chapter thirty-one

─── i don't stab anyone, so that's an achievement

          𝔐y first true love in this world was food. That I knew for certain, even if I didn't have my memories with me. Hazel had bought me a cherry muffin and a bottle of water, which I had inhaled in a matter of moments. It gave me an extra boost of energy, my body waking itself back up and the ache in my bones disappearing. Now, all I needed was a shower, a change of clothes, 10 hours sleep and I'd be back to myself again.

"Bath house," Hazel pointed to a building with steam coming out of it. "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath."

That didn't make me settle down. I really, really wanted a bath.

As we approached the front gate, the barracks got bigger and nicer. Even the ghosts looked better. I tried to decipher the different banners and symbols over the doors.

"How are you guys divided?" I questioned, seeing the marked difference between the buildings.

"We have five cohorts, of around sixty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of fifteen, like roommates of a sort." They had around 300 kids at this camp! "Fifth cohort is the lowest rank, so we're furthest away. These barracks are the first cohort's and everyone else is in the middle. Then, right over there at the top, in the super nice barracks, that's for the two Praetors."

"Jeez." I whistled. "Three hundred kids is a lot. And all of them are children of the gods? If so, the gods have been busy."

Hazel laughed at that.

"Not all of them are children of major gods. There are loads of minor gods. Plus, campers are legacies, second or third generation. Maybe their parents were demigods, or their grandparents." Hazel explained, as my eyebrows furrowed. That was weird. "Makes it hard to put people in cabins."

"Children of demigods?"

"Does that surprise you?"

Living long enough to reach adulthood and have kids, especially after the last three days, sounded like some kind of fever dream for me, but I shook it off and continued. I could focus on having an existential life crisis later.

"So, Lego-"

"Legacies," Hazel provided the word for me.

"They have powers like a demigod?"

"Sometimes. But they can be trained. All the best Roman generals and emperors, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth. If you do have powers here, unless you have fighting skills to back up that power, then you're just like everyone else. Being the daughter of a Big Three god won't help you. The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He's got the gift of prophecy."

"What's the matter with him?" I asked, catching sight of Hazel's face. She sighed and shrugged for a moment.

"Octavian, he's-I don't know how to say it, he's cold. Very cold, very closed off. Rubs a lot of people the wrong way." My eyebrows furrowed, before Hazel lowered her voice. "A lot of people believe he's the reason that Cressida Grace went missing. That he cursed her or something."

My heart sank. He sounded like a great guy to have deciding my fate, especially if he cursed the last daughter of the Big Three. 

"I don't know for sure though, no one does. He keeps to himself." Hazel shook her head before sighing. I felt that this was probably a sign to move on.

"So, the cohorts, how is it decided who goes where?"

"The officers decide where to assign recruits." Hazel explained. "If you've got a good letter of recommendation, you're in the first. If not, anywhere else. If they decided it based on gods, the cohorts would be uneven. I'd be alone."

"Why?" That struck a familiar chord with me, because I could guarantee I'd also be alone. "What's your ancestry?"

Before she could answer, someone behind us yelled for us to stop.

A ghost ran towards us – an old man with a medicine-ball belly and a toga so long he kept tripping on it. He caught up to us and gasped for air, his purple aura flickering around him.

"This is her?" The ghost panted, and I straightened up. I didn't like his tone. "A new recruit for the Fifth, perhaps?"

"Vitellius," Hazel said, "we're sort of in a hurry."

The ghost scowled at me and walked around me like I was some used car. "I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Does she have all her teeth? Can she fight? Does she clean stables?"

"Yes, yes and yes unless you ask and then it's a no," I listed off as both the ghost and I scowled at each other. "Who are you?"

"Andromeda, this is Vitellius." Hazel's expression clearly said, be nice, so I dropped the scowl. "He's one of our Lares; takes an interest in new recruits."

On a nearby porch, other ghosts snickered as Vitellius paced back and forth, tripping over his toga and hiking up his sword belt.

