Life And Love in Camp Jupiter

Mystery Demigods

                      I don't own Percy Jackson
                                 Hazel POV
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I sit back at my desk and watch the sun rise.  The sky is painted pink and gold, as Apollo shines down on us in all his assholish glory.  Come on, why don't you rise just an hour later!  In the barracks, about 12 people are saying this right now, those being his children. 

"He plays rock music at a frequency only we can hear, just to annoy us.  And it's working!", Tina Castillo said to me about a week ago.  We were friends back when we were in the 5th Cohort, she's really nice.  She'll be leaving the legion in about a year, turning 19 about a week ago.    She told me that Lupa led her to the legion when she was 10, and after 10 years in the legion, you're free to start a life in New Rome, unless you stay on as a centurion or get elected as Praetor.  We do allow birthday celebrations, but even your birthday can't free you from your duties as a member of the legion. 

Lavinia comes skipping over to me.  Come on, why can't I just enjoy my iced tea in peace!  "Hi, Hazel!  We just got news from one of our guards, they've spotted three girls and a boy coming close to camp.  Do we have permission to let them in?  They aren't being followed by anything, but I don't want to take a chance.", she says, bright pink hair flying around her face in the wind.  The banners are waving all over the place, it's like a gale in here.

"Ask them what they see. If they see a bunch of kids with swords and shields and bows, bring them in. If they don't, just leave them. We don't want to bring any mortals in here. Even a clearsighted mortal isn't useless at fighting if trained properly, and it's unlikely for so many clearsighted mortals to be in one place. They're kind of rare. So they're most likely demigods, and we desperately need more of those after the battle with Tarquin.", I reply.

"Got it!", Lavinia responds, running off in the direction of the borders. It's quite odd to see a group. Lupa usually doesn't send a group this big, choosing to send them one or two at a time. Smaller groups attract less monsters, thus increasing the chance that the demigod makes it to camp alive. They might be from Camp Half-Blood, but they usually say that they're coming beforehand.

My thinking is interrupted when I hear a groan from behind me. "Ugh, what time is it?", Frank asks, still half asleep. "Honey, it's like 8:00. Lavinia was up before you, so you really have to start going to sleep earlier!", I say.  Lavinia is known for sleeping in whenever she can.

He runs off, presumably to get coffee.
I resume my thinking.  So, they aren't likely to be from Lupa, and the Camp Half Blood folks would have announced their plans on coming via Iris message before they left.  They also would have driven or flew.  Which leaves one possibility.  They must be runaway demigods who've teamed up.  That's a bad mistake, they must be attracting monsters left, right, and center!

Ten minutes later, and Frank and I are sitting down, sharing a muffin from the cafe. Their muffins are huge, half of one is like a whole breakfast. I see the pink hair first, and a split second later, Lavinia skips into view. Following her are four kids. I'm not a good judge of age, but the youngest looks about nine, and the oldest looks 12.

The boy looks the youngest, with curly black hair and green eyes. Two of the girls look the same age, and they look similar enough to be sisters. They both have straight brown hair. The oldest girl has blonde hair and green eyes.

"Hazel, these are the kids! The boy's name is Liam, the girls are Penny, Cindy, and Stacy.", Lavinia says. "Hi. I'm Stacy. The two other girls are twins, and Liam and I are brother and sister.", Stacy says, a little nervous.  "Nice to meet you!  Welcome to Camp Jupiter!  You guys are what we call demigods.  You're half human, half god!  Here, you can be safe and train.", I say.  "What do you think?  I'll sponsor the twins, you take the boy and other girl?", Frank asks me. 

"Nope!  I'm taking the twins!  I NEED them in the 5th Cohort!", Lavinia says.  "Why?", Frank asks.  "Because they like bubble gum and tap dancing!", she replies.  "Okay.  I'll take the older girl, Frank, you take the boy.", I say.  "Yes, Praetor Hazel.", Lavinia says.  I hang probatio tablets around each of their necks, and step back as a rumble starts.  A flame dances over the oldest girl's head. 

