Lost Memories

I Make My Second First Impression

I carefully made my way down the hill and stood on the side of the highway. Two tunnel entrances had been carved into the hill, and right in between them was a metal door embedded in a cement wall. Something was telling me that the entrance to this Camp Jupiter was through that door, so I cautiously made my way towards it, watching out for oncoming cars. The door was guarded by two people wearing Roman helmets, breastplates, and scabbards. They topped off their unusual attire with white athletic shoes, blue jeans, and purple t-shirts. They held long spears, and I could see a few other weapons on their belts. One looked like a girl, while the other looked too muscular to be a female and had a bow and quiver on his back. The Mist must have been doing an excellent job normalizing that sight.

I waited for a lapse in traffic and then sprinted across the highway to the median, narrowly dodging a car as I reached it. The driver honked and yelled curses at me, but I kept going. I walked towards the guards who seemed to have noticed me and were pointing their spears at me. I came to a stop a few feet in front of them and raised my hands, hoping they wouldn't kill me.

"I come in peace. I was sent here by Dio-Bacchus," I corrected myself. "By Bacchus, the wine god. He said this was where I would find the entrance to Camp Jupiter, and that I'm a demigod?" I hoped I was pulling off the confused and shocked demigod persona well.

The two guards shared a look. The girl stepped forward, "What's your name?"

"Percy. Percy Jackson," I said.

She nodded. "Hazel Levesque. This is Frank Zhang." He waved. "He'll take you to the praetors, they'll decide if you're telling the truth."

"Thank you," I said.

Frank opened the maintenance door and gestured for me to follow him, while Hazel stayed outside to guard the entrance. As we began walking, the tunnel looked how I expected it to look—like a maintenance tunnel. Cables and warning signs hung on the walls, light bulbs in wire cages were attached to the ceiling and I saw a few fuse boxes. As we got farther, though, the floor turned to tiled mosaic rather than cement, and I could see a hint of sunlight at the end of the tunnel.

When we reached it, I stopped in my tracks, feeling like I'd entered a secret world. Below us was a huge valley, at least a few miles wide. Hills, forests, and plains filled the valley, along with a lake in the center from which a river circled the perimeter.

Next to the lake was a cluster of buildings like a small city, made of white marble and red-tiled roofs. Some of the buildings had domes and columns, and others looked like castles with pristine gardens and polished golden doors. I could see a plaza filled with statues and fountains, as well as a Roman coliseum next to a racetrack-like arena. On the other side of the lake sat even more buildings that looked like temples.

The closest to us, however, was the strangest sight. A few hundred yards away just across the river, a military encampment guarded the city. All four walls were lined with spikes and surrounded by a dry moat, which also sported sharpened spikes. Watchtowers were stationed at each corner of the encampment, manned by sentries with large mounted crossbows. A wide gate led to the city on the far side of the camp, and a smaller closed gate stood by the riverbank. Dozens of kids polished armor, forged weapons, cooked meat, and walked to and from barracks inside the fortress.

"Come on, the sooner we go the less likely they are to shoot us." Frank beckoned me forward as he headed for the river.

I should warn you, Percy, that that river is the Little Tiber, Poseidon said in my head. It holds the power of the original Tiber river from the Roman Empire. If you pass through it, you will lose the Curse of Achilles. That is a Greek blessing, you cannot retain it if you pass into Roman territory. It is your choice whether to go through with this, but it may be your only hope of survival until we can fix whatever happened.