"Do we tell her now? Let her grow up knowing? Or do we wait?"
"We attract enough monsters as it is. If she knows, she'll only attract more. We need to keep her from this much as possible."
"But of we lie to her, won't she hate us?"
"I don't know. Maybe. But I would rather not tell her at all."
"We can't. She'll find out eventually."
"So when do we tell her?"
"Fifteen. We tell her when she's fifteen."
"Okay. We tell her when she's fifteen."
Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters from the Percy Jackson series or any of the stories from it. I do own the characters I create, the plot of this story, and the story itself though. Please do not steal them.
"What the crap?" I stare at the beast. It has the upper body of a bull and the lower body of a man. A name from Mom's book on Greek mythology pops into my head. Minotaur. Right. How do I kill this thing? I ask myself. It's horn. If the Minotaur can be hurt by anything, it's bound to be by its own horn. I jump in front of a tree, partially grateful that I'm wearing a red shirt. The bull charges, but I jump out of the way just in time. It's horn gets stuck the bark and rips off. I pull it out and when the monster charges again, I point the horn at it. It runs into the horn and dissolves into yellow dust. I wipe some of my jeans and pick up the horn.
"That was weird, right?" I head home. When I get there, I go straight to the room and stick the horn in my dresser. I grab out the journal I found in Mom's room. It looks like it is made of green snakeskin. I open it. Most of the pages have been torn out, but the first entry left seems to be the first entry period. I read through it, and suddenly, my day doesn't seem that far fetched. The last part of entry is the writer asking a little girl her name. Her response makes me stop.
"What's your name?" I ask her.
"Annabeth."
I stare at the name. I've heard it countless times. Because it's my mother's name.
"Maya?" Mom calls. I don't respond at first. She walks into my room and sees the journal.
"Is it true?" I demand.
"That?"
"Yes. This journal. Is it true."
"Percy!" Mom screams. Dad runs in. Get this. He's holding a sword.
"Dad. Mom. What aren't you telling me?"
"You are a lot like your mother. Annabeth I thought left that at camp," Dad whispers the last part.
"Camp?" I raise an eyebrow. "The camp you go to every summer but refuse to take me to? That camp?"
"Maya, there's something your mother and I need to tell you. Go ahead Annabeth," Dad looks at Mom expectantly. She looks at him add if to say really? and turns to me.
"Maya, you remember the Greek mythology I've had you learn? Well, is real. All of it."
"And Dad is a son of Poseidon and you're a daughter of Athena?"
"Um, yeah, actually. How'd you know?"
"Please. If Greek mythology is real, then the gods are likely to do the same things they used to do. Come to earth and have half god half mortal kids, like Jason and Perseus. Oh my gosh, Dad you were named after Perseus."
"Yes I was. Back to how you knew who or parents are."
"Please. I've met Grandpa, so Mom had to have a goddess for her mom. Only one goddess had grey eyes. Athena. And Dad, I've seen you explode the plumbing when you're mad."
"Okay for the record," he says after seeing Mom's face, "I did not know anytime was there, and I wasn't mad. I was having a bad dream."
"Never mind, I understand now. But seriously, you've got to learn to control that."
"Yes. I know."
"Percy? Annabeth!" A familiar voice calls from downstairs.
"This discussion is not over," Mom gives me a pointed look and leaves. Dad follows her. "Hey Jason."
Jason Grace is one of Mom and Dad's best friends. "Hey. I have no idea what to do. Mason knows."
"So does Maya. How's Piper?"
"Attempting to convince Mason he's imagining the hellhound that just attacked him."
"At least Maya's never been attacked," Dad says. I snort.
"Consider yourselves lucky. You tell Maya?"
"Never. Well, not willingly."
"I find that hard to believe coming from a genius strategist and a guy who can control water."
"She found Luke's journal," Mom says.
"I thought you left that with Chiron."
"I sorta took it back."
"Why? He betrayed you."
"Oh! Hi Mr. Jackson, Mrs. Jackson," another voice says. I grin.
"Luke. Hi. Maya's inside," Mom says. I sit on my bed.
"Hey Maya."
"Sup Luke," I wave him in. Luke is my friend from school. This may sound ridiculous, but I take some college classes.
"Oh my gods. How did I not see it before?" Mom exclaims. I can almost hear Dad and Jason's confused looks. "Eighteen years ago, Luke opted for rebirth. Now there's an eighteen year old who looks exactly like him minus the scar whose name is Luke. Do the math."
