College advice: philosophy is a fun class to take if you're okay with never finding the answer to anything. Ever.

Aphrodite's attendants had laid out a lavish breakfast for us when we woke the next day. I was actually quite hungry, so we all dug in and then packed some extra food for the drive. We luckily had no trouble getting out. I really would've hated it if the Graces had turned into cannibalistic crazy ladies who used this fancy hotel to attract victims.

Still, I felt better once we were back on the road and out of sight of the Sparta Inn. If Ares had built that place, I was glad to leave it far, far behind. We had about five hours to go, and I was determined to get them out of the way as soon as possible.

I'd sent an Iris-message to my mom the night before. She could tell that something was wrong with me, but I didn't want to talk about it. I gave her a report of the day, happily concluding with the fact that none of us were dead yet.

When we reached Sonoma, I parked the van as close to the Wolf House as I could get it and we got out. Around us, everything was fairly quiet. It was almost noon, but the area seemed to be empty, and with good reason. This was sacred land. Often, the Mist was so strong it caused mortals to simply go around it or not even come near it. With any luck, the same could be said for monsters.

I led Nico and Hazel to the house. It wasn't a long walk, and we emerged onto the clearing soon enough. Over us stood the skeleton of an old mansion. We'd made it.

At first, nothing happened. I wasn't entirely sure how the system worked. As far as I knew, demigods came here to be tested by the wolf goddess Lupa. I wasn't sure if there was some sort of ceremony or enchantment involved. I looked around for a few minutes. This was the right place, right?

Just then, I saw a great wolf appear from the depths of the house. Her fur was beautiful, red like dark New Mexico chiles. The closer she got, the taller she seemed to grow, until she towered over us.

You've brought a demigod for me to test, son of Apollo. I felt her voice resonating in my mind, although the wolf herself was only growling.

I stepped forward and bowed. "My name is James Sawyer, and I present to you Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. She seeks training with you, great goddess."

Hazel stepped forward, trying to appear braver than she seemed to feel. She bowed shakily towards the wolf goddess, and Lupa regarded her with interest.

I sense much power in this young pup, Lupa said. You may leave her, and I will test her.

I looked at Hazel, and she looked scared, but determined.

"Nico and I have to leave you," I said. "We'll see you when you reach Camp Jupiter."

Hazel nodded, and she pulled out my Celestial bronze hunting knife. "Will you need this back?"

I regarded it and shook my head. "If you make it to camp, then you can return it to me."

I was about to walk off, but Hazel reached out and took my hand. I stiffened, and she noticed, but she held on. "Thank you, Jamey."

"Y-you're welcome," I said as she finally let go. She turned and gave Nico a hug, and they shared a short farewell. With that, Hazel turned to face Lupa, and Nico and I headed back the way we came.

Every once in a while, Nico would turn back and look through the trees, as if hoping to see Hazel being judged by Lupa, but the trees very effectively covered the house. Hazel was on her own now.

"We're going to have to pretend to be Roman," I sighed, taking a bite out of my burger. It was a nice day, so I'd dragged Nico into the park to eat lunch. Nico didn't argue, since I agreed to buy him McDonalds. He leaned against a tree, his sword right next to him. His eyes were closed, and a cool breeze played with his floppy black hair. Like always, he was wearing his aviator jacket even though it was well over eighty degrees out. I hoped this relaxing moment could last for a little while.

"It won't be hard for you," Nico replied. "Apollo didn't change much after becoming a Roman deity. Well, he did become a little more warlike, but really everybody did. At least you don't have to fear any slip ups."

I looked around the park. Couples sat around sharing lunch, kids ran around chasing each other, and overall, it seemed like any other normal afternoon.

"Are you worried about Hazel?" I asked.

Nico shrugged. "A bit. She's strong, though. I know she'll make it to Camp Jupiter."

I ate in silence for a few minutes. I sat in the shadow of the tree, but the sun was slowly trickling through as it fell towards the west. I wondered if my dad had thought about me at all since our last meeting.

