WAIT FOR ME [ nico di angelo ]

Welcome to the Fifth

THE TRIO HAD been running for awhile. Louis and Nico's banter had died down by this point, and Hazel had been dropping little rocks of gold and gems, making it slightly difficult to dodge. 

Up ahead of them was the camp. Inside the camp, horns blew again. The cohorts would be starting roll call, and Louis had no desire to be sewn into a sack of weasels.

"Hurry!" Hazel told Nico and Louis, and they ran for the gates.

The first time Louis had seen the legion assemble, he'd been so intimidated, he'd almost slunk back to the barracks to hide. Maybe it had been Reyna. Even after being at camp for years, he still found it an impressive sight.

The first four cohorts, each forty kids strong, stood in rows in front of their barracks on either side of the Via Praetoria. The Fifth Cohort assembled at the very end, in front of the principia, since their barracks were tucked in the back corner of camp next to the stables and the latrines. Hazel and Louis both had to run right down the middle of the legion to reach their places.

The campers were dressed for war. Their polished chain mail and greaves gleamed over purple T-shirts and jeans. Sword-and-skull designs decorated their helmets. Even their leather combat boots looked ferocious with their iron cleats, great for marching through mud or stomping on faces.

In front of the legionnaires, like a line of giant dominoes, stood their red and gold shields, each the size of a refrigerator door. Every legionnaire carried a harpoonlike spear called a pilum, a gladius, a dagger, and about a hundred pounds of other equipment. If you were out of shape when you came to the legion, you didn't stay that way for long. Just walking around in your armor was a full-body workout.

Hazel, Louis and Nico jogged down the street as everyone was coming to attention, so their entrance was really obvious. Their footsteps echoed on the stones. Louis tried to avoid eye contact. But ended up tripping over his own feet.

"Great job." Nico sarcastically muttered under his breath.

Louis gave Nico a slightly annoyed look. Once he looked back, he caught Octavian at the head of the First Cohort smirking at him and Hazel. Looking smug in his plumed centurion's helmet with a dozen medals pinned on his chest.

Both he and Hazel ran past Reyna, who was cantering back and forth on her pegasus Scipio—nicknamed Skippy because he was the color of peanut butter. The metal dogs Aurum and Argentum trotted at her side. Her purple officer's cape billowed behind her.

"Hazel Levesque, Louis Blackwood," she called, "so glad you could join us."

"Reyna Arellano," he replied, "It's been my pleasure." 

If looks could kill, Reyna would've murdered him right on the spot. He awkwardly stepped back, an apologetic look crossing his face. "I should not of said that." He muttered, rushing to his spot.

Unlike Louis, Hazel knew better than to respond to Reyna's comment. Louis was missing most of his equipment, but he hurried to his place in line next to Frank Zhang and stood at attention. Their lead centurion, a big seventeen-year-old guy named Dakota, was just calling Hazel's name—the last one on the roll. 

"Present!" she squeaked. 

"I'm also here." Called Louis.

Dakota didn't even glance up as he responded, "Got it."

Nico joined Percy Jackson, who was standing off to one side with a couple of guards. Louis couldn't help but wish Nico could come and join him in line, though he knew that wasn't possible. Percy's hair was wet from the baths. He'd put on fresh clothes, but he still looked uncomfortable.