Second Cohort fic deleted sentence and paragraphs
“Jason told me… that… your Camp, is more like a summer camp than a training camp. That… none of you are required to stay full time like we are. That you have the option to come and go whenever you want. And those who stayed are those with no where to go. Tell me, those who stayed year round, how do they get their education?”
“Well, it’s a mixture of Chiron, the dryads, some satyrs, rarely Mr. D, Annabeth, and some other year-rounders who teach.”
“But just that, right? Just learning? Just schoolwork?”
“Yeah! It was great. From 8 to 2 we have regular school time, then afterwards we’re free to do whatever we want as long as we finish the homework.”
“If You survive this, Melvin, then I’ll live too,” Victoria whispers,
Melvin smile, bitter and with disbelief. “You sure? With those chest injuries? With those punctures? I’m surprised you’re not dead already.”
“Survive,” Victoria repeats, “And I promise I will too.”
Matt’s eyes twinkle. “What about trains? Can you mess with trains? Because I want to pull a prank on Larry. Can you imagine all of us getting on Bart and you just shutting the door in his face? That would be hilarious.”
“Isn’t Larry a son of Mercury? He’ll just open it back up. Besides, what if you break the train doing that?” Melvin worries, “That would be a major inconvenience to literally thousands of people in the Bay Area.”
“It’s not going to break it, Mel. Trust me. I would know,” Matt says with a roll of his eyes, “Besides Larry never showed he can do manipulation like that. But alright. Ida then.”
“Our centurion? Our centurion that always covers our asses? That’s even stupider!” Melvin shrieks and Victoria has to agree. Ida has done a lot for them. She doesn’t deserve any mischief they’re aching for.
“I vote for Reyna,” Victoria says.
She doesn’t even need to look to know Matt is grinning wolfishly. “I second that vote.”
“Third,” Maki says with disinterest.
“Fourth!” Travis chimes in needlessly.
“I can’t believe you guys,” Melvin sighs, sinking into his seat, probably plotting a way to leave their friend group to avoid all association, “Reyna is going to make you guys clean up Hannibal’s feces forever.”
“Then we pull the prank our last week. Easy peasy,” Victoria dismisses with a wave of our hand.
“And how are we gonna convince Reyna to go anywhere near a BART station?”
“That’s an issue we have all year to figure out, Melvin. You worry too much. It’s going to give you wrinkles,” Matt
“Fake a crisis,” Travis offers, “Like a monster attack.”
“I’m not a monster. I’ll protect the children and the frail with all I have. But the able-bodied? The adults, my seniors, who are more than capable?” Victoria grins, wolfish and bitter. “They’re on their own.”
“We only get a free day a month for fun .”
“One day??? Why just one day?”
“It’s a carrot on a stick. To remind us what is waiting after our service.”
She sees lavinia in your usual roost at the University bell tower, tearing angrily into a sandwich as she looks down somewhere. Their eyes met and Victoria waves with a small smile. Lavinia waves back with a brighter smile, no longer worried about her hiding spot being rattted out. Not that Victoria would ever. Her loyalty lies with the sliders, not for the wellbeing of this camp.
It’s so hard to believe that Lavinia and Melvin are the same age, Melvin’s such a tightly rolled ball of anxiety compared to Lavinia’s free and strong spirit. But she supposes that’s what being a child soldier since 6 years old does to you.
Travis blinks at her, owlish and wide.
“Oh that,” Travis laughs, insincere and muffled. “It’s okay. As long as you realized. It’s all good.”
“No. It’s not. Stop lying and just say it.”
“You’re mad at me. There’s a lot you want to say but you’re scared it’ll hurt my feelings. And Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. But this worry you have, Travis, of hurting people’s feelings especially towards someone as rude as me? Get rid of it. Sometimes, it’s deserved.
“Well, I’ve been trying to get her to come visit but Terminus doesn’t like visitors who aren’t here on official business.”
“Convince her to open a bakery here and my life is yours.”
“I’ll vouch for her. I’ll bat for her. I’ll work at her store for minimum wage — no, for free.”
“No, but I know someone at camp who is. I think Billie would love going.”
But to her immense disappointment, Travis is still there — sipping on his iced matcha latte with a half eaten brioche hun — and there’s a familiar girl sitting on the opposite side of the small cafe table. Lavinia Asimov is unmistakable with her adorable pink hair.
Victoria doesn’t catch what they’re saying, but Lavinia is certainly into it, laughing way too loudly as her eyes shine with uncontained unmirth. Her eyes sparkle more when she catches them coming up.
“Victoria!! Great news! Travis can get the tickets for free! Isn’t that—”
“Shh!! Not so loud. You want Reyna to find out and ground us?” She hiss but it doesn’t
“In exchange for buying the _______ tickets, I promise to sneak Victoria out to her Kpop concert in May.”
“Not invited. Stop crashing into every little
“Travis says she’s down to visiting, but Terminus is a problem and some people on the senate apparently. They don’t trust her or something like that. So all of us need to write a letter vouching for her character because Travis’s opinion isn’t enough. Come on, let’s head back to barracks and write that—”
“We can do that after Round 1,” Melvin says, “Besides, where’s Travis?”
“He’s not behind me?” Maki whirls around, eyes roving the paved streets for the son of Hermes for a long ten seconds, before she’s whirling back to face them, not a single bit sheepish or apologetic, but rather, matter of factly, stating in her calm voice, “He’s not behind me. I left him at the bakery.”
“You all truly have a one of a kind hospitality,” Melvin groans, exasperated as he starts jogging towards the bakery. And like little annoying ducklings, the rest of them follow. “It’s a wonder why Travis isn’t fed up with us.”
“He can leave, you know. Find some better people to hang out with,” Victoria says, but Maki and Matt both veto her.
“No! I need him to get to Mikaela!” Maki snarls.
Matt shakes his head. “He’s my easy gateway into Camp Half Blood.”
“I bet he already left,” she grumbles under her breath.
But to her immense disappointment, Travis is still there — sipping on his iced matcha latte with a half eaten brioche hun — and there’s a familiar girl sitting on the opposite side of the small cafe table. Lavinia Asimov is unmistakable with her adorable pink hair.
Victoria doesn’t catch what they’re saying, but Lavinia is certainly into it, laughing way too loudly as her eyes shine with uncontained unmirth. Her eyes sparkle more when she catches them coming up. Lavinia clutches her arm with an iron grip, her friend’s eyes sparkling with pure, unadulterated joy.
“Victoria! Great news! Travis can get our tickets for free! Isn’t that—”
“Shh!! Not so loud. You want Reyna to find out?” she hisses, looking around at the lingering bakery enjoyers, but it looks like nobody heard them. Or if they did, they don’t care. Still though, one can never be too careful.
