When Apollo met Cupid (not really)

[DayDreamer]

Rey was exhausted by the time she managed to find the entrance to New Rome. She was finally safe thanks to Poe and the training she had received from Lupa and the Hunters of Artemis. However it was thanks to the raven that Rey was able to discover the entrance to Camp Jupiter and New Rome. She just couldn't wrap her mind around this, an entire valley hidden and the only entrance to it was a service tunnel in some main road tunnel. Then again, she could have a vague understanding of crow speech and wolf speech, her father was a roman god and she had light powers. The world was so much bigger than she knew and imagined. Taking a deep breath, she clutched her bow as she grew more nervous with every step she took closer to Camp.

As she approached the river, a pair of teens in roman armors and purple shirts approached her. She had immediately taken out her notepad and had written a brief explanation about how she was mute, that she was a daughter if Apollo and that she had been in the Wolf House for the past three months and could really use a bath. The teens had been very understanding, though one of them didn't seem entirely convinced about her condition but made no comment otherwise and they had been quick to take her to the Praetor so she could get settled.

She was allowed to get a bath and rest a little before she was supposed to get a tour from someone who knew sign language so that it would be easier and more efficient than having to write everything down. Now here she was, standing outside the Praetor's quarters waiting for her guide to show up. She looked around nervously as she stood out like a sore thumb. Worn out jeans and a silver grey hoodie (courtesy of the Hunters), backpack with quiver and bow latched on the sides and a raven lazily perched on her right shoulder didn't exactly scream Legionnaire. She wondered what her life would be like from now on as well as what her mother was up to now. She had managed to sent to her a brief message about how she was alright and how she would contact her again as soon as she was able to, but that was about two weeks ago and Rey's mother had always been very protective. So she had no doubt that she was worried sick by now.

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@firejay1

 

[firejay1]

"Hey, asshole." The insult was accompanied by a rock thrown in Cae's direction. The rock had been lazy, all things considered, and it hadn't taken much for Cae to knock it out of the air with a quick swipe of his bow. He shot two arrows in quick succession at his brother, who dodged to the side and returned the favor, frowning in deep concentration. In dodging Jamie's arrows, Cae left Ting wide open. Jamie had apparently taken this into account, because the arrows both whizzed past the girl's left ear to slam into a tree behind her on the Field of Mars, where they'd been practicing. Jamie was quite sweet, but in skill, the twin sons of Cupid were well-matched.

Having successfully dodged, Caelan Nash turned his head slightly, sharp, mismatched eyes gazing at Ting distastefully. "What do you want?" He nocked an arrow onto his bow casually, then drew it back, appearing to point straight at her. Jamie walked closer, looking unconcerned at his brother pointing an arrow straight at someone's face, but it took most of Ting's willpower not to flinch. She wasn't going to give this jerk the satisfaction of seeing her intimidated. The arrow loosed, but slammed into the butt end of one of Jamie's arrows, instead of touching Ting.

Both boys were dressed unprofessionally. In some ways, they were very Roman. In some ways.... Cae wore the purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt with jeans with worn-through holes in them, while Jamie sported a light, grey collared shirt with a plaid pattern over his own purple T-shirt, and was wearing a more conservative pair of clean dark jeans. This was one of the ways to tell them apart. Cae almost always appeared to be wearing pants he'd dug out of a dumpster and the Camp Jupiter T-shirt, while Jamie was usually dressed fashionably, but as if he wasn't aware of how it made him look. Where they got the money to dress him this way, Ting didn't know, and she really really didn't want to find out. Neither boy ever seemed to enjoy wearing the full gear of a Roman legionnaire, typically sticking to their pilus and bow and arrow, occasionally taking on the javelin and armor as well.

The easier way to tell them apart, though, was their eyes. Ting had known who to throw the rock at, because when Jamie had noticed her interrupting their session, he'd smiled. And the expression hadn't looked disgusting and creepy on his face. Crossing her arms across her armored chest, she told Caelan, "A new recruit came to join the Legion. And they want you two jokers to show her around. She's waiting in the Principia."

Caelan raised his eyebrows in almost skeptical confusion. "Since when do they ask us to show anyone around?" His brother was deaf, after all, and they were in the Fourth Cohort, not the Fifth or the First. He turned his face slightly to the side as he spoke, so that Jamie could read his lips to go with whatever he could hear.

"Well, apparently she's mute and can sign. They wanted someone who could communicate with her in her 'native language' so to speak. You can interpret for her when other people need to, and Jamie is there to make sure you resist the urge to mess with her brain." Jamie frowned and signed quickly at Caelan asking what she meant by "mess with her brain," but Cae just shrugged, with a mischievous little grin on his face. "Hurry up, she's waiting." Ting finished, turning around and leaving.

The two boys looked at each other, and Cae shrugged again. "Should we do it?" He asked his brother.

Jamie smiled and nodded, signing back. "I'd like to meet someone else who can sign."

"Alright. For you, then." Cae said immediately, slinging his bow over his shoulder, and starting to walk over.

Jamie tapped Cae on the shoulder and very very quietly spoke, "Shouldn't we wash up and unstring our bows first?"

