chapter thirty-five

─── i seem to be a pro at insulting people

          ℑ really wish that I could tell you that my sleep schedule was actually the best thing going on in my life, trust me, I do. But that would be a lie. It's not that the beds in the barracks weren't comfortable, they truly were, but I'd been having these dreams, right?

They were normally terrifying and left me waking up in a cold sweat, or screaming, which was not ideal when you were being hunted by gorgons. I was safe now, but the dreams weren't leaving me.

In my dream tonight, I could see a curly-haired faun running towards me, his clothes ragged.

"I don't have any spare change," I called. I'd like to point out that my dreams normally didn't start out like this.

"No, Romy, it's me. It's Grover." Grover slammed into me, hugging me as I grew confused. "Stay put! We're on our way to find you. Mrs O'Leary has a scent, I think, she disappeared a while back and we think she's got a lock on you. Stay put."

Who was Mrs O'Leary?

"What?" I asked, but the faun had disappeared in the fog. Then, there was someone else. I thought it was Octavian, and then I saw the scar. It was the guy from my memory. It was him.

"Thank the gods." He reached out for me as I stared up at him. His hand wrapped around mine as I tried to work out who he was. My body seemed to recognise him, my hands fitting perfectly in his, even if my brain wasn't catching up to me.

"Who are you?" I expected him to look hurt when I didn't know who he was but he nodded.

"Andi, darling, it's me. It's Luke." The nickname sounded right coming from him, like it was meant for him. "I know you've got amnesia, it's okay. You don't have to remember right away."

"Are you real?" He nodded, a grin forming on his face as I reached up to touch him. When my hand hit the scar, his eyes fluttered closed and I took a deep breath. Luke was real. There was a real person in my dreams, in front of me. "Who am I to you?"

"My better half." I snorted out a laughter as he grinned.

"That says a lot."

"Yeah, I know." He grinned, before wrapping me into a hug and I swear, it felt like home. "You don't remember anything, I know that. You've been gone for months but thank the stars we've finally got a lock on you."

"I-"

"Stay put and try not to leave wherever you are." He pulled away, as the dream kept trying to rip me back to somewhere else. "I mean it, Andi. I know you and your inability to follow any form of orders, but please, for me."

I almost laughed but something stopped me. What about my mom? What about Sally?

"My mom...?" Luke nodded, holding onto me desperately as he began to fade.

"I'll tell her, I'll tell her, okay, I lo-"

Then, he was gone.

The images accelerated. I saw a huge ship in a dry dock, workers scrambling to finish the hull, a guy with a blowtorch welding a bronze dragon figurehead to the prow. I saw the war god  stalking towards me in the surf, a sword in his hands.

Then the scene shifted. I was standing amongst bodies, each one piled around me, blood coating my hands. I tried to scramble away, but their grip was too tight, dragging me down.

"No, no, no," I muttered, trying to claw my way out, until a hand clutched around my throat. I came face to face with a young boy, his eyes glowing golden and a sword stuck out of his side.

"You killed me," I choked as his grip tightened, clawing at his hand. "You killed me! You kil-"

I woke up with a start, pulling myself out of bed as I clawed at my throat. It took me a moment to realise that I was at Camp Jupiter in the Fifth Cohort barracks. Sweat dripped down my forehead, my sheets tangled around my legs as I let my head slam back against my pillow, terror filling me.

No one else was awake yet and I groaned, sitting up and pulling a hoodie on. Slipping on my shoes, I grabbed some of the food that I had stolen from dinner last night and walked out of the barracks. I wasn't going to go back to sleep now, so might as well do something useful.

It was early morning, mist covering the fields and dew tickling my bare legs as I made the trek to the temples. Neptune's was just as dusty as yesterday, but I got to work. My brain needed to focus on something else instead of the fear that I was feeling, so I cleaned.

I started with the doorway, pulling the cobwebs off of the trident. Then, I threw the mouldy apples and stale bagel outside and shook the cloth that covered the dais, trying to get the dust out. When I was done, it didn't look as decrepit and I placed the fresh food on the table as an offering.

"You shouldn't be awake this early." I froze at the cold voice, turning around to catch sight of Octavian. The teenager was dressed in jeans and a hoodie, the dagger present at his waist and deep bags beneath his eyes. I tensed, fighting the urge to snap back at him. "It's 5 in the morning, what are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep." He hummed. 

