Chapter 22

I Decide My Future Over Dinner

I didn't know what hit me.

It could've been ice cream, or maybe even spaghetti. All I knew was it was soppy, and hit square on my forehead the second I entered the dining hall. I brought a finger to my face, wiped off a bit, and tasted it. Both guesses were wrong. The projectile was an icing-topped chocolate cupcake.

"Tasty," I said, but the words were lost under raucous cheering.

The Mount Orthrys dining hall was huge. Human-shaped clouds of vapor whizzed around the room, dishes floating on their blurry arms. One zipped up to me and handed over a napkin. I put it to use and kept looking.

A mural of the night sky was painted across the vaulted ceiling, the stars bound by grabbing hands at the corners while a scythe slashed a gash into the middle. A table was set alone right at the front of the room, space at it for a half dozen chairs. Only three were actually there, although two of those were massive. One seat was steel in the style of a king's throne, with armrests the width of barrels. Another was wooden and simple to the point of rickety despite its size. And wedged between the two was a regular old dining chair. All three seats sat empty, facing toward five long parallel tables lined with benches.

Assorted monsters lined the two tables on the edges, most of them on their feet and cheering because of what was happening between the other three.

A big guy that I recognized as one of Justin's bodyguards had a smaller boy in the air by his collar. Behind them, crouching on one of the tables, was a kid wearing a ski mask and a black hoodie with the hood pulled all the way up. His arm was still stretched from throwing the cupcake that struck my face. From the angle, I guessed he had been aiming for the Gold Regiment kid and missed.

"What's the meaning of this!" Victoria shouted, showing seriously impressive lung capacity to be heard over the clamoring monsters.

A lot of demigods turned to us. I could guess from their expressions which table belonged to which regiment. Twelve kids ages fourteen to seventeen were watching smugly, like it was a comedy show. That would be the Gold Regiment. At the next table over sat nearly twenty, most of whom looked bored. Some were already eating. They would be the Iron Regiment. Which left only…

The last table was chaos, and not just because of the guy crouched on it. A girl was splayed lengthwise across the bench, a neck pillow on and an eye mask over her face. A burly African American girl sat next to her dabbing drool off the sleeper's cheek with a handkerchief. Opposite them a guy in a trench coat was smiling ominously, his collar pulled up level with his sunken eyes. A blond girl that looked barely old enough for middle school and a mousy boy with no standout features were both looking around like rabbits- alert, and ready to flee at a moment's notice.

Meanwhile the kid being held up noticed us.

"Oh, hey Victoria!" If you'd only heard his voice, you would've never guessed he was in any trouble. "You just get here?"

"I'm not about to repeat myself." Victoria marched over. "What's going on here? Why is my subordinate being assaulted?"

I didn't notice Justin at the Gold Regiment table until he spoke, holding up his hands for calm. "I should point out how strong a word 'assault' is. Look at him, does he look beaten?"

The kids around him snickered.

"Don't argue semantics with me, Petty," Victoria snapped. "He's a foot off the ground! Let go. Now."

Nobody moved for long enough that I wondered if a brawl was going to break out on my first day. Then Justin sighed, dragged a rueful hand through his hair, and nodded to his subordinate.

The big guy dropped the kid roughly.

"The next time you talk, I'll shut your mouth," he said.

The Bronze Regiment kid stumbled. His wavy brown hair and innocent features looked straight from a renaissance painting of a cherub… then he opened his mouth. "Have you considered a career modeling orthodontist work? You would be perfect for the before picture that scares kids into getting braces. You know that you're supposed to brush those things, right?"

All that in one breath. I thought round two was about to break out – or round one of an actual fight – but Victoria got to the kid and hurried him away. The monsters reluctantly settled down, frustrated by the lack of bloodshed. Which left me standing awkwardly, not sure where to go.

After our balcony talk, Victoria had filled me in about the whole recruiting procedure. Apparently, you could only join a regiment at dinner. There was a whole system to it with Regiment leaders giving a pitch on why theirs was the best to join. If they wanted you, that was. A leader could always pass, and you would be left to choose from the others. If none took you, you could be tossed in with the monsters, but Victoria assured me that never happened. There wasn't nearly enough new blood to be that picky.

