｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"No memory at all?" Reyna was asking. "You still remember nothing?"

"Fuzzy bits and pieces." Percy glanced at the greyhounds.

So he does have something to hide.

Reyna spun her dagger. "Most of what you're describing is normal for demigods. At a certain age, one way or another, we find our way to the Wolf House. We're tested and trained.

If Lupa thinks we're worthy, she sends us south to join the legion. But I've never heard of someone losing his memory. How did you find Camp Jupiter?"

Percy told her about the last three days—the gorgons who wouldn't die, the old lady who turned out to be a goddess, and finally meeting Hazel and Frank at the tunnel in the hill.

Hazel took the story from there. She described Percy as brave and heroic, which made Jenna zone out.

She didn't like to hear of the bravery of others, and from the look on Percy's face, he was uncomfortable with this heroic representation of him as well.

"So, Percy. Is that your full name?" Jenna asked, once Hazel had completed.

Percy looked confused. "I don't know. I can't remember anything. But I think that I'm called Percy. Plus, the hippie bag lady said that too."

Jenna burst out laughing. "Hippie- Bag- Lady! A fitting nickname, but I'm surprised that she hasn't blasted you yet."

Reyna looked stoic as she ever did in the presence of anyone other than Jenna and Jason, but Hazel cracked a smile.

"The things you say shall get you killed, Percy Jackson." Reyna cautioned.

Jenna finally stopped laughing and wiped a tear of laughter from her eyes, and suggested, "Let's move on, shall we?"

Reyna studied him. "You're old for a recruit. You're what, sixteen?"

"I think so," Percy said.

"If you spent that many years on your own, without training or help, you should be dead. A son of Neptune? You'd have a powerful aura that would attract all kinds of monsters."

"Yeah," Percy said. "I've been told that I smell."

Reyna almost cracked a smile, which gave Jenna She's-been-replaced-by-an-imposter vibes.

"You must've been somewhere before the Wolf House," Reyna said.

Percy shrugged.

Reyna sighed. "Well, the dogs haven't eaten you, so I suppose you're telling the truth."

"Great," Percy said. "Next time, can I take a polygraph?"

Reyna stood. She paced in front of the banners. Her metal dogs watched her go back and forth, and so did Jenna.

"Even if I accept that you're not an enemy," she said, "you're not a typical recruit. The Queen of Olympus simply doesn't appear at camp, announcing a new demigod. The last time a major god visited us in person like that..." She shook her head. "I've only heard legends about such things. And a son of Neptune...that's not a good omen. Especially now."

"What's wrong with Neptune?" Percy asked. "And what do you mean, 'especially now'?"

Hazel and Jenna both shot him warning looks.

Reyna kept pacing. "You've fought Medusa's sisters, who haven't been seen in thousands of years. You've agitated our Lares, who are calling you a graecus. And you wear strange symbols—that shirt, the beads on your necklace. What do they mean?"

Percy looked down at his tattered orange T-shirt. It might have had words on it at one point, but they were too faded to read. He should have thrown the shirt away weeks ago, for it was worn to shreds.

As for the necklace, the four clay beads were each decorated with a different symbol. One showed a trident. Another displayed a miniature Golden Fleece. The third was etched with the design of a maze, and the last had an image of a building—maybe the Empire State Building?—with names engraved around it.

"I don't know," he said.

"And your sword?" Reyna asked.

Percy checked his pocket and pulled out a pen.

Jenna snorted, "Unless this is a trick of the mist, that is a pen and not a sword. Ever heard of a sword?" She made gashing motions in the air, miming a sword.

He ignored her and uncapped the pen.

A sword sprang to full form. Hazel gasped. The greyhounds barked apprehensively.

Jenna looked at it, spellbound. This sword drew her in, the engravings on it's hilt, the design, and the metal-

Oh, the metal. She was a beauty, this sword, made from such a metal.

"What is that?" Hazel asked. "I've never seen a sword like that."

"I have," Reyna said darkly. "It's very old—a Greek design. We used to have a few in the armory before..." She stopped herself "The metal is called Celestial bronze. It's deadly to monsters, like Imperial gold, but even rarer."

"Imperial gold?" Percy asked.

Jenna wanted to face-palm. What new brand of dumbass was this kid, knowing neither the name of his own sword's metal, nor the most popular metal used to fight in the Roman legion.

"Reyna, are we sure we want him around? He's such a-" Reyna shot her a look, and Percy looked at her questioningly.

"Such a what?"

Reyna sighed. "Jenna here has a problem in controlling her language. We have a kid here!"

Jenna looked around, "I don't see a kid."

