Of Greeks And Romans (Leo Valdez x Reader)

VII

You

Hank did a pretty good job at introducing me to people in the cohort. There were quite a few people around at the table we were sitting at for dinner, but I still wanted to join Frank and Hazel over at their table. I peered over my shoulder, watching as the two of them sat alone at the edge of the dining hall. I watched as Katherine went over to join them. She caught my eye and gave a little wave, but nothing more than that.

'Hey, Y/n. You good over there?"

I looked back at the table and realized that the rest of the Romans were staring at me. "Oh, yeah. This is just all so new to me."

They seemed to understand that. There were aurae everywhere, moving everywhere and seeming to know exactly what every body wanted to eat. I didn't even need to say anything before one of them was in front of me with a plate of [favorite food]. It looked absolutely mouth watering, and it took me a while to realize I was starving. A single muffin earlier today wasn't nearly enough to satisfy. Still, I couldn't decide if I like camp Jupiter's mess hall better than camp half blood. There was some kind of satisfaction in having spirits self deliver your food instead of having it magically appear on your plate. Regardless, both would beat making the food yourself.

A lot of the campers kept on taking glances at me. It was almost as if they wanted to say something to me, but were too scared. Did they really expect me to start the conversation?

"So," I began. "What is camp Jupiter like." I looked up before taking a bite into my food. Yep, definitely delicious.

That seemed to shed some of the nervous energy. "It's a lot of fun. You learn a lot about fighting and military strategy, and other than that, it is just fun to get to know your friends," one of the campers across from me said. I noted her face. She had green eyes, freckles, and dirty blonde hair. I think her name was Emma.

Another camper seemed to stare at me in awe. Hank pointed him out to me, said his name was Simon. He had the palest blonde hair before looking up at me. "You're really good at sword fighting. I think we were all impressed that you lasted more than thirty seconds against Reyna. Where did you learn anyway?"

I looked up at the boy and then the rest of the table. They all seemed to be genuinely interested in how I learned sword fighting.

"I learned a bit of sword fighting from a- old acquaintance of mine." Old as in... well old. And I couldn't really call him a friend. Achilles would be closer to enemy than that. "He taught me everything he knew, and I found I was actually pretty good at it."

"Then it's kind of surprising that you never got a reference letter. Did he never come to camp Jupiter?"

I shook my head. "No. He learned how to sword fight a long time ago. I'm not sure he ever knew about camp Jupiter in his time." Of course he didn't. He grew up before Rome. Camp Jupiter didn't even exist.

"Regardless," Hank said. "It's impressive."

I smiled. "Well, perhaps we could spar one day. I'd love to see how my fighting skills hold up against the rest of you."

Simon laughed. "Yeah. In my case I'd probably lose in the first thirty seconds."

They all seemed to laugh at that, and I laughed along. I just didn't feel totally in it. I looked back at where Hazel, Frank, and Katherine were. There seemed to be something a little off. Why was Katherine never mentioned in the books, but she is clearly close to the other two. There was just something not adding up.

The group started to talk about the latest gossip, but I didn't understand most of it. I barely knew who anyone was. I let myself zone out as I ate my food before I perked up at Hazel's name.