Becoming Pluto's Ambassador: Nico Di Angelo

8

"So," Reyna caught me off guard as I was mentally adding the 5th cohort to things I would ask Jason about later. "I think it is time we found out what you know, Nico. So who is the most important god to us?"

I thought about how the Greeks had the big three of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Although they were brothers, Zeus was probably the most important. Wasn't Jupiter the Roman name for Zeus?

"Jupiter, lord of the sky." I said, trying to to be overconfident, but not sound like I was doubting myself either.

"One point for Nico!" Jason exclaimed as we reached the edge of the military part of the camp. We started to walk along a well trodden path.

"Yeah, that's right, it is why our home is called Camp Jupiter." She explained. "It is also why, as Jason explained earlier, why his temple is the biggest and at the top of the hill. It's called the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus - the best and greatest." She translated.

"That's pretty cool." I replied, cos I really didn't know what to say to that.

"Yeah, so who else do you think we honour here?" Reyna asked.

Oh gods. I thought. What was I going to do. I had no idea. I had to come up with an excuse quick.

"....um....well. My father doesn't really talk about the gods so much." I lied. "All he really does is gripe about how much he hates Jupiter. No offence Jason."

"None taken." He replied. "So we believe that to be a great empire, we need to be able to fight well in battles and wars, and have military intelligence, so the other gods who we honour are Mars, the god of war, and Reyna's mum, Bellona goddess of war. But that's not to say we don't honour the others." he added hastily.

I assumed from this, that Ares and Mars we one and the same, but the Greeks didn't have a goddess of war, unless you counted Athena for her battle strategy. But surely she would have been introduced as the goddess of wisdom, not war. I wanted to find out so that I wouldn't slip up, so decided to ask about a symbol.

"Do you guys have a god with an owl as their symbol?" I asked, then thought they might get suspicious by such a strange question, so I lied, "my father saw one once that was bigger than usual, and swore a lot at it, as if it was watching him."

"Yeah, that would be Minerva." Reyna said, not questioning my reasons, "She's the goddess of wisdom and crafts."

This was definitely Athena but Roman, I wondered why she wasn't classed as a war goddess. At Camp Half-blood, Athena cabin was always incharge of battle strategy.

"Do you revere her greatly as well then? Surely you need wisdom in war?" I asked.

Jason and Reyna looked taken aback by this suggestion, so I took that as a no.

"No," Jason stated, and then explained, "She is more of a homely goddess, you know, sewing and weaving, and the wisdom part of her more refers to knowledge, learning and schools rather than battle strategy."

"Fair enough." I forced out of my mouth, while I was actually thinking how that must suck for Athena. She was on a par with, maybe even more respected in war than Ares was. And now she has been reduced to a goddess of schools. She must prefer to be in her Greek state.

I couldn't think of any other questions to ask after I had said that, and I didn't want to look like an idiot, so we walked the rest of the trip in uncomfortable silence.

When we neared the base of the hill, I started to see the shrines. They were of many colours and sizes. The smallest shrine was the size of toolshed and was an ocean blue. It had a trident fixed to the door which had cobwebs going over it. I knew that this was Poseidon's, but I could figure out the Roman name or why it was so small.

"You guys must hate the sea." I said motioning at the shrine.

"Yeah, and when we first relocated here, a done of Neptune cause a massive earthquake. We fear him, but we don't really love him." Reyna explained.

Neptune, huh. But I wondered what she meant by relocate.

"Why did you relocate?" I asked.

"Oh, we move around as the gods centre of influence shifts. They are currently in New York, I believe." Jason answers this time.

Going up the hill, more shrines were pointed out, including the Temple of Bellona and a beautiful garden for Diana, who was referred to as one of the archer twins, so I guess that was Artemis.

The second to last temple was a red crypt and judging by its size, I had no problem in telling that this was to Mars / Ares.

"This is the Temple of Mars Ultor." Reyna motioned to the crypt. "Ultor means Avenger, so he's Mars the avenger."

I wondered why, but felt it was something that I should probably have known.

We rounded a corner and came across what had to be the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. It was a pavillion with huge white columns, and on the ceiling, someone had painted a giant Jupiter in a purple toga. He held the master bolt, but it didn't quite look like the real thing, and I couldn't quite bring myself to break it to them. In the centre, next to an alter, was two piles. One was of stuffed teddies, and the other was of stuffed teddies that had been ripped apart. To say that I was confused was an understatement.

"Why are there teddies and stuffing on the floor?" I asked.

"Oh," Jason replied. "They are the augers. He reads the entrails - stuffing - to read the word of the gods."

It was clear that Jason didn't like the auger, so I stopped asking about him.

As my eyes wandered, I noticed that the floor depicted scenes of victory, but also had many words on it. I read some of the words I could understand, because I was starting to pick up Latin just by being here.

What I could make out I didn't like.

"Um, could you read this to me please?" I asked, not really caring who read it.

"Um sure," Reyna replied because she was closest, "although, I don't know why you want this one specifically. It has been around since the start of the Roman empire."

"Just do it." I almost screamed.

Jason and Reyna were really starting to become worried now, but Reyna started to read anyway.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call.
To storm or fire, the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

Once again I found myself thinking that this could not possibly end well.

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A/N
Thanks for waiting for me to update - exams suck - and I know these chapters aren't very long, but I hope you enjoy reading it. (Tbh it's more for the plot than the actual storytelling, although I still try.)

Thanks for making it to chapter 8.

Any comments on any places you want this book to go are greatly welcome.

~Sheeps