"You're coming to Camp Jupiter with me, right?" I asked, absentmindedly playing with my bag's strap. I hadn't shot a single arrow all day, which I found kind of unnerving. Nico was so powerful that every monster in the area should've been flocking us by now, but we were undisturbed.

Nico opened his eyes and looked at me. "Why wouldn't I?"

I shrugged. "Because you like being on the move. At least, I thought you'd prefer to shadow-travel."

Nico blinked. "Would you like me to shadow-travel?"

We looked at each other for a few moments. I'd never regarded Nico as passive-aggressive, but we both seemed to be reaching that point. Still, when it came to Nico, it was best to be honest. "No," I said. "I don't want to be on my own. I'd rather you come with me."

"I'll go with you, then," Nico said, and he seemed to appreciate my honesty. I wondered if there was anybody else besides Hazel and me who could really appreciate his company. I found it comforting to have him around. He was dark, sensitive, and he very adamantly avoided certain subjects, but he was the closest thing I had to a brother. You know, the kind who actually listens to you as opposed to the kind who steals your underwear and wears it on his head. Long story.

"Do you think I should've stayed?" I asked, staring at the blue sky above us.

"At Camp Half-Blood?" Nico asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I feel like I just gave up. Like I could've…could've gotten better if I really tried."

"You've never felt comfortable there," Nico said matter-of-factly. "Not really. It's not that you gave up, it's just that it wasn't the right place for you."

I looked at him, and I knew he knew what he was talking about. Nico had always felt like he didn't belong. That's why he kept moving. I had no idea where he went, but I assumed he spent a lot of time in the Underworld, because he only seemed to be getting paler with time. It was kind of sad that that was the only place he felt he could return to.

"One day," I said, and I looked at him directly, because I was serious about this. "One day, we're going to find a place where we belong. Someplace where we can be who we are without fear, without judgment, and without the gods butting in and trying to mess with us for their own pleasure. Okay?"

Nico stared at me for a few moments before his lips turned up to a small smile. "Okay."

"Okay," a pleasant, yet deadly voice said above us. "Now you get to die!"

Nico had quicker reflexes than I'd previously given him credit for, because in less time than it took for me to turn my head and see the Gorgon coming, he was already slicing through it with his sword, turning it into a pile of yellow dust.

Not too far away, another Gorgon materialized, crowing with anger. "That idiot!" She screamed. "Giving away her position like that. I'll have to kill you two myself!"

She flew at us, her fingers like claws and the snakes in her hair snapping their mouths. I scrambled to my feet, pulling the trigger on my bag and turning it into my bow and arrows. I shot madly, and before long, the other Gorgon had disintegrated as well. I only felt safe momentarily, though, because the dust pile of the first one seemed to be shifting around.

"Nico," I said, staring at the dust in horror. "That thing about the Doors of Death, does it affect monsters, too?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Nico said.

Okay, monsters could still die, but now they were very quickly coming back to life. Oh boy.

We grabbed our stuff and ran back to the van.

"Those were the Gorgons," I said, climbing in the driver's seat as Nico struggled to put on his seat belt. "We're being hunted down by Gorgons who can't necessarily die?"

"Yes," Nico replied. "That just about sums it up."

"Okay," I said, heading for the nearest highway. "On to San Francisco, then."

"You'd think they'd have a guest entrance," I grumbled, securing my quiver over my shoulder.

"I don't think Romans really work that way." Nico replied. He eyed the entrance to the camp, guarded by two armed Roman soldiers, although they both looked like teenagers to me. "We'll shadow travel."

"You really think letting shadows spit us out in the middle of their camp will send a good impression?" I asked, and really I had no idea. Maybe they'd find it impressive instead of hostile, and greet us with great reverence and admiration. I doubted it. "Besides," I added. "It's magically sealed. What makes you think your shadows will be able to cross into it?"