"Yes," Vitellius said, "back in Caesar's day – that's Julius Caesar, mind you – the Fifth Cohort was something! Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to. Look at Hazel here, using a spatha. Ridiculous weapon for a Roman legionnaire – that's for cavalry! And you, girl – you smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"

"No." In my short amount of time with memories, I'd never had time to take a bath because either there was a wolf trying to kill me or some gorgons. I'd jumped in rivers, but gods knew my hair needed some conditioner desperately. It felt like straw.

"Vitellius," Hazel stopped the conversation before it could go further, "we've got to get Andromeda's augury before she can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armoury doing inventory."

The ghost's furry purple eyebrows shot up. "Mars Almighty! They let the probatio check the armour? We'll be ruined!"

He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga. I scowled as he went, before rolling my eyes.

"Sorry," Hazel said. "He's eccentric, but he's one of the oldest Lares. Been around since the legion was founded."

"He called the legion Fulminata?" I questioned.

"Armed with Lightning," Hazel translated. "That's our motto. The Twelfth Legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on orders from Jupiter: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. The rest of the Romans have been hunted out of existence, but we're the last camp standing."

"And you're in the Fifth Cohort?" I guessed. "Which maybe isn't the most popular?"

Hazel scowled. "Yeah. I joined up last September."

"So just a few weeks before the girl Cressida disappeared." I knew I hit a sore spot at that. Hazel was silent long enough to count every paving stone. 

"Come, I'll show you my favourite view." Good redirection of the conversation, I was impressed.

She lead me out of the main gate, which gave me a full view into the valley. There was a city to the north of us, chaotic and colourful, people milling around and playing. Children's laughter reached us from our position at the crossroads, and for some reason it made my heart sink. I twirled the ring that I'd woken up with around my finger, before shaking my head.

"When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of mandatory service." That sounded shit. "After that you can muster our whenever you want. Most go to the mortal world, but for some of us it's really dangerous out there so they stay in the valley. Travel to college in the mortal world, come back and live here. It's the only safe place for people like us. We can retire and grow old here."

My heart sank further. I know I should be happy about that news, but it just made me sad. Really sad.

"What happens if the valleys attacked?" Hazel pursed her lips like she wanted to ask me why I was so pessimistic.

"We have defences. The borders are magical." She looked unsure and I had to remind myself that she was a 13 year old who had only just joined the legion. She might not have a clue about any of this, reading off a script, so I didn't push anything. "The monster attacks have increased. Other monsters, like the gorgons, they're not dying and I shouldn't be telling you this."

"It's alright."

"No, it's not my place. This is a centurions job or Praetor, or Augur. I'm still new and learning." Hazel trailed off, chewing on her lips and looking unsure of herself.

"I think you've done a great job." I nudged her softly.

"My brother says-"

She was interrupted by an elephant. I turned, jaw dropping as Hazel dragged me out of the road. A demigod rode past on an honest to gods elephant, with black Kevlar armour. I thought I'd had a weird few months, but I had to rub my eyes a few times to make sure that I'd seen it correctly.

The elephant thundered down the road, turned north, and headed towards some fortifications that were under construction in an open field.

"What the f-"

"Elephant." Hazel cut me off.

"Yeah." I nodded, feeling very confused. "Why's it in Kevlar?"

"War Games, duh." Hazel grinned. "He's called Hannibal. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."

"Obviously." I was wondering where Juno had dropped me off, because this was mad. I was starting to think I was going crazy.

She laughed, leading me onwards as I tried to figure Hazel out. She had a brother. Yet she had claimed she'd be alone if the camp sorted her by her godly parent. There was something off. No 13 year old should be this stressed, or have such an aura of sadness surrounding them.

Hazel pointed south across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-coloured light.

"Octavian is busy," Hazel looked apprehensive. "We'd better get over there."

On the way, we passed some goat-legged guys hanging out on the side of the road.

"Hazel!" one of them cried.

He trotted over with a big grin on his face, as Hazel smiled sheepishly.

"Hi, Don," Hazel said. "Sorry, we don't have time –"

"Oh, that's cool! That's cool!" Don trotted along with us as we walked. "Hey, this girl's new! Do you have three denarii for the bus? Because I left my wallet at home, and I've got to get to work, and –"

"Don," Hazel chided. "We don't have buses. Please don't lie to her."

"Right," he said cheerfully, "but do you have denarii?"