"You don't think..." Dad trails off. "I'm gonna kill him."
"Percy no!"
"Annabeth, he hurt you. He betrayed all of us and let Kronos take over his body and-"
"Stop. Talking. He wouldn't remember any of that, because of the Lethe. This Luke, is not the same Luke who betrayed us. That Luke had an insane mother, a terrible childhood, and am evil Titan whispering in his ear. Currently, said evil Titan has practically been wiped from existence."
"Annabeth-"
"No. You're not going to kill an innocent kid for something he did in a different life. Twenty years ago."
"Fine. But if he so much as hurts one hair on my baby's head, I will break him."
"At which point you will be arrests for assault and possibly murder. Unless he turns into an evil maniac, you won't touch him."
I snicker at my parents bickering. Dad never wins these arguments. Luke looks stoney faced.
"What?" I ask.
"If your mom is right, and I am evil, then I can't be around you."
"What? Luke, that's not you. You're Luke Wells, a.k.a., my best friend."
"But Maya-"
"No buts. Now I have something to show you," I pull out the Minotaur horn.
"Woah. Where'd you get that?"
"Off the giant monster that attacked me no more than fifteen minutes ago."
"And you're not trembling with fear and insanity."
"It will probably hit me tonight when I go to bed."
"Whatever Jackson," Luke pulls out a textbook.
"You're seriously going to study after finding out that Greek mythology is real, my parents are demigods, and you died."
"Um, I didn't know about either of the first two things but yes. We have a biology test in two weeks."
"Which I will ace because first off, I ace ask my tests, and second of all, anything to do with water is a piece of pie."
"I still don't get why you say a piece of pie rather than a piece of cake."
"Because I hate cake."
"Again. I still don't get why."
"There's a lot you don't get Luke."
"Shut up."
"Make me."
"After hearing what your dad said, no thanks. But can you please help me study now?"
"Whatever," I take the textbook from him. "what's the difference between a porpoise and a dolphin?"
"One has a noise and the other doesn't?"
"Yes. And?"
"One is a species of the other?"
"No."
"Try something else."
"Kelp versus seaweed."
"Kelp has roots. Seaweed floats?"
"Kelp is a group of single celled organisms that work together to survive. No roots. Just specialized parts of the bottom cells that are made to grip a rock or something. Seaweed is an actual plant. When a patch gets big enough, it can no longer withstand the currents and gets ripped from the sea floor. It floats to the surface where it becomes a home for crabs, fish, and turtles, and their safe haven from sharks and whales."
"Yeah you're going to ace this. And I'm going to fail this."
"Luke, out," Dad walks in.
"Dad," I protest, "Luke's fine. He's not going to hurt me. Like mom said, he's not an evil maniac."
"You heard all that?"
"Yes we did. And like is currently terrified of you."
"With good reason. Out. Now," Dad glares Luke, who takes back his textbook and leaves.
"You're annoying," I slam my door in Dad's face.
"Maya Elizabeth Jackson, open this door!"
"Why? So you can lie and accuse my friends of being evil some more?" I shout.
"Maya, you have to the count of three," Mom says calmly. I open the door. You never want to see Mom when she's at three.
"What?"
"What is that?" She looks over my shoulder at the horn.
"Just the horn of a monster that attacked me earlier. It was the Minotaur, but hey, no biggie."
"So that's how you knew."
"It certainly clued me in. You guys have been lying to me for fourteen years?"
"More like not telling you everything but yes," Dad says.
"I'm exhausted. So why don't I go to bed early while you two do whatever the heck it is you do add demigods," I shut my door and crawl into bed. About an hour later, they finally stop knocking. I look at my alarm clock. Seven thirty. I grab my backpack and stuff an extra T-shirt, some granola bars, a water bottle, and some cash. I add the journal and horn. Then I take out the horn and tie it to my waist. I wait until it hits ten o'clock and then I climb out of my window.
DISCLAIMER- I OWN NONE OF THE CHARACTERS OR REFERENCES TO THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND CHARACTERS THAT I CREATE FOR THIS SPECIFIC STORY.
Percy knocks on the door. "Maya? It's Dad. Can you let me in? Please? We need to talk about last night." He waits a few minutes and knocks again. Percy opens the door and sees the window. And the rope hanging down from it. "Annabeth!" He screams. "Annabeth get in here!"
"What's wrong Perc- oh gods no. Percy, where is she?"