“Is this about the tap dancing competition in San Francisco?” Matt asks.
“It’s called the Tap Festival and yes! Victoria was going to buy my registration and drive me there. And in exchange, I promise to sneak us out to a Kpop concert in May.”
Travis perks up. “Which band? I know someone at camp who’s really into Kpop too and she might—”
“Not invited,” Victoria snaps, the same time Melvin groans, “I wish you guys wouldn’t sneak out so much. It’s unbefitting for legionnaires. We should be setting an example.”
Lavinia challenges, “Then rat us out, Melv, if it bothers you so much.”
And like clockwork, Melvin crumbles in on himself, running a hand through his hair and sighing in defeat. “You know I would never.”
“Then I guess that’s that.” Lavinia leans back in her chair, crossing her arms as her eyes gleam with self-satisfaction.
It’s so hard to believe that Lavinia and Melvin are the same age, Melvin’s such a tightly rolled ball of anxiety compared to Lavinia’s strong spirit. But she supposes that’s what being a child soldier since 6 years old does to you.
“More importantly, the most important of topics, literally the whole reason why we’re here,” Maki interrupts, shoving her way up to the table and slamming a hand down on the table. If people weren’t listening, they’re definitely listening now. “Mikaela, Travis. Mikaela. Have you thought about it? Are you going to get her here?”
“Well, I’ve been trying to get her to come visit but Terminus doesn’t like visitors who aren’t here on official business.”
“I’ll vouch for her then. I’ll bat for her. And if you convince her to open a bakery here, my life is yours. I’ll work at her store for minimum wage — no, for free. I’ll devote my entire life to her francise if she wishes for it.”
“Maki, you’re obsessed,” Lavinia comments and Maki doesn’t hesitate to snap back.
“And so are you about your tap dancing, Ms. Tappy Tap Tap.”
Victoria groans as Lavinia laughs, getting up from the chair. “Work on your insults. They’re so weak. Anyway I should be going now. I’m supposed to be helping Bobby with Hannibal.”
“You’re skipping on chore duty? Don’t you have a fresh recruit?”
“Hey, it’s unfair to get only one day a month to relax.
“Here? But this is still New Rome,” Travis says dubiously, looking out the window to the outskirts of their city.
”It’s literally a ten minute walk from the university. Why did we drive here?”
“Victoria wanted to show off her driving skills. She has a bit of an egotistical streak when it comes to driving,” Maki says with a roll of her eyes as she unbuckles herself.
“What can I say? It comes with being the only one who has their license,” she says with a shrug. “Now everybody out. We need to Carpe Diem this day and time is ticking.”
“That’s grammatically incorrect,” Melvin tells her, opening the door and holding it for Matt. “Diem means day. You’re basically saying seize the day the day.”
“Out, out, out. The day is wasting away,” she sings.
New Rome is the heart and pride of their community. A work of marvel from some of the best arteticsts and engineers around. It’s completely walkable. A car is 100% unnecessary to get around Camp Jupiter. It’s just a fashion statement at this point. Every necessity — groceries, laundromat, 24 hr fitness — at least a half mile radius from the residents. It’s supposed to be their paradise, their slice of heaven, when they retire and they’re free from the responsibilities of a legionnaire.
She thinks she’s supposed to feel excitement. But she’s feeling nothing. If she dwells on it, there’s a roiling pot of disgust boiling in her stomach. It’s a sensation she’s not entirely proud of, so she doesn’t dwell on it.
Victoria walks down the cobblestone streets of New Rome without taking in much of anything. She ignores the children playing in the grand fountains, the music filling the clear skies, the retired legionnaires chatting underneath grape vines treasses.
It’s so domestic. It’s so peaceful. It’s so utterly benign and bland that It makes her want to vomit.
“Victoria,” Melvin whispers, sidling up next to her as Matt, Maki, and Travis roam ahead. She thinks Melvin is going to give her a lecture of being a nicer person but he’s just tapping his nose. “Don’t look so upset. Terminus may sense your ill will and kick us out.”
Victoria musters a grin. “Better?”
Melvin grimaces. “Not really.”
“Well this is all I can do.”
Whatever Melvin is going to say is cut off when Maki twirls on her heel to face them and announces, “I want an iced Matcha latte from Maiko’s before we go to Round 1. And basque cake from Rome’s bakery.”
Before any of them can reject it, Travis’s eyes brighten. “Yes! Let’s go! I always see Tera buying them before our intro to Rome history, but I never know where and I always wanted to try it.”
Maki, with her massive sweet-tooth, beams. She’s actually smiling, actually ecstatic and for what? Some mediocre cake that literally any home cook can surpass? Maki loops her hand around Travis’s arm, tearing him from Matt’s side. “Finally. A man of culture. You get me, Travis, unlike these philistine bozos. I’ll pay for your drink. My treat. Think of it as a “Welcome to New Rome” gift.”
“But their specialty is croissants. Everything else is mid. And Maiko’s is overpriced for what it is,” Victoria says, maybe needlessly but it’s the truth.
“Didn’t ask. Don't care. Go fuck yourself,” Maki says over her shoulder as she pulls Travis along, not that she needed to pull for long. Travis happily follows her with this embarrassing skip in his steps.
Matt slows until he’s beside her as she and Melvin head in the direction of the New Forum reluctantly.
“I like him,” Matt says with an easy grin. “He’s pretty cool. You guys know he ran his cabin with his little brother since he was 13?”
“I thought only one person runs the cabin.”
“Travis likes sharing with his brother. He talks about his brother a lot actually. I think he misses him. But can you imagine? Sharing? None of you guys could ever.”
“What about my calculus textbook I loaned you?” Melvin retorts, “And my notes that you didn’t take during class because you always stayed up too late studying the Korean vocab quiz that you still fail? And me tutoring you in English literature?”
Matt sighs. “I think at this point I should give up on ever getting into New Rome University and settle on becoming a mechanic like my moms.”
“Take a gap year, you’re only 16. You have all the time in the world to decide if college is the right path for you,” Victoria comments, “Take it easy in New Rome as a lab assistant or intern.”
“With my grades? Who’s going to want a C-average student?” Matt laments.
“With your personality, I’m sure you can get in anywhere. Part of networking is being personable, you know,” Melvin says, “I mean, look at us. I’m socially awkward, Victoria is socially aggressive, and Maki is socially apathetic. All 3 of us have almost no friends outside of the cohort.”
“Speak for yourself. I get along great with Lavinia and Bobby.”
“Also rule breakers,” Melvin points out.
“Actually I was talking with Travis. About my lack of future and poor grades. About how it keeps me up at night, thinking what’s next after I retire from the legion. If I even have a chance out there.”