"Just trust me," Nico said, which was a fairly tall order, but we were in a bit of a time crunch. Any second now, those two Gorgons would pop up and try to attack us. Seriously, those things were relentless.

I finally took Nico's hand, and I felt my breath leave my lungs. Everything went dark, and I had to remind myself how to breathe. Moments later, the shadows receded, and we found ourselves at the edge of a very pretty, but very old-fashioned looking city, and it looked like the bust of an old man was staring at us with great surprise.

Nico looked around, ignoring the gawking statue. "Where are we? This place looks like Rome."

"New Rome," a very stern voice said behind us. "And who exactly are you?"

I turned, finding myself face to face with a very tall and lanky blonde boy with a very unpleasant expression. He wore a white toga over his t-shirt and jeans, and there were about three teddy bears strapped to his belt. I looked at the stuffed animals, then back at his face, wondering how anybody could look so angry when they were wearing so many toys. He had SPQR, a lyre, and seven lines tattooed on his right arm.

I was at a loss for words, but Nico very smoothly stepped up. "I am Nico di Angelo, son and ambassador of Pluto. This is James Sawyer, son of Apollo and representative of the Apollo Home for Orphaned Demigods. We'd like to speak to the praetors, if you wouldn't mind."

The blonde boy looked from Nico to me with his nose scrunched up, as if we smelled bad. Hell, maybe we did. We'd been fighting crazy snake-haired ladies nonstop since we got out of Sonoma.

"You're not part of this legion," the boy said. "Neither do you seem to have any confirmation of your identities, so you can kindly show yourselves out."

I squinted at him. "Did you just see us? We popped out of the shadows. How much more confirmation do you need?"

"That's another thing," he said. "Arriving here with questionable methods of transport. How do I know you're not here to invade the camp?"

"Because then I would've driven an arrow through you the moment you first spoke," I said, feeling my patience wavering. "We're here to speak to your praetors. Either honor our request, or point us to somebody who will do it for you."

The boy looked taken aback, but finally, he said. "This way." He led us down a road towards a cluster of buildings that stood away from New Rome. I assumed that this was the camp, and it was nothing like Camp Half-Blood. I could see campers practicing battle formations, looking much more formidable than any of the Ares campers had ever managed. Yes, this place was definitely more war-oriented.

The blonde teddy-bear boy led us into one of the buildings. We soon found ourselves in a room where a large table was laid out with maps, books, and a bowl full of jelly beans. Behind it, two demigods, a male and a female, occupied high-backed chairs. They looked to be in deep conversation.

The male demigod looked up when we entered. He was well-built, blonde, blue eyed, and way too perfect to be real. He looked like he belonged in a gladiator movie, his muscled body gleaming with oil and sweat. The only visible imperfection was a small scar on his upper lip.

The girl next to him had slightly darker skin, and her long, dark brown hair was pulled back into a braid. The two of them wore the purple capes of praetors, and they each had an SPQR tattoo, along with different symbols and different amounts of lines. Metal dogs sat at either side of them, one gold and one silver.

"Two trespassers," our blonde guide announced. "They're spilling lies about being ambassadors and representatives, but I believe they're here to attack us."

"Really?" The god-like blonde asked. "Have they made any actual threats?"

"Well…no, but–"

"Then I suggest you leave them to us, Octavian," the boy replied.

Octavian's eyes narrowed, but he turned and stalked out of the room.

"Okay," the blonde said. "Who are you?"

I cleared my throat. "My name is James Sawyer, son of Apollo."

"Oh!" The blonde boy suddenly looked excited. "You're Kendra's brother."

"Y-yeah," I replied. Of course. I survive a trip through Arizona and California and constantly defeat the Gorgons Stheno and Euryale, but my only real accomplishment is who I'm related to.

Blondy turned to the dark-haired praetor. "Reyna, he's from the Home for Orphaned Demigods."

Reyna nodded in understanding. "We welcome you, then. I am Reyna, and this is Jason. We are the praetors of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Who is your companion?"