Reyna sighed again, before she unsheathed her dagger to show Percy the Imperial Gold metal it was forged out of.

Reyna gave a backstory of the metal, one that no one asked for, "The metal was consecrated in ancient times, at the Pantheon in Rome. Its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors—a way for their champions to slay monsters that threatened the empire. We used to have more weapons like this, but now...well, we scrape by. I use this dagger. Hazel has a spatha, a cavalry sword. Jenna has a pilum, the javelin-like weapon you saw her throw at one of the gorgons, and a sword. Most legionnaires use a shorter sword called a gladius. But that weapon of yours is not Roman at all. It's another sign you're not a typical demigod. And your arm..."

"What about it?" Percy asked.

Reyna held out her own arm and ripped away the sleeve, exposing her SPQR tattoo.

Jenna looked at her own one. Just looking at it made her remember the burning pain she had felt while it was engraved into her skin.

Percy glanced at Hazel.

"We all have them," she confirmed, holding up her arm. "All full members of the legion do."

Jenna rubbed the tattoo, and held out her own arm to reveal her own tattoo, a hammer, with 9 strikes underneath it.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Jenna Thompson, Daughter of Vulcan."

She holds out her hand for Percy to shake, and he does. A firm, and quick handshake.

"So you've never been a member of the legion," Reyna mused, "These marks can't be removed. I thought perhaps..." She shook her head, as if dismissing an idea.

Hazel leaned forward. "If he's survived as a loner all this time, maybe he's seen Jason." She turned to Percy. "Have you ever met a demigod like us before? A guy in a purple shirt, with marks on his arm—"

Jenna felt hope light up inside her, even a small clue about Jason, she would take. After all, he was her best friend.

More like the love of my life.

"Hazel." Reyna's voice tightened. "Percy's got enough to worry about."

Percy touched the point of his sword, and it shrank back into a pen. "I haven't seen anyone like you guys before. Who's Jason?"

His name again.

Reyna gave Hazel an irritated look. "He is...he was my colleague." She waved her hand at the second empty chair. "The legion normally has two elected praetors. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, was our other praetor until he disappeared last October."

Jenna's heart dropped. Was. She couldn't believe Reyna could use the word was.

"He is our other praetor."

"You mean he's been gone eight months, and you haven't replaced him?"

"He might not be dead," Hazel said. "We haven't given up."

Reyna grimaced.

"We don't need to replace him. I've stepped into his place. Plus, no one can ever replace Jason." Jenna said.

"Elections only happen in two ways," Reyna elaborated, on the topic of the praetor "Either the legion raises someone on a shield after a major success on the battlefield—and we haven't had any major battles—or we hold a ballot on the evening of June 24, at the Feast of Fortuna. That's in five days. Jenna would be a fit choice, but she refuses to take the role permanently."

"I told you, I am not going to replace Jason. You can, if you like. But I won't."

Percy frowned. He seemed more focused on the name of the feast. "You have a feast for tuna?"

"Fortuna," Hazel corrected. "She's the goddess of luck. Whatever happens on her feast day can affect the entire rest of the year. She can grant the camp good luck...or really bad luck."

Reyna, Jenna and Hazel glanced at the empty display stand, thinking about what was missing.

Percy asked, "The Feast of Fortune...The gorgons mentioned that. So did Juno. They said the camp was going to be attacked on that day, something about a big bad goddess named Gaea, and an army, and Death being unleashed. You're telling me that day is this week?"

Reyna's fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger.

Jenna's heart stopped.

Gaea.

It all made sense.

A was coming, and a huge one.

One that could either destroy the world, or make it into heaven.

But most probably, it would destroy it.

Just thinking of it made Jenna want to scream and cry.

"You will say nothing about that outside this room," Reyna ordered. "I will not have you spreading more panic in the camp."

"So it's true," Percy said. "Do you know what's going to happen? Can we stop it?"

"We've talked enough for now," Reyna said. "Hazel, Jenna, take him to Temple Hill. Find Octavian. On the way you can answer Percy's questions. Tell him about the legion."

"Yes, Reyna."

"Why me?" Jenna whined.

Reyna gave her a look that said, Just humor me.

"Good luck with the augury, Percy Jackson," Reyna told him. "If Octavian lets you live, perhaps we can compare notes...about your past."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Adhara's Letters!

I gave you a double update, so the two chapters a week of this book are done. You'll probably get an update on 'My Love', I guess. 

I have nothing more to say, so here we go with the QOTD

QOTD: Favorite fictional character?

Good bye guys! 

Loads of Love, 

Adhara

P.S Lol, I almost typed 'Adhaa' instead of 'Adhara.' Silly typo.