AT MOST CAMPS, THE FOOD USUALLY TASTES LIKE MOTOR OIL and sweat, but at camp jupiter, the food is heavenly.

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 beams or potted by a pot roast. karina definitely knows what that's like.

karina got what she usually gets, fettuccine alfredo and warm bread sticks (specifically from olive garden) and sprite. percy got 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."

"how'd you make it blue?" karina asked, mesmerized.

he shrugged his shoulders, "i just asked for blue coke."

she looked to her glass and said, "green sprite." a moment later the liquid started morphing into a brite green color and fizz bubbled up at the top. karina giggled excitedly and took a sip.

"how have i been missing out on this?" she asked in shock. percy laughed at her reaction and took a bite out of his burger, his eyes not leaving hers.

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 trotting places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.

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. my table was always the least crowded. tonight is was karina, and hazel and frank, as usual, with percy and nico and their centurion dakota, who sat there, she figured, because he felt obligated to welcome the new recruit. karina really didn't have to sit with the fifth, she could sit at the praetor's table with reyna, but she liked sitting with her friends, and even though reyna seems like a cold and hard person most of the time, she probably knows about all the gossip around camp. and she knows that if she sits with her, they will go down the gossip train and talk for hours, so she needed to stay away.

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 it felt like the world was leaning whenever karina 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. karina wrinkled her nose. "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 a might've seen you before."

"sure," nico said a little too quickly. "the thing is, i spend most of my time in the underworld. so unless i met you there somehow-"

dakota belched. "ambassador form 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 her and karina to take her in. um, no offense."

"it was pretty funny." karina agreed, taking a sip of her green sprite.

"none taken." nico seemed relieved to change the topic. "dakota was 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."

karina smiled at the way frank talked about hazel. he spoke like she the only person in the world that mattered to him. it was amazing how entranced someone can become with someone else when they care for them so much.

"did you and nico grow up together?" percy asked hazel.

"no," nico answered for her. "i found out that hazel was my sister only recently. she's from new orleans."

nico began talking about the children of pluto. "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. karina kicked percy's shin under the table and he jumped back slightly, giving her a confused look. she gave him a warning look. she knew that nico's sister was a sensitive spot for him, he'd told her all about how he changed after bianca's death, how lost he felt without her, and how angry he was because of her death. she couldn't imagine the amount of pain he went through, but she did know how it felt to lose family.

nico gave karina a look that said 'it's fine' and admitted to having one sister. "but she died," nico continued. "i saw her spirit a few times in the underworld, except that the last time i went down there. . . she was gone." nico's voice turned hoarse. karina gently laid my hand over his, showing that she's there for him. "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, i mean."

dakota grunted. "unless you believe the rumors. not saying i do."

"rumors?" percy asked.

from across the room, don the faun yelled, "hazel!"

karina released a deep breath and slouched back into the couch. don wasn't allowed at 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.

karina turned my head to nico's shoulder mumbling, "is this what the pluto's underwear smells like?" he let out a small snort at that and pushed her head away. she giggled at his reaction.

don leaned over their couches and checked out their food. karina put a protective arm over her breadsticks, keeping an eye on him. "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. . . whats that smell?"

"did he use my shampoo?" karina asked. percy looked at her with an incredulous look.

"no!" he said.

she shrugged her shoulders, and raised her hands defensively. "just asking."

"don!" hazel said. "don't be rude."

"no, man, i just-"

the fifth's house god vitellius shimmered into existence, standing half embedded in franks couch.

"oh my gods," karina groaned quietly, placing her elbows on her knees and running her hands down her face tiredly.

"fauns in the dining hall! what are we coming to? centurion dakota, praetor karina, do your duties!"

"yeah, yeah. whatever, after dinner." karina mumbled, stuffing pasta into her mouth.

"we will," dakota grumbled into his goblet. "we're having dinner!"

don was still sniffing around percy. "man, you've got an empathy link with a faun!"

"huh?" karina said confusingly.

percy leaned away from him. "a what?"

"an empathy link! it's real faint, like somebody's suppressed it, but-"

"i know what!" nico stood suddenly, banging his knee against karina's.

