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

Chapter 26 - Alex - The Story of the Fulminata

Hazel tried not to laugh. "Well...most demigods are. Or dyslexic. Just being a demigod means that our brains are wired differently. Like you—you said you had trouble reading."

"Are you guys that way too?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Hazel admitted. "Maybe. Back in my day, they just called kids like us 'lazy.'"

I frowned. "Back in your day?"

Before she could answer, however, Frank spoke up: "I wish I was ADHD or dyslexic. All I got is lactose intolerance."

Percy grinned. "Seriously?"

"Don't wish for ADHD or you'll get it," I said, smiling. "It's not good."

His shoulders slumped. "And I love ice cream, too..."

"The people who love something lose their ability to have it," I said, feeling philosophical.

Percy laughed. Hazel joined in. It was good to sit at dinner and actually feel like we were among friends.

"Okay, so tell me," Percy said, "why is it bad to be in the Fifth Cohort? You guys are great."

 "It's...complicated. Aside from being Pluto's kid, I want to ride horses."

"That's why you use a cavalry sword?"

She nodded. "It's stupid, I guess. Wishful thinking. There's only one pegasus at camp—Reyna's. The unicorns are just kept for medicine, because the shavings off their horns cure poison and stuff. Anyway, Roman fighting is always done on foot. Cavalry...they kind of look down on that. So they look down on me."

"Their loss," I said. "What about you, Frank?"

"Archery," he muttered. "They don't like that either, unless you're a child of Apollo. Then you've got an excuse. I hope my dad is Apollo, but I don't know. I can't do poetry very well. And I'm not sure I want to be related to Octavian."

"Can't blame you," Percy said. "But you're excellent with the bow—the way you pegged those gorgons? Forget what other people think."

Frank's face turned as red as Dakota's Kool-Aid. "Wish I could. They all think I should be a sword fighter because I'm big and bulky." He looked down at his body, like he couldn't quite believe it was his. "They say I'm too stocky for an archer. Maybe if my dad would ever claim me..."

They ate in silence for a few minutes. A dad who wouldn't claim you. Never knew what that's like, I thought.

"You asked about the Fifth," Hazel said at last. "Why it's the worst cohort. That actually started way before us."

She pointed to the back wall, where the legion's standards were on display. "See the empty pole in the middle?"

"The eagle," Percy said.

Hazel was stunned. "How'd you know?"

Percy shrugged. "Vitellius was talking about how the legion lost its eagle a long time ago—the first time, he said. He acted like it was a huge disgrace. I'm guessing that's what's missing. And from the way you and Reyna were talking earlier, we- Alex and I- guessed your eagle got lost a second time, more recently, and it had something to do with the Fifth Cohort."