He did not know where he came from, nor what he was. He knew how to speak, to read, to write. He knew how to function as a human being. But his memories, his experiences, they eluded him. It was a curtain he could not unveil. It was like looking into a kaleidoscope, all his memories jumbled. He remembered fighting a lion, walking on a beach, and jumping through the branches of a tree.
He looked out of the window of the bus, he could see the hills rolling by, and the stars in the night sky. He knew this place was important, he remembered that. The tunnel–which the conductor confirmed to be the Caldecott Tunnell–had an eerie brightness to it. By the looks of it, no one else seemed to notice that.
He got off at the tunnel, and the bus drove off, leaving him alone in the night. His ears perked up when faint whispers reached him.
He followed the voice, getting off the road and heading to the side of the tunnel. He could see it now, a door on the side of the tunnel. He could see two guards on either side of the door.
They wore a bizarre mix of plumed Roman helmets, breastplates, scabbards, blue jeans, purple T-shirts, and white athletic shoes. the entrance. The guard on the right was a guy with, curiously, a can of soda in his hand. The one on the left was a stocky guy with a bow and quiver on his back. Both kids held long wooden staffs with iron spear tips.
Purple, He thought, It's supposed to be orange.
He paused, and looked down at his own clothes. He was wearing a mix of black and red, with some golden accessories. Then again, I'm not wearing orange either.
One of the guards lazily pointed at him, saying something to his colleague.
Well, no second guessing myself now.
The other guard nocked an arrow, and let it lose. He raised his arms up on instinct, and a wall of darkness rose from his shadow. The arrow clanged harmlessly off of it.
The wall disappeared once he dropped his arms. He stared at them like they were not his own.
"What in the cinnamon toast fu-"
"State your name and reference!" A somewhat squeaky voice said, it sounded scared and guilty at the same time.
He looked up at the guards, a conflicted expression on his face, "Cyru-no…Steensen."
"Steensen?" The guy who shot him repeated.
"Valen," he said, "I think?"
"Which is it, Steensen or Valen?"
"Both,"
"Valeb Steensen?"
He snapped his fingers, "Yes! Thats it!"
"Do you not remember your name?" The shooter asked.
Valen shrugged, "My memories are kinda jumbled right now."
"And your reference?" The soda drinking guard asked.
"Reference?" Valen echoed.
"A letter from someone vouching for you," he said "Did Lupa not tell you that?"
"Lupa?"
"..."
"..."
"How did he even find this place?" The stocky guard asked.
His companion shrugged in reply.
"What should we do?"
"Take him to Reyna, She'll know what to do." He said, "I'll keep watch in the meanwhile."
He nodded and beckoned Valen towards him. Wary of the guard who had shot at him, Valen reluctantly walked up to the gate.
The guard walked him through the door, introducing himself, "I'm Frank, by the way."
The tunnel cut through solid rock, about the width and height of a school hallway. At first, it looked like a typical maintenance tunnel, with electric cables, warning signs, and fuse boxes on the walls, lightbulbs in wire cages along the ceiling. As they ran deeper into the hillside, the cement floor changed to tiled mosaic. The lights changed to reed torches, which burned but didn't smoke.
Valen nodded, "Hello Frank, do you always greet people by shooting at them?"
Frank flushed in embarrassment, "I panicked, sorry."
"It's alright," Valen said patting his shoulder, "I didn't get hit."
Frank nodded silently, noticing the tattoo on the underside of his arm, "Are you a member of the legion already?"
"What?" Valen said, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.
Frank pointed at his arm, "That's the symbol of a god, Legion members have their godly parents symbol burned on the underside of their arm like you."
"Huh," He looked at his tattoo, "Whose symbol is the raven?"
"I don't know," He said, "I've only been here for a few months, Reyna might be able to tell you."
"Reyna?"
"She's one of our praetors," He explained, "Praetors are the, uh, leaders of the camp in a way."
"How many are there?" He asked, a memory of a ping pong table came to him.
"Normally there are two, but we're uh missing our other praetor right now."
"That…" Valen trailed off. "Shouldn't there be twelve?" He muttered to himself.
"Did you say something?" Frank asked.
Valen shook his head, a few yards away he could see the end of the tunnel. As he came out of the tunnel, he froze. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. It was not the camp he remembered.
Spread out at his 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 river cut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G.
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. He 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 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
The strangest part of the valley was right below him. 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. He heard the clank of hammers at a forge and smelled meat cooking over a fire.
"Camp Jupiter," Frank said, "It's almost daybreak, Reyna should be Principia soon."
"Principia?" He echoed.
"It's where the Praetors meet," he explained as he began walking down the hill.
Soon they were at the Tiber river, as they crossed the bridge, Valen could see people sluggishly walk out of what he assumed to be their living quarters.
"Where is the Principia?" He asked as they got on the main road, which Frank called the Via Praetoria.
Frank pointed to 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.
"SPQR?" He asked.
"Senatus Populusque Romanus," Frank explains, "It's our motto. It means-"
"The senate and the people of Rome," Valen interrupted.
"You can understand Latin?"
Valen blinked, "I…don't think so?"
"Well," Frank shifted awkwardly, "as demigds we are all hardwired to understand it to some degree. Maybe it's that. Not me though, I just have lactose intolerance."
He nodded in sympathy. "Anyways, lead the way."
Frank nodded, and guided him through the road towards the Principia. As they got closer, they noticed a girl walk out of the building. She wore a regal purple cloak over her armor. Her chest was decorated with medals. She was a bit younger than Valen, with dark, piercing eyes and long black hair.
"Reyna!" Frank called, causing her to stop in her tracks.
"Frank," Reyna acknowledged, before glancing at Valen, "A new recruit?"
"K-kinda," He said, clearly nervous, "This is Valen. He, uh, doesn't have a recommendation letter."
"Oh?" She looked him over, "I will need to question him in the Principia then."
Frank opened his mouth, but chose against it and remained quiet.
"Yes, Zhang?" Reyna said, pressuring.
Frank mumbled something under his breath.
"What?"
"He has the legions mark under his hand." He blurted out.
"Does he now?" She said, glancing at his right arm.
"I'm right here you know, you could just ask." Valen said dryly.
Reyna stared at him silently for a moment, before turning to Frank, "Wait outside, I will take it from here."
Frank nodded nervously, and glanced at Valen as if to say sorry, before scurrying away. Valen watched him go before turning his gaze back to Reyna.
"Follow me." She said, walking into the building.
The Principia was even more impressive inside. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adoptive she-wolf mom. 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 back corner, a stairwell led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door.
In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jellybeans, which seemed kind of out of place. Two life-sized statues of greyhounds—one silver, one gold—flanked the table. Reyna walked behind the table and sat in one of two high-backed chairs.
As Valen got to sit in the other chair, the dog statues came to life and bared their teeth at him.
"Easy, guys," Reyna told the greyhounds.
They stopped growling, but kept their eyes trained on him, as if a single movement would set them off.
He blinked, "Was I…not supposed to do that?"
"It's alright," Reyna said, "They won't attack unless you try to steal something. Or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum."
'You're at my mercy' is what she's trying to say isn't she?
"What is this, some sort of interrogation procedure?"
She nodded, "First things first, I want to hear your story. What do you remember? How did you get here? And don't lie. My dogs don't like liars."
"I remember the truth of our world, that gods and monsters exist, I remember fighting alongside other people, demigods. I remember a hellish landscape and a black castle." He stared into her eyes, "I remember a war."
"My memories are scrambled, so I don't know in what order they are, or when they happened. I only remember bits and pieces of my past. " He continued, "When I woke up at the peak of the mountain, I only remembered this place, the tunnel. I remember swearing to myself that I'd never forget it. So I made my way here, and you know the rest."
Reyna narrowed her eyes, taking in the information. Some of it lined up with the Titanomachy, but she didn't know if she would call it a full scale war, more so a siege. But the part about the underworld worries her, especially when monsters had begun regenerating nigh instantly.
"What about the tattoo on your arm?" She asked.
Valen raised his hand, and showed her the raven symbol engraved onto it, "This…It's strange, whenever I think of it, I am reminded of an obsidian mansion, and a deity enshrouded in darkness. That's all I remember."
The House of Pluto? Reyna thought, Could he be a legionnaire of old brought back to life?
"What about injuries, do you remember any particularly life threatening ones?" Reyna knew she was treading on thin ice, her question wasn't exactly subtle to the well informed.
Valen frowned, and furrowed his brows, as if desperately trying to remember something. A sudden jolt of pain struck the inside of his head with the full force of a freight train.
"ACK-!" Valen almost choked on his own spit as he fell from his chair, he grabbed his head, pressing against it in a vain attempt to alleviate the pain. He could vaguely hear the sound fo a chair screeching away and hurried footsteps his way, but he was in too much pain to care.
When he finally returned to his senses, he found himself on his knees, and Reyna kneeling beside him.
"I…" He began, swallowing to wet his parched throat, "I'm fine."
"..." Reyna stared at him for a moment, before continuing, "Go to the infirmary after this." She ordered.
Valen nodded, knowing he shouldn't disobey the leader on his first day. "Is that all?"
Reyna sighed, "Well, the dogs haven't eaten you, so you might be telling the truth."
"Might?"
"You could believe something is true, and they wouldn't eat you, even if you're wrong." She said, "I cannot be completely sure you are telling the truth."
"Fair enough," He said, shrugging.
"Still, you're old for a recruit." She said, "What are you, eighteen?"
"I think so, yeah."
"And you remember fighting alongside others of our kind?"
"I do."
"Hm," Reyna mused, Could my hypothesis be true? Could he truly be a demigod of old?
And he does not have a letter of recommendation either, it's getting harder and harder to judge if he is an enemy or an ally.
She sighed, "Find Frank outside, tell him to take you to Temple hill. Octavian will decide your fate."
"Octavian?" He echoed.
"Our augur," She explained, "Good luck with the augury, Cyrus," she said. "If Octavian lets you live, we will see about your place in the legion."
Sighing, Valen walked out of the Principia. Frank was waiting for him outside, and began asking questions as soon as he saw him.
"What did she say?"
"She said to take me to this Octavian guy, among other things."
Frank paled, "Oh no."
"What? Should I be worried?" He asked.
Frank shook his head, "No, not really."
Valen stared at him for a moment before sighing, "Well if I'm going to meet this augur, could I at least get a coffee before?"
"Uh, sure," Frank said, guiding Valen to a coffee merchant and was about to pay for it when Valen intervened.
"Do you accept card?" He asked.
Bombillo, the coffee merchant, looked at him weirdly before nodding.
"Great," Valen said, whipping out his card.
"How did you get that?" Frank asked, surprised.
Valen frowned, "I think it came from my ring? I just chalk it up to some weird unexplained magic."
Frank decided not to question him, and continued guiding him towards temple hill.
They walked in silence the rest of the way to Temple Hill. A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults.
"Bellona" Frank said, pointing beside them, "Goddess of war. Also Reynas mom."
He pointed to another one down the line, towards a massive red crypt. Human skulls hung from iron pikes all around it.
"That's the temple of Mars Ultor, the Avenger." He said. "He is one of our most important gods."
"I thought the twelve Olympians were equal in status?" Valen said.
"Well, they are but," Frank said, struggling to find an explanation, "Jupiter and Mars are our most important patrons. Jupiter because, well he is the king of the gods, and Mars. Well, we are a legion, so it makes sense for the god of war to be that important."
Valen frowned, "What about Ha-Pluto, or Neptune. Regardless of who you are you will eventually die and go to the underworld. And you must have some sort of naval combat, right?"
"We do consider Pluto important, that's his temple right there." He pointed towards a blue temple, the roof of which was adorned with bones and diamonds. Valen could tell they were authentic diamonds. Where the camp got the money to buy that many diamonds, was beyond him, however.
"As for our naval combat…" Frank trailed off, "You'll see."
Valen had a sudden urge to go to the temple, he decided he would visit it after he was done with the augur.
Above them, thunder rumbled. Red lightning lit up the hill. Valen glanced up, raising an eyebrow.
"That's Octavian, he's almost done." Frank said, he seemed paler than he was a moment ago, "Let's go."
Jupiter's temple was the biggest of them all. The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the gold ceiling sparkled. There was a hole the size of a car at its center. The whole temple was open to the wind.
The white marble of the floor had been long stained pink. Probably had to do with the copious amount of blood around the altar in the middle.
A massive statue of Jupiter stood in the center of the room, its golden legs splattered with crimson. A kid in a toga was kneeling in front of it, Valen could see the legs of a rabbit hanging off his knee. He 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. He was tall and skinny, with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a drooping toga. Whatever color his toga was, had been long forgotten. Possibly due to the times it had been soaked in blood.
"That's Octavian," Frank said in a tiny voice. Valen glanced back at him, and noticed how pale he had gotten.
He patted his shoulder, "You can leave, I'll be fine."
He shook his head, "I can't just leave you alone here."
"Trust me," He said, staring into Frank's eyes, "I'll be fine."
Reluctantly, Frank nodded and left the temple.
