This chapter is dedicated to Mermaids Forever because she shares a name with one of the last girls in real life.
Thank you to all who voted to help me with the ideas...
Review Responses Through Questions
Since when do Mcdonalds have frosties? (VyLenLayBBLY)
Because it's Tartarus and if they don't have frosties for him he will blow up their fast food restaurant with his powers and then put on sunglasses and watch the show, drinking soda.
Will the sea of monsters quest and titan's curse quest be used? (Pridewing Demigod)
No... the quests from camp (Zeus' bolt quest and the sea of monsters) was explained by Annabeth, Thalia, and Jillian in chapter 9, Hunters, Campers, and Prophecies. The titan's curse quest was explained in chapters 10-13 with Percy, Bianca, Imogene, and the others from camp.
Is that (Time Ago, Chapter 4) a real song? (Guest)
No, I was bored so I made it up.
ZoeisZbest- I'm not sure I'm following you...
Guest- Oh, I thought my story was kind of unique. But thank you for saying it nicely.
Disclaimer- All rights to respective owners. I changed Reyna's last name because it is way too long. I realize her initials are R.A.R.A. but I'm not going to copy and paste her name every time. I just realized as I was done writing the chapter that they had fought a hydra on the titan's curse quest too. Whoops.
On February third, at nine fifteen in the morning, the last children were sitting down to a late breakfast. The air in the room was just as tense as it was cold. For two days now, they had been waiting for the missions promised to come with feelings of anxiety, sadness, and excitement. Everyone, except for Imogene and Percy, had never left the Void and were waiting for the moment they got to go to earth. Percy and Imogene were waiting to return to camp so they could see Bianca and Nico. But they understood that once they left, some of them might not ever come back.
The loudspeaker system wired throughout the mansion crackled to life. Chaos' voice made them all tense up, waiting for the news. Silently, they took in the news. Alabaster, Holly, Paul, and Terra stood, leaving the room. It was nine sixteen as the door closed behind them.
For security purposes, only Chaos knew of all the missions. Even the other primordials and last children were not allowed to know where the others went or when they would return. Percy supposed it was for their own good, but it was so hard not knowing where his siblings were. Their mental connection had even been cut off, but they could still sense whether the others were alive.
The rest of February was uneventful, except for a half hearted Valentine's day exchange (nobody was in the mood). They had known that this would be their job their whole lives, but that didn't make it any easier to accept now that their siblings were gone, Percy supposed.
March fourteenth came with a week till their birthday, the twenty first. It didn't seem right celebrating it without their siblings there, but what was to come only made it worse.
Just before dinner, the sound of the loud speaker that had begun to sound like doom, had crackled to life. The ten of the last children froze with anxiety and fear, weapons almost falling out of their hands. This time, Max and Amy silently left the arena where they were training.
That night at dinner, two more places were left empty. Percy swore he saw a single tear trickle down Chaos' cheek.
Max and Amy, A few hours earlier
"Max, Amy, could you please come to my office?" The last children exchanged frantic glances. It always felt so sudden. Almost as if in a daze, Amy sheathed her weapons and followed Max out of the arena. Her legs seemed to move automatically. Her whole life, she had longed for this day with excitement. But now that it was here, Amy wasn't so sure she liked it.
They paused outside Chaos' door. Max touched her shoulder comfortingly and a look of understanding paused between them. With new courage, Amy pushed open the door.
Her mother, Ananke, rarely mentioned Chaos in the days before they were born, but when she did, his appearance was always depressing to hear about. A tired, slumped man, bent with worry. Amy thought that the man that sat in front of her now looked almost identical to the descriptions that Ananke had described.
Their father looked up as Max and Amy sat on the two chairs in front of his desk. His black and silver eyes had bags under them that no amount of sleep seemed to rid them of the exhaustion.
"Hello," He began. All they could do was nod wordlessly. "Yes, you will be sent on a mission. You will join the Roman legion at Camp Jupiter, near San Francisco. Gain their trust and try not to make any enemies, especially with children of the big three, praetors, or centurions. You may use your names Max and Amy and the last name of Last. Pack your bags with any necessities you think you will need for several months at camp. Be mindful that they must fit in your backpack though," Chaos waved his hand, dismissing them.
The two hurried out. "Well, that was brief," Amy stated. "Are all mission meetings that short?"
"Probably not," Max replied. "I just don't think our mission really has an objective. Imogene told me that she and Percy got a whole folder of information."
"So we have no idea what we are doing," Amy said before brightening. "At least we have less paperwork to read."
"Yeah," Max said as they separated, heading to their rooms to pack. Twelve minutes later, Amy was folding the last of her clothes she was putting in her backpack. She had grabbed a few changes of clothes with magical properties and some basic camping supplies. Her weapons were always on her and she could summon her armor. Grabbing her backpack, Amy stood and walked into the hallway. At the same time, Max was closing his door behind him.
As Amy headed down the hallway to join him, the shadows thicken, and out steps Erebus, in his pitch black suit that looks woven from darkness itself.
"I am to take you to the Wolf House, where Lupa will train and assess you until she deems you worthy of joining the legion," Erebus explained quickly, holding out his arm to take them. Though Ananke had told her children that Erebus had opened up more after his children were born, the god still did not say much more than necessary. Amy grabbed his arm just after Max. The shadows enveloped them and they disappeared from sight. Chaos had taught them many things, but he refused to teach them how to transport from planet to planet until they visited earth for the first time.
The shadows swirled around until they cleared, revealing a serene looking green forest with tall trees towering over them. Through the thick canopy of leaves far above, a weak afternoon sunlight was filtering through. Amy paused to zip up her purple jacket before drawing out one of her knives. One can never be too careful in the woods. Max had dropped to a crouched position once they had arrived, hand pressed firmly against the ground and head tilted like he was listening for something.
Which he was listening for something or rather sensing it. He and the other children of Gaia, or Terra now that they were in the Roman territory, could feel the vibrations through the earth and determine where things were placed. After another long pause, Max turned to Amy.
"We're in Sonoma Valley, about two miles from the Wolf house. It will get dark soon though, maybe in an hour," Max said.
Amy nodded before clipping the front buckles of her backpack. "Let's get going, shall we?"
The woods were peacefully quiet as the two headed in the direction of the Wolf House. A few birds chirped in the trees while a raven cackled nearby. As they passed an old stump, Amy asked the question on both their minds.
"What do we tell Lupa?" Amy asked Max as he put his sneaker on the stump to tie his shoe. He knotted the lace quickly before standing upright.
"Well, we could knock ourselves out and make it look like monsters attacked us," Max suggested. "Then she would explain things to us."
Amy thought before speaking. "We could say that one of the Olympians appeared to us."
"Yeah, that would be a likely story," Max scoffed. "We could act dumb."
"Would it be hard?" Amy asked, teasing him, her tone light.
Max stuck his tongue out at her, adjusting his backpack. "I say we tell her that we were backpacking with our mother's family and heard a male's voice, directing us to the Wolf House."
"I guess that could work," Amy said. The two slowed their stride to a meandering pace as they entered a clearing with a impressive stone building in the center. A path that must have once been a paved driveway had reduced to crumbled pieces of stone.
They exchanged glances before stepping over the threshold of the house together.
Two Weeks Later
Amy scanned her surroundings. From Percy's stories of earth, she could see why he called San Francisco beautiful. To her left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods, and a few herds of cows. And on the right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west—a vast checkerboard of neighborhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning interrupted by a mythological monsters appearance along with other nasty things like swords, demigods, and Romans.
Farther west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a wall of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Now, if only Max could get here soon before the monster chasing her caught up. Amy could have turned around and beaten the sphinx chasing her, but Lupa's last instructions before she sent Amy away rang in her ears.
Go south. If you succeed, you will find sanctuary in the Roman Camp. Your brother must travel his own path, but be warned. Wait for him atop the hill. You will know which one I speak of when you reach it.
Also Amy knew that if she were to gain the Roman's trust and respect, she would have to prove herself by defeating the monster in front of the guards that were always stationed at the Caldecott Tunnel.
The wind changed. Amy closed her eyes, letting the weak winter sunshine bathe her face as she could sense Max drawing closer and closer. Then, another scent caught her nose, an acidic citrus smell mixed with cat breath. Yuck. The hydra must be chasing Max along with the sphinx stalking her.
Speaking of her brother, the bushes quivered and out ran Max. His face had a few scratches from scrambling through the brambles and one of his pant legs was burned from hydra fire, but other than that he seemed fine.
He slid to a halt next to Amy, taking in the view around him simultaneously with their situation. "Hey," Max said, as if they were meeting for lunch.
"Hi," She replied, never taking her eyes of the traffic streaming out of the tunnel below them. "The hydra?"
"Yeah, sphinx after you?" Max asked before Amy nodded. " So are we just waiting for them to catch up?"
"Basically," Amy explained her plan to him. "We have to defeat the monsters in front of the guards and we can't look like we're running slow on purpose."
"So you'll use your magical windy powers or I'll make a ramp for us to get down there once they arrive?" Max finished.
"Exactly. Granola bar?" Amy offered her brother. They crunched on their snacks as they waited.
About five minutes later, the forest began shaking with a powerful force as if an extremely large monster was making their way through the trees, which there was. Max jumped to his feet as Amy secured her backpack with the buckled straps. They gripped each other's hands as Amy silently counted down, Five, four, three, two, one...
The trees erupted, spitting forth a hissing, spitting monster with twelve heads. Its beady eyes locked on Max as a growl emitted from its throat.
"Almost..." Amy said. A lithe tan blur leapt from the trees to land next to the Hydra. The sphinx had arrived.
"Now, Amy!" Max yelled. Without having to be told twice, they jumped off of the edge of the steep slope. The ground whizzed beneath their feet as Amy kept them from tumbling down the slope, but made it look like sliding from the distance. She glanced briefly up the hill as they raced down the slope. The sphinx was springing swiftly from rock to rock down the slope, the hydra not far behind. Glancing east, Amy could now clearly see the highway cutting through the base of the cliff. Two tunnel entrances, one for each direction of traffic, loomed down at them like eye sockets of a giant skull. In the middle, where the nose would have been, a cement wall jutted from the hillside, with a metal door. Amy knew that that door was the entrance to camp.
Standing in front of the door were two kids in armor, a mix of helmets, breastplates, scabbards, and modern guard looked female, while the other looked male, but with the armor, it was difficult to tell for sure. They held long wooden staffs with iron spear tips, like old-fashioned harpoons.
Amy's feet hit the flat ground as she began running. Max checked behind them as she pulled them across the first two lanes of traffic. The sphinx had just reached the line of traffic when the hydra blasted fiery acid, making the oncoming cars screech to a halt. Max and Amy ducked as the fire whooshed past them. The sphinx lept over the lanes of halted traffic with ease while hydra picked its way across the burned path.
The two children of Chaos began sprinting up the steep slope that led to the entrance to camp. The guard on the right, the feminine one, raised her bow and fired an arrow at the sphinx.
"That will only make her mad," Max muttered. Sure enough, the sphinx swatted the arrow away with a paw and roared. Just as the two monsters were about to overtake them, Max tripped (Amy believed it was on purpose though). Spinning around, Amy drew her sword, ready to battle the Sphinx. The guards on the hill yelled something incomprehensible as Max climbed to his feet, staff already in hand.
The sphinx leapt at Amy. She swung her sword at the monster, but the sphinx was evidently as fast as it was smart. The lion woman went in for a bite on Amy's back leg, but a golden arrow pierced the cat's tail. Roaring in pain, the sphinx reared back, giving Amy the chance to stab her in the chest, dissolving the monster into a golden dust. Amy turned towards the girl on the hill, giving her the nod of thanks before looking to the hydra and Max.