"I've got something for you." I narrowed my eyes. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To the big temple two doors down, where'd you think?" Octavian seemed to have grown tired of my questions, scowling as I grinned. Good to know he had enough emotions to get angry. I placed the final bit of food down, before leaving Neptune's temple. Octavian hadn't waited for me, instead walking off and I debated just going back before spinning on my heel and following the legacy to the larger temple.

He walked straight through and into the central area, causing me to follow.

"Wait there." I reluctantly did as I was told, looking around at the mosaics as his footsteps faded. It went silent, as I looked back out across the morning mist, before the footsteps grew louder. "Here. Since you were so distraught yesterday."

I turned back to him, my eyes going wide at the sight of the panda that he'd sliced up yesterday.

"But-How-?" I was very confused. Looking up, I caught Octavian's eyes but he merely shrugged. 

"Go back to sleep." He turned away from me once more, grabbing the innards of all the toys and shoving it into a large basket. The husks of the teddy bears were next to him, as he placed both onto the dais. 

"You are a very confusing man."

"What?" Octavian's eyebrows shot up, staring down at me from the dais.

"Everyone says you're a cold and cruel Centurion who strikes fear into the heart of nearly everyone who meets you, yet here you are, handing a 21 year old back her panda toy because, I don't even know why." He tensed, staring at me unflinchingly as I tried to work him out. "They say you cursed your previous Praetor, Cressida, but you're doing everything in your power to ensure that her position is secured because you are so sure she's going to return. So, yes, you're a very confusing man."

"You met me less than 24 hours ago, and you think that you know me that well?" Octavian shook his head with a laugh. "I gave you your panda back because that's written into what I have to do, not because I'm being nice, but because if I'm having to work with people's actual stuffed toys, I have to repair them. It was written for the younger recruits, but the rule still applies for 21 year olds with attachment issues."

I blinked a few times at that, my jaw dropping.

"I'm keeping Cressida's position free because I know she is not dead because that is my job as the Augur. Until my soldiers find evidence, I can't tell the rest of camp so I have to resort to these tactics to do it. Despite popular opinion, I can't curse people. I'm a legacy, not a full blooded demigod. Are you quite done with insulting me?"

"I wasn't insulting you."

"We are done with this conversation." Octavian twisted away from me once more.

"No, wait, you can't just end a conversation there and that's it."

"I can."

"No you can't." I snapped back. "Octavian, you're not the only one struggling here. I have no memories, I'm not sure why I'm here and I'm being told that I don't fit in. Now, I've got to go on a quest when I haven't even been here long enough to do that sort of thing."

"Andromeda, you cannot be that blind as to not know why you're here."

"Enlighten me."

"They're replacing Cressida." Octavian shook his head. "That's why you're here. The gods, whoever, they're trying to replace Cressida by sending us you. Do you think a lot of us are blind to what's going on? We lost a daughter of the Big Three, the only daughter of the King of the Gods, and in return we get a Daughter of Neptune. She was our strongest fighter, and now we've got someone who fights like nothing we've ever seen. She was the most powerful person we had, and now, you're replacing her too."

I hadn't even thought about it like that, my mind trying to form a response.

"The gods have sent you on a quest, they want you fighting or performing great feats, do you know why?" I shook my head, my tongue tied in my mouth. "Because they want us to name you Praetor. They are trying to replace Cressida, with someone slightly older who they can manipulate because you have no memories. You're a blank slate. They're erasing her from existence and I won't allow that."

"There's something deeper going on with you and her." Octavian's face dropped, his eyes wide with a different emotion present on his face as I watched him. It took me a moment to place a name to it, but I didn't dare say anything. "Something deeper than comrades."

I realise I've struck the truth when Octavian backs away from me. There's a look on his face, of a type of grief so deep that it makes me sad. I don't know if I expect him to say more, but he doesn't and I don't know what else to say.

"Octavian." There's another call of his name as Reyna appears in the temple. "Andromeda, what are you doing here?"

"Octavian was just giving me my panda back." I held it up for her to see. "I couldn't sleep. Keep thinking the gorgons are coming to kill me."

"I see." Reyna doesn't believe me. Instead, she looks past me to Octavian, who hasn't moved. "Tav?"

He turns to her, before turning back to the dais and Reyna hums.

"You've got a quest to prepare for, Andromeda." Reyna's dismissal is clear and I don't want to stick around to hear this conversation, hurrying away quickly. "Any news?"

"Nothing, I-" Octavian's voice trails off as I dodge down the hill, panda in hand, taking a deep breath as I hurry. I get to the bottom, crashing into Hazel, who also looks like she hasn't slept.

