Chapter Two: Kade wishes he had salad and not beef.
"I only asked for one thing. Come on, guys! The service here sucks."
It was a good thing that Percy wasn't scared of ghosts and that Kade was very familiar with them. Half of the people at the camp were dead. They ran around the camp going about their own business and none of the campers paid them any mind. However, when their group walked by, all of the spirits yielded their actions and stared at Percy and Kade. Some of them looked angry at their presence. A little boy shrieked, "Greggus!" and turned invisible. Percy wished he could turn invisible too, Kade just scoffed. He already knew he was Greek, but he also knew that Percy had no idea who he even was.
Kade had a feeling that Percy felt uncomfortable with having all of these eyes on him. He had spent so much time alone not even knowing who exactly he was and now all of these people are wondering the same thing about him and he doesn't have an answer. Kade shifted in front of Percy to try and divert some of the attention to himself instead, Percy throwing him a thankful look. Kade winked in response and turned to face front.
"Am I seeing things?" Percy asked. "Or are those-"
"Ghosts?" Hazel and Kade filled in, in unison. Both of them had startling eyes. Hazel's eyes looked like fourteen-karat gold while Kade's were a deep black with a mischievous glint to them. Hazel looked to Kade, startled at him speaking in unison with her. He just gestured for her to continue her explanation.
"They're Lares. House gods."
"House gods," Percy echoed. "Like... smaller than real gods, but larger than apartment gods?"
"They're ancestral spirits," Frank explained, having to raise his voice slightly to talk over the sound of Kade's laughter. Frank had removed his helmet revealing his face. He hadn't quite grown into his features yet, looking slightly like a toddler who had gotten a hold of steroids and then snuck into the Marines.
"The Lares are kind of like mascots. Mostly they're harmless, but I've never seen them so agitated."
"They're staring at Kade and me," Percy complained. "That ghost kid called me Greggus. My name isn't Greg."
"Graecus," Hazel corrected. "Once you've been here awhile, you'll start understanding Latin. Demigods have a natural sense for it. Graecus means Greek."
"The kid was talking about me, Percy. I'm Greek." Kade supplied, unsure if he should tell Percy about his life. It wasn't like he could give the guy his memory back, he felt like telling him anything would be like dangling his life in front of his face. Kade hadn't spent his past 73 years alone staring at a wall, he had spent them seeing every possible future of his life, Percy was in each one.
"Is that bad?" Percy asked.
Frank cleared his throat glancing over at Kade nervously. "Maybe not. Romans and Greeks have an old rivalry. Sometimes Romans use graecus as an insult for someone who's an outsider, an enemy. I wouldn't worry about it." Although Frank himself sounded pretty worried. Kade shaking his head at the younger teen.
"They were talking about me, Percy. I'm the definite outsider, a Greek in a Roman camp. These people don't know you."
"I don't know me."
Kade sighed at Percy's response, feeling really bad for him.
"You'll get your memory back Percy, I promise."
Percy just scoffed. They had stopped in the middle of camp, there were rows of shops all with advertisements. Percy's eyes traveled to the most impressive building, a two story wedge of white marble that looked like an old bank. There were guards standing out front and a purple banner hung over the doorway. The gold letters on it spelling out SPQR were embroidered inside of a laurel wreath.
"Your headquarters?" Percy asked, crossing his arms.
Reyna turned and faced him, her eyes still cold and hostile toward him. "It's called the principia." She then turned her eyes on a mob of campers behind their group, all of them curious about Percy and Kade. They had followed them all the way from the river. "Everyone back to your duties. I'll give you an update at evening muster. Remember, we have war games after dinner."
Percy and Kade both brightened at the mention of dinner, Percy's stomach growling at the idea. Kade snorted and held his hands up in defense when Percy glowered at him. The crowd behind them left reluctantly. Some of them making comments about Percy's fate and Kade being Greek. Percy didn't react but Kade made sure to rumble the ground under their feet causing them to trip. He did so again when he heard another group of campers taking shots at Frank and Hazel as well.
"Hazel," Reyna began. "Come with us. I want your report on what happened at the gates."
"Me too?" Frank questioned. "Kade and Percy saved my life. We've got to let them-"
Reyna cut Frank off with just a look, making him take a step back.
"I remind you, Frank Zhang," she said. "You are on probatio yourself . You've caused enough trouble this week."
Frank flushed in embarrassment, Kade placed a hand on his shoulder to show him some support. Frank smiled and fiddled with this necklace wrapped around his neck.
"Go to the armory," Reyna continued, ignoring the look that Kade was shooting at her. "Check our inventory. I'll call you if I need you."
"But-" Frank had started, wanting to help Kade and Percy some more. But he caught himself not wanting to argue with Reyna. He confirmed that he would go ahead to the armory and went on his way.
"You know Frank would probably work better with encouragement instead of you being so cold with him. He gets made fun of enough by the other campers, you aren't doing anything to boost his confidence." Kade told Reyna, matching her cold energy. However the girl paid him no mind and waved him, Hazel, and Percy toward the headquarters.
"Now, Percy Jackson, let's see if we can improve your memory. Kade Drewitt, let's see if we can find your brother as well."
The principia was quite an impressive building, the inside being better than the outside. Percy looked around at everything, his eyes catching on a stairwell blocked by a row of iron bars. Kade just sighed and tried to find some patience. He had already seen the inside of the building thousands of times in the time loop Hera had shoved him in. He had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing Nico for a while, but Kade was kind of glad about that. It gave him some time to really plan out what he wanted to say, Nico wasn't very trusting of others, and rightfully so.
