The Half-Blood Project

23- Remaining Few

Leo Valdez 

"...at the entrance of the ruins of Camp Jupiter." 

The words ring in my head, as I look at the Reyna girl, she's Hispanic, but her features remind me of my Puerto Rican cousins, that slanted eyes and sloped eyebrows, the curly brown hair that's nearly black and the same fearless look in their eyes. 

Reyna is a warrior. It's obvious, the way she stands, the way she holds herself. It reminds me of the scary blonde, Annabeth. The gold knife at her belt glints dangerously in the bright summer light. 

"Come, I must show you, have your trainee's stay back though, I need to speak to your leaders." 

She glares at me and I want to shrink away into the shadows but hold my ground. I am technically a leader 

Hazel, Frank, Jason, and Piper follow Reyna along, through the Caldecott tunnel, on the civilian side, I'm prepared to be clipped by some angry driver or be run over completely. 

"So how did you find Camp Jupiter?" I ask, hoping to find some answers. Reyna turns her head to the side, like absorbing the question as though a sponge. She seems to think of answers, then turns to me as we walk down the tunnel. 

"It wasn't easy, took me three years to even get together some demigods. Then I was sent a dream by my mother six months ago. There's a very thin veil of magic over the ruins, you'll see." 

Reyna stops at a door and shoves it open, it makes a horrible rusting squealing sound, scraping against the concrete. She stands back and plunges into the dark of the room. Jason gives me a quizzical glance but follows suit. I gulp, a little afraid, but I too, follow her. 

There's light ahead and I have to blink a few times, eyes adjusting to the light. We're in those golden hills, the sun shining above us warmly. 

"This is what remains." 

There's a river, curved by old, crumbled brick, but the water is crystal clear, I can see my gorgeous reflection in it, the river extends out and beyond, curling around the golden hills. We step over a newly built bridge that looks semi-stable but I admire the craftsmanship of the bridge. 

We walk along an uneven brick path, vines crawling through the cracks, weeds, and grass shooting up and tickling my bare ankles and Jason's too, he tries to step around the weeds but ends up pummeling through them. I trip several times but Jason catches me. If he isn't more perfect...

"October 31st, Camp Jupiter, home to over three thousand demigods and demigod descendants, was destroyed, I found notebooks buried under rubble, dates and times, how they lived. There are rumors and evidence of there being a camp in New York, mostly a summer camp. If you ask me, I think the idea was that demigods could train all summer in New York and stay there in the winter if wanted, and then come over to Camp Jupiter which was home to Rome City, modeled after Rome." Reyna explains as we keep walking down the broken path. 

This is all so surreal, why would the gods want us dead? I heard Percy saying it had to do with World War 2 and something about Hitler being a son of some insane, bloodthirsty, racist goddess. 

"Who's your godly parent?" I call from the back of the group. Reyna turns her head over her shoulder and looks at me, those dark eyes seem to see my every secret, every little detail of my life. I didn't like that. 

"I was claimed a few weeks ago, daughter of Bellona, Roman goddess of war, protecting the homeland and battle." 

Ah, a war demigod. As if this girl couldn't get any scarier and more imitating.