𝐖𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐂! percy jackson

ii. Greek and Roman

━━ chapter two
greek and roman

　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━Fiona has learnt that Percy Jackson had a knack for asking stupid questions. As they made their way to the Principia, he had stared at all the ghosts that hovered around them━where one of them pointed at him, shrieked, "Graecus!" and turned invisible (which, you can see, put Fiona on edge because that's the second time she's heard the word Greek in reference to him)━and asked, "Am I seeing things? Or are those━?"

"Ghosts?" Hazel glanced back at him. "They're Lares. House gods."

(Here comes the stupid question, be ready for it). "House gods," Percy frowned. "Like ... smaller than real gods, but larger than apartment gods?"

"No," Fiona told him. "They're ancestral spirits. You have your Lares, and then you have your pantry gods, Penates or penus━" Percy choked at the way it was pronounced, going red, "━as well as Vesta, but she's the hearth, and then you have the Genius of the paterfamilias ... they're the head of the household ... well, that's just a few ..."

"The Lares are kind of like mascots," Frank continued, seeing the confused look upon Percy's face. "Mostly, they're harmless, but I've never seen them so agitated."

"They're staring at me," said Percy, glancing over at the ghosts anxiously. "That ghost killed called me Greggus. My name isn't Greg."

"Graecus," Hazel corrected. "Once you've been here a while, you'll start understanding Latin. Demigods have a natural sense for it. Graecus means Greek."

"Is that bad?"

Fiona narrowed her gaze at him. She looked Percy up and down, trying to figure out why they would call him Greek. He had a Mediterranean look about him; dark hair, strong jaw ... but Fiona had a feeling that wasn't it. Juno had said something to him. Said that he couldn't carry a Greek blessing through a Roman river. But that didn't make sense. Why would a new demigod such as Percy Jackson have a Greek blessing? But also, why would he have lived so long without coming to camp? He was a child of Neptune, the monsters would love him. He looked experienced, too, with his powers, like he had been weilding water as a weapon for years. Percy met her gaze, and suddenly looked uncomfortable.

Frank cleared his throat. "Maybe not," he said, and Percy looked away. "You've got that type of complexion, the dark hair and all. Maybe they think you're actually Greek. Is your family from there?"

"Don't know. Like I said, my memory is gone."

"Or maybe ..."

"What?"

"He's talking about the old rivalry between Greeks and Romans," said Fiona, her gaze still deadly as she tried to figure him out. "You know, Rome invaded Greece, took on their deities, turned them into their own. Sometimes, Romans use graecus as an insult for someone who's an outsider━an enemy."

"But, I wouldn't worry about it," Frank quickly added.

Percy didn't look reassured.

They stopped at the centre of camp, where two wide stone-paved roads met at a T. The main road to the main gates was labelled on a sign as VIA PRAETORIA. The other road, cutting across the middle of camp, was labelled VIA PRINCIPALIS. Under those markers were hand-painted signs like BERKELEY 5 MILES; NEW ROME 1 MILE; OLD ROME 7, 280 MILES; HADES (should be Pluto; Fiona has given multiple complains) 2,310 MILES which pointed straight down; RENO 208 MILES; and CERTAIN DEATH: YOU ARE HERE!