𝐒 𝐓 𝐀 𝐑   𝐖 𝐀 𝐑 𝐒   !

⎯ 𝘍 𝘐 𝘝 𝘌 ⎯

( 𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔞 𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫 ! )

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

          𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃. Invisible wind spirits—aurae—waited on the campers and seemed to know exactly what everyone wanted. They blew plates and cups around so quickly, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane. If you got up too fast, you were likely to get beaned by beans or potted by a pot roast.

Aurora got ribollita—her favorite comfort food. It reminded her of the days when she lived in a small apartment in Rome, Italy with her mother and step father. All before she got taken to the Wolf House in the middle of the night. She could remember her mother making the soup in their kitchen when she was sick, and it always filled her with warmth and familiarity. And a little bit of homesickness, but that's what comfort food was meant to bring, right?

Looking over, she saw that Percy had gotten a cheeseburger and a strange-looking soda that was bright blue. She didn't understand that, but Percy tried it and grinned.

"This makes me happy," he said. "I don't know why . . . but it does."

Just for a moment, one of the aurae became visible—an elfin girl in a white silk dress. She giggled as she topped off Percy's glass, then disappeared again. Aurora slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at Percy's startled expression. He'd seen gorgons, fauns, pegasi, and a giant war elephant, and yet wind spirits surprised him. He made no sense.

He's such an adorable idiot.

The mess hall seemed especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed off the walls. War banners rustled from cedar ceiling beams as aurae blew back and forth, keeping everyone's plates full. The campers dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Kids were constantly getting up and trading places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.

A few campers would stop by and start up conversations with Aurora, but they wouldn't stay for long. As usual, the Fifth Cohort took the place of least honor. Their tables were at the back of the dining hall next to the kitchen. Aurora's table was always the least crowded. Tonight it was her, Hazel, and Frank, as usual, with Percy and Nico and their other centurion Dakota, who sat there, Aurora figured, because he felt obligated to welcome the new recruit.

That, and Aurora was the only one who made sure he didn't overdose from sugar.

Dakota reclined glumly on his couch, mixing sugar into his drink and chugging it. He was a beefy guy with curly black hair and eyes that didn't quite line up straight, so Aurora felt like the world was leaning whenever she looked at him. It wasn't a good sign that he was drinking so much so early in the night.

"So." He burped, waving his goblet. "Welcome to the Percy, party." He frowned. "Party, Percy. Whatever."

"Um, thanks," Percy said, but his attention was focused on Nico. "I was wondering if we could talk, you know . . . about where I might have seen you before."

"Sure." Aurora's brows furrowed. Nico had spoken really quickly. "The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow—"

Dakota belched and Aurora rolled her eyes, taking his goblet from him. He may be a year older, but she would rather deal with his whining than let him drink himself into another coma. "Ambassador from Pluto, they call him. Reyna's never sure what to do with this guy when he visits. You should have seen her face when he showed up with Hazel, asking Reyna to take her in. Um, no offense."

"None taken." Aurora noticed that Nico seemed relieved to change the topic. "Aurora and Dakota were really helpful, standing for Hazel."

Dakota blushed. "Yeah, well . . . she seemed like a good kid. Turned out I was right. Last month, when she saved me from, uh, you know."

"Oh, man!" Frank looked up from his fish and chips. "Percy, you should have seen her! That's how Hazel got her stripe. The unicorns decided to stampede—"

"It was nothing," Hazel said.

"Nothing?" Frank protested. "Dakota would've gotten trampled! You stood right in front of them, shooed them away, saved his hide. I've never seen anything like it."

Aurora smiled fondly at the memory. After Hazel steered the unicorns away, Aurora and a few other Apollo kids had corralled them back into the stables before checking on those who had gotten injured. Luckily, there hadn't been many. Just a few scratches and a broken bones to mend. Hazel had looked so natural when speaking with the horses. Aurora was so proud of her that day.

