LOUIS KNEW THERE was a battle going on, but he didn't fight. Well, too be fair, he wasn't allowed to fight. Which he found quite stupid. The last time things had gotten out of hand. And to make a long story short, accidentally almost stabbing Reyna Arellano in the back with a sword may of not been the best decision. So she'd banned him from whatever battles that were to come in the future. So that's exactly why he was sitting in the Principia now, waiting for Reyna to come back so he could talk to her.
Louis looked up from the ground as he heard people approaching. In walked Reyna, Hazel and someone he didn't recognize. He was tall, wearing a bright orange shirt, with black messy hair and sea green eyes.
"What are you doing in here?" Reyna asked, looking over at him. Louis shrugged. Reyna had always scared him, so sometimes it was a little hard to answer her questions under her intimidating stare.
"I was waiting here so I could talk to you." He paused, glancing over at the boy with green eyes. "Who's this?"
The guy was looking around the Principia, he looked mesmerized. Although he couldn't blame him, for it did look pretty amazing. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf. The floor was polished marble and the walls were draped in velvet. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals. In the centre was one empty display stand. In the back corner, a stairwell led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. In the centre of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans. Louis had always wondered why those were there. Two life-sized statues of greyhounds—one silver, one gold—flanked the table. Reyna walked behind the table and sat in one of two high-backed chairs.
"This is Percy Jackson." Spoke Hazel, answering his question. Although Louis was still pretty confused.
"So..." Percy started to say.
The dog statues bared their teeth and growled.
Percy froze.
"Easy, guys," Reyna told the greyhounds.
They stopped growling, but kept eyeing Percy as though they were imagining him in a doggie bag.
"They won't attack," Reyna said, "unless you try to steal something, or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum."
"Silver and Gold," Percy said.
"So Reyna," Louis started nervously. Reyna interrupted him. "Not now. We have bigger things to discuss." She then gave a small gestured towards Percy.
Louis was about to start arguing, but quickly closed his mouth, knowing full well that Reyna would yell at him.
Reyna set her dagger on the table. Her hair was black and glossy as volcanic rock, woven in a single braid down her back. She had the poise of a sword fighter—relaxed yet vigilant, as if ready to spring into action at any moment. The worry lines around her eyes made her look older than she probably was.
"We have met," Percy decided, which surprised Louis. "I don't remember when. Please, if you can tell me anything—"
"First things first," Reyna said. "I want to hear your story. What do you remember? How did you get here? And don't lie. My dogs don't like liars."
Argentum and Aurum snarled to emphasize the point.
Percy told his story—how he'd woken up at the ruined mansion in the woods of Sonoma. He described his time with Lupa and her pack, learning their language of gestures and expressions, learning to survive and fight.
As he talked, Louis shuffled over to stand next to Hazel. "So, how long do you think this'll take?" He whispered. Hazel shrugged. "I mean, do you think it'll take awhile? Because I really need to talk to Reyna about-" "Louis! Stop talking!" Reyna yelled, making him jump. "Yep, sorry Reyna." He said almost imeadently.
"I'll just wait." He mumbled.
She gave him a I wish you would go away but fine type of look before continuing her conversation with Percy.
"No memory at all?" she asked. "You still remember nothing?"
"Fuzzy bits and pieces." Percy glanced at the greyhounds.
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-"
"It's horrible." Louis joked, although once Reyna turned around to glare at him he knew that was a mistake.
"Anyway," She continued. "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.
"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."
That was something that surprised him. "Sorry to interrupt, again, but a son of Neptune? Isn't that sort of...dangerous? I mean, their supposed to be really, really powerful. Could that be considered dangerous?"
"Yes, for once your right." She said, slightly surprised.
"You must've been somewhere before the Wolf House," she said.
Percy shrugged. Very helpful answer.
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 studied him. "You're old for a recruit. You're what, sixteen?"
"I think so," Percy said.
Reyna stood. She paced in front of the banners. Her metal dogs watched her go back and forth.
"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 shot him a warning look.
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.
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?—
"I don't know," he said.
"And your sword?" Reyna asked.
Percy checked his pocket. He pulled it out.
"That's a pen." Spoke Louis, confused and stepping closer to look at it.
He uncapped the pen. A sword sprang to full form. Hazel gasped, the greyhounds barked apprehensively while Louis stumbled back shocked.
"That is not a pen!"
"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.
Reyna unsheathed her dagger. Sure enough, the blade was gold. "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." Louis noticed how Reyna didn't mention him. Although he knew why. "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 up her own forearm. Percy hadn't noticed before, but she had a tattoo on the inside: the letters SPQR, a crossed sword and torch, and under that, four parallel lines like score marks.
Percy glanced at Hazel.
"We all have them," she confirmed, holding up her arm. "All full members of the legion do."
At this point Louis zoned out, compleatly bored by this whole conversation. All he wanted to do was talk to Reyna about convincing her to give him back his sword and allow him to start fighting again. Since there was basically no point in just staying in the Principia all day. Louis felt useless. And besides, fighting was the only thing he actually enjoyed about Camp Jupiter. For he was a complete outcast there. Sure, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang were nice to him, but they weren't really friends. He only had one friend, and he barley ever visited the camp. So Louis was basically alone most of the time.
Louis didn't know how much of the conversation he had missed, but he zoned back in once he heard Reyna's voice.
"We've talked enough for now," Reyna said. "Hazel, take him to Temple Hill. Find Octavian. On the way you can answer Percy's questions. Tell him about the legion. And take Louis with you."
"Yes, Reyna."
" But before I go could i just talk to you about-"
"Go!" Reyna made it clear the audience was over. She sheathed her dagger. The metal dogs stood and growled, inching toward Percy.
Louis didn't even bother to reply, knowing he shouldn't argue with her.
And with that, the three of them left, Louis's mood slightly dim.
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