"No." I shrugged, showing him my empty pockets. My eyebrows furrowed. "Do you guys work for the camp or something?"

Don bleated. "Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"

"Fauns are free spirits," Hazel explained. "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but –"

"Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are, like, "Go away, Don." But she's, like, "Please go away, Don." I love her!"

The faun seemed harmless, but there was something knocking at my brain, some link that I had. I could have sworn that I knew a faun, but I couldn't remember in the slightest. Stupid amnesia.

Don looked at the ground in front of them and gasped. "Score!"

He reached for something, but Hazel shrieked.

"Don, no!" She pushed him out of the way, grabbing a small, shiny object. I caught a glimpse of it, and I could have sworn it was a diamond, but Hazel slipped it into her pocket.

"Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!"

"Don, please," Hazel said, hurrying up. "Go away."

She sounded shaken and I was quick to lengthen my stride.

The faun sighed. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time you walk by –"

"Why don't we get going?" I nudged Hazel. "Sorry Don, got to go see whether I'm being let in or not."

I shrugged, urging her on as we kept walking.

"You alright?"

"Thanks Andromeda."

"You know," I slowed down for her, shaking my head. "Most people just call me Romy. It's only Andromeda if I'm in trouble"

"Really, Romy?" Hazel asked, her face paler than before, but she seemed grateful that I changed the subject. "Why not, I don't know, Andi?"

"Not Andi," I shook my head. There was something about that name. It sounded wrong leaving peoples mouths, and I didn't like it. "Never Andi."

We walked in uneasy silence the rest of the way to Temple Hill. A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults. Statues of gods seemed to follow me with their eyes, which was far more creepy than I first thought.

Hazel pointed out the Temple of Bellona. 

"Goddess of war," she said. "That's Reyna's mom." 

Then we passed a massive red crypt decorated with human skulls on iron spikes. I watched it warily, wondering if that's where they put my skull if I wasn't allowed in.

"That's not us, is it?"

"That's the Temple of Mars Ultor."

"The war god?" I rolled my eyes.

"Ultor means 'the Avenger'. He's the second-most important god of Rome." That seemed like a mistake.

Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof. "I'm guessing that's Ze-Jupiter's? That's where we're heading?'

"Yeah." Hazel sounded worried. "Octavian reads auguries there – the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus."

"Jupiter the best and the greatest?" Gods above, what an ego!

"Right." Hazel still looked shaken.

"What's Neptune's title?" I turned to her, a grin forming.

"Uh..." Hazel trailed off, gesturing to a small blue building the size of a tool shed. A cobweb covered trident was nailed to the door and I nudged it open with my foot, peering inside. On the altar, that was the size of a chair, were three dried up mouldy apples.

"Popular place, isn't it?" I tried to hide my disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Andr-Romy," Hazel corrected herself. "It's just Romans were always scared of the sea. They only used ships if they had to. Even in modern times, having a child of Neptune around has always been a bad omen. The last time one joined the legion...well, there was this huge earthquake –"

"And a chid of Neptune caused it."

Hazel nodded.

"So they say." Hazel looked apologetic. "Romans fear Neptune, for his power, but they don't love him much."

"I'll charm them, no issue." The thought of only being feared here didn't fill me with joy, but I pushed past it. I had to join the legion first before this became an issue. Yanking my backpack off, I found my last piece of food, offering it up.

"Sorry dad." I muttered, before looking down. "Please, I need my memory back. I don't know what to do."

Hazel was still behind me, and I squared my shoulder in an instance. She was just a kid, and these were my issues. I couldn't burden her with this.

"It'll be okay." Hazel offered, watching me cautiously. "You're here now. You're one of us."

That sounded like I was about to join a cult.

"Octavian's almost done," Hazel turned at the sound of echoing thunder, red lightning casting long shadows around us. "Let's go."

Compared to Neptune's tool shed, Jupiter's temple was something else. The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind. 

In the centre, with his back to us, at a marble altar stood a teenager doing some sort of ritual in front of a massive, golden statue of the big dude himself: Jupiter, the sky god dressed in a silk purple toga, holding a lightning bolt. My head hurt for a moment.

"It doesn't look like that," I muttered.

"What?" Hazel asked.

"The master bolt."

"What are you talking about?" Hazel looked confused.

"I –" I frowned, but my head stopped hurting and the words disappeared off my tongue. "Nothing, I guess."

The teenager at the altar raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from grey to white and broke apart in an instance.

I didn't know that Apollo children, or legacies, or whatever, could control the weather.

"What's he doing?" I muttered. The guy turned, and my eyebrows crashed together. I knew him. I swear, I knew him.

He was tall, taller than me by a good few inches, with broad shoulders and long legs. His hair was longer than all the other men in the cohorts, pushed back off of his head slightly though strands of the fringe was falling in his eyes. He was dressed in jeans, a long sleeved shirt and a toga, draped across his shoulder. I could have sworn I knew him, but every time I tried to find the memory, it just showed a tall blond man with a long scar across his face. This man had no scar, so it wasn't the person I knew.

Then, who was the person in my memories?

This was all very confusing.

"Andromeda, this is Octavian." Hazel introduced me. The man, Octavian, placed something on the altar, spinning an impressive looking knife around his hand, before sheathing it at his waist.

"The Gracecus." Octavian spoke softly, but his voice filled the temple. I shivered, almost wanting to step backwards. I understood what Hazel was saying now, there was a coldness to him, to his voice, like a blade of ice I didn't want to test. "Interesting. Hazel, leave us. Come back in twenty minutes or so."

There was a pile of mutilated stuffed animals at the foot of the statue and I tensed. I didn't like this.

"But, Reyna said-" Octavian turned, blue eyes cold, stepping off the dais and Hazel nodded. "Sorry, Centurion. Good luck Romy."

She whispered the last bit to me, walking out and leaving me with the teenager. He must have only been a bit younger than me, and I stood my ground, squaring my shoulders.

"You recognized me," Octavian stated. He stopped in front of me, looking down as I fought the urge to draw Riptide. I didn't like how he spoke, to me or to Hazel. "I saw it."

"I don't have any memories. Hard to recognise someone when you have amnesia." I shot back quickly as Octavian hummed. "You kill stuffed animals?"

"Would you rather the animals were live?" 

"No."

"There we go then." Octavian agreed, as I fought the urge to scowl. "You seem nervous?"

"I'm not." 

"Alright." He agreed way too easily, and that put me on edge. 

"Why did you call me 'The Greek'?" I followed him cautiously, still looking around as Octavian nodded towards the pile of stuffing by the altar.

"I saw it in the auguries. The message said the Greek has arrive or the goose has cried. I put two and two together, and would you look at that, we have a Greek. You seek to join the legion?"

"Yes?"

"Confidence, that's good." My scowl deepened at his back. We stood there in silence for another few minute until he turned. "Do you want to tell me how you came to be here?"

"For that tone, not particularly."

"Good start." Octavian shot back. "I'm not the person to be making an enemy of, Andromeda."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. This kid was younger than me and trying to tell me what to do? Also, it sort of sounded like he was threatening me and I didn't like that.

"If I don't know your backstory, then I don't have enough knowledge to actually do the auguries correctly. So, tell me how you came to be here."

Reluctantly, I told him everything from the Wolf House, to the gorgons, to the fight at the river, the appearance of Juno and then my conversation with Reyna and Hazel. Surprisingly, it wasn't Juno that had the man ahead of me tensing, it was the name of the other Praetor.

"So, did you see her?"

"Who? Juno? I was carrying her." I felt like Octavian wasn't paying attention to my very riveting story.

"No, Cressida."

"No." I shook my head. "I don't know where your other Praetor is."

For a guy who supposedly cursed her, he sure was asking a lot of questions. For a moment, Octavian's face drops and he looks exhausted, but he covers it quickly and moves on. It's enough to make me curious.

"We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats." He looked up at me and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I wasn't a great threat, I hoped.

"I hear the Feast of Fortuna is this week. The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion on that day. Did you see that in your stuffing?" I shot him a grin that Octavian ignored.

"No." He sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. These days, my vision is even darker."

"Don't you have...I don't know," I waved my hands about, "an oracle or something?"

"An oracle?" Octavian's eyebrows shot up before he shook his head. "No, we're fresh out of those. If we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended –"

"What?"