"ow," she mumbled, rubbing my knee.

nico didn't seem to notice, or he just didn't care because he kept talking. "hazel, how about we give you, karina, and frank time to get percy oriented? dakota and i can visit the praetors table. don and vitellius, you come too. we can discuss strategies for the war games."

"strategies for losing?" dakota muttered.

"death boy is right!" vitellius said.

"hey! only i can call him death boy!" karina protested.

vitellius ignored her. "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.

"have fun!" karina hollered to nico. he looked back over his shoulder and shot her a glare. she just laughed at him.

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. 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, his goblet sloshing.

"what was that about?" percy asked. "and what's wrong with dakota?"

"he's addicted to red drinks." karina said. "i talked to reyna about putting him on 'my strange addiction' but she said no." she said that as if putting him on the show was the best idea and reyna shot it down for no reason.

frank shook his head in amusement at her. he 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?"

"no, silly." karins 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."

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 his goblet on them like they were a xylophone.

"ADHD," percy said. "you don't say."

"yeah, big surprise there." karina said, sarcastically, giving jazz hands. percy let out a small snort and gave a half-smile.

it seemed hazel was trying not the laugh. "well. . . most demigods are. or dyslexic. just being a demigod means that our brains wired differently. like you-you said you had trouble reading."

"are you guys that way too?" percy asked.

karina nodded. "hundred percent. i couldn't even read our SPQR banner when i first came. i thought it said 'spat'"

frank snorted at that.

"i don't know," hazel admitted. "maybe. back in my day, they just called kids like us lazy."

percy frowned. "back in your day?"

before hazel could answer, frank spoke up. "i wish i was ADHD or dyslexic. all i got was lactose intolerance."

karina busted out laughing at that. "wait," she said through her giggles. "does that mean you can't have cereal?"

frank gave her an offended look. "stop laughing!" he said, but she could tell he found it funny too. "and no, i can have dry cereal."

"augh!" karins said in disgust, putting a hand over her heart. "that is an insult to all the cereal lovers out there. the only acceptable cereal to eat dry is cinnamon toast crunch, and i stand by that."

"what about cheerios? those are good dry!" frank said.

she scrunched her nose. "no, no, no." she said, waving her hands in a stop everything motion. "cheerios need to be in milk. because then, when you're finished eating your cheerios, you can drink the milk and it tastes like actual heaven in a liquid form. and they have to be the honey nut cheerios, not the original."

frank gave her a deadpanned look. "how would i know that? i can't drink milk!"

percy and hazel started laughing at that, and before you know it all of them were laughing hysterically. it felt good to sit at dinner and actually feel like she was among friends.

"okay, so tell me," percy said after they'd all calmed down, "why is it bad to be in the fifth cohort? you guys are great." karina smiled at the compliment.

"it's. . . complicated." hazel said. "aside from being pluto's kid, i want to ride horses."

"that's why you use a calvary sword?"

she 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. calvary. . .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. then you've got an excuse. i hope my dad is apollo, but i don't know. i cant do poetry very well. and i'm not sure i want to be related to octavian."

"i don't think anyone does." karina mumbled.

"can't blame you," percy said. "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. "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 ever claim me. . ."

karina reached over the table and patted his hand. "don't worry frankie, if i ever hear those stupid apollo kids say anything about you, i'll make a thorn bush grow in their pants." she smirked. frank seemed to feel a little better at that and gave her a small smile. that's all that mattered. karina hated seeing people feel insecure about who they are, it makes her feel so mad that people could make other people feel that way. and she will always try her best to lift someone's spirits in a time like that.

"thank you, karina."

"you asked about the fifth," hazel said after a few beats of silence. "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 the empty pole in the middle?"

"the eagle," percy said.

karina was stunned. "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, karina 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."

she made a mental note not to ever underestimate percy. 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, which was still very funny-but clearly he was a lot smarter than he let on.

"okay, einstein," karina said. "you got an 'a' on the test."

he let out a small laugh, looking towards her with glittering eyes. his eyes were darkened a bit in the firelight around them, which made his eyes go from his normal sea-green color, to a dark bluish-green. karina looked away quickly before she could continue to stare.

"so what is this eagle, anyway?" he asked. "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 ceasar nicknamed our legion 'fulminata'-armed with lightning-because of what the eagle can do."

"i don't like lightning," percy said.