∘☽༓☾∘

"So, what happens now?" Hazel and I had gone around in the early morning, doing a run, working out and then going to the bath house. Now, we were heading to breakfast.

"We've got a quick breakfast and then senate meetings." Hazel explained, twisting her hair quickly.

"Do I have to wear a bedsheet?"

"No, that's just for the senators. There're ten of them, elected yearly. You've got to be at camp five years to qualify." Hazel laughed, shaking her head. "But we're invited because we're going on the quest. You, me and Frank."

That answered that then, and I sat down from breakfast quickly. I was more aware of the whispers this time, maybe because of the dream or the conversation with Octavian, but they followed me far more.

"Two gods in one day..."

"Un-Roman fighting..."

"Water cannon up my nose..."

I filled up on pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs and a couple of large glasses of apple juice, trying to distract myself with food but their conversations didn't sit right with me. Reyna announced that senate was now going to convene and that was most likely my cue to leave and to stop focusing on this sort of stuff. It wouldn't do me any good to dwell on what had happened.

"Here we go." Hazel fidgeted with a stone that looked like a two-carat ruby.

The ghost Vitellius appeared next to them in a purple shimmer. "Bona fortuna, you three! Ah, senate meetings. I remember the one when Caesar was assassinated. Why, the amount of blood on his toga –"

"Thanks, Vitellius," Frank interrupted. "We should get going."

Reyna and Octavian led the procession of senators out of camp, with Reyna's metal greyhounds dashing back and forth along the road. Hazel, Frank and me took the back, looking very out of place without bedsheets. I could see Nico di Angelo in the group, wearing a black toga and talking with Gwen, who looked a little pale but surprisingly good considering she'd been dead the night before. Nico waved at me, then went back to his conversation, leaving me incredibly certain that the boy was avoiding me.

I was also certain that I knew him.

Dakota stalked along ahead of us, his head to the floor and fingers drumming across his toga like he was trying to remember what to say and how to do. It made me wonder how often he'd been called up for these sorts of things and whether my cousin had actually been the one to do this.

Hazel and Frank were watching their centurions sadly, and I decided to move the conversation on.

"How could Romans move, in those things?" I asked, joking about the togas.

"They were just for formal occasions," Hazel said. "Like tuxedos. I bet the Ancient Romans hated togas as much as we do. By the way, you didn't bring any weapons, did you?"

I tapped my pocket, before pulling a face at the feeling of my pen. "Why? Are we not supposed  to?"

"No weapons allowed inside the Pomerian Line," she said.

"Like the dog?"

"Pomerian, not Pomeranian," Frank corrected as I sighed. It was never a dog and for once, I just wanted it to be a dog. "The city limits. Inside is a sacred safe zone. Legions can't march through. No weapons allowed. That's so senate meetings don't get bloody."

"Like Julius Caesar getting assassinated?" I asked.

Frank nodded. "Don't worry. Nothing like that has happened in months."

I was hoping he was kidding.

As we got closer to the city, I could appreciate how beautiful it was. The tiled roofs and gold domes gleamed in the sun. Gardens bloomed with honeysuckle and roses. The central plaza was paved in white and grey stone, decorated with statues, fountains and gilded columns. In the surrounding neighbourhoods, cobblestone streets were lined with freshly painted town houses, shops, cafés and parks. In the distance rose the coliseum and the horse-racing arena.

It almost seemed too good to be true and something about this, about all of this, was putting me on edge. I wasn't supposed to be here and I didn't feel like I should be.

The senators in front of us started slowing down as we seemed to reach the border line. On the side of the road stood a white marble statue – a life-size muscular man with curly hair, no arms and an irritated expression. This already wasn't looking good for me.

"Single file, please!" the statue said like a bouncer. "Have your IDs ready."

I glanced to my left and right. I hadn't noticed before, but a line of identical statues ringed the city at intervals of about a hundred yards.

The senators passed through easily. The statue checked the tattoos on their forearms and called each senator by name. "Gwendolyn, senator, Fifth Cohort, yes. Nico di Angelo, ambassador of Pluto – very well. Reyna, praetor, of course. Hank, senator, Third Cohort – oh, nice shoes, Hank! Ah, who have we here?"

Hazel, Frank and me were the last ones.

"Terminus." Hazel said, "this is Andromeda Jackson. Romy, this is Terminus, the god of boundaries."

"New, eh?" said the god. "Yes, probatio tablet. Fine. Ah, weapon in your pocket? Take it out! Take it out!"