"Books of prophecy. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell." Octavian paused, before correcting himself. "Some people believe that they burned up. Unfortunately our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books. A few mysterious predictions, like these."

"So you don't like Reyna or the other Praetor?"

"The other Praetor has a name and I never said that." Octavian corrected quickly, before nodding to one of the inscriptions on the marble floor for me to look at. I stood up to read them.

I didn't really expect to understand them, but I choked as I realized that my brain was working somewhat.

"That one." I pointed, Octavian didn't bother to turn as I translated it aloud:

"Nine half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall –"

"Yes, yes." Octavian finished it without looking: "An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

"I-I know that one." I was practically trembling, every molecule in my body alive with an energy I didn't know. "That's important."

Octavian arched an eyebrow as if to say 'no shit'. 

"Of course it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Nine, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it bad things happen."

"Cheery." Octavian hummed in agreement. "Do I get to join the legion or not?"

"Can I?" The man held his hand out as I shot him a blank look. Did he want a high five? He hadn't done anything yet.

"Can you, what?" I asked.

"Borrow your panda," Octavian pointed at the bear on my backpack. 

"How's it borrowing if you're going to slash it up?"

"I-" Octavian took a deep breath, before taking the panda either way.

"Hey! That's stealing." I almost lunged for him as Octavian pulled his knife free, turning back towards me. "Give it back."

"Andromeda, I need something connected to you to decide whether you're joining because you are Greek. If I don't use it, we get an unclear answer and then Reyna kills you, do you want that?"

"Not particularly." He turned back around, slashing along the seams of the belly. He pulled the stuffing out, pouring it across the altar and sifting through it. He tossed the panda carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff, and turned back to me.

"Good news." He said as I stared at the stuffing. What was he reading because that just looked like fluff? "Andromeda, you may join the legion. We'll assign you a cohort at evening muster."

"That's good?"

"Tell Hazel to tell Reyna that I approve."

"Thanks?" I narrowed my eyes, before Hazel joined us. "I can join?"

"Andromeda can join. Tell Reyna I approve." Octavian turned to Hazel. "One final thing, Hazel, the election for Praetor-"

"Cressida isn't dead." Hazel snapped, as Octavian's face dropped. "You're the augur. You're supposed to be looking for her."

"I am." Octavian nodded, fury present in his eyes though he was desperately trying to hide it. He nodded to the pile of animal guts. "I consult the gods every hour of the day but I have nothing. I merely bring it up to remind you that trying to depose a Praetor when she is still alive is not looked down upon favourably. Remind your cohort of that as well."

He tugged his toga off, pulling his sleeves up. I paused at the sight of his arms. Fresh scars ran down the length of them, marring his tattoo. It had eight lines and a harp above it, the symbol of Apollo.

There was something going on here, something no one was saying. Something that Reyna and Octavian were in on because no one reacted with that much fury to someone they were trying to kill.

"Your brother is here, Hazel." Octavian hung the toga up, grabbing a sword and pulling a hoodie on as he stopped by us.

"Why?" Hazel stiffened.

"Your brother is a mystery even to me. I'll see you at the War Games. I've got to return to my cohort." Octavian turned towards me. "Andromeda, good to meet you."

With that, he was gone, and I watched his back disappear. No one should be that angry.

"I just don't like him." Hazel scowled, watching him go.

"He doesn't want to be Praetor, or have that election. If he cursed your old Praetor, surely he'd want to." I turned to her. "He seems sad."

Hazel shook her head.

"He's been like that for as long as any of us know. But most people don't go near him, they're terrified of him so no one knows what he's like." I could see why they were scared of him. "Apparently, the only person he truly respected was Cressida and she's not here because of him. Come on, enough of this, let's go meet my brother."

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

So, we've met Tav. He's very snarky, he's not very friendly but he is trying. He has a super bad rep, and so everyone's a bit unsure of him, but I'm excited for you guys to meet him properly because he is actually super chill under all of this. He's just missing his girl. Funny though, also Andi's remembering Luke too, but in bits and pieces. Fun. Yeah, three updates today but I missed Octavian and my first draft of my diss has gone in so I've got free time.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx