Hazel said, “Thank you, Terminus. We need to get going. ”
“Fine, fine, you may pass,” the god said testily. “But stay on the right side of the road! And that rock right there—No, Hazel, look where I’m pointing. That rock is entirely too close to that tree. Move it two inches to the left. ”
Hazel did what she was told, and they continued down the path, Terminus still shouting orders at them while Julia did cartwheels across the grass.
“Is he always like that?” Percy asked.
“No,” Hazel admitted. “Today he was laid back. Usually he’s more obsessive/compulsive. ”
“He inhabits every boundary stone around the city,” Frank said. “Kind of our last line of defense if the city’s attacked. ”
“Terminus isn’t so bad,” Hazel added. “Just don’t make him angry, or he’ll force you to measure every blade of grass in the valley. ”
Percy filed that information. “And the kid? Julia?”
Hazel grinned. “Yeah, she’s a cutie. Her parents live in the city. Come on. We’d better catch up to the senators. ”
As they approached the forum, Percy was struck by the sheer number of people. College-age kids were hanging out at the fountain. Several of them waved at the senators as they passed. One guy in his late twenties stood at a bakery counter, flirting with a young woman who was buying coffee. An older couple was watching a little boy in diapers and a miniature Camp Jupiter shirt toddle after seagulls. Merchants were opening their shops for the day, putting out signs in
Latin that advertised pottery, jewelry, and half-price tickets for the Hippodrome.
“All these people are demigods?” Percy asked.
“Or descended from demigods,” Hazel said. “Like I told you, it’s a good place to go to college or raise a family without worrying about monster attacks every day. Maybe two, three hundred people live here? The veterans act as, like, advisers and reserve forces as needed, but mostly they’re just citizens living their lives. ”
Percy imagined what that would be like: getting an apartment in this tiny replica of Rome, protected by the legion and Terminus the OCD border god. He imagined holding hands with Annabeth at a café. Maybe when they were older, watching their own kid chase seagulls across the forum…
He shook the idea out of his head. He couldn’t afford to indulge in that kind of thinking. Most of his memories were gone, but he knew this place wasn’t his home. He belonged somewhere else, with his other friends.
Besides, Camp Jupiter was in danger. If Juno was right, an attack was coming in less than five days. Percy imagined that sleeping woman’s face—the face of Gaea—forming in the hills above camp. He imagined hordes of monsters descending into this valley.
If you don’t succeed, Mars had warned, there won’t be any camp left to return to. Rome will be overrun, its legacy lost forever.
He thought about the little girl Julia, the families with kids, his new friends in the Fifth Cohort, even those silly fauns. He didn’t want to picture what might happen to them if this place was destroyed.
The senators made their way to a big white-domed building on the west end of the forum. Percy paused at the doorway, trying not to think about Julius Caesar getting slashed to death at a senate meeting. Then he took a deep breath and followed Hazel and Frank inside.
XIV Percy
THE SENATE HOUSE INTERIOR looked like a high school lecture hall. A semicircle of tiered seats faced a dais with a podium and two chairs. The chairs were empty, but one had a small velvet package on the seat.
Percy, Hazel, and Frank sat on the left side of the semicircle. The ten senators and Nico di Angelo occupied the rest of the front row. The upper rows were filled with several dozeng hosts and a few older veterans from the city, all in formal togas. Octavian stood in front with a knife and a Beanie Babylion, just in case anyone needed to consult the god of cutesy collectibles. Reyna walked to the podium and raised her hand for attention.
“Right, this is an emergency meeting,” she said. “We won’t stand on formalities. ”
“I love formalities!” a ghost complained.
Reyna shot him a cross look.
“First of all,” she said, “we’re not here to vote on the quest itself. The quest has been issued by Mars Ultor, patron of Rome. We will obey his wishes. Nor are we here to debate the choice of Frank Zhang’s companions. ”
“All three from the Fifth Cohort?” called out Hank from the Third. “That’s not fair. ”
“And not smart,” said the boy next to him. “We know the Fifth will mess up. They should take somebody good. ”
Dakota got up so fast, he spilled Kool-Aid from his flask. “We were plenty good last night when we whipped yourpodex, Larry!”
“Enough, Dakota,” Reyna said. “Let’s leave Larry’s podexout of this. As quest leader, Frank has the right to choose his companions. He has chosen Percy Jackson and HazelLevesque. ”
A ghost from the second row yelled, “Absurdus! Frank Zhang isn’t even a full member of the legion! He’s on probatio. A quest must be led by someone of centurion rank or higher. This is completely—”
“Cato,” Reyna snapped. “We must obey the wishes of MarsUltor. That means certain . . . adjustments. ”
Reyna clapped her hands, and Octavian came forward. He set down his knife and Beanie Baby and took the velvet package from the chair.
“Frank Zhang,” he said, “come forward. ”
Frank glanced nervously at Percy. Then he got to his feet and approached the augur.
“It is my…pleasure,” Octavian said, forcing out the last word, “to bestow upon you the Mural Crown for being first over the walls in siege warfare. ” Octavian handed him a bronze badge shaped like a laurel wreath. “Also, by order of Praetor Reyna, to promote you to the rank of centurion. ”
He handed Frank another badge, a bronze crescent, and the senate exploded in protest.