They stood in silence and Aurelia could feel the weight of doom that settled on their shoulders. The entirety of the camp's future was resting on their shoulders, as was their lives.
"ID's, please," a familiar voice said. Aurelia turned and couldn't stop her sigh of annoyance. A statue of Terminus appeared at the summit of the hill. The god's marble face frowned irritably. "Well? Come along."
"You again?" Percy said as they made their way over to him "I thought you just guarded the city."
Terminus huffed. "Glad to see you too, Mr. Rule Flouter. Normally, yes, I guard the city, but for international departures, I like to provide extra security at the camp borders. You really should've allowed two hours before you planned departure time, you know. But we'll have to make do. Now come over here so I can pat you down."
"But you don't have any—" Percy stopped himself. "Uh, sure."
He stood next to the armless statue. Terminus conducted a rigorous metal pat down. "You seem to be clean," Terminus decided. "Do you have anything to declare?"
"Yes," Percy said. "I declare this stupid."
"Hmph! Probatio tablet: Percy Jackson, Fifth Cohort, son of Neptune. Fine, go. Aurelia Ramirez, Fifth Cohort, Truthsayer. Your necklace goes well with your earrings, I'm just realizing. You may go."
Aurelia's hand went to her earrings. Her gold hoops were Jason's last gift to her before he disappeared. She never took them off.
"Hazel Levesque," Terminus continued, "daughter of Pluto. Fine. Any foreign currency or, ahem, precious metals to declare?"
"No," Hazel muttered.
"Are you sure?" Terminus asked. "Because last time—"
"No!"
"Well, this is a grumpy bunch," said the god. "Quest travelers! Always in a rush. Now, let's see. Frank Zhang. Ah! Centurion? Well done, Frank. And that haircut is regulation perfect. I approve! Off you go then, Centurion Zhang. Do you need any direction today?"
"No. No, I guess not."
"Just go down to the BART station," Terminus instructed anyway. "Change trains at Twelfth Street in Oakland. You want Fruitvale Station. From there, you can walk or take the bus to Alameda."
"You guys don't have any magical BART trains or something?" Percy joked.
"Magic trains!" Terminus scoffed. "You'll be wanting your own security lane and a pass to the executive lounge next. Just travel safely, and watch out for Polybotes. Talk about scofflaws—bah! I wish I could throttle him with my bare hands."
You don't have any hands! Aurelia mentally groaned.
"Wait—who?" Percy asked.
Terminus made a straining expression, like he was flexing his nonexistent biceps. "Ah, well. Just be careful of him. I imagine he can smell a son of Neptune a smile away. Out you go now. Good luck!"
An invisible force kicked them across the boundary. When Aurelia looked back, Terminus was gone. In fact, the entire valley was gone.
Bye, Camp Jupiter, Aurelia thought to herself. Hope to see you again soon.
Percy looked at his friends. "Any idea what Terminus was talking about? Watch out for ... Political something or other?"
"Poh-LIB-uh-tease?" Hazel sounded out the name carefully "Never heard of him."
"Sounds Greek," Frank commented.
Sounds like a giant, Aurelia thought.
"That narrows it down," Percy sighed. "Well, we probably just appeared on the smell radar of every monster within five miles. We'd better get moving."
YOU ARE READING
Golden Girl
Fanfiction"In Latin my name, Aurelia, basically means 'the golden one.' My mother literally named me her golden light through the storm that was her life. That is my job. To be everyone's light at the end of the tunnel. And I got stuck worrying so much about...