"Nico di Angelo," Nico said. "Son and ambassador of Pluto."

Jason and Reyna shared a look.

"We've never had an ambassador for Pluto," Reyna said.

"This must be important then," Jason looked from Nico to me. "What is your business here?"

"It is my understanding that you take recommendations for new demigod recruits." I said. "That is how it's done, yes?"

"Yes," Reyna said. "Admission into a cohort is usually dependent on the recommendation of former members of the legion."

"What about a recommendation from a god?" Nico asked. "Specifically, from Pluto."

Reyna's eyes narrowed. "Who is the recommendation for, exactly?"

"Her name is Hazel Levesque," I replied. "We left her with Lupa around noon today."

"And why would a god recommend her?" Jason asked.

"Because she is the daughter of Pluto," Nico replied.

Reyna looked considerably preoccupied by this. "We haven't encountered children of Pluto in decades."

"I want to ensure that she will have a place here," Nico said.

Reyna looked at Nico for a little while, then turned to me. "Can you vouch for her character?"

"She's a good listener," I said. "She has natural battle skills, and overall, she's very pleasant. I doubt you'll have any problems with her." I left out the part about her summoning precious metals if she stayed in one place for too long, and her tendency to pass out every once in a while. We'd have to do something about that.

Reyna and Jason looked at each other, as if they were sharing a silent conversation. Jason turned back to us.

"We will allow her to join the legion," Jason said. "Assuming she is deemed worthy by Lupa, and manages to get past Octavian. Both of you are welcome to stay in the city until she comes."

"If you wouldn't mind me asking," I said. "Why does Octavian have all those…?"

"He's our augur," Reyna said simply. "Being a legacy of Apollo, he is able to glimpse into the future."

"But," Jason said. "Since you're a son of Apollo, maybe you'd like to relieve him of his duties?"

I was slightly taken aback by the request, but I shook my head. "I have no powers of prophecy, sorry."

"Rats," Jason said, but he was smiling in a charming boyish way. "Guess we'll have to keep the guy around. Do you want a tour?"

"We'll show ourselves around, thank you." Nico said quickly. He obviously didn't find this guy very amusing.

"Of course," Jason said easily. "But you can't have weapons beyond the Pomerian Line. You'll have to leave them with Terminus."

I shared a look with Nico. "You guys don't get invaded often, do you?"

Jason laughed. "It's been a while."

Terminus turned out to be the statue that had looked at us with bewilderment the moment we'd shadow-traveled into the camp. There seemed to be statues of him placed all around the city, and he seemed to be able to pop up out of nowhere if he thought someone was breaking the rules.

Nico and I decided to avoid the city for a little while. I had no idea how long we'd be staying here, but I already felt kind of uncomfortable. Every time demigods passed us, I felt like I didn't belong, and I hated that feeling.

We found ourselves at a hill overlooking the camp. Different temples stood on either side of us all the way up until the Temple of Jupiter. It reminded me of how the original cabins had been set up back at Camp Half-Blood, except there were temples here for almost every Roman god. On our way up, we passed the temple of Pluto, but Nico didn't stop to look at it much. I, on the other hand, paused in front of Apollo's temple. It was decorated with plenty of sun and music symbols.

"I met him, you know," I said, studying the temple. "He talked to me when I left camp."

"Did he say anything important?" Nico asked.

I crossed my arms, staring hard at the temple, as if hoping to receive some sort of sign. "No, nothing important."

We were still standing there when a voice behind us said. "Oh, it's the trespassers again."

I turned to face Octavian, showing him the piece of paper Reyna had given me. "Your praetors have granted us permission to stay here."

Octavian didn't reach for the paper. There were traces of stuffing on his clothes. "Well, if Reyna and Jason want to let two demigods who aren't even part of the legion run around camp, I guess that's their business. But my auguries are showing bad omens concerning you two."

"Augury refers to watching birds and the heavens for omens," I replied. "You'd be more accurate if you called yourself a haruspex rather than an augur."

