Cornelia Priscilla stood in front of the drawn up ranks of the Second all alone except for the standard and banner bearers on either side of her and a half pace behind.
Nobody had been surprised when Guy picked Marcia and Sophie as his quest companions, the three of them were an old and very successful team. It was unfortunate that they were also two thirds of the Second's command cadre but Cornelia was used to being left in charge. Nobody had expected the three of them to vanish as completely as Jason had. Sending an even larger party to look for Jason and Guy, Marcia and Sophie had probably been a mistake, but what else could they do? Grudgingly Cornelia had to admit that Reyna had been right not to let her lead the Second's second search party since it had promptly vanished as well. Two parties sent out by the Fifth to find their former Pilus Prior* were also among the missing but most of the camp considered them good riddance – which Jason wouldn't have liked at all. Nor would he have liked the way the Fifth was being punished for his disappearance. Not that anybody believed for a moment that they'd actually done away with him, it was their 'curse' their ill-luck the legion blamed.
Cornelia was not superstitious but she was a Roman. She knew that Fortuna played favorites. The Fifth had lost the legion's eagle, her luck and her honor, and that was not something the rest of them could just forgive and forget. But for a while it had seemed like Jason had broken the curse. He'd become the legion's luck leading them to glory against Saturn, a greater victory even than the one over the Barbarians more than sixty years before. Then he'd disappeared taking his luck with him and whatever honor and acceptance the Fifth had gained under his leadership.
Hazel Levesque appeared under the gate and jogged up the via Praetoria past the legion's formation, face flushed and trying hard not to meet anybody's eye. She had a boy with her but it wasn't Percy Jackson it was her brother Nico di Angelo, Ambassador of the Underworld. Cornelia turned her head to watch as Hazel took her place, second from the end of the final file of the Fifth. Nico crossed behind Reyna on Skippy to join Percy Jackson standing between his guards. She was always pleased to see the son of Pluto, he was intriguingly mysterious and it was so cute the way he blushed when she flirted with him – apparently he wasn't at all used to girls noticing him. Cornelia frankly could not understand why the rest of the legion was so leery of Pluto's children. Romans don't fear death and they love wealth yet the others persisted in regarding the god of both as ill-omened. It made no sense.
Percy Jackson had obviously taken advantage of the baths and was wearing a clean purple t-shirt and pair of jeans. He looked nervous, but everybody did when they were presented to the legion. Two hundred-odd heavily armed kids tend to be a little intimidating – go figure.
"Get outta my face, Helvius!" Tib snarled behind her.
Cornelia turned to see a burly Lar in full armor weighed down by medals and crowned with a garland of oak leaves superimposed over her cousin and decuranus*. The Lares were immaterially jostling the living legionaries as usual. Having a Lar stand partially inside you didn't hurt but it was seriously creepy.
"To one side, Marcus Helvius," she ordered. "You know your place. And that goes for the rest of you too!" The Lares reluctantly shuffled into their own files between the rows of the living. "Dress that line!" Cornelia snapped. "No overlapping!" Satisfied she turned eyes front to note with some pleasure that Octavian was still struggling to get his Lares to behave.
He was in fact the last officer to get his cohort in order and was red-faced with suppressed fury as he called 'Colors'. The standard and banner bearers of the Second stepped smartly forward to plant their poles on the cobbles of the via Praetoria a half pace in front of Cornelia. The color bearers of the Third, The Fourth and the Fifth followed suit. Finally the aquillifer* advanced the empty pole that should have carried the eagle. Cornelia winced right along with the rest of the legion. Why did Reyna insist on following tradition? All it did was remind them of what they'd lost.
Their one remaining praetor urged her Pegasus a few paces down the via Praetoria, reined in and announced; "Romans! You've probably heard about the incursion today -" Durn right. "Two gorgons were swept into the river by this newcomer, Percy Jackson." And did Cornelia ever regret missing that. "Juno herself guided him here, and proclaimed him a son of Neptune." Talk about your good news and bad news!
Percy Jackson raised his hand in a kind of wave, "Hi," not exactly impressive.
"He seeks to join the legion," Reyna went on. "What do the auguries say?"
