Before I start this (well, not really, because I added this after I wrote the chapter) I want to say how sorry I am for not updating in sooooo long. I know hardly any of you read these things, but if you are, thank you. Ive been trying over the past couple of days to finish off this chapter, of which I started the end of LAST SCHOOL YEAR. I know, even to me it sounds bad. And about midway through the summer, the computer broke and I was scared it might erase all the work I had done. *sigh* but I'm really sorry. I can't promise I'll be consistent, because of school starting again, but I'll update when I can.
And on a more happy note, who started school already?! Ok, that was a lie, it's not exactly a happy note. I started two weeks ago. SOPHMORE YEAR! Now I won't be called things like "Freshie" or a tater tot (I'm not kidding on that one. My school's called Tate so the freshman are called tater tots. Seriously)
I also noticed a problem I have. I'm obsessed with Harry Potter! I've been reading the books (yes, for the first time. Don't judge me!) and I'm on The Order of the Pheonix. And oh my gods you guys, it's getting reddikulous, like siriusly. I think I need help. *thinks about it for a moment* nah!
I didn't speak a word walking through New Rome. It was huge; at least twice the size of Camp Halfblood, with so many sights and sounds and colors to behold.
Suddenly I heard a tiny, twinkling voice coming from the top of my head.
Woah. Where are we?
"New Rome," I said to Talia.
It's amazing, she said. I'm going to have a look around. My wings need stretching.
I tried to say, "Wait! You might get lost!" but before I could Talia was already gone, a gleaming dot in the sky.
As we crossed the bridge over the little Tiber, I turned to the blonde girl who was leading us.
"Hi," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.
The girl looked at me, turned her head back ahead, and said, "Hi".
"So…you live here?"
"Yes. In the camp. Camp Jupiter," she pointed to an encampment type area.
I thought about that. "Jupiter? That's Roman, right?"
The girl furrowed her eyebrows and looked at me. I saw Grover out of the corner of my eye, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Yes. That's what New Rome is. The Roman aspects of the gods, their children, and their cultures".
"Oh," I said, as a could tell by her tone that this was something I was supposed to know. "Right. I forgot. Um, my name's Jo".
"Nice to meet you," she said, without much of a smile, though her tone sounded friendly enough "I'm Dian, after my patron, Diana".
"Oh," I said, smiling. "That's cool".
Dian gave the slightest trace of a smile, then walked on. I fell behind, walking alongside Leo again.
"Who's Diana?" I whispered.
Leo laughed, which made me grit my teeth slightly.
"Man, as soon as we get back home, I'm setting you up with tutoring sessions with Annabeth. Helped me loads when I first started out. Diana is Artemis's Roman aspect. She's the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and maidenhood".
"Wow," I said. "She sound's cool. How come I've never seen any campers in her cabin at camp?"
"Maidenhood," Leo said. "Think about it".
"Oh," I said sheepishly. "So, she just…lives on Olympus alone?"
"Well," Leo said, a slightly dreamy expression coming over his face, "She does have some followers. Kind of like immortal sisters, that go around the country with her to fight monsters".
"You've met them?" I guessed.
"Yeah…" he said, then noticed me watching, shook his head, and said, "Once. But to be honest, they're not too keen on…guys".
I tried to hide my snicker, and followed Dian.
We finally reached a fork in the road, with signs written in Latin. I could distinguish some of the words, but I was much better with Ancient Greek. We went left, and after a while we came to a big white marble building. The words "Via Preatoria" were printed on a purple banner across the top of the door. Dian led our group inside.
The inside of the room was amazing. Vast and white, with banners and tapestries hanging from the walls, plus a huge table in the center with two opulent seats, both of which were occupied. A boy and girl sat in the seats, scrutinizing maps and papers on the table. The girl had black hair, perfect posture, and a stately presence about her. The boy was blonde, with bright blue eyes and a look of ease, but also leadership. They both looked like they would stand up for what was theirs in a heartbeat.
Dian cleared her throat, and the boy and girl looked up. They sat there for a moment, then broke into smiles.
