The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 25 - Alex - Dinnertime

Hazel waved at us as we made our way through the crowd with Nico at our side. Nico was beaming at her.

"Good job, Sis," he said. "That took guts, standing for him."

I slipped the probation tablet onto the necklace where my pendant hung along with one bead. Percy slung on his on his necklace which had a more number of beads.

"Thanks, Hazel," he said. "Um, what exactly does it mean—your standing for me?"

"I guarantee your good behavior," Hazel explained. "I teach you the rules, answer your questions, make sure you don't disgrace the legion."

"And...if I do something wrong?"

"Then I get killed along with you," Hazel said. "Hungry? Let's eat."

The food at the camp was good. Invisible wind spirits—aurae—waited on the campers and seemed to know exactly what everyone wanted. They blew plates and cups around so quickly, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane. If you got up too fast, you were likely to get beaned by beans or potted by a pot roast.

Percy got a cheeseburger and a strange-looking soda that was bright blue. Percy tried it and grinned.

"This makes me happy," he said. "I don't know why...but it does." He turned to me and said, "What have you got?"

I looked down at my plate. Blue colored cookies, cheese, grapes, barbecue, strawberries and the healthy sort of meal you'd get at- at- I didn't know where. And there was a strange orange yogurt drink as well. It felt like home.

"The best meal in the world," I replied to Percy and took a bite of the blue cookie.

Just for a moment, one of the aurae became visible—an elfin girl in a white silk dress. She giggled as she topped off Percy's glass, then disappeared in a gust.

The mess hall seemed especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed off the walls. War banners rustled from cedar ceiling beams as aurae blew back and forth, keeping everyone's plates full. The campers dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Kids were constantly getting up and trading places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.

Dakota, the centurion, reclined glumly on his couch, mixing sugar into his drink and chugging it. He was a beefy guy with curly black hair and eyes that didn't quite line up straight. It wasn't a good sign that he was drinking so much so early in the night.

"So." He burped, waving his goblet. "Welcome to the Percy, party." He frowned. "Party, Percy. Whatever. And I hope you have a good time or something too, Alex."

"Uh, thanks," I said, looking at him with slight disgust. This guy reminded of someone. Can't imagine who.

"Um, thanks," Percy said, but his attention was focused on Nico. "I was wondering if we could talk, you know...about where I might have seen you before."

"Sure," Nico said a little too quickly. "The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow—"

Dakota belched. "Ambassador from Pluto, they call him. Reyna's never sure what to do with this guy when he visits. You should have seen her face when he showed up with Hazel, asking Reyna to take her in. Um, no offense."