Percy studied her. His sea-green eyes shone brilliantly in the fading sunlight.

"Did you and Nico grow up together?" he asked.

"No," Nico answered for Hazel. "I found out Hazel was my sister only recently. She's from New Orleans."

Nico dove into a conversation about the children of Pluto while Hazel stared down at her gumbo in thought. Brows furrowed in concern, Aurora placed a hand on the younger's shoulder, startling her. Hazel looked up, golden eyes meeting blue.

"You okay?" Hazel hesitated a moment before sighing.

"Yeah. Just thinking." Aurora knew the girl was lying, but decided to drop the subject. She could tell it was making her uncomfortable.

Nico was still talking when they tuned back into the conversation. "There aren't many of us," he said. "So we have to stick together. When I found Hazel—"

"You have other sisters?" Percy asked, almost as if he knew the answer. Aurora studied the boy for a moment before turning her attention to Nico, who's eyes had darkened a bit at the mention of another sister. Aurora couldn't help but think that Nico was lying about knowing Percy.

The only question was . . . why?

Why would Nico be hiding something from Percy? If he knew the son of Neptune, and was friends with him, then why wasn't he helping Percy regain his memories? Unless . . .

"One," Nico said, his voice hoarse. "But she died. I saw her spirit a few times in the Underworld, except that the last time I went down there . . ." He paused, glancing towards Hazel. "She was gone. She used to be in Elysium—like, the Underworld paradise—but she chose to be reborn into a new life. Now I'll never see her again. I was just lucky to find Hazel . . . in New Orleans."

Dakota grunted. "Unless you believe the rumors. Not saying that I do."

Aurora hit Dakota's arm with his own goblet, sending him a glare. Dakota seemed to realize that Percy didn't know about the rumors, but the damage was already done.

"Rumors?" Percy asked.

From across the room, Don the faun yelled, "Hazel!"

Aurora was pretty sure that Hazel had never been so glad to see the faun. He wasn't allowed in camp, but of course he always managed to get in. He was working his way toward their table, grinning at everybody, sneaking food off plates, and pointing at campers. "Hey! Call me!" A flying pizza smacked him in the head, and he disappeared behind a couch. Then he popped up, still grinning, and made his way over.

"My favorite girl!" He smelled like a wet goat wrapped in old cheese. He leaned over their couches and checked out their food. "Say, new kid, you going to eat that?"

Percy frowned. "Aren't fauns vegetarian?"

"Not the cheeseburger, man! The plate!" He sniffed Percy's hair. "Hey . . . what's that smell?"

"Don!" Hazel said. "Don't be rude."

"No, man, I just—"

Their house god Vitellius shimmered into existence, standing half embedded in Frank's couch. "Fauns in the dining hall? What are we coming to? Centurions Dakota and Aurora, do your duty!"

"I am," Dakota grumbled into his goblet that Aurora had handed back to him. "I'm having dinner!"

Aurora sent a look towards Vitellius. "You and I both know that it's hard to control where the fauns go, Vitellius. It's best to just let them get whatever they are here for over with, otherwise they'll keep coming back."

Don was still sniffing around Percy. "Man, you've got an empathy link with a faun!"

Percy leaned away from him. "A what?"

"An empathy link! It's real faint, like somebody's suppressed it, but—"

"I know what!" Nico suddenly stood up. "Hazel, how about we give you, Frank, and Aurora time to get Percy oriented? Dakota and I can visit the praetor's table. Don and Vitellius, you come too. We can discuss strategies for the war games."

"Strategies for losing?" Dakota muttered.

"Death Boy is right!" Vietllius said. "This legion fights worse than we did in Judea, and that was the first time we lost our eagle. Why, if I were in charge—"

"Could I just eat the silverware first?" Don asked.

"Let's go!" Nico stood and grabbed Don and Vitellius by the ears.

Nobody but Nico could actually touch the Lares. Vitellius spluttered with outrage as he was dragged off to the praetor's table.

