnaires too, Gwen, Dakota. They are excellent. No one wants me, Reyna, not as a praetor, not as a centurion, not even as a legionnaire or probatio. With everything that people whisper behind my back. You know this as well as I do, and I've accepted it. And I'm from the fifth cohort. Sorry, what's the new trending name? The losers cohort, yes,"
On this Reyna sighed and slumped on her chair.
"Fine, I don't know what to do. What will happen. I just do not wish this to be the end of Camp Jupiter," Reyna said.
"On the contrary, I've had another feeling. Jason has disappeared. And then Percy arrived. He's got a strong aura. He's a seasoned fighter. Juno herself recommended him," I said.
"So you mean that he's supposed to be someone sent by the gods. To fill in the place of praetor?" Reyna asked.
"Juno said that she has brought a replacement. A brother–," the words stuck in my throat. "Anyways, what if she meant that replacement part as a replacement for Jason, until we find him, which we will."
Reyna studied me. "We will discuss this later. First go, and prepare for the war games. Then we'll see what is to be done about the battle that Juno told us about," Reyna sighed. I nodded and left the Principia to prepare for the war games and meet my brother. I found him as he was coming out from the baths, freshly dressed in a purple Camp Jupiter T-Shirt. At least he didn't smell like muck. Frank immediately said that he needed to prepare himself for the games and hurried off. But I knew he left so that I could talk to Percy. At first we just looked at each other.
"Percy–,"
"Natalie–,"
"Good to see you–,"
"Good to see you–,"
"Sorry, you go first–,"
"Sorry, you go first–,"
We both stopped abruptly. Then I said, "Come on, let me show you the camp."
We trudged along, while I was showed him around camp.
"So listen, about that thing Juno said, I mean as me being a replacement. I knew that something was wrong. If you don't want to talk about it, I understand–,"
"No, it's fine. Everyone at camp knows. I had a twin brother. But he died during a quest for Juno. A quest for retrieving some silly necklace of her when it fell into the underworld," I said. If he were my brother, then I wanted to clear the air between us. At least we could talk to each other freely.
"Oh, I'm sorry, It should have been hard seeing me after all that," he said.
"No it's fine, besides, you are my brother, and I just want us to be cool, you know. Not like awkward siblings," I said.
"Okay, so we're cool then. And thanks for helping me that time," he said, grinning.
"No problem, Frank's my friend too. He's a good guy. So, Octavian allowed you in, then. What happened?"
"He murdered my pet panda."
"Sorry?"
"Nothing, I had a panda soft toy, he cut it and said that it's okay if I join," he shrugged. "He didn't seem like a cool person to me,"
"Not all people here are good, Percy. At least Octavian's not," I said.
"He said something about praetor elections. And some weird stuff about you and Hazel," Percy told me.
"Jason was our praetor, and then I think you've heard it, he disappeared. It was like...anyways, since then Octavian has been pestering people to vote him for the new praetor. We will have to conduct elections on the Feast of Fortuna if we cannot find Jason before that, which seems unlikely, or if don't elect one before that, assuming we survive whatever battle Juno has warned us of. He's been spreading bad rumours about everybody he thinks is a threat or just for fun. He sees me as a threat, so he's told bad things about me to everyone. Like I'm a traitor, wanting to destroy camp, and after I controlled water today, it just sort of verified it. I don't want to become a praetor, but Octavian is evil. He's been spreading bad rumours about Hazel, too. Children of Neptune don't have a good track record here at camp, and that's why we are considered a bad omen. Last time a child of Neptune was here at camp, he nearly destroyed it," I explained everything to him. He just nodded, like he'd already guessed that part.
"But we've got each other, right. I mean I've got some people, Reyna's good to me, Frank and Hazel are my best friends. My centurions, Gwen and Dakota, they support me too. And if you are assigned the Fifth Cohort, that's just great," I said, trying to cheer him up. He's already been through so much weird today, I thought a bit cheering up would make me happy.
"Besides, now that you're my brother, I can punch or kick you whenever I want."
"Hey!"
"Just kidding." Just then, the horns blew. We both hurried off for the evening muster. I stood with my cohort while Percy waited to be assigned one. Hazel came running and she looked a bit different, then I saw her brother, Nico di Angelo walking towards the lineup. Di Angelo always seemed a strange person to me. He always stood in the shadows and preferred dark. But I guess being a child of Pluto, he liked dark more than light. He was smaller than half the people in the Camp, but everyone was careful around him. He'd always been good with me, because he sort of understood losing a sibling. He'd lost his sister, Bianca a few years back. He looked at me and nodded, clear sign that it was good to see me in Nico's language.
Reyna too came along, and Percy was assigned the Fifth Cohort. Then we all headed towards the dining hall to eat and be ready for promptly facing another defeat in the War Games.