𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍; son of neptune

augur

ON THE WAY OUT OF CAMP, JASPER BOUGHT PERCY AN ESPRESSO AND HIMSELF AND HAZEL HOT CHOCOLATE. He also bought Percy a cherry muffin, because the kid looked like he was going to jump Bombilo if he didn't eat.

Sure enough, Percy inhaled his muffin. Jasper and Hazel sipped their hot chocolates. 

As they passed the bath house, Percy's eyes lingered on the building. Kids in swimsuits and towels were coming in and out.

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

"And you certainly need a Roman bath right now," Jasper said.

Percy sighed.

As they approached the front gate, Percy squinted at the banners. "You guys are divided into different cabins?"

"Cabins?" Jasper asked. "I feel like we would burn down cabins."

Hazel smiled. "We sort of are. We have five cohorts of about forty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten—like roommates, kind of."

Percy took a second to process this. "You're telling me there's two hundred kids at camp?"

"Roughly."

"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 were demigods. Or their grandparents."

Percy blinked. "Children of demigods?"

"Why? Does that surprise you?"

Percy worried his lip. "These Legos—"

"Legacies," Hazel corrected.

"They have powers like a demigod?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes not. But they can be trained. All the best Roman generals and 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."

"Supposedly?"

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

"In my professional opinion, I think he's a fraud," Jasper said. "Since Hazel admires me to death, she agrees."

Hazel wrinkled her nose. "I do not admire you."

"Not the point," Jasper said, ruffling her hair. "The point is, Octavian is an asshole and take anything he says with a grain of salt. Reyna just sent us to get you out of her hair. Also, formalities."

Percy appraised Jasper, then shook his head. "I don't get you."

"Coming from the guy who doesn't even get himself."

Percy cracked a smile. "Fair enough. So the divisions, the cohorts, whatever—you're divided 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, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be alone."

"Also, how am I supposed to get bitches when I'm stuck with a bunch of my siblings?" Jasper cut in.

Hazel shoved him.

Percy smiled vaguely at Jasper's joke, but he looked a little sad and far away.

Behind them, someone yelled, "Wait!"