"Leo!" the boy shouted, then stood up and practically ran over to Leo and tackled him. Leo laughed and tackled the blonde boy right back, and soon both were laughing like they had known each other for a long time, and were celebrating meeting their long lost brother. When they finally calmed down, the blonde boy said, "Leo, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know," Leo said in a nonchalant way "Going on quests, fighting monsters. Saving the world. Normal demigod stuff".
The blonde boy chuckled, then his eyes fell on me. His eyes shifted, as if looking me over to see if I was a threat to his camp or not.
Leo saw and said, "She's ok, man. This is Jo. Jo, meet Jason".
I walked forward and held out my hand. "Hi".
"Hi," he said in a friendly way, but still with a little caution. "Welcome to Camp Jupiter".
"Thanks," I said, then turned to the girl, who had come up to the rest of the group.
"Welcome," she said. She sounded friendly enough, but her eyes were like stone. "I'm Reyna. What brings you to the neighboring camp?"
"A quest," I said seriously. "We're on our way to Las Vegas, and then the Mojave Desert" I looked at Grover "and apparently we're going to need your help".
"Oh?" Reyna and Jason exchanged looks. "What is it?"
Grover stepped forward and said, "We're going to need the help of Rome. We—" He looked at me. His eyes flickered nervously. "Jo? Um, I think I need to speak to the praetors alone".
"What?" I was taken aback. I was the leader of this quest, wasn't I?
"Jo," said Jason sensitively, for I guess he could sense the way I felt about this "This is your first time at the camp, right?"
I nodded.
"Well, I think you'd enjoy a tour then?" he asked, smiling.
I was just about to protest, when Leo cut in, catching on. "Oh, yeah! Jo, you've got to see the war elephant!"
I turned to Leo with a grin. "They have a war elephant?"
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"Hello?" Leo called into the stables. They sat in the middle of a big grassy area, a huge wooden structure that stood out in contrast to the green. It was many times the size of a normal stable, with an extra high roof.
I walked in and saw one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Unicorns sat in the stalls, neighing softly, their golden horns shining in the sunlight that peeked through the windows. And at the end of the stable was a huge grey elephant, snuffling with its trunk affectionately at a girl with cocoa skin and hair the color of cinnamon.
Leo stepped into the stables, a smile spread wide on his face. He snuck up behind the girl, which made me scrunch my nose. All of the sudden he placed his hands over her eyes. The girl looked startled, and to my horror jerked a hand to the long sword strapped to her side.
"I don't think you'd want to attack your friend," Leo said, grinning.
"Leo!" the girl said, almost as if she couldn't believe it. She grabbed Leo's hands, pulled them off her eyes, and whipped around to face him. She smiled and tackled Leo in a hug. Then she pulled away and punched Leo in the arm.
"Ow," Leo said, trying to hide the wince.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" she said with a smile. "I haven't heard from you in ages!"
"Well I've been a little busy as of late," Leo said, then turned to me. I stood awkwardly at the door. Leo beckoned for me to come and I stepped forward.
The girl was around my height, which was considerably short, and her cinnamon hair lay in crazy curls around her head, kind of like mine, but longer. Her eyes gleamed like copper freshly mined from underground.
"Jo, this is Hazel Levesque," Leo said. "Hazel, this is Jo Goodrace".
"Nice to meet you," Hazel said, holding out a hand.
I shook it. "The unicorns are beautiful".
Hazel looked around at the magical horses proudly. "I've been working on getting them better stables, and this is their first week in them".
"Hazel is the head equestrian," Leo explained. "She's in charge of all the horses. Oh, and Hannibal".
"Who?"
The elephant trumpeted indignantly.
"Hannibal," Hazel said, stroking the pachyderm's trunk.
Hannibal trumpeted again and swung her trunk at me, hitting me across the chest, knocking the wind out of me and tossing me to the ground. I rubbed my head, realizing that I was now on the ground. Hannibal made a clicking sound I could've sworn was laughter. She nuzzled her trunk in my hair.
"Oops," Hazel said sheepishly. "Sorry about that".
"She's amazing!" I exclaimed, breaking into a grin.
Hazel and Leo broke out into laughs.
"So what brings you here to New Rome?" Hazel asked, helping me up.
"We're on a quest," I said. "We just stopped here to, um…rest".