"Hail, Stacy, daughter of Vulcan!", I say, watching the flame die down.  "Alright, since we were from the 5th Cohort, these kids will go there as well.  Lavinia will tell you everything you need to know.  Just watch out for gum.", Frank says.  Liam looks at his shoes.  "No gum here!", he says, following his sister. 

I hear gasps a ways down, and we burst out of the office to see what caused them.  "Lord Apollo!  What brings you here?", I say, shocked at his Greek appearance.  Then, I see the sun above Liam's head, and I put two and two together.  Liam must be Greek.  Since his sister is Roman... what do we do?  "Ah yes, I came as Greek for a reason.  My Greek appearance today is because I couldn't have you believing that my son is Roman.  No, Camp Half-Blood desperately needs healers, and I can't have you guys stealing any.  Liam is Greek.  Stop stealing my Greek children, they have less healers than you do.  My poor son Will is overworked already!", he says. 

"Wait!  You can't just steal my brother like that!", Stacy says, standing up to glare at the god.  Sometimes I feel bad for Apollo.  Nobody takes him seriously after the whole being mortal thing.  I do remember Nico mentioning that Will was usually stuck in the infirmary because half their healers either joined the Hunters of Artemis or died in the Giant War and the battle at Nero's tower.   But it's not right to have to separate two siblings like that.

"You know, if you let him go, you'll still be able to visit and call all the time.  Lavinia will show you how to Iris message later.", I reassure Stacy.  "Yeah, and you don't get to make your brother's decisions for him anyway.  That's how you get them to resent you.", Lavinia says, talking as if from experience.  "What do you want to do, Liam.", Frank asks.  He's so much better with emotions and stuff than I am. 

"Well, if these Camp Half Blood people need me more, then I'll do what's right!", he says, smiling a gap-toothed smile.  He only comes up to Frank's waist, but he's like me.  Lots of fight and loyalty in such a small package.  If I wasn't a praetor, I would adopt him as my younger brother. 

"Are you sure?", Stacy asks.  She reminds me of Nico.  Just less angsty, and taller.  I catch one of the twins walking up.  "Stacy, what's going on?", she asks.  Her brown eyes mark her as Penny.  Cindy has hazel eyes, and she's slightly smaller.  "Looks like there's another camp, and that Liam belongs with them, not us.", Stacy replies, frowning.  "Hey, if Liam wants to go, let him go.  Cindy doesn't like it when I boss her around, and Liam sure doesn't like it either!", Penny retorts. 

"Hail, daughters of Ceres!", I hear someone shout from the crowd. Everyone's eyes instantly go to the twins, who both have scythes and sheaves of wheat above their
heads. "Who's Ceres!", Cindy asks. "Goddess of grain!", somebody says from the crowd.

"Alright, how we gonna get Liam to Long Island? We don't have a van like the Greeks do!", Lavinia asks no one in particular. Just when I was about to summon Arion, Apollo says, "Not to worry, I had the bright idea of bringing transportation!". He snaps his fingers. Instantly, a chariot pulled by two pure white pegasi appears. The horses fly to the ground.

"After you, Liam.", Apollo says. Liam gets into the chariot, stopping to pet the nearest winged horse. The horse whinnies as if saying, "cmon, just get in! We gotta get back to camp before dinner!". Pegasi are cute until one kicks you in the back of the head. And yes, that is a legitimate cause of death at Camp Half-Blood.
"Bye, sis! Call you later, or something!", Liam says.

The chariot takes off into the sunrise, leaving Stacy behind. "I'm honestly gonna miss him.", she tells Penny. "Yeah, it's gonna be odd not having that little stinker around, I guess.", Penny replies.  They walk away, following Lavinia.  "Well, today was eventful!", I say to Frank.  We hold hands walking back to the office, and swapped stories about random things. 

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A/N. Haha!  Bet you guys haven't seen a Camp
Jupiter fanfic in a while!  Hope you like it!  Thanks for reading and have a great day!