Octavian looked ready to cough up a hairball. "How dare you insult these ancient practices? You'd be thrown to the lions in the Coliseum for speaking in such a manner in Ancient Rome."

"There are worse things," I said. "When they say you're a legacy of Apollo, what exactly does that mean?"

"It means I'm his descendant, obviously," Octavian said, as though I asked why the sun rises in the east. "My family's been coming to this camp for over a hundred years. It gives me higher standing than any mere child of the god."

"Uhu," I looked at Nico, and he looked ready to leave. "Well, see you later."

"Wait," Octavian said, trying to stop us as we walked off. "I demand to know what your business here is."

"Why?" I asked, still walking. "I can't talk to you. I'm merely the son of Apollo. Not nearly as esteemed as being his legacy."

Beside me, Nico sniggered slightly.

"W-well, of course," Octavian said, still walking behind us. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you stay in this city without proper auguries. Even Jason and Reyna must recognize–"

"Octavian," I suddenly noticed Jason coming up the hill, and he seemed to know exactly what was going on. "Nobody cares. Go cut into some teddy bears or something."

Octavian looked like he wanted to argue, but it was clear that he was powerless against Jason. The last thing he wanted was to make the praetor angry. He was at least three times Octavian's size. Octavian turned and marched off towards Jupiter's temple.

"You'll have to excuse him," Jason said amicably. "He's really annoying, but he's mostly harmless." He looked from me to Nico. "Dinner's being served in the mess hall, if you'd like to join us. There're some nice places in town, but I figured we could talk a bit."

My guard went up almost immediately. "About what, exactly?"

Jason looked surprised, but he shrugged. "Just talk, you know, get to know each other. You might be here for some time, so you're welcome to join in the legion activities as honorary members. Reyna and I don't mind. You can train with my cohort."

Nico looked at me and nodded. "Let's go with him." Although silently he seemed to be saying something more along the lines of: let's learn all we can about these people in case we need to fight our way out.

I nodded. "We'd be pleased to join you."

I took advantage of what I could. Every day, I'd train with Jason's cohort. It wasn't necessarily that I trusted him, but he was being nice to Nico and me. Still, when I learned that bow and arrows weren't a commonly used weapon in the Roman legion, I switched to practicing with my throwing knives instead. Like arrows, there is no half-assing throwing knives. You had to be on target if you wanted to make a good shot. My right arm seemed to be okay, but when I tried with my left, I was still sending my knives too far to the right.

A week passed, and there was still no sign of Hazel. I wasn't sure how long it usually took for a demigod to make it to the camp on foot, but I did hope she'd make it here soon. On the first night, I discovered that Iris messages didn't work here, probably due to the magical barriers. Instead, I took the risk and called my mom with my emergency phone. After she calmed down, I told her the situation and she agreed that I needn't call her again until I left camp.

"So how come you never joined the legion?" Jason asked one day after training. I was walking next to him as we headed for the roll call. Nico and I had taken to attending stuff like that, just to have something to do. "You would've been a good addition. You still could be, if you're interested."

I cleared my throat. "It's not really my thing. You know…teams and stuff."

"Do you like taking care of kids?" Jason asked. He was wearing his praetor's cape, and he walked with his back straight and his head held high. Seriously, he had a lot of confidence.

"For the most part," I said, feeling small compared to this demigod. He'd told me earlier that he was the son of Jupiter, and for some reason, I was starting to feel completely inferior to him. "It kind of…takes a certain skill set. Kendra's always been good at it, because she's so bright all the time. But I…" I didn't want to get into it. The last thing I wanted was for this guy to know that I was bordering on insanity. "I mostly clean, cook, shop…that kind of thing. I only came here because Nico needed help looking after Hazel."

"How long have you known him?" Jason asked.

"A couple of years," I admitted. "I took care of him when he first found out he was a demigod. He comes around every once in a while."

"Why didn't he join the legion?" Jason asked. We arrived at the place where roll was called, and the five cohorts were already assembling and getting into formation.