Early recruiting was a big no-no, so regiments couldn't snag anyone before they knew their options. That was why Justin had backed off earlier, and why I couldn't just stroll up to the Bronze Regiment table now. They had enough problems without getting slammed for rule-breaking.

So I shoved my hands into my pockets and tried to ignore the awkwardness. The first to notice me was a stocky boy from the Iron Regiment. He picked up his goblet and fork, wound up, and struck them together. I expected the cup to dent, or even burst open at the side with how hard he did it. Instead pinging filled the room. Chatter slowed as he got to his feet.

He was no Peneus, but this dude's muscles weren't too far off. In a way they looked more impressive bulging from his tank top, because he was only five-eight or so. His blue irises seemed to waver in the light, tempestuous and unstable. When he spoke, his voice was deep but smooth.

"We're all here now, aren't we?" He looked around. "The regiment leaders, and the recruit. Any reason we can't go ahead with things?"

"No reason at all," said a new voice, and Luke strode in from the opposite door. He took a seat in the normal-sized chair at the front table, and smiled at me. "Leaders, stand if you want him. Anyone that doesn't care… just start eating I guess."

The monsters took that as the queue to dig into their meals. No demigods did. The Iron Regiment kids even stopped eating to watch. If I was an actor, I probably would've relished the feeling of the spotlight, but I wasn't, and there was a reason for that.

Victoria stood, keeping her face neutral. Justin didn't hide his smirk as he did the same.

"All three," Luke said, looking pleased. "Well, keeps things interesting. Kurt gets first since he started things off. Victoria after, and Justin will take the last spot."

Justin didn't look upset about going last, smiling like a cat watching its prey squirm. He didn't believe there was a chance he could lose here, which got me a little bit eager. I wanted to watch that expression flip.

"Sup," the muscular boy said, tilting his wide, flat jaw. "I'm Kurt, leader of the Iron Regiment. You've had the regiment system explained, I assume?"

I nodded.

"Perfect. All I've got to do then is tell you about mine." He gestured to the boys and girls around him. "We'll start simple. What's the most important quality in comrades? A lot of people say power. But if all you're looking for is power, you're bound to pick bad apples along the way." Maybe I was imagining things, but I could've sworn his eyes flickered toward Justin. "Some hear that and say, what should I look for then, kindness? But kindness without power? That's weakness. And in this unsteady world, to be weak is to sign yourself up for tragedy. What you need, what you need comrades who pride themselves on, is durability."

He slammed his palm on the table, hard enough that I could hear wood creak across the room. "Durability to defy hardship. Durability to withstand organization. Durability to take all challenges, ball them up, and hurl them back hard twice as hard. That is what I can offer you- durable shoulders, to share your load when the weight grows too heavy."

He sat slowly, holding eye contact. I don't know if it was his baritone voice or how much practice he had giving that speech, but I could've listened to him go on all day. It almost made me feel bad that he was wasting his time… almost. Durability wasn't really my thing. My plans tended to center around hitting first.

Next up was Victoria. I had to hand it to her, her poker face was good. She took a deep breath, balled and un-balled her fists, then spoke, all without letting a scrap of suspicious emotion show.

"We're the Bronze Regiment," she said. "We're the smallest numbers-wise. What you see is all of us, just eight. But that lack means we're more motivated than anyone else." I couldn't help shooting a glance at the girl sound asleep in the middle of dinner. Who knows, maybe she was tuckered from an incredibly intense day of training. More likely, Victoria was talking out her ass.

"Each of us is unique. We've all got our quirks, none of us are robots. And… sure, maybe we don't always keep up. People overlook us cause of that. Think that we aren't a threat. But when we put our minds to something? That's when everyone should get scared."

She sat too, following Kurt's example. It might not have been as thorough as the one before it, but her speech had come from the heart. Which left only Justin. Despite myself, I couldn't help wondering how impressive his speech would be.

Justin cleared his throat. "You know who we are."

He sat down and I thought, "There's no way that can be it". The guy had the balls of an immortal, and the arrogance too. Those things probably went together.

"That's that, I guess," Luke said. He rose and approaching me. "Some might've been… shorter than others, but we've heard from everyone. What's left is to choose."

This part I hadn't been told about. Would I walk straight to the table I wanted? Did they expect me to give my own speech? I hoped not. There were much quicker ways to completely embarrass myself.

Instead Luke tossed me a carved wooden figurine, no bigger than my palm. It was double-sided with two nearly identical male faces on it. Turning it over, I found one face was smiling while the other snarled.

"Focus on your choice," Luke told me. "And when you can picture it clearly, without any doubt, toss the token in there."

He pointed across the room, past all of the tables to the far wall, where a huge brazier sat, its flames licking dangerously high past the iron base.

"When the wood burns, the color will change," Luke explained. "Gold for the Gold Regiment, Grey for the Iron Regiment, and… well, you get the picture."

I wondered if it was a coincidence that he didn't bother mentioning the Bronze Regiment. Outwardly, I nodded and began the long walk.

Somehow the roaring fire made no smoke. I stepped close enough for the heat to wash over my face and tried to conjure the proper images.

No doubt, Luke had said. But what exactly did that mean? I decided to start from the other side- what I didn't want.

Justin was talented. Charismatic, too, in his own smarmy way. But I hated the way he looked at others. Everything was about what he could get from you. He didn't believe that he could lose, just because he hadn't in a while. I would much rather shut up a guy like that than work under him.

What about Kurt? I didn't know much about the guy, but he seemed solid enough. He was a good public speaker, clearly knew his way around a protein shake, and was the closest to knocking Justin off his perch. Except…

All the Iron Regiment kids had the same thing on their plates- steaks with broccoli. Some had started eating while waiting for me to choose, taking the same measured bites. They were organized, but not free. That wasn't the way I wanted to live.

I realized that was it. Freedom. I wanted to be free as much as possible to do what I wanted to do. I was past running from my heritage – Andi had seen to that – and if there was one thing the Sea hated, it was being constrained.

Where better to be free than with the others too eccentric to be organized?

I tossed the figurine in.

It disintegrated on impact, ashes spreading like confetti dropped into a pool. Each shard sparked into color. Slowly at first, then quicker, the flames went the color of a fresh penny.

It wasn't like a hush fell over the room. The monsters went on growling and tearing through meat. But when I turned to the demigod tables, no one was moving.

"I'll just, um…" I smiled and inched toward the Bronze Regiment table.

Before I got close Justin shot to his feet.

"You did it wrong!" he accused. "Didn't Luke tell you to picture it clearly? You messed up and got the wrong one. Go do it again."

"No, I did it right," I said. "That was what I meant to get."

He sneered. "Then you're either an idiot, or you were lied to. Did she tell you that they were all diamonds in the rough or something? Pretend that they actually had some talent?"

Victoria opened her mouth, but someone beat her to it.

"That's enough," Luke said. "Percy chose. I don't recall the other leaders acting out when you picked up a recruit. Return the favor."

It was honestly impressive how quickly Justin screwed his face into a polite smile. "Of course Luke. My bad."

That didn't stop him from shooting me a final nasty look before going back to his dinner. I finished the walk to my new table.

I was going to choose a seat on the end, but Victoria elbowed the guy next to her until he scooted down, then tapped the bench. I slid into the space as one of the cloud servants buzzed by and dropped food on my plate.

"Welcome," she said. "Sorry about the…"

She looked at my forehead in a way that made me wonder if I hadn't gotten all the frosting off. "Don't worry about the cupcake. As far as introductions go, it was pretty sweet."

The guy in the trench coat chuckled. His skin was totally pale, except underneath his eyes where it went dark like shadows. If he ever entered himself in a Halloween decoration contest, I liked his chances. "I find this one's humor stimulating," he said. "I am Lucas Strashen. A pleasure to meet you."

"Oh! Are we like, doing an introduction thing?" the angelic-looking kid leaned over the table, and I realized I'd seen him before. He had been chatting with Victoria the first time I saw her, back on the expedition from Dedalus's workshop. "I'm Emmitt, but most people call me useless."

"Do you prefer Emmitt?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Both are true. Use whichever you feel like."

"I'm Alyssa," said a girl that looked like the youngest at the table. Her golden-blonde hair was pulled into pigtails, and she was wearing so much blush that her cheeks looked like a flamingo's underbelly. Even as she introduced herself, she was applying an eighth layer of lipstick.

Next to her, a bland-looking boy I didn't remember noticing said, "Nice to meet you. I'm John Smith."

The African American girl grabbed her sleeping friend by the collar, lifting her up. "I'm Vera. This is Aurora. If you need something from her, make sure it's something she doesn't need to wake up for."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said. The guy that had pegged me with his dessert was the only one who hadn't gone, and it didn't look like he would be introducing himself anytime soon as he brooded over a bowl of noodles at the end of the bench.

"Well, you guys probably already got this, but I'm Percy. I hope we get along and everything."

I trailed off with my best attempt at a charming smile. Victoria clapped her hands.

"Yes!" she said. "Do you guys see? That's how you do an introduction. Effective, mildly awkward, and nothing ridiculous. Seriously, take notes!"

"Mildly awkward?" I muttered as Emmitt patted her hand.

"Come on Victoria," he said. "My dance was a nice touch."

Victoria shivered. "I felt like I was bullying you just watching, and I didn't even tell you to do it. You had werewolves laughing at you. I didn't know werewolves could laugh!"

"What of my gripping ghost tale?" said Lucas. "It was the most chilling in my collection."

"Or my presentation on Aurora's good points," Vera said. "I made a PowerPoint. Remember the slide on her soft snores? Or the illustrations of her favorite napping positions?" She nodded seriously. "A work of art."

"I'm not even going to try," Victoria said. "You all are hopeless."

Just then the Iron Regiment all stood and made for the brazier I'd tossed the token into, plates in hand. A few monsters joined them and formed a line, scraping portions of their food into the fire one by one. Just like it had when I chose my regiment, the fire changed colors.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Sacrifices," Victoria said. "You offer up a portion of your food to the Titans, and it helps them regain a little of their power every time." A lithe girl from the Silver Regiment tossed in a steaming muffin, and the flames went sunflower-yellow. "The color changes depending on who you choose. Yellow is… Hyperion, I think."

"Some people give to minor gods," Emmett said. "But that's a little different. It's more like food for them. Still, people like supporting their parents."

"Do you give to yours?" I asked him.

His chubby cheeks pulled into a smile. "Nah. Mom wouldn't like it even if I tried."

While we'd been talking the Iron Regiment finished up, and the Gold Regiment took their place. When it was Justin's turn he gave up most of his plate, and the flames went gold. I could've snorted. Of course he only had eyes for the very top.

Soon it was our turn. As we passed the Gold Regiment, Justin leaned over and muttered, "You messed up, Jackson."

I told him to go eat his broccoli.

We gave our offerings. Victoria's made the fire golden, but a lighter shade than Justin's offering. More like the color of her eyes. Nobody hesitated at the front of the line, except for me. I realized only as I had a strip of bacon and a slice of Pizza pushed precariously to the plate's edge that I didn't actually know who to give to.

Choosing Kronos seemed boring, and like something I didn't feel like doing. I settled on Coeus, as a thank you for letting me go the last time we met.

As the meat and dough disintegrated a blast of cold grasped my face, white filling my vision. When it faded a pleasant chill had settled over me, like the arctic wind was patting my back.

Returning to the Bronze Regiment table, I noticed most of the monsters hadn't moved.

"Offerings aren't mandatory?" I asked, eying a Cyclops tear through an entire leg of goat.

"Of course not," Victoria said. "The only things monsters care about are fighting and eating. Even if loyalty means something to them, food means more."

"It's one of the reasons they keep us around," Alyssa said, her youthful face surprisingly bitter. "Demigods are more likely to give offerings. We make for great snacks when they aren't embarrassing us."

