This Cold Year ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase²

―vi. naomi joins the popular kids club

ADRIEN AND ISAAC LED NAOMI TO THE FORUM FOR EVENING MUSTER, then immediately abandoned her in front of about two-hundred armed kids with no more than a thumbs-up from each of them.

Thankfully, it was only another minute before Percy joined her, and she had to resist the urge to kiss him as soon as she saw him. He'd cleaned up—his hair was still damp and he was in fresh clothes.

"Hey," he whispered, reaching for her hand. "Nice flower."

She smiled. "Thanks."

The two-hundred or so campers (legionnaires?) coalesced into five different hordes, all of them wearing golden armor and carrying some sort of golden weapon. Naomi couldn't stop herself from comparing the two groups on opposite ends—the group Isaac and Adrien were a part of, and the one Frank from the maintenance tunnel was standing with.

On first glance, there wasn't anything glaringly different about the two—they were both relatively the same size, about forty or so kids in each. But the closer Naomi looked, she realized that was just about the only thing they had in common. 

The kids in Adrien and Isaac's group all stood with painfully straight postures, hardly a smile in sight. Their armor was so polished it risked blinding someone if the sun hit it just right. Almost all of the kids had at least two or three medals pinned to their breastplates, except for a handful who couldn't have been older than twelve years old.

Frank's group, on the other hand, didn't seem as... concerned. They seemed more relaxed and laidback than the other kids, and their armor and equipment was a bit dingier. Naomi counted a few kinder faces among the group, and some of them were even laughing quietly to each other, telling jokes and horsing around.

Naomi noticed how the rest of the legionnaires seemed to separate themselves from that group as much as they could, though Frank's group didn't seem to notice—or maybe they just didn't care.

Naomi's attention was drawn away as Hazel and her brother, Nico, jogged down the street, joining the muster right on time, it seemed. Naomi noticed Octavian smirk at Hazel as she hurried to her spot next to Frank, and once again felt that sudden urge to punch the scrawny blond in the face.

Judging from the glare Percy was leveling at said blond, she was fairly sure she wasn't the only one.

"Hazel Levesque," Reyna called, sitting on the back of a winged horse, her metal dogs trotting at her side. "So glad of you to join us."

Hazel didn't respond.

Nico joined Naomi and Percy at the front, giving her a tight-lipped smile. Naomi tried not to squint at him, still trying to figure out how she knew him.

"Colors!" Octavian shouted.

One kid from each of the five groups stepped forward. They wore lion-skin capes and held poles decorated with different golden animals. The last pole, though, was empty, and Naomi wondered if that was on purpose or if there was supposed to be something up there.

Reyna brought her pegasus to a halt.

"Romans!" she announced, her voice commanding attention with ease. "You've probably heard about the incursion today. Two gorgons were defeated by these newcomers, Percy Jackson and Naomi Patterson. Juno herself guided them here, and proclaimed Percy a son of Neptune and Naomi a daughter of Proserpina and a legacy of Venus and Erebus."

The kids in the back rows craned their necks to see them. Naomi prayed her cheeks weren't red like she thought they were.

Percy raised his hand. "Hi."