Hazel's expression turned slightly serious. "Oh. Have you seen the praetors?"
Leo nodded. "Our friend, Grover, is in a meeting with them. I was giving Jo a tour".
"Well then," Hazel said, smiling friendly again, turning to me "Why don't you let a Roman lead the tour. After all, I do know the camp better".
Leo looked slightly offended. "Hey—"
"I'd love to," I said, chuckling at Leo's expression.
"But first," Hazel said looking me over. "It's got to have been a while since you've had your hair done".
I felt my cheeks get warm.
Hazel laughed good naturedly. "Don't worry. Have you ever had a Roman bath?"
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
Hazel was one of the most easy-to-get-along-with people I'd met. She acted as though we had known each other for years, instead of a couple of hours ago. For me, friends were hard to come by, especially ones that that.
After I'd bathed, which felt extremely good, we headed toward a warehouse that had steam billowing from the chimney, near the center of the camp. Hazel turned the bronze door knob, and I was blasted with a thousand degree air.
"Geez," I said, shielding my face. "You keep a dragon in here?"
"Sort of," she said, and led the way inside.
Inside were shelf upon shelf of weapons; swords, crossbows, axes, those spear-like things—a pilum—and an array of daggers. Shields and armor lined the walls, gleaming threateningly.
"Our camp's armory has nearly doubled in size over the past year, since our newest blacksmith started—"
Suddenly there was a huge burst of flame from around the corner, and Hazel had to grab my shirt to keep me from turning into barbeque.
"Careful!" she shouted. "Sorry about that. He wasn't expecting visitors today".
"He?"
Then a timid voice came from the direction of the flame. "Is everyone ok?"
I peeked around the corner and what I saw frightened me. A great dragon with menacing eyes and snarling fangs stared at me. I let out a startled yelp and hid behind the shelf. My hand instinctively went to my dagger strapped to my belt.
But Leo stopped me from pulling it out. As soon as my fingers touched it, he touched my wrist and gave me an amused "better not" look.
Hazel stepped out and said in the direction of the dragon, "Frank, you're going to scare somebody. We've got a newcomer".
"Oops," came the voice again. "Sorry".
Hazel turned to me and said, "Come on".
I stepped around the shelf and where there was once a dragon was a teenage boy. He was tall and stocky; he could have played football, but his face ruined it. He had a babyish face, like a kid much younger than him. His black hair was cut military style, and his brown eyes were so dark they looked black.
"Sorry," he apologized again. "Sometimes I forget that people don't usually expect to see a dragon in here".
"Where'd it go?" I asked, looking around. Kind of stupid, I know. Where would a dragon go?
The boy, changing the subject, held out his hand and said, "Hi. I'm Frank".
"Jo," I said, shaking it.
"Hey Frank!" Leo piped up, a mischievous grin (why did I hate it so much?) spread wide on his face. "What's up?!"
"Not much," he said a little stiffly, as if he didn't know how to answer Leo. He looked at him with a sort of shifty gaze, like they conflicted often. It must have been my imagination, but he also had what looked like the vaguest trace of past fear, as if somehow this huge guy was once afraid of scrawny little Leo. But that was impossible. The guy was twice the size and over a whole head taller.
"Leo and Jo are visiting from Camp Halfblood," Hazel explained. "I've been showing Jo the camp".
"Cool," Frank said. "I was just working on repairing the damaged shields from the war games".
"Did you make all of this?" I asked, gesturing around the room.
Frank nodded, obviously proud.
"Frank is also the head of our war meetings," Hazel said. "Which reminds me of the last place we need to visit".
"Where?"
"I think I know," Leo said, smiling.
I looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
We walked deeper into the city, and I got more of a taste of just how many people lived here. There were teenagers, but there were also collage students and adults with children. I walked by an open air market and even saw an elderly couple sitting on a bench. It seemed so serene, something hard to come by if you're a demigod. I imagined living in a place like this; graduating collage, raising my own family with no worry of monsters or the end of the world. It seemed too good to be true, but yet that's what it seemed all these people where doing.
Soon we came upon a small white building, not far from the praetor's building, with marble columns and a big black door. Upon the door was etched the words:
Legatus fungantur
Somehow I had the vaguest understanding that that meant ambassador office.