“And why, pray tell, were you telling the new guy, a total stranger mind you, a completely random person that you met today, all this?”
“And Travis offered his camp. He said the same thing you did. A gap year. He said I could do it at Camp Half Blood if I wanted. Apparently, the children of Ares and Hephaestus would be cool if I want to switch cabins every couple of days or weeks.”
“Besides, I want to meet his little brother, Connor.”
“You want to move to the otherside of the country to meet someone’s little brother?”
Whatever Matt was about to say was interrupted by Maki bulldozing Matt down, just a blur of a body as she slams into Matt at max velocity. Matt crumples to the ground and Maki too, but Maki recovers extraordinarily well.
“Guys!” Maki hisses, picking Matt back up without a pause either to use him as a ragdoll as she shakes his shoulder. “Guys! GUYS! He knows Mikaela! Mikaela Huang of the Bay!”
Melvin perks up. “That genius 20 year old at UC Berkeley with a doctorate in astronomy?”
“Who cares about the fucking doctorate! She makes the most amazing cakes and croissants in all of the Bay Area! She’s literally in all the newsletters and in all the guides for foodies. And he’s friends with her! He knew her as a child! She personally bakes him Strawberry Shortcakes! She personally makes him caramel frappes! She and he are friends. Do you get what I’m saying?! Do you understand what is at stake here?!?”
“She’s a demigod?” Victoria asks, surprised. “But she’s so accomplished academically.”
“That’s ableist, Victoria.” Melvin frowns.
“Athena, I think. Or maybe Aphrodite? Demeter? Maybe Poseidon or Zeus, I don’t know, I stopped listening for a minute when Travis said her name. It’s one of the 12 Olympians. More importantly, I need your help. We all need to convince Travis to convince her to visit. I have to meet her in person. I have to see if she’s willing to take on an apprentice. I—I—I have to get her signature. I need to shake her hand. I have to see if she likes the crocheted doll I made in her image. I—”
“Maki, as one of best friends in your very limited circle of friends, I am going to straight up tell you that Mikaela will file a restraining order against you for being a creep if you even reveal 1% of your obsession,” Matt groans, picking him up and clutching his gut as he recovers from the tackle. “Besides, where’s Travis?”
“He’s not behind me?” Maki whirls around, eyes roving the paved streets for the son of Hermes for a long ten seconds, before she’s whirling back to face them, not a single bit sheepish or apologetic, but rather, matter of factly, stating in her calm voice, “He’s not behind me. I left him at the bakery.”
“You all truly have a one of a kind hospitality,” Melvin groans, exasperated as he starts jogging towards the bakery. And like little annoying ducklings, the rest of them follow. “It’s a wonder why Travis isn’t fed up with us.”
“He can leave, you know. Find some better people to hang out with,” Victoria says, but Maki and Matt both veto her.
“No! I need him to get to Mikaela!” Maki snarls.
Matt shakes his head. “He’s my easy gateway into Camp Half Blood.”
“I bet he already left,” she grumbles under her breath.
But to her immense disappointment, Travis is still there — sipping on his iced matcha latte with a half eaten brioche hun — and there’s a familiar girl sitting on the opposite side of the small cafe table. Lavinia Asimov is unmistakable with her adorable pink hair.
Victoria doesn’t catch what they’re saying, but Lavinia is certainly into it, laughing way too loudly as her eyes shine with uncontained unmirth. Her eyes sparkle more when she catches them coming up. Lavinia clutches her arm with an iron grip, her friend’s eyes sparkling with pure, unadulterated joy.
“Victoria! Great news! Travis can get our tickets for free! Isn’t that—”
“Shh!! Not so loud. You want Reyna to find out?” she hisses, looking around at the lingering bakery enjoyers, but it looks like nobody heard them. Or if they did, they don’t care. Still though, one can never be too careful.
“Is this about the tap dancing competition in San Francisco?” Matt asks.
“It’s called the Tap Festival and yes! Victoria was going to buy my registration and drive me there. And in exchange, I promise to sneak us out to a Kpop concert in May.”
Travis perks up. “Which group? I know someone at camp who’s really into Kpop too and she might—”
“Not invited,” Victoria snaps, the same time Melvin groans, “I wish you guys wouldn’t sneak out so much. It’s unbefitting for legionnaires. We should be setting an example.”
Lavinia challenges, “Then rat us out, Melv, if it bothers you so much.”
And like clockwork, Melvin crumbles in on himself, running a hand through his hair and sighing in defeat. “You know I would never.”
“Then I guess that’s that.” Lavinia leans back in her chair, crossing her arms as her eyes gleam with self-satisfaction.
It’s so hard to believe that Lavinia and Melvin are the same age, Melvin’s such a tightly rolled ball of anxiety compared to Lavinia’s strong spirit. But she supposes that’s what being a child soldier since 6 years old does to you.
“More importantly, the most important of topics, literally the whole reason why we’re here,” Maki interrupts, shoving her way up to the table and slamming a hand down on the table. If people weren’t listening, they’re definitely listening now. “Mikaela, Travis. Mikaela. Have you thought about it? Are you going to get her here or not?”
“Well, I’ve been trying to get her to come visit but Terminus doesn’t like visitors who aren’t here on official business.”
“I’ll vouch for her then. I’ll bat for her. I’ll put my entire reputation on the line. And if you convince her to open a bakery here, my life is yours. I’ll work at her store for minimum wage — no, for free. I’ll devote my entire life to her francise if she wishes for it.”
“Maki, you’re obsessed. It’s kind of scary actually,” Lavinia comments, unflinching of Maki’s glare as she slurps the last of the matcha latte. “I should be going now. I’m supposed to be helping Bobby with Hannibal.”
“You’re skipping chore duty? Don’t you have a fresh recruit? What if they catch your bad ”
The pink-haired “Hey. I needed this break. I had a rough week with algebra.”
“Until you meet Mikaela the Baker, then you’ll dump his ass?” Victoria guesses just as Travis comes back with two
Maki smiles, wolfish and conniving. “No. Course not. Not when he can get me such great deals so easily.
“The trick is to watch it first and time it. Most of the machines only work after 10 fails with the 11th applying a bit more grip before it resets again,” Matt tells Travis.
“Right. So the tactic is to just wait for some sucker to use up as much swipes as they can
A warning of a battle. A warning of a decimation.
And from the scrappy boy that had once attacked their camp with his flying dragon-ship, now the savior of the twelve legion with his news of Caligula’s attack.
24 hours to prepare. Not nearly enough time. But better than nothing. Better than the alternative, of being woken up with the sword in her stomach.