Kade knew that nobody really trusted him here at Camp Jupiter because he's Greek and 'creepy'. Although from what he had seen in his time loop, Nico had a good relationship with Hazel and a blonde boy that Kade was pretty sure was named Elias. He just hoped he could have a good relationship with his brother as well, and hopefully find out what had happened to Bianca as well. Kade had been stuck in a time loop for 73 years, being shown every possible future of his life and not once had he seen Bianca. Kade was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard dogs barking.
"Easy guys," Reyna settled her greyhounds. They stopped growling, but eyed Percy and Kade heavily.
"They won't attack," Reyna stated, "unless you try to steal something, or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum."
"Silver and Gold," Percy translated, the Latin meaning suddenly becoming available to him in his head. Kade was almost sure Percy would have asked which dog was which, and was almost disappointed when he didn't. Reyna set her dagger down on the table, something about the action seemed vaguely familiar to Percy. Her glassy black hair was plaited and fell down her back. She had the poise of a sword fighter, relaxed but vigilant. Ready to spring into action at any time, but the worry lines around her eye aged her in a way that made Kade sad.
"We have met," Percy decided. "I don't remember when. Please, if you can tell me anything-" "First things first," Reyna interrupted. "I want to hear your story. What do you remember? How did you get here?" She then rounded on Kade. "Why do you know so much? Who are you? What business do you have with us? And don't lie, either of you. My dogs don't like liars."
Argentum and Aurum snarled to drive Reyna's point home.
Percy told his story, waking up in the woods and his time there, learning everything about demigods from the wolf Lupa. Training with her as well. Reyna found nothing wrong with the story but she was caught up on the fact that he couldn't remember anything. Percy had decided to keep his memories of Annabeth to himself, they seemed too private to share. She was his best friend, always there for him. He could also vaguely remember a beautiful blonde boy with freckles and dark eyes, but he was always seeing him from afar. Never actually close enough to touch him.
Reyna then went on to ask him how he even found the camp, Hazel helping Percy tell the story. Kade stayed quiet, trying to choose his words carefully. Telling his story wrong would mean a lot of trouble, and would waste a lot of time because they would be leaving on a quest soon. The only sound he made was a soft laugh at Percy's reaction to Hazel calling the both of them brave and heroic during their fight with the gorgons. Kade made sure to send Hazel a smile in thanks, she returned with warmth evident in her eyes.
Percy's questioning continued on for a while, so Kade settled down on the floor taking the time to stretch out his sore muscles. He had truly tuned out the conversation until he heard Hazel mention Jason, Kade had almost forgotten about Jason. Guilt pooled in his stomach at the thought of him. Both Percy and Jason had been plucked from their lives, had their memories erased and then were sent across the country from where their lives were. Kade knew about it all, Percy and Jason, the prophecy. But he had no idea how much he would be able to share, and didn't know what was safe to talk about. He had a sinking feeling Hera expected him to fix everything, leaving the fate of the world in his hands, The weight was crushing.
"What's your story Kade?"
"How much time do you have?"
Kade told them everything, starting from the beginning. His life in Taiwan with his mother to the discovery of his siblings. His father telling him about them wanting them to all be together, Hades was the one who gave Kade the photo that he always carried around with him A picture of his siblings with their birthdays written on the back. Kade had searched all over Italy for Bianca and Nico but he never found them, he had managed to find trouble though. While in Italy, Kade had gotten stopped in the middle of the street by a man he didn't recognize. Normally, Kade would move on from the interaction, just walking away but the air felt electric and kept Kade rooted in his spot. The man raised an eyebrow at Kade, his eyes narrowing.
"The guy ending up being Zeus, threatening to hurt my siblings if I didn't accept his offer."
"What did he offer you?" Reyna pressed.
"The asshat made me immortal, saying I had to make it to the war for Olympus. Claimed he couldn't have me dying on him." Thunder could be heard in the background in response to Kade, but he ignored it. "Then Hera decided to get involved, stuffing me into a box and forcing me to live through every possible future of my life. So I've seen all of you before, and I know you all pretty well actually."
The room went silent. All of them realized what that meant.
"So you know who I am, you know who I'm supposed to be." Percy acknowledged, his shoulders tensing.
"I do." Kade started, swallowing harshly. "We're alike in that sense, having a part of our life taken from us. But yes, Percy, I know exactly who you are. However, telling you about your life isn't the same as giving you your memories back."
"Why didn't you say anything before?"
"Well, I wasn't going to whip my trauma out here in front of everyone!" Percy's shoulders dropped, his harsh gaze softening. He placed a hand on Kade's shoulder, "Sorry for being harsh before, and I get that you can't give me my memories back. But could you answer me when I have questions about me?"
"Yeah Perce, I think I can handle that."
Reyna steamrolled right over the new friendship being made, bringing the conversation to the Feast of Fortuna. The name confused Percy, causing him to question it. Hazel informed him as to what it was, her and Reyna looking at an empty display case. Percy's eyes widened in realization, they flew over to Kade to silently ask for confirmation. At Kade's silent nod, Percy voiced his realization.
"The Feat 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?"
Kade sighed at Reyna's reaction and just tuned out the conversation. He did tune back in when he heard the familiar words of Reyna instructing Hazel to take Percy to go see Octavian. Kade had only seen Octavian in his time loop a couple of times and he desperately wanted to punch him each time. But other than that Kade was unable to get a good read on the younger boy.
Kade stood up to follow Percy and Hazel out of the Principia when Reyna stopped him by holding her dagger up to his throat. "Oh, I should have known that this would be the route you took," He uttered sheepishly. Waving Percy and Hazel on ignoring their alarmed faces.
"You are going to tell me everything you know, Kade Drewitt. You leave out anything and you will never see your brother."
"I only asked for one thing! The service here sucks."