Thank the gods they had their backpacks. Max had found his box of matches and had a torch that he was using to cauterize the stumps of the hydra after he cut them. The male guard was distracting the hydra, weaving in and out between the hydra's scaly legs, occasionally making cuts on the thick hide. The boy was a very skilled fighter to be playing such a dangerous game. When only one head remained, the boy plunged his sword deep into the hydra's heart as Max burned off the last head. The monster dissolved.
Max turned immediately and walked over to Amy, the other boy following behind.
"You okay?" He asked kindly.
"Yeah," Was all Amy could manage before the guard reached them.
"Come on, we need to get you inside camp before more monsters or the mortal police show up," The boy said as he walked up the hill. They followed. At the top of the hill, the girl was waiting for them.
"Are you okay Eli?" She questioned before turning to Amy and Max.
"We need to get them inside, Gwen," Eli replied before facing them. "We'll explain everything once we're inside," He promised as he held open the maintenance door.
Gwen, the female guard, went first with an extra torch. At first, the tunnel looked like a typical maintenance tunnel, with electric cables, warning signs, and fuse boxes on the walls, light bulbs in wire cages along the ceiling. As they got deeper into the hillside, the cement floor changed to tiled mosaic. The lights changed to reed torches, which burned but didn't smoke. A few hundred yards ahead, Amy saw a square of daylight.
"Welcome to Camp Jupiter," Gwen said.
Spread out at their feet was a bowl-shaped valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. A small clear rivercut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G.
The geography could've been anywhere in northern California—live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills and blue skies. Mount Diablo rose in the distance, right where it should be.
In the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was a small city of white marble buildings with red-tiled roofs. Some had domes and columned porticoes, like national monuments. Others looked like palaces, with golden doors and large gardens. Amy could see an open plaza with freestanding columns, fountains, and statues. A five-story-tall Roman coliseum gleamed in the sun, next to a long oval arena like a racetrack.
Across the lake to the south, another hill was dotted with impressive looking temples. Several stone bridges crossed the river as it wound through the valley, and in the north, a long line of brickwork arches stretched from the hills into the town. An aqueduct crisscrossed the valley, bringing water everywhere.
About two hundred yards away, just across the river, was some sort of military encampment. It was about a quarter mile square, with earthen ramparts on all four sides, the tops lined with sharpened spikes. Outside the walls ran a dry moat, also studded with spikes. Wooden watchtowers rose at each corner, manned by sentries with oversized, mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from the towers. A wide gateway opened on the far side of camp, leading toward the city. A narrower gate stood closed on the riverbank side. Inside, the fortress bustled with activity: dozens of kids going to and from barracks, carrying weapons, polishing armor.
Gwen and Eli lead them down a worn path to a bridge theatcrossed the Little Tiber. A set of horns blew across the valley as the doors to the military fort swung open. Out marched a neat formation of soldiers in golden armor. The troop as someone called a order. From the back of the lines, a girl with braided dirty blond hair swept forward, her purple cape billowing out behind her. She was obviously one of the praetors with the authority that she carried herself. Trailing behind her was a younger girl with dark brown hair.
The praetors hazel eyes swept the situation, taking in the details and seeming to understand what was going on.
"Centurion Cadrin, please bring the new recruits to the Principia. Gwen, you may return to your barracks. The rest of you, back to your normal duties," The praetor instructed as the crowd dispersed. She turned to the younger girl standing a pace behind her. "Reyna, you should come too. It will be good practice for you."
With that, the praetor swept off, Reyna following behind her.
Eli's eyes looked filled with an emotion that Amy couldn't put her finger on. "Come on, the praetors don't like waiting.
The streets were filled with ghosts.
Shimmering purple warriors stood outside the armory, polishing ethereal swords. Others hung out in front of the barracks. A ghostly boy chased a ghostly dog down the street. And at the stables, a big glowing red dude with the head of a wolf guarded a herd of unicorns.
"Those are Lares," Eli pointed out as they walked. "The House Gods.
"You mean like the ancestral spirit house gods?" Max asked.
Eli pulled off his helmet, revealing his brown hair cut military style. His river blue eyes turned to examine them more closely. "Yeah, the Lares are kind of like mascots."
They stopped at the center of camp, where two wide stone-paved roads met at a T. A street sign labeled the road to the main gates as via praetoria. The other road, cutting across the middle of camp, was labeled via principalis. Under those markers were hand-painted signs like Berkeley 5 miles; NEW ROME 1 MILE; OLD ROME 7280 MILES; HADES 2310 MILES (pointing straight down); RENO 208 MILES, AND CERTAIN DEATH: YOU ARE HERE!
For certain death, the place looked pretty clean and orderly. The buildings were freshly whitewashed, laid out in neat grids like the camp had been designed by a fussy math teacher. The barracks had shady porches, where campers lounged in hammocks or played cards and drank sodas. Each dorm had a different collection of banners out front displaying Roman numerals and various animals—eagle, bear, wolf, horse, and something that looked like a hamster.
Along the Via Praetoria, rows of shops advertised food, armor, weapons, coffee, gladiator equipment, and toga rentals. A chariot dealership had a big advertisement out front: CAESAR XLS W/ANTILOCK BRAKES, NO DENARII DOWN!
At one corner of the crossroads stood the most impressive building—a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank. Roman guards stood out front. Over the doorway hung a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.
"The headquarters, called the Principia," Eli informed them before they entered.
The principia was even more impressive inside. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf. The floor was polished marble. The walls were draped in velvet. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals. In the center was one empty display stand, as if the main banner had been taken down for cleaning or something.
In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans, which seemed kind of out of place. Two life-sized statues of greyhounds—one silver, one gold—flanked the table.
A burly looking guy, who was maybe in his early twenties, examined them closely with his crimson eyes as they entered. From the way he held himself, the badges adorning his purple cape, and the chair he sat in with such power, it was obviously that he too was a praetor. The female praetor took a seat beside him while Reyna took a seat on the side of the table. For a long pause, no one spoke.
"Welcome to Camp Jupiter," The burly guy said in a voice that didn't sound very welcoming at all. "I am David, son of Mars, and one of the praetors here at Camp Jupiter. This is my ... colleague," David faltered a bit on the word colleague. The tension in the room was clear. "Cassandra, daughter of Mercury. And her trainee, Reyna Farley, daughter of Bellona. Now, tell us, why have you come? And don't lie. They-" He gestured to the dogs, "don't like liars."
They introduced themselves before Max began to tell how they had stumbled upon the Wolf House and were trained by Lupa until she believed they were ready to join the legion. Eli took the story over once he reached the part about the monster attack outside of the tunnel.
"They seek to join the legion," Eli finished.
Cassandra's scanned over them, but not as critically as David's did. She tilted her chin in a way that looked like she was considering.
"How old are you?" She asked.
"Thirteen," They replied together.
"Just about recruit age," David added.
"Twins?" Cassandra raised her eyebrows.
"Yes M'am," They said.
"Reyna, what do you think we should do?" Cassandra looked to the dark haired girl.
Reyna lifted her black eyes to study them. "I think we should send them to the augur. If the gods will it, then they can fight in the arena tomorrow."
Cassandra nodded. "Eli, take them to Randy and Octavian."
On the way out of camp, Eli bought them each an espresso drink and a cherry muffin from Bombilo the two-headed coffee merchant.
As they ate the muffins, 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.
"Bath house," Eli said. "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath."
As they approached the front gate, the barracks got bigger and nicer. Even the ghosts looked better—with fancier armor and shinier auras.
Eli noticed them reading the banners. "We're divided into cohorts," He offered. "There are five cohorts of about forty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten—like roommates, kind of, with about two hundred kids in camp."
"If all of them are children of the gods, then the gods have been busy," Amy said.
Eli 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. Like the camp augur we're going to meet. His grandpa was Apollo."
They nodded in understanding. "So the divisions," Max asked, "the cohorts, are the numbers anything to the rank?"
Eli scowled. "The first is supposed to be the best, with the superiority and rank getting less and less as you go down to five."
"Why are you in the fifth then?" Amy asked. "You seemed pretty good out there with the hydra."
"I was three when I first made it to Camp Jupiter," The two looked at Eli in shock. "Legion rules say that once you are in Camp for one year, you have to fight in the arena if you ever want to join the Legion."
"Wait, what's the fight in the arena?" Amy questioned.
"Well, you start fighting the fifth cohorts centurions and with everyone you beat, you get to fight against the next cohort's centurions all the way up to the praetor, but nobody ever makes it that far. When you lose to a centurion, you can join every cohort that you beat the centurion of. Also, someone has to stand for you in that cohort. Or if a cohort above accepts you, you can join that cohort."
"Did they let you fight later?"
"No," Eli said. "As a four year old, I couldn't beat any of the older centurions. And with my godly parentage, no one wanted to take me into a higher Cohort."
"Who is your godly parent?" Max said.
"Neptune, god of the sea and rivers. The Romans fear the water."
"So you're not the most popular guy?" Amy concluded.
Eli nodded. "Time to get to Temple hill," He pointed to where dark clouds were gathering over a hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-colored light.
They walked up the winding path of Temple Hill. Statues of gods seemed to follow them with their eyes.
Eli 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.
"Looks like a party place in there," Max joked.
Eli chuckled "That's the Temple of Mars Ultor, David's dad. That's the temple of Jupiter," He pointed toward the summit. Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof.
"Looks like its the best and the greatest," Amy said.
"Yeah," Eli agreed. "Especially compared to Neptune's."
A small blue building was tucked far off of the main path. Nailed above the door was a cobweb-covered trident. As thunder rumbled above them and red lightning lit up the hill, Eli quickened his pace.
"We need to get their before Randy and Octavian finish. Or else you can't fight in the arena tomorrow."
The temple of Jupiter was huge. The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind.
In the center stood a marble altar, where a kid in a toga was doing some sort of ritual in front of a massive golden statue of the big dude himself: Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt.
The kid at the altar raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.
A pretty impressive trick, considering the kid didn't look like much. He was tall and skinny, with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a drooping toga. He looked like a scarecrow wearing a bed sheet.
A man leaning against the nearby wall in a better fitting toga stood up as the boy finished. "Very good Octavian. Now all you must do is perfect the reading and you will be ready to take over in June. And here is a chance for you to practice."
They turned. The older man had graying blond hair and blue eyes with crinkles around them. The younger boy had a crooked smile and a slightly crazy look in his eyes, like he'd just been playing an intense video game. In one hand he held a knife. In the other hand was something like a dead animal. That didn't make him look any less crazy. The two looked so similar that the older man had to be the boy's father.
"Guys," Eli said, "this is Randy and his son Octavian."
"The siblings!" Octavian announced. "You seek to join the legion?"
Eli spoke for them. He told Octavian everything that had happened since they met at the tunnel—the fight with the monsters and their conversation with the praetors.
When he finished, Randy nodded to Octavian. "Go ahead, read the augury."
The augur in training grabbed a stuffed animal from the base of Jupiter's statue. Octavian slashed open the panda's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the panda carcass aside, and muttered a few words over the fluff. Randy stepped up next to Octavian, checking his son's work.
"Good news!" he said. "They may join the legion. They can fight in the arena tomorrow. Tell Cassie that I approve."
Eli thanked them as they left the temple and headed back towards the Camp.
"So what's with all of these interns?" Amy asked.
"Oh, you mean Reyna and Octavian? There are positions that need to be filled in the legion: praetors, centuries, augurs, senators, and standard bearers. Originally in Rome, everything had to be done by election. Then the old emperors realized that in times of war, there needed to be a way to informally appoint someone. For the praetors, the person must be raised on a shield after a major battle. Senators must be voted except for extreme emergencies. Centurions and standard bearers are sworn in at a Senate meeting. All of this boils down to Cassie wanting to not be praetor anymore. The voting for the feast of Fortuna had passed, so they voted at the feast of Spes to have Reyna train with Cassie until the next Feast of Fortuna when she can be elected."
"Let me get this straight: Reyna is training to be a praetor, but she isn't officially elected yet," Amy deduced.
"Exactly."
"So somebody else could still be elected instead, right?"
"That's correct."
"You should run. You're a good fighter and you seem like you would be a good leader."
Eli shook his head and sighed. "I wish it were that simple. I'm a son of Neptune, an automatic bad luck charm. Plus I'm from the fifth cohort. That's a disaster waiting to happen. If anyone beats Reyna, it will be Jason, if he decides to run."
"Who's Jason?" Max asked.
"Jason Grace is a son of Jupiter. He's the centurion of the first cohort. He came when he was about eight," Eli explained.
"So you're telling me that a little eight year old beat a bunch of older centurions?"
"No, he came close to beating the fifth cohort's centurions, but during one of his battles he called down a huge lightning strike, that made every cohort clammer to have him."
"Oh, what about Octavian and Randy?" Amy inquired.
"Octavian's dad, Randy decided he was getting too old to be an augur. Octavian was the only eligible one on the ballot, so his dad will train him for a year before he is sworn in," Eli finished as they reached the gates.
Eli turned toward them. "There is about fifteen minutes until evening muster before dinner. Since you aren't in a cohort yet, you'll have to sit over here," He lead them to a low brick wall where they could watch the whole legion before Eli left to converse with Gwen, the fifth's other centurion. The legionnaires began to file into their places.
The first four cohorts, each forty kids strong, stood in rows in front of their barracks on either side of the Via Praetoria. The Fifth Cohort assembled at the very end, in front of the principia, since their barracks were tucked in the back corner of camp next to the stables and the latrines.
The campers were dressed for war. Their polished chain mail and greaves gleamed over purple T-shirts and jeans. Sword-and-skull designs decorated their helmets. Even their leather combat boots looked ferocious with their iron cleats, great for marching through mud or stomping on faces.
In front of the legionnaires, like a line of giant dominoes, stood their red and gold shields, each the size of a refrigerator door. Every legionnaire carried a harpoon like spear called a pilum, a gladius, a dagger, and about a hundred pounds of other equipment.
David and Cassie stood board straight in front of the legion, Reyna beside Cassie. Their eyes watched all as the centurions finished the roll call.
The Lares were the last ones to fall in. Their purple forms flickered as they jockeyed for places. They had an annoying habit of standing halfway inside living people, so that the ranks looked like a blurry photograph, but finally the centurions got them sorted out.
David shouted, "Colors!"
The standard-bearers stepped forward. They wore lion-skin capes and held poles decorated with each cohort's emblems. The last to present his standard was the legion's eagle bearer. He held a long pole with absolutely nothing on top. The job was supposed to be a big honor, but he obviously hated it. Even though David and Cassie insisted on following tradition, embarrassment rippled through the crowd when it was raised.
"Romans!" Cassie announced. "You've probably heard about the arrival of these two today. A sphinx and a hydra were killed by Max and Amy Last as they were entering camp."
The kids in the back rows craned their necks to see them sitting on the wall.
"They seeks to join the legion," Cassie continued. "What do the auguries say?"
"I have read the entrails!" Octavian announced, as if he'd killed a lion with his bare hands rather than ripping up a stuffed panda pillow. "The auguries are favorable. He is qualified to serve!"
The campers gave a shout: "Ave!" Hail!
Cassie nodded at them. "Congratulations, Max and Amy Last. Tomorrow you will fight in the arena and if a cohort will accept you, you will be placed 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 rest of the legion echoed the cheer.
"Centurions," David said, "you and your troops have one hour for dinner. Then you will have the rest of the night off!"
A bigger cheer went up—for the free time and for dinner. The cohorts broke ranks and ran for the mess hall.
The camp food was excellent. Invisible wind spirits—aurae—waited on the campers and seemed to know exactly what everyone wanted. They blew plates and cups around so quickly, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane.
A blonde haired boy came over to join them as they ordered their food. A breeze swept a plate with steak to Eli while another dropped a bowl of soup next to Gwen. A boy with curly black hair and slightly crooked eyes, Dakota, a son of Bacchus, Eli had said, stirred sugar into his drink. Amy got waffles with whipped cream as Max dug into his pasta.
The blonde haired boy dropped into a couch next to Dakota and a wind spirit brought him a cheeseburger.
"Hey Jason, this is Max and Amy," Gwen introduced them. "This is Jason Grace, son of Jupiter."
Amy's eyes flicked up to the blue eyed boy. Another child of the big three, another one who can save or destroy the world.
"You make it sound like it is the best thing on Olympus," Jason said.
"It's better than being hated for your parentage," Eli muttered.
"So how did you guys get to camp?" Max quickly intervened.
"Bacchus dropped me off at the Wolf House three years ago when I was eleven," Dakota explained.
Gwen sighed. "I was ten when I saw the mark of a sun on a tree. I kept seeing them until I followed the path to the Wolf House.
"You guys are both fourteen?" Amy asked. They nodded in response. Just then Reyna got up from the praetor's table and made her way over to their table. She sat beside Eli as a breeze floated a plate of fruit next to her.
"Did they give you a night off too?" Eli asked Reyna.
"Yeah, they thought I did an okay job with handling the new recruits, so no more work until tomorrow at the arena," She replied.
"How did you find the Wolf House?" Amy asked Jason.
"I was almost six when my older sister and I ran away. Then one morning I woke up and she was no where to be found. I travelled around on my own till I reached Lupa and her pack. They trained me until I was eight and ready to join the legion," Jason explained.
Reyna's dark eyes looked a little sad as she thought about her past. "I came to camp Jupiter last July," She said shortly before pressing her lips together tightly. It was clear she didn't want to talk about it.
After dinner finished, Gwen took them to the guest barracks where Max and Amy spent the rest of the night. According to everyone at dinner, they would need the rest for tomorrow so the children of Chaos took advantage of their extra time to sleep.
The next morning, Max and Amy briefly discussed their strategy for which cohort they should be in before heading to breakfast. In the dining hall, everyone was chattery and excited. For the legion, it meant an afternoon of watching exciting fights, eating popcorn, and not working very hard. For the two children of Chaos, it meant making the decisions of which centurions to beat and the ones to lose to.
As breakfast was finishing up, Reyna came over to them and informed them that they had the morning off to do as they pleased, but they should be in the arena before eleven thirty as the fights began after lunch, at one. The siblings spent the morning wandering New Rome and overlooking the valley at vantage point gardens. At eleven, they entered a sandwich shop and exited with lunch and ten denarii less. Small signs showed the way to the catacombs under the coliseum while bold signs advertised popcorn, cotton candy, self repairing armor for fighting, and directions to the spectator stands. The catacombs were furnished with purple hard backed chairs while a spiral staircase led up to the arena. A station with spare medical supplies and water stood next to a last minute weapon sharpening table. Hank, a third cohort centurion, entered the catacombs as the siblings finished their lunch. He explained the rules of the fight to them before leaving.
Max and Amy waited in silence for their names to be called. After what seemed like forever, Max's name was called. Amy bade her brother good luck as he ascended the stairs. Then she was left to wait alone as the crowd cheered and booed above her.
Finally her name was called. Legs trembling, she climbed the stairs.
The bright lights of the arena was a blinding change to the dark rooms underneath the coliseum. It seemed as if the legion and all of New Rome was there. From the emperor's dais, David stood and a hush fell over the crowd.
"Let the trials begin!" He called.
It was time to fight the first centurions.
So how did you like the chapter? Don't forget; there's a poll on my profile with all of the new characters added in.
Can you guys do me a huge favor? I have a friend, TheGooseMaster, who's going through some rough water. Could you all read his stories (they're AMAZING!) and give him a giant review hug? Thanks it would mean a lot to both of us.
Remember to review and read TheGooseMaster's stories!
Thanks!
~Snow Wolfe6631~
P.S.- Expect maybe a christmas update.