Before I could walk in Leo grabbed my sleeve and said, "I need your help".
"Excuse me?" I said, turning around to him. He had a smile on his face, like he was hiding a joke.
"Before we go in, I need you to help me prepare a prank," he explained.
"Oh," I said. "Well why didn't you say so?"
Hazel sighed. "Couldn't we just walk in and have a normal greeting?"
Leo looked as if this suggestion were in another language. "What? But I have a reputation to uphold".
Hazel rolled her eyes and smiled.
Leo pulled me aside and said, his voice low, "Ok, you got any ideas?"
I shrugged. "Who are we pranking? I've gotta know so I can tell what level prank to pull".
"She's an old friend," he said "though she can be a little touchy, so we need to be careful".
I nodded. "Ok, I've got an idea". I told him.
Leo's eyes lit up. "Jo, you are a genius".
"I know," I said with a mischievous grin.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
I exchanged a look with Leo. "Ready?"
He nodded.
I turned to Hazel. "You know what to do?"
Hazel nodded.
"Ok," I said. "Go!"
Leo and I each ran to a marble column and using black suction cup-like gloves and shoes began to climb.
"Where did you get these things?" Leo asked.
I smiled. "You'd be surprised what you can find on the internet. Now no talking!"
We continued to climb and climb until we reached the top. When there, I took off one glove, reached in my pocket, and pulled out a small remote with a red button. I looked over at Leo and saw he had done the same. I looked down at Hazel, who was looking up at me for a signal, and nodded.
Hazel ran for the door, gave it a hard pound, and then ran behind a column. A few minutes later the door creaked slowly open and out came a girl. She was taller than me, but not too tall, with brown hair that lay in a messy disarray with tiny braids and feathers mixed in. Her skin was like a fresh cappuccino, and she was wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt. She seemed to be trying not to draw attention to herself, but it wasn't working. The girl was beautiful, like one of those model people on Tumblr.
"Hello?" she said, confused. "Is anyone there? Did someone knock?"
Leo and I exchanged a nod, and we pushed the buttons on our remotes.
Instantly the porch was enveloped in color and light and confusion. The girl gave a small scream of surprise, covering her head, though I didn't know how that could help. The buttons had triggered a series of firecrackers and confetti cannons, and speakers which blared One Direction's "That's what Makes you Beautiful". The display was enough to get the attention of everyone within a hundred yards, which being in the center of the city, was quite a lot.
When the scene quieted down, except for a soft encore of the song, the girl stood staring at the people watching her with eyes bigger than moons. Every eye was on her. After a few moments though, she got over her shock and said to everyone, "Well? What are you looking at? Go back to whatever you were doing before".
Surprisingly everyone obeyed. They acted as if the recent event had not even happened, and continued whatever they were doing before.
Leo jumped down from the column.
"Leo," the girl said. "I should've known it was you".
"Naturally," Leo said with a flourishing bow.
"That was awful of you," she said, trying to sound stern, but couldn't help but smile. "Gods, it's been so long".
Leo smiled. "I knew you missed me".
The girl rolled her eyes but smiled. "So how did you come up with this?"
"I had help," he said, looking up.
I jumped down from the column and landed with a small stumble. I faced the girl and said, "Hi. I'm Jo, the one who came up with the cause of your public humiliation".
The girl laughed. "I'm Piper, and I can see why your friends with Leo". I looked closer at the girl and noticed her eyes. They shifted color like a colidiscope; green, blue, purple, deep brown. It was a little hypnotizing.
"Piper is the official ambassador of New Rome," said Hazel, who was walking over to us. "She takes care of matters dealing with people getting along".
Piper blushed. "Well, it's not much to brag about".
Suddenly I heard a distant horn, and campers started heading out of the city.
"That's the signal for dinner," Piper said. "Come on".
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
The mess hall made me homesick.
It wasn't hardly anything like the one at Camp Halfblood, but it still reminded me of home. It was an open air mess, but the seating was completely different. Campers lounged on sofa-like seats, lying on their stomachs. The pavilion was at least three times as the one back home, and though I could pick out distinct groups, there were only five and the campers didn't look anything alike.