I didn't know how Terminus could tell, but I took out my pen.

"Quite dangerous," Terminus said. "Leave it in the tray. Wait, where's my assistant? Julia!"

A little girl about six years old peeked out from behind the base of the statue. She had pigtails, a pink dress and an impish grin with two missing teeth.

"Julia?" Terminus glanced behind him, and Julia scurried in the other direction. "Where did that girl go?"

Terminus looked the other way and caught sight of Julia before she could hide. The little girl squealed with delight.

"Oh, there you are," said the statue. "Front and centre. Bring the tray."

Julia scrambled out and brushed off her dress. She picked up a tray and presented it to me, as I tried not to grin. On it were several paring knives, a corkscrew, an oversized container of sun lotion and a water bottle.

"You can pick up your weapon on the way out," Terminus said. "Julia will take good care of it. She's a trained professional."

The little girl nodded. "Pro-fess-ion-al." She said each syllable carefully, like she'd been practising. I wasn't too big on handing my weapon to a child, but I also probably needed to be at this meeting.

"I can tell, sweetheart." I grinned at the girl, who giggled and beamed. "Just a heads up, it does like to return to my pocket."

"Not to worry," Terminus assured me. "We'll make sure it doesn't wander off. Won't we, Julia?"

"Yes, Mr Terminus."

I shrugged, placing the pen in the box. It was now their issue and not mine.

"Now, a few rules, since you're new," Terminus said. "You are entering the boundaries of the city proper. Keep the peace inside the line. Yield to chariot traffic while walking on public roads. When you get to the Senate House, sit on the left-hand side. And, down there – do you see where I'm pointing?"

I wanted to point out that he didn't have any hands, but a voice appeared in my head, telling me not to backtalk gods, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Yes."

"The shop with the blue awning," Terminus continued, "that's the general store. They sell tape measures. Buy one! I want those jeans exactly one inch above the ankles and that hair tied back. And tuck your shirt in."

Hazel said, "Thank you, Terminus. We need to get going."

"Fine, fine, you may pass," the god said testily. "But stay on the right side of the road! And that rock right there – No, Hazel, look where I'm pointing. That rock is entirely too close to that tree. Move it two inches to the left."

Hazel did what she was told, and we continued down the path, Terminus still shouting orders at us while Julia did cartwheels across the grass.

"Is he always like that?"

"No," Hazel admitted. "Today he was laid back. Usually he's more obsessive."

Ah shit. That wasn't going to go well then. I had this strange feeling that me and a lot of rules normally ended pretty badly.

"He inhabits every boundary stone around the city," Frank said. "Kind of our last line of defence if the city's attacked."

"Terminus isn't so bad," Hazel added. "Just don't make him angry, or he'll force you to measure every blade of grass in the valley."

Duly noted. "And the kid? Julia?"

Hazel grinned. "Yeah, she's a cutie. Her parents live in the city. Come on. We'd better catch up to the senators."

As we approached the forum, I was struck by the sheer number of people. College-age kids were hanging out at the fountain. Several of them waved at the senators as they passed. One guy in his late twenties stood at a bakery counter, flirting with a young woman who was buying coffee. An older couple was watching a little boy in diapers and a miniature Camp Jupiter shirt toddle after seagulls. Merchants were opening their shops for the day, putting out signs in Latin that advertised pottery, jewellery and half-price tickets for the Hippodrome.

"All these people are demigods?" I asked. There was a feeling swirling in my stomach, not happiness, but jealousy. These people were all happy and safe but the vision, of all those dead kids that I had seen in my dreams, came back to me. They hadn't been.

"Or descended from demigods," Hazel said. "Like I told you, it's a good place to go to college or raise a family without worrying about monster attacks every day. Maybe two, three hundred people live here? The veterans act as, like, advisers and reserve forces as needed, but mostly they're just citizens living their lives."

I couldn't imagine a life where I didn't have to fight. It seemed sort of unfair that the older ones were relaxing, yet the younger teenagers were the ones on the front line. How did that sit right with anyone?

Why was no one so upset about the child soldiers?

The senators made their way to a big white-domed building on the west end of the forum. I paused at the doorway, trying not to think about Julius Caesar getting slashed to death at a senate meeting. Then I took a deep breath and followed Hazel and Frank inside.

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

So, Luke's back, Tav's salty and Andi's getting concerned with everyone's lack of welfare for the kids. She's also remembered Grover and Mrs O'Leary is trying to find her, so we've got the dog on the case.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx