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THE DAUGHTER OF TRIVIA AND SON OF JUPITER stood inside temple of the king of the gods. The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind.
In the center stood a marble altar, where a kid in a toga was doing some sort of ritual in front of a massive golden statue of the big dude himself: Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt.
The brunette girl stared at it for a moment and something tickled the back of her mind, "It doesn't look like that," She muttered.
"What?" Jason asked, staring down at her.
But how could she possibly know?
"The master bolt," She stated,
"What are you talking about?"
"I—" She frowned. For a second, she'd thought she remembered something. Now it was gone. "Nothing, I guess, sorry."
The kid at the altar raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.
A pretty impressive trick, considering the kid didn't look like much. He was tall and skinny, with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a drooping toga. He looked like a scarecrow wearing a bed sheet.
"What's he doing?" She murmured.
The guy in the toga turned. He had a crooked smile and a slightly crazy look in his eyes, like he'd just been playing an intense video game. In one hand he held a knife. In the other hand was something like a dead animal. That didn't make him look any less crazy.
"Daughter of Trivia," Jason stated, "this is Octavian."
"The unknown daughter!" Octavian announced. "How interesting."
The unknown daughter, those words tickled at something in the back of her brain. It was just out of reach, and then the feeling disappeared again.
"Um, hello," She glances at the knife in his hand, "Are you killing small animals?"
Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. "No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts—chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these."
He tossed the fuzzy thing to her. It was a disemboweled teddy bear. Then she noticed that there was a whole pile of mutilated stuffed animals at the foot of Jupiter's statue.
"Seriously?" The brunette asked, her eyebrows raised,
Octavian stepped off the dais. He was probably about eighteen, but so skinny and sickly pale, he could've passed for younger. At first he looked harmless, but as he got closer, she wasn't so sure.
Octavian's eyes glittered with harsh curiosity, like he might gut her just as easily as a teddy bear if he thought he could learn something from it.
Octavian narrowed his eyes. "You seem nervous."
"You remind me of someone," She stated, the tickling coming back, "I can't remember who."
"Possibly my namesake, Octavian—Augustus Caesar. Everyone says I bear a remarkable resemblance."
She didn't think that was it, but she couldn't pin down the memory. "Why did you call me 'the unknown daughter'?"
"I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar. "The message said: The unknown daughter has arrived. Or possibly: The unknown delivery has arrived. I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct. You seek to join the legion?"
Jason spoke for her. He told Octavian everything that had happened since they met at the tunnel, which wasn't much. Her appearance outside the camp gates, the voice she heard, the wolf, being the daughter of Trivia, their conversation with Reyna.
"She said I was apart of something big. Did you see something in your stuffing?" She asked,
"Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."
"Don't you have...I don't know," She looked around nervously, "an oracle or something?"
"An oracle!" Octavian smiled. "What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended—"
"The Siba-what?" The brunette asked.
"Books of prophecy," Jason stated, "which Octavian is obsessed with. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell."
"Some people believe that," Octavian corrected. "Unfortunately our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them—"
"Because Reyna isn't stupid," Jason replied,.
"—so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books," Octavian continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these."
He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor. She stared at the lines of words, not really expecting to understand them.
"What's that one?" She pointed, translating as she read aloud: "Nine half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"
"Yes, yes." Octavian finished it without looking: "An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."
"That one is important." She stated
Octavian arched an eyebrow. "Of course it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Nine, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it...Well, Jason can tell you. Bad things happen."
Jason glared at him. "Just read the augury for her. Can she join the legion or not?"
The daughter of Trivia could almost see Octavian's mind working, calculating whether or not she would be useful. He then turned and grabbed a stuffed black cat from a pile. Octavian turned toward the altar and raised his knife.
He slashed open the cat's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the kitty carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff, and turned with a big smile on his face.
"Good news!" he said. "The daughter of Trivia may join the legion. We'll assign her a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that I approve."
Jason's shoulders relaxed. "Uh...great. Come on."
The two left the pavilion and Jason's shoulders relaxed. It was clear he didn't really like Octavian. Or was uncomfortable around him. Or both.
"You alright?" She asked,
Jason let out a small laugh, "Yeah, sorry, just that... I hate that guy," He muttered, "The rest of the campers are afraid of him."
"Afraid of that skinny little guy?" She smiled,
He hummed, "He can see all."
"Yeah, that's a bit creepy."
"We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster." Jason stated, "C'mon."