Octavian stepped out to her drawing himself up to his full height. "I have read the entrails!" he boomed, "The auguries are favorable. He is qualified to serve!"
The color bearers stamped their poles and two hundred mouths opened to roar 'Ave!' in almost perfect unison. Frank Zhang of the Fifth wasn't quite with the program, his high pitched 'ave,' was just a fraction late, a tiny kitten's mew echoing a lion's roar. Legionaries snickered.
"Silence in the ranks!" Tib snapped.
Reyna beckoned the commanding officers forward Cornelia joined Kelly, Hank of the Third and Dakota of the Fifth under Skippy's nose. The guards nudged Percy Jackson closer and Octavian as Primus Pilus* of the legion asked the inevitable question; "Recruit, do you have credentials? Letters of reference?"
Percy's blank look made his answer obvious before he said it; "Letters? Um, no."
The word of Juno Moneta struck Cornelia as a pretty good recommendation. Judging by her expression Kelly didn't agree, she looked like she smelled spoiled fish. Hank just looked pleasantly blank as usual and Octavian smug – also as usual.
"No letters," he said with faux regret. "Will any legionaries stand for him?"
Cornelia almost spoke. The Second needed to make up its numbers. But she hesitated, uncertain whether her cohort would back her up, and somebody else beat her to the punch.
"I will!" Frank Zhang stepped out of formation. "He saved my life!" the first four cohorts erupted in catcalls. Reyna cut them off with a gesture and glared at the Fifth's most junior legionary.
"Frank Zhang, for the second time today I remind you that you are on probatio. Your godly parent hasn't even claimed you yet. You're not eligible to stand for another camper until you've earned your first stripe.
Cornelia's heart went out to the kid he looked like he wished the ground would swallow him. Hazel Levesque stepped up next to him. "What Frank means is that Percy saved both our lives. I am a full member of the legion. I will stand for Percy Jackson."
There were some mutters from the ranks, quickly hushed by centurions and decurani. Reyna threw an inquiring glance round her senior officers. Octavian nodded and so did Cornelia, much as she hated to agree with that pippina* on anything. Hank and Kelly shrugged like they didn't care because they didn't. Dakota looked pained, but of course he wouldn't go against one of his own.
"Very well," Reyna said with a shrug in her voice. "Hazel Levesque, you may stand for the recruit. Does your cohort accept him?"
Frank Zhang pounded his shield against the ground with enthusiasm his comrades duly followed his lead with resignation rather than excitement.
Dakota exchanged an unhappy look with Gwen - the Fifth's other surviving centurion - before turning to Reyna. "My cohort has spoken. We accept the recruit."
"Congratulations, Percy Jackson." Reyna said, sounding anything but congratulatory, "You stand on probatio. You will be given a tablet with your name and cohort. In one year's time, or as soon as you complete an act of valor, you will become a full member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Serve Rome, obey the rules of the legion and defend the camp with honor. Senatus Populusque Romanus!" The legion raised the obligatory cheer.
Reyna wheeled Skippy around to face down the via Praetoria. "Centurions, you and your troops have one hour for dinner. Then we will meet on the Field of Mars. The First and Second Cohorts will defend. The Third, Fourth and Fifth will attack. Good Fortune!"
That got a much bigger cheer as the formations broke and made a mad dash for the mess hall.
…
Cornelia finished lacing up her boots, if you don't take your shoes off before lying down to eat the Penates* get cross, and headed for the praetor's table at the head of the mess hall flanked by Tib and Lacey, her two remaining decurani - not counting the medics and engineers because they didn't.
Her first cousin Tiberius Silvius Tiberanus Jr. was just thirteen, a year younger than Cornelia, with blond curls, freckles and blue-grey eyes. She'd known him since they were cubs together, six years now.
Lacey Weber was much older than either of them – eighteen – but nowhere near as experienced as she'd be the first to admit. She was a Vestal. She'd never gone on a quest, in fact the attack on Mount Tam was the first time she'd been outside the valley since she'd been claimed as one of Vesta's own though of course the maiden goddess of the hearth wasn't her mother. Minerva was, as the long storm grey eyes made obvious. Otherwise Lacey was dark, olive skinned with long chocolate brown hair. "I hate working with the First," she muttered.
