Axel was counting down the seconds in his head until the bell rang and class would be over. It was probably the highest number Axel had ever counted in his entire lifetime, as he was a terrible math student. Axel wasn’t the best student either, his ADHD paired with dyslexia did wonders for his reading skills, unless of course it was in Latin, which automatically translated in his head to reading English with ease. Thank goodness he was almost done with his class requirements, and he could fully focus on the legion and his centurion position. Who knew, maybe he’d even come back and teach close-combat fighting to the new demigods and blessed mortals. Although, the legionnaire still wasn’t sure how he felt about the mortals being around him, they sort of put him on edge. Something didn’t sit well in his stomach with them. Either way, he was about to meet two new possible demigods or possible blessed mortals today that had been the talk of the school and Camp Jupiter for a few days now.

The boy rapidly tapped his foot on the floor, getting close to zero on his countdown. Axel was eager to meet the newcomers, as everyone would be asking them what happened by the time he got back to camp. Plus, it was an honor that he had been chosen to represent the legion over a higher cohort centurion, or even a praetor. There were rumors that these kids would be of the big three after all. That was a big deal. But then again, these older kids could just be blessed mortals that seemed to be showing up older than most demigods anyway.

This wasn’t the centurion’s first welcoming day, as he’d done so with many demigods in the past. Some had shown up right in Camp Jupiter, just coming from the Wolf House, while others had to go through the process at the academy. Lupa had a way of picking out the Roman demigods, especially when they were in close proximity to Camp Jupiter. Not many Greeks were on the west coast area. None had accidentally gotten into Camp Jupiter, and it was probably because of the higher structure the legion had over the Greeks.

Axel finally heard the bell ring and sprung out of his seat. He made his way through the halls, weaving in and out of other students with ease. Most people knew to move for the centurion anyway, as he always carried two long, sharp daggers at his side. Well, outside of the academy. Weapons weren’t allowed on campus unless it was in the battlefield. They had to lock their weapons away near the portal from camp, or leave them at the battlefield locked up. People knew not to mess with Axel, though. But since he always carried a bit of suspicion when new people came around, he made sure to go back and grab his knives, hanging them back in their spot at his sides. 

Bursting through the doors, the centurion was slightly out of breath, wanting to make sure he arrived in the Administrative Offices before the newcomers. He looked around the room to find the Camp Half Blood representative already there. Axel had seen him around before, but never got his name or had a conversation with the boy. Now was as good of a time as ever if the two would be co-tour guides today, so Axel stepped towards the desk the boy was working on and extended a hand for him to shake. “Hey man, I’m Axel, a centurion from Camp Jupiter. I'm helping out with the new guys coming today.” The demigod gave a small smile.

(Event takes place before Axel was made a praetor.)

Daniil and Dabria had been steadily making their way to the East Coast in their stolen red neon, using their newfound powers as they went to get what they needed. They didn't quite have a destination, but the East was where they had come from, and maybe they'd eventually return home. The small sedan was filled with various stolen items and food, though from an outside perspective and anyone who asked, it looked to be empty thanks to Dabria's manipulation. These powers were a sort of blessing for the siblings, allowing them to get by with more ease in the years after their parents' death, that was until they had tried to steal from the wrong person.

The idea was that the man in the wheelchair had been an easy target, even if it had been wrong morally, the pair were running out of supplies by the time they had reached New York, and judging by his attire, he had a moderate amount of wealth. The plan was that Dabria would distract the man while Daniil would steal his wallet. Dabria's distraction seemed to be going well, so Daniil took the opportunity to speed in and take his wallet, but instead found his arm in a vice grip. The seemingly helpless man introduced himself as Chiron from the Greek myths, and told the pair to follow him.

The twins were then brought to a place the old man had referred to as The Academy. Daniil couldn't really recall how they had gotten there, as Chiron had somehow transported them. The white haired boy's head was spinning with all of this new information, and stuck close to Dabria in the event that they needed to make a quick escape. The Academy looked similar to an American high school, the older man having to press a small buzzer to enter the building, Daniil and Dabria hanging slightly behind as a loud click signaled that the door was unlocked.