Victoria watches Tera and Gwendolyn from the fifth cohort, both freshly retired, don their armor. The former with reluctance, the latter with a fake smile, but a smile nonetheless as she races to her cohort’s side. She wonders what they think. She wonders if they’re wishing they’re not here right now.
“Just like old times, huh?” Tera mutters, grimacing as she tightens her elbow pads. Victoria doesn’t miss the bitter glare her senior throws her way. “Too bad Lupa never got more of those fresh recruits she said she was going to get. Maybe then I wouldn’t need to fight.”
“You let Matt take a spear for you again and I’ll stab you myself,” she warns, picking her spatha and tucking it against her belt. “If you let anybody take a hit for you, I’m going to personally end you.”
“That’s treason,” Tera says without an inkling of fear.
Victoria doesn't really go to arcades. The only arcades she’s familiar with are from cartoons. But she feels like Round 1 looks like the typical arcade. Low and dim lights. Loud blaring pop music. Carpets that are horribly tacky and belong to the 80s. Claw machines with prizes of various sizes. Arcade games where you can trade tickets for overpriced tickets. A bowling alley with chewy fries and bland pizzas.
Does it sound like she’s complaining too much?
Is she getting across just how much
“We all share a card and get a turn each,” Melvin explain, taking out his wallet and removing a red card with the company’s name printed in white.
“Why not get your own?” Travis asks like an idiot.
“Have you seen the prices? It’s crazy expensive,” Matt says.
“There are tiny prizes the sizes of keychains. They’re fairly easy to get. Then the small prizes the size about tennis ball size, medium prizes the size of . Then there’s the big fish. The big wazoo. The coll
and kind to those you value. You know, once you get past all those nasty layers of derision.”
Victoria scoffs. “So what? You want me to be nicer to him? Give him a try?”
“No. It’s fine to keep picking on him like this. He’s not a weak, soft-spined crybaby. Eventually he’ll snap and well, I think that’s when you’ll like him.”
Travis ignores her comment and walks past her to head inside. Matt jogs to Travis’s side and Melvin gives her a stink eye as he walks passed. Victoria shrugs and follows after them but Maki pulls her back with a hand on her upper arm. Victoria thought it was going to be spiel about her being nicer, being more friendly, to stop being a dick. But Maki knows her long enough to know her deal.
“Hey,” Maki starts, then takes a sip of her new matcha latte she’d ordered before leaving, and ends with, “I think you’ll like Travis when this day is over.”
Victoria waits for more but it seems like that is all Maki wanted to say because she’s back to drinking her latte and fine. She’ll ask.
“And what makes you think that?” Victoria questions.
“Care to be more specific?”
“You’re gonna have to see for yourself,” Maki says, all mysterious and shit.
“Cute. But Only true assholes want to be my friend. Half-assed, nice wannabes like Travis just aren’t drawn to me nor me to him.”
“Thanks for such a stellar compliment about my character,” Maki says dryly, “but Don’t sell yourself short, Vic. You’re a great person. You’re just bull-headedly passionate. And You care. You care a bit too much and too fiercely. That it just scares people away.”
Victoria scoffs and turns away to hide what is surely her burning face. “So what? You want me to be nicer to him? Give him a try?”
“No,” Maki says softly, “It’s fine to keep picking on him like this. He’s not a weak, soft-spined crybaby. When he snaps, I think that’s when you’ll like him.”
“You and your intuition. Always giving you the most subtle and useless signals.”
“I’ve never been wrong before. Trust me.”
“Alright, I’m out,” Matt announces, wiping some goo out of his eyes then wiping his hand on her shirt sleeve. “I feel like this is going to end in some big massive explosion and I'm not here for that. I’m taking a shower and then studying for the vocab quiz that’s this Monday. Have fun with all this, Vicky. Don’t get too carried away. Travis, I’ll hit you up later for an application to Camp Half Blood. Melvin, I want a cat toy. Any will do.”
“Roger,” Melvin answers dutifully.
“Do you want to live? I can probably drag you fast enough to a medic.”
“Tiber river. Lead them to the Tiber and we’ll win,”
“But… that’s so close to the — a-are you sure?”
“Victoria… you have a collapsed lung. There’s blood leaking into your abdomen. Your intestinal lining is torn. our reaources are limited. Ambrosia could only do so much before burning you alive. And our mortal supplies are limited. I… I have to triage. I have to pick and choose. even though you’re the second cohort best fighter, it’s your life versus 15 others. Do… do you understand? Do you understand what I’m saying? I wish you’re the only patient I have. But you’re not and I… I have to make a choice. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. ”
“Seriously? Making your youngest do first aid? Don’t make this any harder than this needs to be. Go and reunite with your friends. Be satisfied that you did all you could and more than what is needed.”
But is it enough. I’m still needed. I still want to fight. I want to stay. I want to see this through.
And not just them, her dead comrades, but the dead retired legionnaires who fought with them.
The username and password to my 401K is — you ready? It’s long and complicated, sorry. But it should set my child up for life if my brother is smart about maintaining. You’ll help them, won’t you?
My parents have a home in Rocklin. Tell Candace she can move there for moral and physical support. Tell her… I’m sorry. I’m sorry I won’t be there to raise our child together. .
Against her better judgement, she does so, digging it out of her wallet and dropping it into Travis’s waiting hand. Except Trbis’s moves his hand out of the way the last second. The plastic card drops onto the carpeted floor with a plink.
“Aren’t you gonna pick it up?” Travis asks with a catty smile.
“You drop it, you pick it up.”
Ah. Her eyes zero in on the lady in the middle. That’s the one she has beef with. Of course it’s her.
Ah. One of them is the one she widowed. Even better.
A child’s head peaks out from behind the 3 adults. And it’s the daughter of the father she’d let letter. Even greater. Looks like they’re all here.
“Missed yet again, Beth. All these years and you still haven’t gotten any better,” she taunts as she strides up to the group of 3, cracking her knuckles. They’re retired legionnaires and they must be in their late twenties. But Victoria can probably take them. In this boundary where Terminus prohibits all weapons, that means all they have are their fists. And she has never lost in a fist to fist fight.
“What are you doing here?” Beth
“Yeah, you shouldn’t be here
“I just want to say that if it was an army of 25 years old rather 15 year olds, we wouldn’t have done so well haha. Most campers at my camp is under the age of 19”
It’s stupid isn’t it? We’ve accomplished so much. We’ve built so much. But our army is run by children. Our army leaders are children. And
“Belle… was our friend from before we learned we were demigods. She was a daughter of Mercury. At least, I think she was. I don’t know. Lupa didn’t
“You become a centurion and your priorities shift. I won’t be able to hang out with my friends like this in my free time. You can’t value your friends above the legion. It’s not allowed. It’s not I don’t mind letting Ida take the role.”