Tib snorted; "Who doesn't with that insufferable pippina Octavian in charge. And with Guy missing we're going to have to let him command!"
"Don't remind me," Cornelia groaned.
Of course the first thing out of Reyna's mouth after the officers of the Second had settled themselves on the purple cushions of the praetor's couch was; "Octavian will command the defense."
"Yes, Reyna Bellonica," Cornelia replied careful not to look in Octavian's direction because if she did she'd be sorely tempted to knock that smug look off his face.
"Kelly, you're in command of the attack," the praetor said to the XIIths remaining Tribune reclining between Vicki and Pompey on the opposite end of the couch.
"Got it."
"I want all of you to remember these are war games," Reyna continued. "Anybody who forgets themselves and maims a comrade will answer to me."
"Don't worry," Kelly said. "Octavian always keeps well clear of the Fourth."
He reared up, "Are you calling me a coward?"
Kelly opened her mouth, probably to say yes, but Reyna got in first. "Of course not, Octavian, don't be so touchy." Fortunately Nico di Angelo arrived at that moment, dragging Don the faun and Vitellius, one of the Fifth's Lares, by the ears. "Ave Nico Plutonius," Reyna said politely ignoring his company.
"Ave Praetor," he answered letting go of his two captives to bow.
"Ave Nico," Cornelia echoed with a big friendly smile and was rewarded by a deep blush. That boy definitely spent too much time in the Underworld!
Cornelia could tell that Octavian was getting ready to say something about Don but Dakota distracted him by bouncing on the edge of the couch next to him. "Hi everybody," he said with a flourish of goblet that had red Kool-Aid slopping over his hand and dripping onto the cushions.
Reyna restrained a sigh. "Centurion Dakota. As I was saying, no maiming, the legion is already understrength as you all know."
They did. Octavian, Cornelia, Kelly and Hank also knew exactly why that was such a problem though none of them said so. The coming attack was privileged information limited to highest command ranks.
"Who gets Hannibal?" Hank wanted to know.
"You can have him," Kelly answered and he looked pleased. Privately Cornelia thought that Hannibal, sweet as he was, was more trouble than he was worth in battle and she knew Kelly agreed.
Dakota, who had the attention span of a newt, started playing xylophone with the shields on the wall.
"Stop that noise you peasant!" Octavian snarled.
"Watch your mouth, Octavian," Nico said coldly, "Dakota is a demigod."
"A son of Bacchus!"
"You are such a snob, Octavian," Kelly said picking up a goblet and taking a sip of soda. "And what do you have to be snobbish about anyway? Apollo's no big deal in Rome and your family hasn't managed to produce a praetor yet. All you got is money."
Octavian's face went as purple as the cushions. "My grandmother was a Julia!"
Tertius Lucullus of the First rolled his eyes. "Oh give it a break, Ockie. Everybody's grandmother is a Julia!"
Cornelia laughed. Tertius was right. There were always lots of Julias and everybody knew they weren't picky about who they married. She herself was cousin to most of New Rome – including Octavian and Tertius - through her Julian great grandmother.
"Real Roman patricians don't look down on anybody," Tib observed. He and Cornelia were very much Romans of Romans. Their family, the Cornelii, was one of the five patrician gentes* surviving from Old Rome.
"It's beneath our dignitas," She agreed.
Octavian looked like he wanted to kill them both.
NOTES:
Pilus Prior (trans.) First Spear, title of the commanding Centurion of a Cohort.
Aquillifer (trans.) Eagle bearer.
Decuranus: A non-com of the legion roughly equivalent to a sergeant. Each centuria is supposed to have a centurion and a decuranus at its head. The Second is currently seriously short of both thanks to the disappearance of four sixths of its officers and a third of its non-coms.
Primus Pilus: Senior Centurion of the Legion.
Pippina: Another Latin insult I won't translate.
Penates: Another type of household god, invisible spirits who do the cooking and cleaning around camp.
Gentes: Plural of 'gens' the Roman word for the extended family or clan.