"I'm starting to think we should have told her from the beginning and not have decided to wait until she's fifteen."
"I have got to agree with you. I'm going to call the others, you go in the pool and scream so you don't blow out the plumbing."
Percy nods and goes to the back yard. Annabeth looks out the window and winces as all the water in the pool erupts as if from a volcano. She pulls out her cellphone and calls Jason and Piper.
"Hello?"
"Gods. Jason, she's gone. She ran away. Maya's gone."
"So is Mason. I was hoping you were him."
"What? I'll call Leo. You call Hazel and then get over here ASAP."
"You got it," Jason hangs up. Annabeth punches in another number.
"Hey Annabeth," a female voice answers.
"Calypso? Is that you?"
"The one and only. What's up?"
"Maya's missing."
"I'll tell Leo and Cooper. We'll be over right away. Leo!... What?... No!"
"Calypso?"
"Leo says Cooper's gone."
"I'm calling Nico. You guys just get over here," Annabeth hangs up. It is the same story from him. And Reyna. Soon, the whole gang is in Percy and Annabeth's living room, under much less happy circumstances than the last time they'd all been together, which had been at camp.
Nico di Angelo and Reyna Ramirez-Arellano had both married mortals, so their spouses aren't there. Leo and Calypso Valdez stand together on the brick of the fireplace in case Leo accidentally bursts into flames. Jason and Piper Grace sit on the couch. Hazel Zhang paces behind them, leaving a wake of precious gems in her wake. Her husband, Frank, keeps changing shapes from bulldog into calico cat, almost like the dog and cat versions of him were fighting. Thalia Grace, Jason's sister, repeatedly shoots arrows into the floor. Percy and Annabeth sit together on the opposite side of the room from the kitchen and bathroom.
"You know what, we need to quit panicking. How many of us ran away when we were kids?" Leo, Annabeth, Thalia, and Reyna raise their hands.
"Does being dropped off in the wolf house by my Dad's wife at two qualify?" Jason asks.
"Does running away from camp because I was mad a Percy for killing Bianca count?" Nico asks.
"Does getting cursed to be stuck on an island for eternity because of who my father is count?" Calypso asks.
"Technically I still am a kid," Thalia offers. Even though she was born seven years before Jason, she is still fifteen. She is the lieutenant of Artemis and cannot die unless killed and will never age unless she breaks her vows to remain a virgin.
"They're together," Annabeth says suddenly.
"What?" Leo asks, his eyebrow catching fire.
"Did they all know?"
"Mason knows," Piper says.
"So do Emily and Juliette," Nico has two daughters.
"So does Hylla," Reyna had named her daughter after her sister.
"John and Samira know," Calypso extinguishes Leo's eyebrow.
"Ziva found out yesterday," Hazel says.
"Exactly. They all know each other because we're always hanging out. They trust each other. They're bound to go to each other."
"Annabeth is right," Frank nods. "They're more likely to try and survive as a group rather than on their own."
"Maya was attacked I think by a Minotaur. Jason, you said Mason was attacked by a hellhound?"
"Yeah."
"Ziva was attacked by a manticore."
"Some sort of sea monster attacked the girls," Nico says.
"Lycaon came after Hylla."
None of the others had been attacked. Annabeth suggests a plan that they all agree to. Thalia and the Hunters will search on foot. Nico and Hazel will search the underworld in case they end up there. Jason will search from the air. Percy will search all the waterways. The rest of them will go back to camp and get help.
DISCLAIMER- all the characters and references to the Percy Jackson series belong to Rick. I only own the characters I create and the plot.
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. This is my first story on here and I couldn't figure out how to update it.
I throw the rock up at Luke's window. I miss and the rock lands in the gutter. I groan and climb up the latticework on the side of his house. I tap on the glass. Luke comes over.
"Maya? What are you doing here?"
"Just come on."
"Maya, what's going on. You weren't at school today, and now you're banging on my window, asking me to just follow you blindly."
"No. I'm asking you to come to your backyard."
"Why?"
"My cousins and I are camping in the fields behind your yard. I burned the hot dogs. You're fairly decent at cooking."
"Okay what's really going on."
"Please just come down," I beg.
"Fine. and then you start answering."
"Fine."
In his backyard, he stares at the others waiting. My cousins, Mason, Emily, Juliette, and Ziva, stand there. The rest of them are friends of the family. I've known them so long they may as well be my family.
"Luke, this is Mason, Emily, Juliette, Ziva, Hylla, John, and Samira."
"Okay explain."
"Look, you heard my parents say that you died and were reborn and all the stuff you did in you other life. Well, the guy who wrote this journal's name was Luke. I think it was you. And I think... I think the reason your dad is never around is the same reason Luke from the journal's dad was never around. Greek mythology is real, Luke. My parents are demigods. So are all of their parents," I gesture to my friends.
"Technically my mom is a Titan," John shrugs.
"Right. Wait. Calypso is a Titan?"
"Yeah."
"I thought the Titan named Calypso was stuck on Ogygia for eternity."
"I thought so too."
"Whatever. Samira, what are you doing?" I look at the girl. She has some gears and wires and other thingmabobs out.
"Building. Like usual."
"Of course. In case you can't tell, their dad, Leo, is the son of Hephaestus, god of fire and blacksmithing."
"Maya, stop," Luke says. "I know that Greek mythology is real. I never said it wasn't. My mom told me."
"How would your mom know?" Hylla asks.
"Uh, because my dad is Hermes."
"Yes!" I jump in the air. "So is journal Luke's! I was right!"
"Yes you were. Maybe. Now calm down."
"Right. Sorry. In any case, we left home because A, our parents lied to us our whole lives, B, some of us got attacked by Greek monsters, and C, too much weird stuff was happening at home."
"So what now?"
"There's a camp in California for grandchildren of the gods. And children, but we're legacies. We're going to go there. Only problem is, none of us can drive. That's where you come in."
"That's where I always come in. Any time you need a car, you come to me. Whatever. Let's go to California," Luke pulls out some car keys and unlocks his mom's station wagon. The nine of us pile in and drive. I don't pay attention to much of what's going on outside the car and sleep for most of the drive. We're there in a few days.
"Now what?" Luke asks as we pull into San Francisco. I direct him to an overpass and tell him to get out. The nine of us stand on the median. Two kids in full blown Roman armor stand at the door to a maintenance tunnel.
"Let me do the talking," I whisper.
"Who are you?" the girl guard asks.
"My name is Maya. who are you?"
"Amanda. And this is Ben."
"What are you doing here?" Ben asks.
"Looking for Camp Jupiter."
"How do you know about Camp Jupiter?" he narrows his eyes.
"We're legacies."
"Again. How do you know about Camp Jupiter?"
"Did Lupa send you?" Amanda asks.
"No. I found mention of it in a book that belongs to my mother."
"Who is your mother?"
"Her name is not important."
"How do we know you're not monsters in disguise?"
"Let them in, Benjamin," a female voice says beside me. I turn to see a wolf. I instinctively know her to be Lupa, Roman goddess of wolves, and the adoptive mother of Romulus, founder of Rome, and his twin brother, Remus.
"Lupa," Ben, Amanda, and I breath all at the same time.
"Let them in Benjamin. Their fate is intertwined with the gods. If they do not survive, none of us will."
"Yes Lupa," Ben opened the door to the tunnel and Amanda motioned for us to follow. I turned to Lupa.
"What do you mean if we die, you die?"
"The Prophecy of the End," she says as she vanishes. Ben stares at us.
"What?" I ask
"You better come in. I'll let John know you're here."
"Who?"
"The argur."
"Okay. C'mon guys," I motion them in. We follow Amanda through a city. A purple ghost glares at me.
"Graecus," it spits out the word.
"That means-"
"Greek," I say, interrupting Amanda. "I've studied Latin."
"Okay then. But umm... I'm not sure why he would be calling you graecus. The Lars usually use it as an insult."
"I wasn't offended."
"I'm glad. Our praetors, Frank Zhang and Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, are out right now. So John, the argur, is in charge."
I glance nervously at Hylla and Ziva. Frank and Reyna are their parents. We walk into a temple.
"John, Lupa brought over these legacies."
"Hi. I'm John," the kid turns around. I stare at the items in his hands. A knife and a mutilated teddy bear.
"Uh..."
"We don't sacrifice real animals any more. We use stuffed animals."
"Uh huh," I'm scared to say anything more as I look at the mutilated teddy.
"Who are your godly ancestors?"
"I'm a legacy of Minerva and Neptune. Luke is a son of Hermes. Ziva is a legacy of Pluto, Neptune, and Mars. Hylla is a legacy of Bellona. John and Samira are legacies of Vulcan and children of Calypso. Emily and Juliette are legacies of Pluto. Mason is a legacy of Jupiter and Venus."
