The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 21- Alex - New Camp, New Rules

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."

"Why? What's your ancestry?"

Before she could answer, someone behind us yelled, "Wait!"

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

"Is it them?" the ghost panted. "New recruits for the Fifth, perhaps?"

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

The ghost scowled at Percy and walked around him, inspecting him like a used car. Then he looked at me. "I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Do they have all their teeth? Can they fight? Do they clean stables?"

"Yes, yes, and no," Percy said. "Who are you?"

"Percy, this is Vitellius. " Hazel's expression said: Just humor him. "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- you smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"

"We've been a little busy fighting gorgons," I said. "Sorry for being such an utter disturbance to your nose."

"Vitellius," Hazel interrupted, "we've got to get their augury before they can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armory doing inventory. You know how much he values your help."

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

He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga.

"O-h-h-kay," Percy said.

"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?" Percy said.

"'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 secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We've been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America."

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

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