"Ow!" Don protested. "Man, watch the 'fro!"

"Come on, Dakota!" Nico called over his shoulder."

The centurion got up reluctantly, Aurora taking his goblet from him in the process. He wiped his mouth—uselessly, since it was permanently stained red. "Back soon." He shook all over, like a dog trying to get dry. Then he staggered away, Aurora sighing and shaking her head.

"What was that about?" Percy asked. "And what's wrong with Dakota?"

Frank sighed. "He's okay. He's a son of Bacchus, the wine god. He's got a drinking problem."

Percy's eyes widened. "You let him drink wine?"

"Gods, no!" Hazel said. "That would be a disaster. He's addicted to red Kool-Aid. Drinks it with three times the normal sugar, and he's already ADHD—you know, attention deficit/hyperactive. One of these days, his head is going to explode."

"And I'll be the one saying 'I told you so' when his Lare shows up at camp." Aurora sighed. "He's gotten better since I was elected centurion with him. He's not as stressed as he used to be when he did the job alone. But I still have to make sure I watch how much he drinks so he doesn't drink himself into a stupor and almost kill himself . . . again."

Percy looked over at the praetor's table. Most of the senior officers were in deep conversation with Reyna. Nico and his two captives, Don and Vitellius, stood on the periphery. Dakota was running back and forth along a line of stacked shields, banging an empty goblet on them like they were a xylophone.

"ADHD," Percy said. "You don't say."

Hazel tried not to laugh while Aurora sighed. "Well . . . most demigods are. Or dyslexic. Just being a demigod means that our brains are wired differently. Like you—you said you had trouble reading."

"Are you guys that way too?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Hazel admitted. "Maybe. Back in my day, they just called kids like us 'lazy.'"

Percy frowned. "Back in your day?"

It was the small things that made Aurora suspicious of where Hazel had come from originally. She may not know much about New Orleans, but she was sure they didn't speak as if they were from the 1900s. And with Hazel being so young, she shouldn't be saying things like 'back in my day.' Unless, of course, Hazel really was from that time period and had learned how to travel through time. 

Impossible, she thought. You're just overthinking . . . again.

Frank broke the silence. "I wish I was ADHD or dyslexic. All I got is lactose intolerance."

Percy grinned. "Seriously?"

Frank nodded, Aurora throwing her head back with a laugh. She believed that Frank was one of the silliest demigods she had ever met, and she enjoyed that about him. Percy's laugh mixed in with her own, the sound making her heart skip a beat, while Frank pouted. "And I love ice cream, too . . ."

Aurora and Percy's laughter grew louder, Hazel joining in. It was good to sit at dinner and actually feel like they were among friends.

After a moment, they settled down. "Okay, so tell me," Percy said. "Why is it bad to be in the Fifth Cohort? You guys are great."

Aurora's cheeks warmed at the compliment. Hazel sighed, "It's . . . complicated. Aside from me being Pluto's kid, I want to ride horses."

Percy nodded. "So that's why you use a cavalry sword?"

Hazel nodded. "It's stupid, I guess. Wishful thinking. There's only one pegasus at camp—Reyna's. The unicorns are just kept for medicine, because the shavings off their horns cure poison and stuff. Anyway, Roman fighting is always done on foot. Cavalry . . . they kind of look down on that. So they look down on me."

"Their loss," Percy said. "What about you, Frank?"

"Archery," he muttered. "They don't like that either, unless you're a child of Apollo like Aurora over here. Then you've got an excuse. I hope my dad is Apollo, but I don't know. I can't do poetry very well. And I'm not sure I want to be related to Octavian."

Aurora shuddered at the thought, no longer feeling hungry. Percy sucked in a breath. "Can't blame you. I feel bad for Aurora. But you're excellent with the bow—the way you pegged those gorgons? Forget what other people think."