Victoria chewed a bite of chicken. "The Competition isn't meant to embarrass us," she said sternly. "It's a chance to show off our talent and rise in the ranks. Winning always brings prestige. And, more importantly, bragging rights."

"But what is it?" I asked. Luke had brought it up when we arrived at Mt. Orthrys, and even Kronos had mentioned it. But neither had actually explained a thing.

"It's a game," Emmett said. He set down his fork to make claws with his fingers, dragging them through the air. "A war game. Really scary. You know, last time, I got clocked in the head so hard that my temple was purple for a month." He pointed to a piece of eggplant in his salad. "This purple!"

"So it's fighting?"

"Not at first," he said. "First they wait until nighttime, then they drop you in a dark forest, and then you get beat up really bad. This time, I'm hoping they at least skip the face."

All around the table people's plates got extremely interesting. Lucas was rubbing his elbow. Vera shifted weight off her lower back. Something told me it wasn't just Emmett that had taken beatings in the past.

The only one who didn't seem determined to be distracted was Victoria. "It's a strategy game that incorporates stealth, fighting, and tactics," she explained. "Every Regiment chooses eight people and sends them out with a key item- a small vase. You can hide or defend the vase however you want, so long as you don't leave the boundaries. From that point on if you're disarmed or incapacitated, you're out, and whoever has more people left when the time runs out wins. The only way to get someone that's out back in is to get to the other team's vase and tip it over. We play best of three rounds."

So they got everyone fired up, armed them, and dropped them in the dark with instructions to fight. "Sounds dangerous."

Victoria shrugged. "They say not to maim, so you can't do anything too bad and be obvious about it."

"Which means you can still do it, right? If you're sneaky?"

This time, not even Victoria answered.

My first job came the next morning.

Luke met me personally outside my room. Walking around Mt. Orthrys with him was even stranger than walking with Victoria had been. Monsters going past without attacking was strange, but hadn't prepared me at all for the kneeling.

As we squeezed between a pair of Laistrygonians that had taken hasty knees, I asked, "Do all monsters do this when they see you?"

"Most of them," Luke said.

"And that doesn't weird you out at all?"

"At first it did. I got over that quickly. Hierarchy is important in any army, but with monsters, it's crucial. If you don't keep reminding them that you're above them, they get ideas. Suddenly everything looks like a snack… including you. That's why people like us need to be in the proper positions."

I could hear the disapproval in Luke's voice. "You think I shouldn't have joined the Bronze Regiment."

"I didn't say that, Percy."

"But that's what you meant. Proper position… mine would be in the Gold Regiment, or at least the Silver. Helping them keep winning. Looking down on others."

"That's not what it's about." Luke sighed. "It's just, I'm not sure you understand what you've signed on for. I know how good you are. But that regiment will just be baggage, no matter how interested you are in their leader."

"Still with this crush stuff? Give it a rest already." I groaned. "Besides, you shouldn't be talking like that about your subordinates. They're still on our side."

"You've barely met them. Everyone in that regiment is there for a reason. They've all got a defect or five that they won't fix, and nobody wanted them because of it."

"Hey according to the gods, I'm discontinued goods. I've got some defects myself."

Luke shook his head. "Not like theirs. I'm just worried, Percy. I think you're being impulsive."

I wasn't interested in being lectured on impulse control by the guy that went around picking fights with every monster he could find the last time we met. I didn't want point fingers, but if Luke had taken his own advice back then there was a decent chance Thalia never would've ended up as summer housing for squirrels.

If I said that, though, I might well have ended up chucked off the mountain, so I changed topics before my big mouth introduced me to terminal velocity.

"So, what's this job?" We'd been working our way down, following staircases toward the ground floor. "Is it outside or something?"

"Close," Luke said. "Underground."

I frowned. "We aren't going to the forges, are we?"

"What, did Chief's sunny disposition not leave a good impression?"

"More like I don't think he liked very me much," I said.