“Percy said… that the oldest is the automatic counselor at that camp of yours unless challenged. You’re the oldest of your cabin? So you understand, right? I’m the oldest of those 3 bozos over there. The oldest in the second cohort even. And… it hurts. To see them struggling, to go into battle knowing some won’t make it out.
I’m sorry for what I said. I just… I’m just angry at how things are.
“Wanna bet on something, Travis?”
“Hey, Travis. Wanna know something cool? Terminus teleports those who breaks the rules outside of New Rome.”
“Neat. Good thing I haven’t broken any rules.
“You sure? I feel like you broke a big one.”
Victoria pushes Travis from the fifth story, falling with him and Travis pulls outs his weapon and this is where they teleport. Fight in a mud pit. Haha.
Victoria glances up to see Travis looking down at her with an unnerving smile. There’s calculations running through his face. Not shock, that she managed to dodge a prank that hits all angles so it doesn’t matter who walks through the door first, second, or last. Not surprise, that his trick failed. Just acceptance, like this is something he’s predicting. And ah.
He knows then. He knows about my powers.
Someone has blabbed. Who though?
“Well, I don’t want to talk about them with you.” Travis pulls ahead, Matt following after giving her a disappointed shake of his head.
“Victoria!” Melvin hisses, “There are appropriate questions to ask and then there is a no-go zone and you crossed that no-go area by a whole ten miles!”
“You went too far with that one,” Maki agrees, “If Travis attacks you, I’m not helping.”
“I know. What I said was pretty shitty.”
“I don’t understand what your deal is with this guy. Travis is nice enough. You’re being an ass for no reason,” Melvin whispers “What’s with you? You’re never this mean.”
“Hey, Tell me Travis. I want to hear your opinion. Before you are two roads and at the end there are two people, a child no older than 13 to your left, a person from your cohort that you’ve been watching and training together for about a year.. And to your right, citizens of the city you’re sworn to protect, a young family. A retired legionnaire mother and father no older than 26 with their young daughter of just 4 years old. You’re in a battle. There are arrows and cannons whizzing over your head. Screams and yells echoing in your ear. Your forearm is bleeding and aching because you stupidly tripped and scrapped it against a brick wall in your haste to get to the city. They both are calling for your help. They both are struggling with their enemy. And you are only you, with no ability to duplicate yourself. Who do you go to?”
“There’s no way to help both?”
“Not when you’re slow like me.”
“Then to the 13 year old, easy.”
“Because they’ll for sure die without help. If the mom and dad are retired legionnaires, they can probably handle it themselves right? I mean, those retired legionnaires I fought last summer seem pretty capable.”
“Then by Roman law, you picked wrong and would have been executed.”
“That’s the choice I made. In 2007, the titan Krios managed to snuck his army into our camp and attacked in the dead of night. It was a horrible battle in the middle of New Rome. None of us were prepared for it. And that day, I was presented with that choice. Save the kid I’ve seen go from a bumbling idiot with a sword to less of a bumblebee and almost to a competent fighter. Or save the family I sworn to protect when I enlisted. I chose my cohort and because of that, the father died. And the surviving widow wanted me executed for turning my back on them and neglecting my duty. It was a pretty close call actually. But the praetors at the time managed to convince the senate and the mother that I should just be demoted and once I complete my ten years of service that I am to be expul from Camp Jupiter. with zero access to New Rome once I complete my service. So, here I am.”
But what kind of message does that send? That the lives of the army are worth less than the civilians? When this army specifically is made up primarily of teens? And they told me, that yes, We signed up for this when we enlisted. We should be prepared to die for them. Bullshit, right? I was 8 when I enlisted. My dad wasn’t there to read the fineprint when I got the tattoo. I didn’t read the fine print. I don’t know a single child who would ever read the fineprint. Melvin, he was also centurion at the time and he stepped down with me.”
“That night, I dreamt of a voice. You ever dreamt of a voice? You have.” She doesn’t need him to confirm. Not when his jaw is clenching and his eyes narrows into slits. “It promised me change. It promised me a better future, a better society. I thought about it, you know, like any reasonable 13 year old who’s been through emotional turmoil. But when it told me I had to lie to my friends, I rejected the voice. Was it the same for you?”
She does so out of muscle memory of following her eyes guide. And not a second later, her Round 1 card flies past her ears at speeds that would have definitely hurt. The air whistles as the card zooms past her, boomeranging back around her to Travis’s waiting palm.
Warning alarm 2 sounds its bell.
She raises her eyebrows at Travis who smiles back at her with a goofy-ass grin, mouth remaining shut.
And alright then, Mr. Many Talents. She sees how it is.
Victoria squeezes the cue stick and gives him her own cocky grin as she gets into position.
Warning 3 sounds its bell.
Travis knows about her powers.
Travis is testing its capabilities
Victoria almost laughs but she manages to keep it down. Not her smile though and if Matt’s worried glance at her, it must be
“Go on,” Travis says, nodding his head for her to go, “it’s still your turn.”
Victoria slams her cue stick hard on the ground, the nearby underpaid staff wincing at the hard slam, and tilts her chin up. “How about you stop shitting around and just say what you’re thinking, huh?”
“What do you mean?” Travis lies with his disgusting innocent facade. If she was any less
Victoria huffs but before she can finish, Matt and Melvin come back, clean and free of goo.
Travis begins to reset the table as Maki waddles back to her side with a furtive glance.
“You see what I’m seeing?”
But she can’t dwell on it. Not when Travis is removing the balls out to reset for another game.
And I’m deserving of your assholery? Why? What I do? I never met you before in my life.”
“You killed my friends last summer,” she lied flawlessly, without a single hitch to her voice or a pause in her voice, “When my camp was attacked by your Leo Valdez.”
But it’s not enough to bypass the innate lie detector apparently. Travis clocks it right away, not missing a beat. “Liar.”
She throws her hands up. “Fine, fine. I’m just an asshole who hates dishonest people who play pretend and you’re as dishonest as it comes, Travis.”
Travis freezes, jerks to a stop, face unreadable. “Why do you think I’m being dishonest?”
“Call it intuition. I’ve seen enough liars to know. You’re pretending. You’re lying to yourself. You’re acting. And .”
“You’re shitting around.”
“I just don’t understand what I did to make you hate me so much,” Travis rants, “I never drew blood from any of you when you invaded my home and threatened my family. The worst I did was give somebody a bruise. If anything I should be angry at you because somebody twice my age gave Cecil a concussion and almost skewered Julia. When I came to defend them, that person scurried off like a rat.”
