Hello. This is my second story based on the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Please be respectful and understand I do not own anything here except for a few characters and the plot. If you've read my first story you may recognize some of the main characters' traits are similar. That is because I'm not a fan of my old work and wanted to recycle some of my characters. Please enjoy and leave some feedback. Story takes place directly after the Trials of Apollo.
Golden Eyes and Black Weapons
"Death is not the end. Death is an ocean on all sides of our lives. Deep and dark and cold, and anything but empty"
Maya
Digging latrines was one of the least desirable tasks at Camp Jupiter. The simple act of digging a big hole and when it's used you fill it in, only to dig a new hole next week was about as pleasant as it sounds. It didn't help that the sun was relentlessly beating down on her and her entire body felt soggy with sweat and grime.
None the less her shovel moved in a rhythmic motion. Scooping dirt off the bottom and tossing it up over the walls of the trench onto the waiting pile. Scoop, toss, scoop toss, scoop… Her mind soon fell blank with repetition.
"Maya." A voice pierced her mind and immediately she stopped digging and stood at attention. She knew this voice all to well.
Standing at the edge of her trench her Centurion Logan stood. Logan was a fairly easy-going centurion, but he had a tendency to hold grudges and make sure his Cohort is up to snuff by any means necessary. The 4th Cohort is his love child and if you do anything to make it look bad, he'll make sure you don't do it again. He was also coincidently the reason she was digging latrines. Maya had made the mistake of showing up to formation with an unpolished shield and was relegated to latrines until Logan decided she had learned her lesson.
Maya had expected Logan to start inspecting the latrine and give her criticisms and improvements that could be made. Instead, he surprised her.
"Your punishment is over, hand off to Kaleb to finish. Clean up and meet me in my office in 20 minutes."
"Yes sir." She said as she began to scramble her way out of the trench and jog off. Questioning a Centurion was a mistake Maya had also made once. Once and never again. Despite her punishment being over she felt a sense of dread. One on one meetings with centurions were almost never good.
Locating Kaleb was easy, the Son of Mars was honing the blade of his gladius in the armory and after a quick heated exchange he headed toward the latrines, and she headed to the 4th cohort barracks. Stopping briefly, she quickly grabbed a change of cloths and sprinted off toward the bath house. Logan had meant it when he said 20 minutes.
The fastest bath of her life was followed by a quick sprint back to her barracks to deposit her cloths and another sprint to the Centurions office. Reaching the door with less then a minute she took a few deep breaths to calm down and knocked twice.
"Come in." Logans muffled voice answered.
Stepping in she was blown away by how simple it was. 2 plain desks, sat on opposite sides of the room. Logan sat in 1 and ruffled through a few sheets of paper. Seeming to find what he wanted he pulled it out of the pile and stood rapidly.
"Great now that you're here we can leave." He said as he pushed past her and out the door.
Maya had no choice to follow her. She didn't understand why Logan was as uptight as he was, but she knew better than to ask. No sense in putting him in a bad mood.
"So Maya I'm sure your wondering what we're doing." Logan began quickly scanning his paper again.
"Yeah, a bit." Maya attempted to remain neutral, despite her curiosity and nerves playing through her head.
"As your aware, Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter have an exchange program."
Mayas heart sank. She knew all about the exchange program. Every month 5 kids were traded from Camp Half-Blood to Camp Jupiter in exchange for 5 legionnaires, 1 from each court. She had no desire to go to Long Island.
"And every month we select 1 person from the 4th cohort to go to Camp Half-blood, and 1 person to escort the exchange camper around the camp." Logan continued.
Maya's heart sank even more, being put on babysitting duty was even worse than going to Long Island. It means you take full responsibility for the camper. They are your shadow and if there are any slip ups on your part or they step out of line you receive the punishment. If you get stuck with a troublesome kid, you will be digging trenches for weeks after. Suddenly a trip to Long Island sounded like a great idea.
"So I'm going to Camp Half-blood?" Maya asked hopefully.
Silence greeted her question. Logan knew exactly what she was hoping for and she knew he didn't have the heart to tell her. There was a 50/50 chance she would spend the next 4 months doing the legions dirtiest jobs and there was nothing Maya can do.
Immediately she began to pray to her mother. Ceres had never done much for her except occasionally help her grow plants but if she ever truly needed something now was the time.
"Look Maya I know it sucks but maybe you'll end up with a good one." He sounded doubtful but it was an option. Although the 4th cohort usually got stuck with the trouble makers they had a few great ones that didn't break anything or set anything on fire.
"Or maybe I'll end up with a son of Hermes and have to spend the next 6 months paying everyone for stuff that was stolen." She said sarcastically. That had been a nightmare for the entire 2nd cohort.
Logan sighed heavily. They were rapidly approaching the Praetors office.
"We just need to see who you get and keep him in line. You have a level head and I trust you not to make me look bad."
Maya bit back her retort. She didn't know what could be worse then this but she would find out if she called Logan the names floating around her head.
Arriving at the Praetors office she was ushered inside by Logan and stood at attention. Hazel and Frank were sitting behind a pair of large desks. To the sides of the desk 4 people stood awkwardly in orange Camp Half-blood shirts. With a start Maya realized they were the last ones there. Every other Cohort had a centurion and a babysitter present.