"Lupa said their fates are intertwined with the gods. She also mentioned the Prophecy of the End."
"Oh gods. Uh... Reyna would probably kill me for saying this, but I'm going to tell you the Prophecy of the End. When the successors are born, Thirty-five years remain, To take their place on Olympus, Before the golden blood rains."
"Morbid much," Ziva mutters.
"What does that mean?" I ask eagerly.
"The golden blood would be ichor, the blood of the gods. The rest is pretty straightforward. The successors, children of each god, are born. When the oldest one turns thirty-five, the gods die and the successors take their place as Olympian gods."
"Who are the successors?"
"The ones that we know of? Let's see...the successor for Neptune is Percy Jackson. The successor for Pluto is Nico di Angelo. The successor for Minerva is Annabeth Jackson. The successor for Jupiter is Jason Grace. The successor for Venus is Piper Grace. The successor for Vulcan is Leo Valdez. The successor for Artemis is Thalia Grace. The successor for Mars is Frank Zhang. The successor for Apollo is Will Solace. That's all the ones we know. And why are none of you smiling any more?"
"Those are our parents," Samira whispers. Luke and I both face-palm.
"Wait, what?"
"Percy and Annabeth Jackson are my parents. Jason and Piper Grace are Mason's parents. Frank Zhang is Ziva's dad. Leo Valdez is John and Samira's dad. Nico di Angelo is Emily and Juliette's dad."
"John," a rainbow appeared. In it was Reyna's face.
"Praetor."
"Have you found anything yet?"
"Probably. Are the Jacksons there?"
"Annabeth is."
"Put her on."
"Yeah John?"
The argur drags me in front of the rainbow. Mom's face stares back at me. She gasps. "Maya?"
"Hey Mom," I say.
"Maya we've been so worried! I'm on my way right now. I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't go anywhere," Mom ran from the picture.
"She's in San Francisco?" I ask.
"No. We're at Camp Half-Blood, in New York. There's a magic highway between the two camps."
"Why does that not surprise me?"
"Because you're smart, like your mom. Is Hylla there?"
"Hi Mom," the girl walks to my side. Reyna squeals and then clears her throat.
"Stay there, or you're grounded," she swiped her hand through the rainbow and it vanished.
"You know, running away won't solve all your problems," Mom says walking into the temple.
"Says the one who ran away at seven," Reyna follows.
"You're all here. Oh gods, thank wait. Luke, please tell me you had nothing to do with this?" Mom narrows her eyes.
"I drove," he mumbles.
"Then you had better hide before Percy gets here, or he will kill you."
Luke nods and Amanda drags him out.
"I made him drive us."
"He's eighteen. You can't make him do anything. Also, none of you are leaving. I called your parents, and they're all on their way."
"Yes ma'am," six of us mumble.
"Reyna, Annabeth, Lupa said they were connected to the Prophecy of the End."
"What?" Mom gasps. "But none of them are demigods. Plus, we're already the successors for our parents."
"There's more to it than that," a redhead walks in. her eyes roll back in her head and a green mist seeps from her skin. "When the successors are born, Thirty-five years remain, To take their place on Olympus, Before the golden blood rains,Or stop Time in his tracks, To free the gods of their chains." John steps behind her as she collapses.
"Well, looks like there's two more lines to the Prophecy."
"Maya!" Dad runs in. He hugs me so tight I can barely breathe.
"Hey Dad."
"Are you okay? What happened? Where were you?"
"Yes. I was mad. Driving cross country."
"In that case, how dare you do this to your mother and I? We were worried sick!"
"How dare you like to me about who you really are for fourteen years?" I counter. Mom and Dad look sheepishly at the floor.
"We only wanted to keep you safe. We thought it was best if you didn't know. But we knew you'd find out eventually, so we planned to tell you when you turned fifteen."
"Oh. Wow Mom. You planned to lie to me for fifteen years and then one day, out of the blue, you were gonna say 'hey, guess what. Greek mythology is real. Your grandstand are Greek god. Wanna grab some ice cream?'"
"Um, not the ice cream part, but yeah. Pretty much," Dad shrugged.
"What else haven't you been telling me?"
"That you need to check your attitude before you get grounded," Mom says.
"Whatever," I roll my eyes and push past them. "I'm staying here!" I call. After almost an hour of sulking, I look up to see a little blonde girl. She looks no older than eight.
"Help us. Please. You're our only hope. Please Maya. We need you," then the little girl turns into a pillar of fire and vanishes.