“Yeah, that checks out” she agrees, “New Rome is full of cowardly people. They picked on You should angry. You’re It’s not okay. Pathetic isn’t it? That our adults think it’s okay
“Because I hate weak people. Don’t you know? To get to this camp, to even make it here, you are tested. You are screened. You are judged by Lupa. At your most vulnerable, when you are just a little budding, before you even hit your potential, when you are just a child, you are appraised as either worthy or unworthy. Those who are strong will survive. Those who are weak will be eaten.”
“... what does that have to do with anything?”
“Because it’s all a lie. Lupa’s logic is inherently flawed. Camp Jupiter is full of—”
“Victoria, that’s enough. There are ears everywhere.” Matt says. It’s the tone of his voice that says he’s not joking. “Let’s go to the track and field now.”
Sometimes, Victoria wishes she could meet this Luke Castellan and pick his brain, see why he did what he did. She heard so many things.
How He did it for the unclaimed at his camp. how He did it for his own selfish gains. How He fought for equality. How He fought for revenge.
Of course none of it means much because those who suffered were
They want her to feel pride. They want her to be honored that they serve to protect this community. They demand that she respects the civilians here.
There’s people glaring at her as she walks past them. She doesn’t know them by name, but their faces are familiar. They were definitely at that battle when the Titan infiltrated with his army all those years ago. They glare at her with malice in their eyes and hatred in their souls. She could practically taste their bloodlust.
She sees double, of herself stepping to the right by about half a foot. So she does so, stepping on Melvin’s toes as she does so. A sizable rock flies past where her head would be. Definitely big enough to give her a concussion if it had landed.
A bigger person would have walked away. A bigger person would have understood their anger towards her. A bigger person would leave them be.
But she’s not a big person. Not when she’s barely hitting 5’3”. She’s as petty as petty can be. Melvin gives her a subtle shake of his head as Maki’s eyes narrow to slits and Matt’s smile becomes more of a threat.
It’s not worth it. Melvin is telling her, a hand coming up to grab her arm.
Unfortunately she’s never one to listen.
She spins around and sneers at the 3 demigods who had thrown the rock at her. “Missed yet again, losers. Maybe some time back in legion will improve your aim. Wanna come back with us?”
The one in the center, Nevada if she remembers correctly, a retiree from the fourth cohort, opens her mouth, but Travis comes bounding back to them, clueless as ever as he interrupts what should have been a good warm-up for tomorrow’s combat training.
“What’s up? What’s going on between you guys? Natalie?”
Ah Natalie. Close enough. How’d they know each other? Natalie is almost hitting her 28th birthday. No one that old wants to hang with teenagers like them.
“It’s nothing, Travis, but if I were you, I would find better company. Victoria is someone who would—”
“Finish that sentence. I dare you,” Matt jumps in with a brazen wild smile.
“Yeah? And what are you going to do? Fight us?” Natalie scoffs but there’s this hint of doubt.
“Just find better people to hang out with Travis. The second cohort is a bunch of cowards. Your grade for the lab report will be uploaded soon so keep an eye on that.”
So a grad student having to be a TA to fulfill their research requirement, huh?
As Nat leaves, Travis turns back to them. “What was that all about? What story?”
“None of your business, Mr. Nosey,” Victoria interrupts, liking how Travis’s jaw clicks shut and there’s a whiff of irritation on his otherwise passive face.
“Have you ever watched Supernatural? It’s on CW.”
“I haven’t finished season 5. Dean and Sam… them fighting each other this much makes it hard to watch.”
“Wanna watch it with me and Ida then? We’ve been watch the new episodes together every week but we can make go back
“That’s why you have the impala? I wanted to ask about that but I wasn’t
“Hey, tell me something, Travis. Your fauns, the satyrs, when they go looking for demigods, do they ever do tests?”
“Tests? To see if you’re a demigod? Usually satyrs can smell that sort of thing.”
“No, like tests to prove you are worth bringing to Camp Half Blood.”
Travis shakes his head and snorts something under his breath. “Imagine if they did. I think Holly and Laurel would have traumatized Donnie from ever looking for another demigod.
“But what if they meet a shy demigod or an emotionally weak demigod or a not too bright demigod or a scared out of their mind, starving, not thinking clearly 8 year old?”
Travis blinks at her in confusion and that tells her all she needs to know. “They… still take them to camp? Is this supposed to be a trick question?”
“Our satyrs are vegetarians.” “Does Lupa really eat those who fail? It’s not meant as a scare tactic? Because not going to lie, but that means Jason did the house thing when he’s not even 3 years old. As strong as Jason is, I don’t think a toddler can prove themselves really well.”
“She eats those who fail. You get attacked by a monster and you don’t win, you get injured, you’re unable to move, and you're unable to complete the training, Lupa finishes the job. Conquer or die. There’s no rhyme or reason with her. Camp Jupiter isn’t as forgiving as Camp Half Blood. I know they tell us all how we’re so much better. We have a community. We have a society. We have generational knowledge. But it was all built on a sea of blood.”
“Tera mentioned you can see the future. I thought she was kidding but I got suspicious,”
Figures. Tera always has to ruin things for her. “Tera the babbler mouth.”
“I always thought seeing into the future was more of an Apollo thing.”
“And charmspeaking is more of a Hermes thing and yet.”
Victoria sees double, one reality. And one of her
Victoria sees double, one reality and one of herself tilting her head left by 5 cm so she does so too. The bucket missing her head by just centimeters. But Travis’s stare has no shock, no disappointment.
He knows. Somebody told him.
“That’s no fun,” Victoria says between gritten teeth. The shock and uncomfortableness when she tells them are always something she looks forward to.
“I don’t like people who pretend. I don’t like people who lie to themselves.”
“Tell me the truth, Travis.”
“I’m lonely, alright? Shoot me if it's a crime.”
Is it because they all died? Because of us? Or was it the titans?”
“Does it matter?” Travis says, all bitter and “They’re still gone either way.”
You miss them and want to replace.
You’re… well-liked, huh?”
The observation should have rubbed her the wrong way. “I am. Why? You’re surprised?”
“I guess so. It’s one thing to say it, another thing to see it.”
“That is true, I suppose.”
“It’s home-like,” is all Travis says.
Victoria laughs, resting a hand on her hip. “You’re kidding. You’re telling me none of that drives you away?”
Travis shrugs. “It reminds me of my cabin. Are there a lot of you guys here?”
“In the second cohort? 50 right now which is more or less the same for each cohort. Lupa went on a searching frenzy after the Giant war so we got more than usual right now. Each barrack holds 10 of us so we’re not overcrowded. And if we need more, we can build more.” Victoria opens Matt’s nightstand, digging through the stack of his belongings to find his CD carrying case. She zips it open and flips through until she finds the disc she wants. She slips it out of its protective slot, glancing at Travis with a slight smile. “You ever played Super Smash Bro before?”