Frank's face turned as red as Dakota's Kool-Aid. Aurora's heart warmed at his kind words. "Wish I could. They all think I should be a sword fighter because I'm big and bulky." He looked down at his body, like he couldn't quite believe it was his. "They say I'm too stocky for an archer. Maybe if my dad would claim me . . ."

They ate in silence for a few minutes. A dad who wouldn't claim you . . . Aurora didn't know that feeling, but she tried her best to put herself in Frank's shoes. It must have sucked for him. She sensed that Percy and Hazel could relate, and part of her wished that her dad hadn't claimed her so quickly.

"Wait. You said children of Apollo usually use bows and arrows, right?" Frank nodded, Percy moving his attention to Aurora. "So why do you use a sword, then? If Apollo's children are naturally gifted with archery, why use a close-distance weapon?"

Aurora looked down at her ring. Solstice glinted in the sun, sending beams of golden light across her skin. Her heart faltered a bit as she swallowed back the words she had been wanting to tell someone for a long time. The story behind why she used a sword was one that only Jason knew, and she had yet to let anyone else hear it.

Blinking, she looked up with a forced smile. "You asked about the Fifth," she said, changing the subject. Percy, Frank, and Hazel's shoulders deflated, and that was when she knew that they had been excited to hear her explain the reason behind her weapon choice. "Why it's the worst cohort? That actually started way before us."

She pointed to the back wall, where the legion's standards were on display. "See that empty pole in the middle?"

"The eagle," Percy said.

Hazel was stunned. Aurora, not so much. "How'd you know?"

Percy shrugged. "Vitellius was talking about how the legion lost its eagle a long time ago—the first time, he said. He acted like it was a huge disgrace. I'm guessing that's what's missing. And from the way you, Aurora, and Reyna were talking earlier, I'm guessing your eagle got lost a second time, more recently, and it had something to do with the Fifth Cohort."

Aurora found herself smiling. She made a mental note not to underestimate Percy's smarts. When he'd first arrived, she'd thought he was a little goofy from the questions he'd asked—about the Feast for Tuna and all—but clearly he was smarter than he let on.

"You're right." Hazel sounded surprised. "That's exactly what happened."

"So what is this eagle anyway? Why is it a big deal?"

Frank looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "It's the symbol of the whole camp—a big eagle made of gold. It's supposed to protect us in battle and make our enemies afraid. Each legion's eagle gave it all sorts of power, and ours came from Jupiter himself. Supposedly Julius Caesar nicknamed our legion 'Fulminata'—armed with lightning—because of what the eagle could do."

"I don't like lightning," Percy said.

Aurora nodded. "Understandable, seeing as you're the son of the sea god and water is one of the greatest conductors of electricity. Next to metal, that is."

"Yeah, well." Hazel brushed by Aurora's comment, but Percy sent her a grin that made her heart melt. "It didn't make us invincible. The Twelfth lost its eagle the first time way back in ancient days, during the Jewish Rebellion."

"I think I saw a movie like that," Percy said.

Aurora shuddered. "Don't even bring up The Eagle around me. I'm still recovering from when Reyna decided to force all of the centurions to watch it and see the lies versus the truth."

Percy held his hands up in defense with that same lopsided grin while Hazel shrugged. "There have been lots of books and movies about legions losing their eagles. Unfortunately it happened quite a few times. The eagle was so important . . . well, archaeologists have never recovered a single eagle from ancient Rome. Each legion guarded theirs to the last man, because it was charged with power from the gods. They'd rather hide it or melt it down than surrender it to an enemy."

"The Twelfth was lucky the first time," Aurora continued, allowing Hazel to eat some more of her gumbo. "We got our eagle back. But the second time . . ."

"You guys were there?" Percy asked.

The three of them shook their heads.

"I'm almost as new as you." Frank tapped his probatio plate. "Just got here last month. But everyone's heard the story. It's bad luck to even talk about this. There was this huge expedition to Alaska back in the eighties . . ."