"yeah, well," hazel said, "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.

hazel shrugged. "could be. there have been lots of books and movies about legion's losing their eagles. unfortunately it happened quite a few times. the eagle was so important. . .well, archeologists 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. we got our eagle back. but the second time. . ."

"you guys were there?"

they all 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," karina 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 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 or fire and all that jazz. he talked to the augur, and the augur said the answer was in alaska. but he warned micheal 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," frank continued, "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 worse, much faster."

"and the fifth cohort took the blame," percy guessed. "so now everyone thinks we're cursed."

"ding! ding! ding!" karina said unenthusiastically, spinning her finger around in a circular motion.

hazel spoke."we've been the outcasts of the legion since. . .well, since the alaska disaster. our reputation got better when karina became head centurion and jason became praetor-"

"the kid who's missing?" percy asked.

"yeah," karina said gloomily. "he was-is one of my best friends, and he is a great leader. he was my first friend when i first came into camp." she smiled at the memory.

percy's jaw tightened slightly. "so you two were really close, huh?"

karina furrowed her eyebrows. "um, yeah. he's like a brother to me."

percy's tense body seemed to relax at that, which karina didn't understand why, but he reclined back into the couch with a small smile present on his face.

"yeah," frank said. "i never met him. but, from what karina's told me about him, 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, alongside karina. then he disappeared."

"which put us back at square one, except for karina taking the role of praetorship until he returns." hazel said bitterly. "but even still, makes 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. "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." he focused on karina and managed a smile, but she could tell it was fake. "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?"

"you know, i think i've been doing a pretty good job myself, being praetor and all." karina boasted sarcastically, leaning back and crossing her arms and legs to look serious.

percy struggled to keep a straight face, and nodded. "i agree, you're so. . . macho."

she laughed and that and flexed her muscles. "look at me, i'm mister tough guy, now!" she said, pointing to her surprisingly toned arms. she guessed all the extra training paid off.

percy laughed, but his eyes glanced around her arms, trying to see if they actually toned or not. "oh, i don't doubt it, tough guy."

a horn blowing at the end of the hall interrupted them. the officers at the praetor's table got to their feet-even dakota, his mouth vampire-red from kool-aid.

"sorry guys, i won't be able to join you." karina said sadly.

percy looked to her quickly. "wait, why not?"

"praetors have to watch over the game to make sure everything's going smoothly, so i can't participate."

percy frowned a bit, "oh, okay."

karina smiled a bit to try and lighten the mood, "don't worry, fish breath, i won't be gone go long. i'll be surveying the fields on caelius, anyway."

he nodded and she bid her goodbyes to hazel and frank before walking over to reyna.

reyna acknowledged her with a single nod and a small, barely noticeable smile, and announced, "the games begin!" the campers cheered and rushed to collect their equipment from the stacks along the walls.

"i'm going to go fetch caelius and i'll meet you down at the fields of mars, okay?" karina told reyna.

she nodded. "sounds good."

she started making her way back to her barracks where a large, closed off field was placed for caelius behind the barrack.

she jogged over the field and opened the steel gate that fenced it off. inside was caelius, who looked like he was trying to flip a daisy from inside his mouth and onto his head. it wasn't working.

"caelius!" karina called.

he snapped his head toward her and started running full speed right in her direction.

"oh gods," she muttered, knowing what was coming.

all of a sudden she was thrown back by the force of caelius pouncing onto her and laying half of his body on top of her, knowing if he put his full body weight onto her, she'd actually suffocate.

she smiled. "how's my boy?" she cooed. he responded by licking her face and neck.

karina giggled and tried to push his head away. "s-stop, it tickles."

he rolled off of her and onto his back on the ground next to her, with his front paws folded in front of him. his head was turned to the side, staring at karina with soft eyes.

"are you ready to go for a ride, buddy?"

he snorted which probably meant yes. he stood up and kneeled down so that she could climb into his back.

once karina was properly sitting on him and had a good grip on his fur, she patted his side twice letting him know she was good to go.

suddenly she was jolted forward at the change of speed of him running to the fields of mars. sometimes she forget how fast he is.

and if a trail of dust behind them, they left for the war games.

3948 words
nina giving frank a lecture about cereal makes my whole life