The gleam in Travis’s eyes tells her all she needs to know and she gets it set up, pushing the TV on the cart closer to her bed, pulling out the Wii remotes from a drawer underneath, and powering the Wii on. She slips the disc in then tosses the controller to Travis sitting on her bed who almost fumbles it.
“Do you have a gamecube controller?” Travis asks, staring at the Wii remote with such disdain Victoria almost laughs.
“Nope,” she lies, settling in beside Travis as she selects group mode, “Just deal with it. Learn on the spot. The mechanics are still the same.”
“I know how to use it. I just don’t want to. My friend threw the Wii remote during Mario Party once. It broke our TV. Chiron blamed me and Connor even though we didn’t do it,” Travis grumbles as he selects Pikachu.
Victoria chortles, picking Peach. “Because you two are usually the one getting in trouble?”
“Maybe, yeah, but not this time. It was Malcolm’s fault, but Chiron refused to believe it because Malcolm never do anything wrong. He even confessed, said he did it. But Chiron just assumed Malcolm was covering for us.”
“The perks of being a good kid. The same thing happens with me whenever Melvin does a whoopsie. I get blamed. How good are you by the way? At this game, I mean.”
“Well, I’m very good. Not a brag, just a fact.”
“Of course you are,” Travis says, no hint of animosity.
She demolishes Travis. She absolutely destroys him. She is gutting him right now. Part of it is definitely because of her eyes, seeing the most critical hits. A part of it is also because she’s just that good. All that time she spent playing this game, reading up the tactics, practicing with Melvin, has accumulated to her being somewhat decent. She has to be good. There’s no way in hell she’s losing to Castille or anybody else that’s a whole 3 school grades younger than her. Her pride would never recover. The teasing would never end. With her ego, she refuses to be a loser.
“You’re a hacker,” Travis sighs as he furiously spam the buttons to no avail, jumping, double jumping towards the ledge.
“It’s called being talented,” she says with a victorious smirk as she dashes towards the ledge and smacks Pikachu off the screen. Another victory. Man, does she love winning. “You sure you don’t want to switch characters?”
Travis chews on his cheek as if debating with himself. But ultimately he shakes his head. “I always pick Pikachu. Connor always picks Jigglypuff. We’re like the Pokemon duos.”
“What? Are you gonna say Connor is better than you?” she snorts, using her special to block a hit with Toad.
“No. We both kinda suck. Our other friend, Sherman, is really good. But I’m a bit better than Connor is.”
“Egotistical,” she sings-songs without meaning it as Peach elbow drops Pikachu off the screen.
She hums the theme song as she goes about her decimation, winning truly is life’s greatest joy sometimes. Travis has entirely given up and resigned to a fate as Peach's punching bag. And oh man does Peach loves punching when Victoria is in control.
“Castille says there is gonna be a new Super Smash Bro game in 2017 with a new Nintendo console. And also a new Zelda game. Supposedly a massive hit. You ever played any Zelda games?”
“Some,” Travis comments nonchalantly as he runs Pikachu around the stage evading her and Peach’s indiscriminate hands. “Windwaker. Phantom Hourglass. Ocarina of Time. Do you have Mario Kart?”
“Left eye, right eye. That’s what the others call me and Matt when we team up. The left eye that sees all faults and weaknesses. The right eye that sees only momentary victory. The left eye that loses the battle but wins the war. The right eye that wins the battle, but loses the war. Together, we cover each other weaknesses.”
“That’s a horrible team name, you know?”
“Shut it. Reyna gave us that title.”
“And that’s supposed to make it cool? It’s lame.”
“It’s called being respectful and not telling Reyna your thoughts about this.”
The loud and accomplished become centurions fast. Frank did it the fastest going from probatio to Centurion to Praetor in record time. I was the youngest to become a centurion at 9. And it was the same for most of us. Hazel within a year, Reyna within 2 years Jason for all his strength and wisdom became a centurion only years after.
“My mother. She is the goddess of victory. Winning is ingrained in my blood, in my mind, and my gifts. My eyes,” she taps a finger at her right temple. “It gives me an image of what I need to do to win. As long as I am capable enough, if it's something feasible, something within my realm of capacity, I can see it.”
“Woah so like, for example?”
“For example, if I study and understand my algebra, I see what I need to write for a perfect score. If I , I can Sometimes. I even beat Jason once in a sword fight, you know. Years ago, before he developed all those electricity powers.”
“But if you were against five chimeras, then—”
She grimaces. “Then my eye will show me how to win, by escaping and surviving, if it's possible.
“If it’s possible,” Travis stays silent. Then out of the blue, “is that why you always win on the first try with the claws? Your eyes tell you which one is on their timer?”
“We call it strategic pillaging.”
The sentry on guard, Brian from the fourth, he fell asleep because he pulled an allnighter studying for his algebra exam. At least, that’s the excuse Brian used. I know him. I know he wouldn’t fall asleep while on duty like that. Most likely scenario was that the enemy poisoned him, but there hadn’t been solid proof. He… killed himself a couple days after the battle. He blamed himself. His suicide was brushed under the rug because, well, morale.
When the dust settled, all cohorts were punished for letting such a horrific battle happen within the grounds. “What were you doing? Why didn’t you stop this?” They took away privileges, made us train a lot more, pushed all of us to our limits. It was Jason who spoke up again. Said this was bullshit. In a respectful way of course. But still. Still.
Victoria understands. She understands so well. If not from the stories of all the dead friends Travis told her about, then her own personal experiences. The young and the inexperienced die early. It’s an unfortunate truth. There’s a certain reserveness she has to have towards those newly enlisted. Once they make it past their first year, they are solid. The chances of someone with as much experience as her dying? It’s not zero, but it’s definitely lower than a newbie. Victoria lets the mask slip for a second. She doesn’t let her hurt show. She would be eaten alive if she did that. She learned from her mistake. Instead she lets an inkling of her ever present resentment seep through.
“Rating time,” she says out loud because what else is she supposed to do? The hacking and slashing is monotonous. “Where would you guys place this battle?”
“Above Mount Othrys,” Melvin pants, pulling his gladius free from the back of a zombie.
“Below Mount Othrys,” Maki yells from behind them, the whirring of her manuballista as she cranks the handle back, aimed at the diaper vultures.
“About the same. This kinda reminds me of Mount Othrys actually, the endless drivel, the hopelessness,” Matt jokes as he uses the scutum to push five corpses back before stabbing them all with a gladius he picks up from the ground. His , “Thank gods Tera isn’t here. I don’t think I can take another spear for her.”
“Focus,” Ida yells at them.