"That prophecy you noticed in the temple," Aurora continued. "The one about the eight demigods and the Doors of Death? Our senior praetor at the time was Michael Varus, from the Fifth Cohort. Back then the Fifth was the best in the camp. He thought it would bring glory to the legion if he could figure out the prophecy and make it come true—save the world from storm and fire and all that. He talked to the augur, and the augur said the answer was in Alaska. But he warned Michael it wasn't time yet. The prophecy wasn't for him."

"But he went anyway," Percy guessed. "What happened?"

Frank lowered his voice. "Long, gruesome story. Almost the entire Fifth Cohort was wiped out. Most of the legion's Imperial gold weapons were lost, along with the eagle. The survivors went crazy or refused to talk about what had attacked them."

"Since the eagle was lost," Aurora said, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ears. "The camp has been getting weaker. Quests are more dangerous. Monsters attack the borders more often. Morale is lower. The last month or so, things have been getting much worse, much faster."

"And the Fifth Cohort took the blame," Percy guessed. "So now everyone thinks we're cursed."

Aurora admired how he immediately considered himself as part of the cohort, even though he had just been placed. He didn't seem too bothered by the fact that the Fifth was considered the losers at the camp. In fact, he embraced it wholly, which only made Aurora smile brighter.

Hazel pushed her gumbo away from her. "We've been the outcasts of the legion since . . . well, since the Alaska disaster. Our reputation got better when Jason became praetor—"

"The kid who's missing?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Frank said, glancing at Aurora. The girl was mindlessly stirring her soup, a frown on her lips. "I never met him. Before my time. But I hear he was a good leader. He practically grew up in the Fifth Cohort. He didn't care what people thought about us. He started to rebuild our reputation. Then he disappeared."

"Which put us back to square one." Hazel's tone was bitter. "Made us look cursed all over again. I'm sorry, Percy. Now you know what you've gotten yourself into."

Percy sipped his blue soda and gazed thoughtfully across the dining hall. His eyes landed on Aurora, who was still staring into her soup. "I don't even know where I come from . . . but I've got a feeling this isn't the first time I've been an underdog." Aurora looked up and met his eyes, noticing his small smile. "Besides, joining the legion is better than being chased through the wilderness by monsters. I've got myself some new friends. Maybe together we can turn things around for the Fifth Cohort, huh?"

Aurora had to admit that Percy was pretty good at making inspiring speeches. This was the third one today, and it was working wonders for the trio. A horn blew at the end of the hall. The officers at the praetor's table got to their feet—even Dakota, his mouth vampire-red from Kool-Aid.

"The games begin!" Reyna announced. The campers cheered and rushed to collect their equipment from the stacks along the walls.

"So we're the attacking team?" Percy asked over the noise. "Is that good?"

Hazel shrugged. "Good news: we get the elephant. Bad news—"

"Let me guess," said Percy. "The Fifth Cohort always loses."

Frank slapped Percy on the shoulder. "I love this guy. Come on, new friend. Let's go chalk up my thirteenth defeat in a row!"

Frank led Percy towards the weapons and Aurora laughed, following after them with Hazel. The girl had a strange feeling that the war games would end differently this time. A new hope burned inside her chest, warming her entire being. She locked eyes with Percy and saw the same feeling swirling in his irises.

They were going to win. She knew it.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 𝐒   𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄   !

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

This chapter is shorter than all of the other ones, but it was mainly a filler. In the next chapter, you get to see a very badass Aurora Jake during the War Games. This will be the chapter where Percy realizes just how powerful Aurora and Hazel are, while the trio discovers how powerful Percy himself is. I don't know if I'll have Gwen die or another camper, but we'll see.

Anyways, be prepared for some small flirting between Percy and Aurora in this next chapter. If you want, come up with a ship name for my lovelies, because I haven't done that yet.

Please comment and vote!

Love you all!

~ a.h.