"Gods, I wonder what it could've been." Luke laughed at my sour look. "Don't worry, we aren't going near any Telekhines. We're headed somewhere completely different."

The staircase we'd been following ended, spitting us out into one of the chameleon hallways. I was already sick of beige walls. Lucky for me, I didn't have to put up with them long. Luke stopped at the first door on the left, which looked identical to the one tomy mom's old bedroom. The passage on the other side of it couldn't have been more different, though.

It was solid white, like the entrance to an insane asylum, but decorated with paintings of kittens and flowers.

"What's with the pictures?" I asked.

"Oh, they're just in case."

"In case? In case of what?"

Luke waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. You'll be on guard duty."

I thought of the twins that had waved us into the titan compound. "Like those bear guys?"

"Slightly different. You'll be guarding a person, not a door."

I blinked. From the movies I'd watched, I expected to start with watching a side entrance or maybe running an errand. Something simple and annoying. "As in, 'protecting someone' guarding, or 'keeping them locked up' guarding?"

"Hmm. A bit of both, I'd say."

Well, at least it didn't sound too boring.

The paintings were getting more common. A rug had been laid over the floor to cover some of the oppressive white. Maybe I was imagining things, but the hall seemed to be sloping downhill.

"We picked her up less than a year ago," Luke explained. "She's a smart girl, but she's new to this world. Not like you and me. It's only been a few months, and between the shock and losing her brother, she's gotten a bit brusque."

"What happened to the brother?" I asked.

"The gods got him."

"So, what, he's at Camp Half-Blood?"

Luke's smile made me want to duck behind a decoration.

"No," he said. "We were this close to getting both of them-" he held up two pinched fingers "-but at the last second, the gods showed their true colors. Our agent escorting them was nearly vaporized, and the little brother fell quite a ways into the sea. Nothing much for you I suppose, but deadly for anyone else."

I frowned. "You said this was guard duty. Are you so worried about security that you need me to protect her in your own home base?"

Luke laughed. "Nothing like that. Don't worry, we're not asking you to duel a god here. She's just a little disoriented and needs someone to keep an eye on her."

"So I'm her therapist."

"Nothing that extreme," he assured me. "Just answer any questions she asks and give her some company. Ah, here we are."

He stopped in front of a tall, firm door. It was the first we'd seen since entering the hallway. At the top was an arch, and the entire thing was in the same starry color scheme I'd seen on the dining hall's roof. It would have seemed a normal door, if not for the three separate locks hung from chains across its surface.

"Hey," I said, "so usually when guests are somewhere voluntarily, they aren't locked in. Definitely not three times."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Ha ha, Percy. You're overthinking it. Sure the stress may've been a bit worse than I let on, and sure giving one of the early shifts to a dracaena might've made things worse, but it's not nearly as bad as your making it out."

As he spoke he pulled keys from his pocket and twisted them in the locks one by one. Each clicked open, and he pocketed the keys again, laying a hand on the handle and giving an 'after you' gesture. I noticed he didn't give me the keys.

"Come on," he said, opening the door, "You'll see-"

An olive blur launched forward, something white striking Luke's face at high speed. His head snapped sideways and he started to cough. Instinctively, he reached out and shoved. The shape fell backward with a yelp, and Luke quickly pulled me inside before it could rise again.

Once inside I could identify the blur for what it was- a girl. A girl with tanned skin, shaggy brown hair, and a wild look in pink-tinged eyes. Her grey t-shirt was baggy and her jeans hung over her ankles, like she was stuck wearing hand-me-downs from an older brother. She glared up and clasped her hold of her weapon, a fluffy pillow, preparing for a follow up assault.

"Percy," Luke said quickly with a hint of annoyance, "meet Bianca Di Angelo."

Bianca eyed me like she was picturing how I'd look with my head removed via pillow.

I gave my friendliest smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Percy."

She smiled back. "Go die."

I blinked. I looked to Luke, just to see if he'd heard. He nodded tiredly.

"Well now," Luke said, "you two have fun."

Before I could ask if it was too late for a reassignment, he closed the door. A moment later came the click of a lock- three times.

(-)