Stay Right Here

ii

pillow murder was really uncalled for

🌊 🌊 🌊 

On the way out of camp, Hazel bought Percy an espresso drink and a cherry muffin from Bombilo the two-headed coffee merchant. Hadley had gotten a strawberry scone which she savored every bite of. Percy, on the other hand, inhaled the muffin.

He watched a bunch of kids in swimsuits and towels head into a building that had steam coming out of a row of chimneys. Laughter and watery sounds echoed from inside.

"Bath house," Hazel said. "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath."

Percy sighed with anticipation. As they approached the front gate, the barracks got bigger and nicer. Even the ghosts looked better- with fancier armor and shinier auras.

"You guys are divided into different cabins?" Percy asked as he looked up at the banners.

"Kind of," Hazel said. "We have five cohorts with about forty kids each. Each cohort is split into barracks of ten- kind of like roommates."

"You're telling me there's two hundred kids at camp?"

"Maybe," Hadley shrugged. "I don't know, there's a lot of us."

"And all of them are children of the gods? The gods have been busy."

Hazel laughed. "Not all of them are children of major gods. There are hundreds of minor Roman gods. Plus, a lot of the campers are legacies- second or third-generation. Maybe their parents are demigods. Or their grandparents."

Percy blinked. "Children of demigods?"

"Why? Does that surprise you?"

Percy looked unsure. "These Legos-"

"Legacies," Hazel corrected.

"They have powers like a demigod?"

"Sometimes," Hadley said. "Sometimes not. But they all can be trained."

Hazel nodded. "All the best Roman emperors- you know, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth. The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He's got the gift of prophecy."

"Supposedly," Hadley grumbled.

"Supposedly?" Percy asked.

Hazel made a sour face. "You'll see."

"So the divisions," Percy moved on, "the cohorts, whatever- you're divided into according to who your godly parent is?"

Hazel stared at him. "What a horrible idea! No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. if we were divided according to god, all the cohorts would be uneven. I'd be alone."

"Me too." Hadley shrugged.

"Why?" Percy asked. "What's your ancestry?"

"My mom's Victoria," Hadley said proudly.

"I don't know her. Must be one of her secrets."

"Haha," Hadley deadpanned. "She's the goddess of speed, strength, and victory."

"Like Nike."

"That's her Greek name," Hazel told him.

"Maybe she should be the goddess of major brands."