"Same as me, I guess," I said. "To be honest, I think he prefers working for his father."

"I find that strange," Jason admitted. "Usually demigods aren't very close to their godly parents."

"Have you ever met your father?" I asked out of curiosity. There were still a few minutes before roll officially started.

Jason laughed. "No," he said. "Traditionally, Roman gods like to keep their distance. Have you met yours?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Very briefly. He stopped by the Home once. It's named for him, so he takes interest in our affairs." Not a complete lie, but it was true that Greek gods meddled a lot more than the Romans did.

"You're lucky," Jason said. "I grew up in this camp, and I haven't even seen my dad."

I would've tried to offer a few words of comfort, but it was time to call roll and I wouldn't have had anything good to say anyway. Really, I was glad that Jason was being so friendly, but I wasn't sure how much I should be saying to him.

Nico joined me at the edge of the courtyard. He looked like he'd been training. His forehead gleamed with sweat and he was working on bandaging a wound on his hand.

"My sword slipped," he muttered as I watched him work. "It's fine, though."

"Do you need some ambrosia?" I asked, and all I earned was a glare from him. I asked questions like that out of habit, but Nico was very clear about not wanting to be treated like a child.

"You know," he said quietly as names were being called. "If you took off your glasses, you'd look a lot like Octavian."

My eyes narrowed. "…Thanks?"

"Sorry," he said, and he was smiling a little bit. "It's just something I noticed. Family resemblance, you know?"

"Got it," I said. "I just hope being an asshole doesn't run in the family."

Nico laughed, which made me feel pretty good. We stood quietly as the centurions finished calling roll, and the legion was dismissed for dinner. As always, we joined Jason and Reyna and mostly listened to their conversation. I never really had that much to say, and Nico just didn't seem interested.

"It's been weeks," Nico remarked as we walked back towards the city. We were staying at a little inn near the edge of New Rome. I could tell Nico was getting restless. Reyna had assured us that it could take up to several weeks for a demigod to finish Lupa's training and make it to Camp Jupiter, but I knew that there were several what ifs going through Nico's mind.

"You don't think…?"

"No," I said, trying to sound confident. "Hazel is strong. She'll make it back."

"Yeah, but," Nico opened the door to our room and starting pacing around. "But with those Gorgons out there…"

"Give it another week," I said, closing the door and heading for my bag. "If she's not here by then…" What? If she didn't show up, then obviously something had gone wrong. According to Reyna and Jason, Lupa devoured demigods who couldn't make it through her training. And even if Hazel had survived, she was a daughter of Pluto traveling on foot to San Francisco. It would be a miracle if she made it here alive.

I could see Nico coming to the same conclusion. There was nothing either of us could do. Hazel had to find her way on her own, or perish.

I cleared my throat. "Give it another week. Just one more. I think there's still hope." I grabbed my stuff and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."

Nico nodded, still looking lost and kind of sad. I never knew what to say, and I hated that. I wanted to make him feel better. Instead, I closed the bathroom door and turned on the water, thinking. I leaned against the door, waiting for the water to heat up, and remembered that night when I'd settled into the bathtub, razor blade in hand, and my whole brain went fuck it.

I hadn't cut myself since that night. There'd been many, many nights when I'd wanted to. Many situations where I felt so suffocated that all I could think to do was press a blade against my skin and let go of everything.

But I was trying. I was trying so hard to keep myself afloat; to forget my pain and just move forward. It wasn't fair to people if I kept trying to hurt myself. It was selfish, and cruel, and there were other things to worry about…but sometimes I got so weak.

I took off my glasses and pulled off my clothes, hoping to forget those feelings. I thought about Nico, and how he'd react if Hazel never showed. It would kill him. I knew it would. As I stood under the stream of hot water, I tried to clear my mind.

There would be nothing to do if Hazel didn't make it back, but maybe…maybe I could do something for Nico, to make him feel better.