Octavian turned around, He had a crooked bloodstained 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 the corpse of a rabbit, with its entrails sticking out.
"Finally decided to grace us with your presence, Dominant?"
"What?"
"Oh come on," He said, getting up from his position. The rabbit lay forgotten in front of Zeus' feet. "Did you really think we would be unaware of such a rare accident? There have only been a handful throughout history."
Valen narrowed his eyes, "What are you talking about?"
"The mark of course!" He said, crossing the difference between them faster than he had any right to, and grabbing Valen's right arm, "The mark of Scotus."
"Scotus?"
Octavians smile faltered, "The…primordial god of Darkness?"
"Huh," He looked down at the raven engraved on his arm, "So that's his symbol then."
Octavian looked uncertain for a moment, before a massive grin split his face.
I don't like that smile. Valen thought, It holds malice behind it, along with a bit of satisfaction? No, it was more akin to a sense of victory.
"You wish to join the Legion, no?"
"Yeah,"
"Do you have a sacrifice?"
"A what?" Valen said incredulously, "Like a person?"
"Oh no, we've done away with sacrificing virgins. I mean an animal, preferably a herbivore."
"Yeah no, I don't move around carrying random animals on me."
"Shame," Octavian sighed and snapped his fingers. A moment later, a boy of fourteen ran up to him.
"Yes, Augur?"
"Get me one of the bunnies." He ordered.
Never thought I'd hear someone say that.
"As you wish, Augur." The boy scurried off behind the temple. He returned a few minutes later holding a squirming rabbit by its ears.
Octavian's smile widened as he grabbed the rabbit, "This will do."
He moved to the altar, and held it above it. With a single swift motion, he swiped his knife across the rabbits toros, cleaving it open as its entrails fell out. The skies darkened, and red lightning flashed. The thunderclap that followed, nearly deafened Valen. Octavian muttered a chant as the red liquid dripped on Zeus' feet.
He grabbed the rabbits entrails and ripped it free of its body, throwing the carcass away to a pile beside him. Holding them like they were made of glass, Octavian knelt, bowing his head and offering the bloody mess to the king of the gods.
A bolt of crimson lightning fell from the heavens, hitting Octavian's arm. In an instant, the entrails were burnt to a crisp. Strangely, Octavian seemed unharmed.
The augur got up smiling, he turned to face Valen, "You may join the Legion. Might I interest you to join the First Cohort?"
"Uh, thanks? I'll think about it." Valen said, as he made to leave the temple.
"You'll flourish in the first, unlike the fifth." He said as Valen left the temple.
"What happened?" Frank asked once he was out.
"Nothing much, other than murdering rabbit and calling down divine lightning. Is he a son of Jupiter?" He asked.
"That's normal," Frank nodded, "And he is a legacy of Apollo."
"Never would have guessed," Valen muttered, "So where to next?"
"Breakfast," Frank said, "My shifts already over, so I can accompany you there."
"Fair enough," Valen shrugged, "Lead the way then."
Frank proceeded to guide him through the Via Principia, and into the mess.
Valen sighed, he looked down at himself. He could use a shower, but that came after breakfast. He couldn't remember the last time he ate.
Which wasn't saying much considering he didn't remember much of anything.
…
He shook his head, No use worrying about it.
"Come on, you can sit with us." Frank said, "Since you haven't joined a cohort yet, you can sit anywhere really."
"Cohort?"
"I'll explain everything once we find a place to sit." He said, peering over his shoulder, "Come on, follow me."
He guided him towards a table at the back of the dining hall, right in front of the kitchen. While most of the tables were full. The one Frank took him to had only two other people. A girl with chocolate skin and golden eyes, and the other guard Valen had seen at the entrance to the camp.
"Oh hey, you're the new guy." He said, tipping his can of kool-aid towards him.
"Yeah, I never caught your name?" He said, sitting down at one end of the table.
"That is Dakota, our Centurion." Frank said, "And this is Hazel."
"Centurion, cohort, you do realise that I understand none of it right?"
"Cohorts are a subsection of the legion," The girl called Hazel said, "There are five of them. We are the fifth cohort."
"And Centurions are generals of sort, they command the cohorts." Frank continued.
"Makes sense," Valen nodded.
"What about you?" Dakota asked, "Who are you?"
"Valen," He said, "Valen Steensen."
"And your godly parent?" He asked, looking pointedly at the tattoo under his arm.