Ida gives commands from where she’s posted, center back on an elevated rock, and Victoria does as ordered. Deal with the incoming enemies on 0200. Then take on the zombies coming from 1200. A eurynomos approaching from 1000. Another batch of zombies advancing from 11. The eurynomos coming from 0100. The eurynomos. The eurynomos, someone get the fucking eurynomos coming from —
A squeal from behind her snaps her out of the mind-numbing extermination.
Victoria spins around, sees double of herself ducking — committing to the act, stabbing her gladius up under the zombie’s jaw that’s vaulting overhead — before getting back up to her feet and looking where the squeal came from.
It’s — It’s Mikaela. The eurynomos is — its claws are in her scutum, wrapping the metal shield like putty as their newest recruit struggles to detach her arm from around the handle without touching the claw.
And fuck. Fuck! How did one get so far in?!
Ida has a pilum in her hand, ready to throw, but she’s hesitating. Mikaela is shrieking now and struggling too erratically. The shield sometimes covers the eurynomos. There’s no good time to aim. The closest legionnaires to Mikaela are hesitating too, scared by the eurynomos snarling at them, scared by the claws on its feet when it lashes out, too new and inexperienced and unconfident to see the weak points and attack around the claws.
You have to be shitting me. You got to be shitting me, Victoria thinks in a panic as she looks around for anyone to take her position. Melvin is nodding at her to go, already scooting a bit over to cover her station. And Victoria takes off without any niceties, knowing she’ll get there faster than Melvin still tanking the front lines with his shield while she’s with only her gladius.
But she’s not going to make it. She knows she’s not. She’s too far away. Mikaela is backing away on shaky knees, swinging her gladius without any coordination nor any real strength behind swings. Ida throws her spear, but it just barely grazes the eurynomos’s ear. The other legionnaires attack with weak strikes the eurynomos bats away rather easily.
Remember your fucking training! Victoria wants to cry, Your years of training!
But who is she kidding? They’re just kids, kids who never had the misfortune of losing a friend in battle. Castille is shoving his way out of the middle of the pack towards the danger. Nanako is swerving around from her position in the outer middle.
All of them, moving towards one similar goal and Matt is the first to make it, coming in from behind. He was primed for a stab from the back. It was so easy. The eurynomos is still struggling with the shield its claws are stuck in. In no situation, should Matt have struggled. But Mikaela — her foot, she kicks the shield. And the eurynomos falls backward flailing. Right on top of Matt.
“You okay?” Matt asks, holding out a hand with
Just the smallest scratch from the eurynomos on the back of the hand, but Matt howls, his gladius dropping to the ground as he clutches his hand close to him, doubling over.
The eurynomos screeches in delight, yelling needlessly that this is it. It’s over.
Matt laughs, pained and wild, but still a laugh. His fist clenches, black veins spreading past his wrist and up his forearm steadily.
“You think I’m scared of dying? This is just how a battle is sometimes. I have no regrets,” Matt tells them, eye twitching erratically, as he picks his gladius back up, “I’m not scared. I’m not scared.”
They have to fight on. They can’t stop now.
“You better not die then,” Victoria says, sweeping the feet of a zombie before stabbing her gladius into his spinal cord. “It would be a serious shame to die here when the bakery is literally within grasp.”
“Not planning to,” Maki huffs with an eye roll.
“Get up, Mikaela. We’re leaving,” Ida orders, cold and controlled again.
“...No. I don’t want to.”
“I’m not leaving Victoria again to die.”
“I’m…I’m a legacy of Apollo. Maybe I could help you. Maybe — maybe— if you know any hymns. If You know know where they keep the nectar.
Victoria musters all her strength to gasp, “Ida needs you.”
“You need me more. Please. I…I don’t want you to die. Please tell me what to do. Please tell me how to save you.”
“Is this how it’s suppose to end? With us having accomplish nothing? With us leaving our friends to fend off another battle by themselves? I’m not okay with that. I’m not ready to leave yet. I don’t want to go.
Yeah. Yeah I have a final message I want to pass along. address it to those retired legionnaires who didn’t fought with us. Tell those lazy fucks that hid in New Rome that every single death are on them. Every single child slain, that’s on them. Every blood spilled, on them. Every friend they lost, on them.
They say it’s unfair. But So what? They say They completed their service. So what? They did their years. Who cares? They have a family. So do we. They have children. We have children in our ranks too. What makes their lives worth less than those in New Rome? They say they’re too old to be in battle. But we are too young yet here we are.”
“Hey,” she starts, “I thought Hermes was supposed to give the dead a coin for the ferry. So where’s mine? You took off so quickly. Just kidding.”
She plops down behind Travis, her back to him too.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just keep pretending you don’t see me. It actually makes this a lot easier for me.”
“I want to say thank you. For helping me in my final minutes. For sending Mikaela away so she doesn’t see me die. For fighting with us. For everything in general. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I wish I could repay you, but I can’t. Not when I’m like this.
So in return, you are free to take two, I quote two, of my plushies to share with your brother. Or my half-siblings. Whoever you deem worthy, I’ll be fine with it. I’m just kidding. You can take as much as you like. You deserve that much at least.”
They light the match onto the torch. Any second now, she’ll be gone.
Victoria closes her eyes and leans her head back to rest against Travis’s. She stares at the sky, so beautiful and vibrant with it’s setting sun. From her periphery, she sees them bringing the torch to the shrouds.
“Travis,” she breathes softly, lips curving into a smile. “I’m glad I met you. You’re a good person.”
They light the torches, and
She wonders if she can get away with staying quiet. She doesn’t do goodbyes. It has always been ‘see you tomorrow’ and ‘see you later’. It’s never been anything permanent.
“I won’t ask you to fight again if you don’t want to. I won’t ask you to save as many as you can. It’s not possible and it’s not fair for me to ask that. I just… I just wish… it wasn’t like this to begin with at all. I wish I hadn’t died. I wish I was stronger. I wish I lived. I wish I wasn’t a disappointment. I wish… I wish… I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have been more.”
An elbow brushed against hers, a head leaning back to rest against her crown.
“It’s not weak to wish you’d survive,” Travis mumbles, voice bleak and muted, “For what it’s worth, I wished you’d made it too.”
“I’m glad I met you, Travis. I wish I could have known you longer,” she mourns, not bothering to wipe the tears away anymore, watching the flames catch on the shrouds.
The last thing she hears before Camp Jupiter becomes the Underworld, before the alive and dead becomes the dead only, is a forlorned, wretched, “Yeah. Me too.”
He’s awful. He’s truly awful and acting entirely inappropriately for this situation. But he’s here with them, isn’t he? And that’s more than she can say for some others.
“Over my dead body!” she yells at his departing back, unable to help the smile.
“That’s bad luck,” Maki tells her.
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