As they entered the building Daniil quickly surveyed his surroundings, it seemed to look like a normal school lobby, nothing too special about the area. What caught the teen's eye however, was the taller boy waiting inside with two black weapons hanging at his side. With a wicked grin, Daniil sped forward, nicking the black weapons from the unsuspecting demigod, and returning to Dabria's side he examined the daggers, turning them around in his hands. The boy gave the other boy a cocky smile, "Didn't see that coming?" he quipped, feeling the weight of his new weapons in his hands as he stared down the boy he had stolen them from, taunting him to try and take them back.

Taylor Pierce, Axel Laughlen, Dabria Ivanenkov

There were so many Greek “cabin leaders” running around the academy, Axel couldn’t keep track of most of them. They had many more leadership positions over there, it seemed far more disorganized to the legionnaire. There were too many gods and goddesses to split up into cabins, in his opinion. Nodding to Taylor’s introduction, Axel was pulling into one of the most awkward guy hugs he’d ever experienced. Normally the boy would only hug his closest friends, but here he was, hugging this random dude from Camp Half Blood. Axel tried his hardest not to cringe as Taylor sat himself back down. The son of Venus wasn’t one for awkward encounters, so hopefully this was as bad as it would get with the new kids coming to the academy at any moment.

Once Taylor added his godly parent, Axel decided to respond. “Oh, that’s cool. My mom’s Venus, or uhh, Aphrodite is her Greek form.” The demigod didn’t know if Taylor knew the “conversions” of Roman to Greek gods or not, so he felt it necessary to specify. Axel may not have been the best student, but he did find particular interest in both sides of mythology. It was one of the few classes he didn’t normally sleep through. It blew his mind that his own mother had two different “forms”. It was a gray area, but he chose just to accept it rather than to put too much thought into it. This Taylor guy had a ton of energy, and Axel though he himself was a lot to handle at times. The other demigod wouldn’t even let him answer the question before he went on. “Yeah dude, the praetors told me the situation.” Honestly, Axel didn’t understand the big deal about this Chiron guy, or “Mr. D” who was really Bacchus? The whole thing made Axel’s head hurt. Either way, he wasn’t too keen on the Greeks running the majority of things around here when clearly it was the Romans who knew how to run a legion with far better structure. It was the Greeks’ idea though, and the Romans were just invited.

Although, Axel loved gossip himself, and couldn’t help but tell a few people around the academy. He couldn’t be quite convinced the kids arriving today were big three, as it could be very possible they were blessed mortals. Axel wasn’t too big on being around the Greeks a lot, but he found it even more weird they were sharing their world with mortals too. The boy cocked a brow at the demigod who briefly came into the office, causing Taylor to stop talking. Once he left, the other boy picked right back up where he left off. Axel shrugged at the question, still feeling skeptical about Chiron after his four years at the academy. The Roman caught his purple key card Taylor tossed him, and stuck it in his pocket, lanyard hanging out. “Right, the usual stops.” He’d done this before, just not with Chiron making an appearance. He followed the Greek into the foyer to meet the new students.

Axel didn’t expect what met him on the other side of the doors. A boy and a girl, and from the looks of them, they were foreign and had been on the run for a while. The boy with bright white hair gave him a devious grin, one he knew all too well by having a twin brother. In a flash, the boy had sped up to him and returned in his original place by the girl carrying his precious black knives in his hands. Oh no you don’t, get your grimy hands off my babies. There was no hesitation in his voice as he used his strongest charmspeak. “I'd like to see things from your point of view, but I don't think I could get my head that far up your ass. Now give me back my knives now or I swear I'll get god of war.” Axel held out a hand to take the daggers back, willing them to be handed over with his voice. This kid needed to be put in his place, and Axel would make sure it was straight to the bottom. This encounter just turned sour, and he had waited anxiously all day for nothing. There had to be some kind of punishment for this. Or maybe Axel was just being overdramatic. The centurion was so infuriated he didn’t even answer the girl’s question. It was hard to understand them with their Russian accents anyway. “Let’s just get this thing over with.”

Daniil Ivanenkov , Taylor Pierce , Dabria Ivanenkov