"I have no idea," Valen said, noticing Dakota staring at the mark, "Your Augur called me a Dominant, said that I had the mark of Scotus?"
"Scotus?" Hazel echoed.
"He's one of the original five primordials," Dakota explained, "But why would you have his mark?"
They looked at him as if expecting answers. Valen deadpanned at them, "My memory's screwed, remember?"
Dakota shrugged, "Fair enough."
"Could you be a child of his?" Frank asked, "You did do the whole darkness thing when I, uh, shot at you?"
"You shot him?" Hazel asked.
Frank smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I panicked when I saw him."
"I don't think that was darkness, it rose up from my shadow." Valen said shaking his head, "Besides I've never been here before, why would I have my godly parents symbol etched on my arm? No, it's probably just a stupid tattoo I got."
Frank remained silent, the memory of Valen paying for their coffee came to his mind. "Uh, Valen?"
"Yeah?"
"How much money does your card hold?"
Valen frowned, "I…I've never checked, but I never seem to run out of it."
Dakota raised an eyebrow, "So, hypothetically speaking, you could buy all the wi-kool-aid you want?"
Valen narrowed his eyes, "I could, hypothetically speaking of course."
"What about win-"
"Dakota," Hazel interrupted, "you know you can't have any alcoholic beverages."
The centurion sighed, "Right, yes, of course."
Valen smiled, Dakota reminded him of someone he used to know. The rest of the meal was filled with mindless banter and more introductions.
An hour after breakfast the entire legion assembled in front of their barracks. Valen barely had the time to bathe before he was escorted away by a pair of guards. Each of the cohorts lined up in front of their barracks, and their centurions read names off of a list.
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.
Octavian 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 Jacob, the legion's eagle bearer. He held a long pole with absolutely nothing on top. Valen could see how the legions mood dwindled when they beheld the bare pole.
Reyna brought her pegasus to a halt.
"Romans!" she announced. "As many of you have heard, a new demigod has entered the Camp. He arrived early this morning with no recommendation letter, neither has he been trained in our ways by the Wolf-Mother."
The legion broke out in murmurs. For someone to get to their camp without Lupa's training was unusual to say the least.
"But," She said, quietening the crowd, "The gods may not have forsaken him yet. 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 murdering a helpless rabbit. "The auguries are favorable. He is qualified to serve!"
The campers gave a shout: "Ave!"Hail!
Reyna motioned the senior officers forward—two from each cohort. "With no letters, will any legionnaire stand for him?" She asked.
"I shall…allow him to join the first cohort." Octavian said, smiling at Valen.
"Or he could join mine," Dakota said, "His choice."
Reyna turned to him, "Two Centurions have offered to accept you, make your choice."
Valen glanced between the two, his eyes darting towards the fifth cohort where Frank and Hazel stared at him anxiously. He looked at the first cohort then, from what he could tell they wre not bad people. At least, their faces didn't look as… punchable as Octavians.
He sighed, if he chose to join the first, he'd inadvertently push Frank, Hazel, and Dakota away. But if he chose the fifth instead, he'd make an enemy out of Octavian.
You know what, screw the consequences. If he decides to come after me for petty revenge, I'll deal with him, if I can fight titans and live, I can beat one scrawny legacy-
His mind screeched to a halt, Where did that come from?
"Make your choice quick, legionnaire, we do not have all day." Reyna reminded.
He shook his head, "I have decided."
"And who will it be?"
"The fifth," He said, "I will join the fifth."
Silence fell upon the legion. Dakota did a double take, as if he had not really expected him to agree. Octavian on the other hand looked downright murderous, he could not comprehend why Valen had chosen the lowly fifth over the first.
"Is that your final decision?" Reyna said, breaking the silence.
Valen nodded, "It is."
Reyna looked at him with an amount of pity, "Congratulations, Valen Steensen. You stand 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.
Among the crowd, Valen could see Frank and Hazel cheering and grinning. He smiled and shared a glance with Dakota, who nodded subtly at him.
He looked back at a furious Octavian and smirked, as if challenging him to come after him.
"So," he began once he got to Dakota, "What exactly does it mean to 'stand for' me?"
"I vouch for your good behavior," He said, "Teach you the rules and whatnot, make sure you don't disgrace the legion, yada yada."
"What happens if I do disgrace the legion," He asked.
"Then I'll get executed alongside you."
"..." Valen deadpanned at him, "That, uh, sounds fair."
"It is what it is," He shrugged, "Want a drink?"