"Great now that everyone's here we can start." Frank said as he shuffled through some papers.
Maya curiously eyed the 4 new comers. 3 girls and a guy…. But shouldn't there be 5? Maybe by some divine miracle she could she could get out of this. Maybe her mother had listened.
"As you know Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter have an exchange program going on. Each Cohort will be assigned a single individual and will be responsible for the training and housing for this individual. In exchange the incoming Campers will adhere to the legion's rules and regulations. With good behavior they will also be permitted special Treatment… no that's not the right word." Frank glanced over to Hazel and she picked up from there.
"Privileges?" She supplied helpfully.
"That's it Privileges. You'll get privileges," Frank said as he glanced to the Greek demigods. A few of them nodded in understanding and one gave a small smirk.
He's definitely the troublemaker. Maya quietly thought to herself.
"Now I suppose we should probably get started. Any questions so far?" Hazel picked up once again. Quickly scanning the assembled demigods with her strikingly gold eyes.
Maya debated raising her hand and asking where the 5th person was but she decided not to tempt fate.
"Great now each Centurian has already given us a list of candidates, of the list we've selected you 5 and assigned each of you a guest." Frank said glancing down at the piece of paper.
"Cohort 1. Morgan Felix, daughter of Venus. You will be assigned Jennifer Springstep Daughter of Demeter, Cabin 4." He paused and locked eyes with the cohort 1 Centurian before continuing.
"Cohort 2. James Masted, Son of Mars. You will be assigned Alisson Derks, Daughter of Ares, Cabin 5." He paused once again locking eyes with the centurion.
"Cohort 3. Maddy Jocklin, Legacy of Mars. You will be assigned Morgan Whitestone, Daughter of Hecate. Cabin 20."
Mayas heart sunk a bit. It clearly meant that she would get stuck with the trouble maker and the 5th Cohort would not have anyone. Her back began to ach thinking of all the punishment she' d be assigned.
"Cohort 4. Maya Wheet, Daughter of Ceres. You will be assigned P.J. Calista, Son of Thanatos. Cabin 29." He paused as if he hadn't read that right before continuing.
"Cohort 5 Franklin…"
Maya spaced out, how could he keep reading. There was only 4, she quickly glanced around, once again doing a head count. Still 4 people.
It doesn't really matter. She was stuck with the little elf faced troublemaker.
"With that will there be any questions?" Frank asked cautiously. Hearing none he dismissed the crowed and as one the group made its way toward the door. She glanced around one last time. The Greek demigods had somehow gotten duffel bags and were pairing up with their respected partners. The little elf faced kid began to walk her way and she cringed internally.
The cringe quickly turned to surprise as he walked right past her to the 5th cohort centurion and quickly introduced himself.
"Its nice to meet you." A deep baritone voice seemed to speak directly into Mayas ear, causing her to jump.
As she turned she saw who had spoken and nearly yelped in surprise.
As if appearing from nothing, very large man stood not 4 feet away. He easily stood roughly 6 foot 4 inches. As Mayas eyes rose to meet his eyes she was suddenly blown away at his beauty, a sharp jawline, straight nose, and a face that seemed timeless. No not timeless, somewhere between here and the end of time. All this was complimented with a deep tan, almost the color of teakwood. Black hair cut in a close-cropped roman flattop. That was all before she saw his eye.
2 beautiful golden orbs gazed down onto her. Shimmering pools of bright gold seemed to shift and swirl in a million different ways as he set his gaze on Mayas face.
Despite herself Maya began to feel her cheeks warm slightly in a blush. Then she realized he had said hello.
"Um.. Hi." Maya said. Her eyes still trained on his face, greedily taking in every detail.
Maya watched as those beautiful lips began to turn down, and with a start she realized she had been gawking and quickly averted her eyes.
"Welcome to Camp Jupiter."
"Thank you for having me." P.J. said politely.
Maya looked around for Logan, but he was talking to one of the exchanges. She needed to regroup and refocus. P.J. casually leaned over and pulled the door open.
Maya gave a quick smile before walking. Several other groups followed before the big man came out. In the sunlight he didn't look any less impressive. A massive and powerful frame, dressed in plain loose fitting blue jeans and an olive-green Camp half-blood shirt. Topped off with an olive-green jacket. Her gaze drifted downward. Hiking boots completed the look, and she could make out the sheath of a knife in his left boot. A black duffel bag sat on his hip and she could make out the top of another bag strapped to her back.
"We can head over to the barracks and drop your stuff off. If you want."
P.J. nodded his head once but remained silent. His gaze swept through the valley. It was as if he was picking the world apart with his eyes. Slowly trailing those golden orbs over every building and trench.
"Its very nice here." P.J. said simply. "Peaceful."
Maya let her eyebrows scrunch. Camp Jupiter was called many things, beautiful, majestic, even grand. Never once had she heard it called peaceful.
"It's nice, I don't know about peaceful." Maya's mind drifted to the hundreds of War games she had taken part of. The constant banging from the armory. Yeah. Definitely not peaceful.
He stopped gazing at the valley and turned his attention back to Maya.
"No, It's peaceful, trust me." He said allowing a shallow smile to grace his lips.
Maya pursed her lips, Greeks were weird she decided.
"If you say so."