Leo and I sat at the fifth cluster of seats with Piper, Hazel, Frank, Jason, and Reyna. It was awkward lying on my stomach and trying to eat, but I leaned on my side and tried to ignore it. Suddenly a great gust of wind swept past out table and a grilled cheese sandwich and a strawberry milkshake appeared in front of me. I stared gaping at it. "How did it know my favorite…"
"The aurae," Hazel explained, lying down on the seat next to me. "Invisible wind spirits".
"So Jo," spoke up Piper and Jason, who was in the seat beside her laughed. "What?"
"It rhymes," he said, and when Piper rolled her eyes in a boys-are-so-stupid way it reminded me with a start of my first conversation with Annabeth and Percy. Gods, it seemed so long ago…
"How do you like the camp?" Piper asked.
"It's amazing," I said, and I probably sounded like a little kid, but I meant it. "How do you keep up with all of it?"
Jason laughed again. "We manage. How are things in Long Island?"
I hesitated for a mere second, but said, "Great. Percy and Annabeth say hi".
"Gods, I miss those guys," Jason said, and he looked as if remembering good times. "We haven't been able to see them in person since the war".
"The war…wait a minute," I said. "Frank, Piper, Jason, Hazel…those are all the names from the book in the library!"
Everyone looked at me strangely.
"What book?" Hazel asked.
My face turned red. "Never mind". But when I looked at Leo, he nodded in confirmation.
"Hey! Watch it fuan!" said a voice behind me. I looked and saw Grover trying to push through the crowd of people with a plate of enchiladas in his hand. He kept tripping and stepping on people's feet, muttering a bleat followed by a rushed "Sorry". Finally he made it to our table and sat on the other side of Leo.
"Hey," he said distantly, as if only vaguely aware of the people around him.
"Where've you been?" I asked.
"Grover's been trying to work out a small predicament," Jason explained. "He—" but when Grover shot him a warned look, he bailed on whatever he was going to say and instead muttered "Never mind".
"Jo," Reyna said, changing the subject "so do you have any questions about the camp?"
"Yeah," I said. "I'm confused about the cabins, and I just wanted to know. You know, they should really tell us these things. We should know more about our neighboring camp, right?"
Reyna showed a trace of a grim smile. "After the war of the giants, the two demigod camps have stopped fighting and formed an alliance, yes. But we're still trying to get things sorted out with this new friendship, and the distance between the two doesn't exactly help. There are still ancient grudges as old as time itself, and conflicts still arise from time to time. That's part of what Piper's here for".
Piper blushed. "It's really nothing. I just use the negotiation skills I've learned over the years…I don't even need to use charmspeak most of the time".
"As for the cohorts…there are five, and each is compromised of a number of chosen demigods, or legacies. That way, no one is alone without siblings".
I wondered how that must be. Living with so many people that looked out for you, even though they weren't related to you. Not being alone.
I spent the meal doing something I hadn't done in a long time; had fun. It had been so long since I had just sat down and ate and talked with nice people, it felt good. For a while I forgot about the quest, or my bad Luck, or my past, or even the impending apocalypse. Just for a moment, I felt what it was like to be a normal kid, enjoying a normal meal with friends. But of course, that came to an end.
I was laughing hysterically at a joke Hazel had cracked when a boy walked over from the first cohort table to the garbage can. I only glanced at him for a moment, and I forgot him immediately. I must have imagined that look on his face, as if he knew something that I was hiding from everyone else.
Piper was speaking to me. "So Jo, we were talking and realized we didn't know. Who's your godly parent?"
"Oh," I said, and a split second before I said it, I saw Grover's ears prick up. He looked at me with a panicked expression and wide eyes, as if pleading me not to tell, but by the time I got the message, it was too late. "My mom is Ate".
The whole table let out a gasp of horror in unison, as if I'd just announced something horrible. I looked at Leo, who looked just as confused as I was. Then my eyes drifted over to the boy I'd seen just a few minutes before, still throwing away his food. He was scrawny and pale, with hair like straw and a wicked grin. Our eyes met, and he smiled in a satisfactory way, as if he were delighted for this moment to happen.