Catch Fire || P. Jackson

𝟏.𝟎𝟗

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 his eyes fluttered open. He remained curled on the plush, golden couch where he had fallen asleep. The couch opposite him was still wrinkled from Lea's sleep but the girl in question was nowhere to be seen. A warm silence was lying in the room, like the silence enveloping the sunrise scene in Pride and Prejudice.

Part of him contemplated staying there forever, but he wasn't sure Lea would approve. Eventually, he forced himself out of the deserted building and trudged his way back to the Fifth Cohort Barracks.

His roommates were rushing around, getting dressed and brushing their teeth. Dakota was wrapping himself in a long piece of red-speckled cloth—a toga. One of the Lares was giving him pointers on where to tuck and fold.

"Breakfast time?" Percy asked hopefully.

Frank's head popped out from the bunk below where he had first been sleeping. He had bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept well. "A quick breakfast. Then we've got the senate meeting."

Dakota's head was stuck in his toga. He staggered around like a Kool-Aid-stained ghost."Um," Percy said, "should I wear my bed sheets?"

Frank snorted. "That's just for the senators. There're ten of them, elected yearly. You've got to be at camp five years to qualify."

"Like Lea?"

"Bingo."

"So how come we're invited to the meeting?"

"Because... you know, the quest." Frank sounded worried like he was afraid Percy would back out. "We have to be in on the discussion, too. You, me, Hazel. I mean, if you're willing..." Frank probably didn't mean to guilt him, but Percy's heart felt pulled like taffy. How could Percy say no to that big pouty baby face?

Hazel and Frank were solid, dependable people. They'd accepted Percy like family. Still, he didn't like the idea of this quest, especially since it came from Mars, and especially after his dreams. "I, um... I'd better get ready...." He moved towards his bunk and got dressed.

The whole time, his thoughts were preoccupied by the night prior.

At breakfast, Percy was conscious of everyone looking at him. They were whispering about the previous night: "Two gods in one day..."

"Un-Roman fighting..."

"Water cannon up my nose..."

He was too hungry to care. He filled up on pancakes, eggs, bacon, waffles, apples, and several glasses of orange juice. He probably would have eaten more, but Reyna announced that the senate would now convene in the city, and all the folks in togas got up to leave. Despite counting every Senator, Percy couldn't see Lea. She was the only one missing.

"Here we go." Hazel fidgeted with a stone that looked like a two-carat ruby.

The ghost Vitellius appeared next to them in a purple shimmer. "Bona fortuna, you three! Ah, senate meetings. I remember the one when Caesar was assassinated. Why, the amount of blood on his toga—"

"Thanks, Vitellius," Frank interrupted. "We should get going."

Reyna and Octavian led the procession of senators out of camp, with Reyna's metal greyhounds dashing back and forth along the road. Hazel, Frank, and Percy trailed behind. Percy noticed Nico di Angelo in the group, wearing a black toga and talking with Gwen, who looked a little pale but surprisingly good considering she'd been dead the night before. Nico waved at Percy, then went back to his conversation, leaving Percy more sure than ever that Hazel's brother was trying to avoid him.