"Mom?!" I call. She steps in.
"Yes?"
"I know you were right outside, so please tell me I'm not going crazy."
"You're not going crazy."
"Then who was that little girl and how did she turn into fire and vanish like a phoenix?"
"Little girl?"
"There was a little blonde girl in here asking for my help."
"And she turned into fire?"
"Uh huh."
"That was probably Hestia. She usually chooses the shape of an eight year old girl."
"Hestia was a goddess right?"
"Is. And yes. Goddess of hearth and home."
"Well, why would a goddess need my help?"
"Why did they make Percy and I fight two wars before we were seventeen?"
"You fought two wars before you were seventeen?"
"Yeah. We'll fill you in on the details of our teenage life another time. But yeah. The gods pretty much always need our help. Although, I'm pretty sure Hestia has never asked a mortal for help though."
"So what now?"
"Well, of your Dad and I are the successors from the first half of the Prophecy, maybe you're the one who's supposed to stop time and save the gods," Mom suggests.
"Maybe," I yawn.
"Reyna wants you to join a cohort, if you want to. If not you can probably find a place in the city with me. Your friends are joining a cohort though."
"Then I guess I will too. Had Dad disemboweled Luke yet?"
"Nah. I explained. And threatened. But long story short, Luke got a bloody nose and Percy got tasked with helping Terminus tomorrow. If you are planning on joining a cohort, you have to go now."
"I'm coming," I stand up. That's the great thing about Mom. You get in a fight, you talk it over, you're good. Granted, when we go home, I'll probably be grounded, but hey, who cares, right?
When we get to the barracks, Frank and Reyna are wearing full on battle armor and purple cloaks. The sign of a Roman praetor. Dad, Jason, and Hazel stand with one group. John stands with another. Mom, Piper, Leo, Calypso, and Nico all stand to the side. My group of nine stands together beside Frank and Reyna.
"Maya Jackson, legacy of Poseidon and Athena, daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson, brought here by Lupa herself. Which cohort will take her?" Reyna says loudly.
"We will take her," Dad says.
"We will take her," John says.
"Maya Jackson, would you join the third cohort or the fifth cohort?"
"I would join the third cohort," I say. Based on where they're standing, Dad is in the fifth cohort. And I don't want to be in the same one as Dad. He's wearing a badge that marks him as a centurion. Which means he would be my commanding officer. No thanks.
"Maya Jackson, join the third cohort," Reyna nods. I step up next to John.
"Emily di Angelo, legacy of Hades, daughter of Nico di Angelo, brought here by Lupa herself. Which cohort will take her?" Frank booms.
"We will take her," John and Dad say simultaneously.
"Emily di Angelo, would you join the third cohort or the fifth?"
I hold up a number three.
"Third," I groan inwardly at her lack of a complete sentence.
"Emily di Angelo, join the third cohort."
"Juliette di Angelo, legacy of Hades, daughter of Nico di Angelo, brought here by Lupa herself. Which cohort will take her?" Reyna asks.
"We will take her," Dad and John say together.
"Juliette di Angelo, would you join the third cohort or the fifth cohort?"
"The third cohort."
"Juliette di Angelo, join the third cohort."
"Mason Grace, legacy of Jupiter and Aphrodite, son of Jason and Piper Grace, brought here by Lupa herself. Which cohort will take him?"
"We will take him," Jason steps forward.
"We will take him," John says.
"We will take him," three other people say.
"Mason Grace, which cohort would you join?"
"I would join the third cohort," he echoes my words exactly.
"Mason Grace, join the third cohort."
"Ziva Zhang, legacy of Mars and Pluto, daughter of Praetor Frank Zhang and Hazel Zhang, brought here by Lupa herself. Which cohort will take her?"
"We will take her," Dad, John, and one other guy step forward.
"Ziva Zhang, would you join the first cohort, the third cohort, or the fifth cohort?"
"The third cohort."
"Ziva Zhang, join the third cohort."
"Hylla Ramirez-Arellano, legacy of Bellona, daughter of Praetor Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, brought here by Lupa herself,"
"We will take her," the same three people say.
"Ziva Zhang-"
"Third," she walks so the third cohort. Jason snorts out a laugh.
The rest of my friends ask join the third cohort. We follow John to a barracks and are shown to empty bunks. The nine of us are all in the same area.
"G'night gang," I yawn as I close my eyes and settle into a hopefully peaceful sleep.