Cae just rolled his eyes and shrugged. "No time. She's waiting, after all." He didn't voice that he didn't really care what the girl thought of them, and even sweaty they probably still looked better than most of the legionnaires in the camp.

When they made it to the Principia, they could immediately tell who the new recruit was. Never mind the fact that they didn't recognize her, she was wearing unfamiliar, dusty clothes, and looked exhausted and a little wet. Jamie bounded forward when he caught sight of her. He signed enthusiastically, clearly excited to have a friend who he could communicate with freely, "Nice to meet you! My name is James. This is my brother, Caelan. We are from the Fourth Cohort. Welcome to the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. What is your name?"

Caelan didn't bother to extend the greeting, having read it from his brother. "Jamie is a little deaf, and I can understand sign language, too, so feel free to use sign language around us. I can speak for you with other people." He wasn't particularly interested in helping anyone other than his brother speak to anyone, but it would make Jamie happy, so he offered anyways.

 

[DayDreamer]

Poe's warning caw made Rey turn around just in time to see an enthusiastic boy coming up at her, signing vigorously. Unconsciously a tired, yet beaming, smile made its way on her face. Finally someone she could talk to freely that wasn't her mother or Poe. "I'm Rey Summers. It's so good to meet you Jamie. You too Caelan." She signed as she took in the boys' appearance a little more. They were twins, she could tell, yet the way they dressed made it easy to tell them apart. One of the was clean, despite both of them being sweaty and seemingly battle ruffled. The other one was rugged and.....

Feeling Poe's feather flare up and listening to the rather threatening caw seconds before Jamie and Caelan would, thanks to her understanding of raven speech, Rey placed a finger on Poe's chest, smoothing down his feathers that made him look twice his size the way he was upset at the Twins. The raven begrudgingly settled down again, his clever beady eyes watching constantly. "This jealous raven is Poe. He's a childhood friend of mine. So..." She paused her signs, seemingly kind of lost and awkward. "How does this whole, roman legion work? What is up with cohorts? And what am I supposed to do now that I am here?" It was clear that she had no usefull information on what it meant to live in New Rome. Lupa and the HUnters had prepared her for the dangers of the journey but not for what came after she had reached her destination in one piece.

 

[firejay1]

The raven… was her childhood friend. Caelan raised his delicate eyebrows judgmentally, a fact that did not escape his brother's notice. Neither of the twins were sure "jealous" was the correct description for her little raven friend's behavior. For some inexplicable reason, Caelan seemed to ruffle the feathers of everyone he met, animals included, and it wasn't much of a surprise that Poe was acting so antagonistic towards him. His brother just eyed the raven coolly, apparently unfazed by the other's aggressive behavior.

Jamie just smiled, ignoring the behavior on both sides. That always seemed to be the best way to handle it. If he smiled and didn't make much of it, most everyone kept a silent agreement not to cause too much trouble while he was around. Instead, he answered her questions, "Well, you're a child of a Roman god or a Legacy, right? Camp Jupiter is one of the only places on earth safe for people like us. My brother and I are sons of Cupid, by the way." He didn't show any signs of shame in saying this, even though most people's first reaction was to scoff at the idea of Cupid having sons, but no one really laughed once they got to know the two of them.

"We…" he hesitated for a moment, just as she had, to think for a moment, "do a lot of things here. Mostly, we train for battle and for if we ever have to fight monsters, but most of us never have to actually do those things unless we decide to leave. So, it's more of a formality, I guess. There's a lot to explain, and you look tired. Why don't we visit the augur to see if you'll be formally accepted to the legion? Then you can take a shower and rest, and we'll show you around and explain more after that."

 

[DayDreamer]

Rey smiled apologetically at Caelan and her eyes, though tired and with black bags under them, shined. "Yeah, looks like I am a daughter of Apollo?" She signed at the two boys, tilting her head slightly to the side at the mention of Cupid and the Augur. "Cool! Sons of God of Love and Passion huh? What's the Augur though? I thought I wouldn't have to worry about getting in the Legion as long as I was able to find New Rome. Lupa didn't mention anything like that." She signed again, her face growing visibly worried. The last thing she needed was to be send away again and having to be on the run from monsters constantly. She has had enough of that already.

"Resting and some food sounds heavenly just about now though."

 

[firejay1]

"Cool..." Caelan signed at his brother, eyes cold and skeptical, but he didn't say any more than that. It just wasn't the usual reaction they got.

Caelan continued using sign as he explained to her, "The Augur is the priest, the interpreter of omens. She's probably at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at this time of day. She'll read the omens to determine if your coming is auspicious, assign you to a cohort, and give you your tattoo. Unless you have introduction letters from one of your divine parents or other family with divine heritage, you'll end up in the Fourth or Fifth Cohort, like us. Cohorts are just like… a little military squad. They'll probably put you with us in the Fourth since we're the only ones who can communicate with each other. Since you've already been claimed, you'll likely already get your tattoo as a legionnaire." He paused his signing to show his own tattoo. "Come on, then." He finished, turning away and heading back down the hill.

Jamie smiled at her, and also signed, "Sorry about him. He doesn't get along with people very well, but he does know what he's doing." Then he gestured at her to follow and started following Cae.