Castiel
Castiel was unhappy. They’d been forced to sleep in what was basically a large camp Half-blood cabin, except Romans were worse than Greeks. They had lots of rules about mealtime and curfews and they actually followed the rules to the letter.
The weirdest thing, though, was that Castiel actually slept for a good portion of the night. They hadn’t been able to do that since they’d started meeting Morpheus every night. But after running around the country and doing shadow travel and Egyptian portals, Castiel was exhausted. They managed to fall asleep around 1:00 am and slept until the Romans all got up at 6:30 on the dot. Considering that the amount of sleep Valhalla’s soldier needed was less than a regular mortal, Castiel was well-rested and ready to punch a Roman in the face.
Castiel marched down to the dining hall with the rest of the fifth cohort. Just call them cabins, you pretentious Romans. Treya and Alexis were just ahead of them, and the Egyptians were behind them. When they sat down at their table, Carter pulled out a paper map, tapped it with his boomerang/wand, and searched its now-glowing surface. The rest of the group surveyed the food on the table. There was a bowl of fruit, containers of cereal, and a platter of pancakes and sausages.
“So. Valhalla today.” Alexis flipped a pancake onto her plate. “How are we getting there?”
“Working on it,” Carter mumbled.
“While he does that, I want to discuss the plan for today.” Sadie speared a sausage on her fork and waved it at Castiel. “How are we going to get into this Hotel without dying?”
Castiel shrugged. “I don’t know. I only just figured out how to get out. I didn’t think I’d ever have to get back in.”
“We know the location of the Hotel, thanks to Annabeth.” Treya reached across the table, grabbed an orange, and started peeling it. “Do we just have to sit outside and wait until someone lets us in, or…?”
“Wait. Could we Iris-message Magnus?” Alexis offered.
“What’s that?” Sam asked.
Castiel nodded. “It’s a Greek thing. And yeah, I don’t see why not. Assuming you have a coin on you?”
Alexis shoved the last piece of pancake into her mouth and jumped up from the table. “Let me check my bag,” she said, her words muffled by the pancake. She ducked past the other tables and ran out the door.
“Who is that and what did they do to Alexis?” Treya muttered jokingly.
Castiel knew what she meant. When they’d known Alexis before, she’d been a proper young lady. She had always chided Treya and Cas for their bad manners. This display showed just how much Calypso’s island had changed her.
“Who’s Magnus?” Sam asked.
Castiel rolled their eyes. “My hallmate. The beloved son of Frey. Everyone at the Hotel worships him.”
“Is Frey important?” Treya asked.
“Not really,” Cas snorted. “He went on one quest a couple of years ago so now everybody adores him.”
Castiel wasn’t fond of Magnus. They weren’t fond of any of their hallmates. They had been there longer than most of them, and the arrival of every new face had just been a reminder of the world Cas would never be part of again. But Magnus in particular annoyed Cas. Partly, it was how everybody treated him like a hero when all he did was heal. And besides that, he was allowed to leave the Hotel whenever he wanted, along with his little friends, which irked Cas most of all.
“Ok,” Carter said, looking up from his map. “I found a portal. It’s not too far from here, maybe a ten-minute walk.” He tapped a glowing mark on his map.
“Perfect.” Castiel couldn’t wait to jump through another freaking portal.
This is not going to be a good day.
**
“I still don’t see why it has to be him,” Cas grumbled. They were standing outside the Hotel Valhalla, at the street entrance. It looked like any other fancy Boston mansion, except that the fifteen foot wall surrounding it had no entrance. “There are plenty of other people here.”
“Yes, but Magnus had questing experience and he already knows about the other groups.” Alexis had made the call to Magnus before they’d left Camp Jupiter. He had said he would meet them outside the Hotel and let them in.
“I want to know how we’re supposed to get in with this wall in the way.” Hazel walked up and down the wall. Sadie stepped forward and tapped it with her wand, frowning.
“It’s enchanted, but I can’t tell what the spell is.” She looked like she was considering ways to break down the wall.
Castiel sighed. “Einherji can jump it easily. Outsiders not so much. The enchantment is probably one that stops mortals from seeing the building. Or destroying it.”
“So you could jump. Over this.” Treya frowned disbelievingly. “I don’t buy it.”
Cas looked up at the wall. Fifteen feet was certainly doable. The thing about an Einherjar’s strength, though, was that if you didn’t practice it, it was hard to control. And Cas had spent a century and a half avoiding training sessions in the Hotel. So sure, they could easily get over the wall in one try. However they would likely land on their ass or their neck, and that would be extremely embarrassing. Probably not worth it to prove Treya wrong.
“I guess you’ll have to take my word for it,” Cas shrugged.
As Sadie poked the wall, the section behind her shimmered and disappeared. The whole group turned to look as a boy in jeans and flannel with scruffy blonde hair walked through the archway that had appeared.
“Alexis, right?” He looked at their group, blinking when he got to Cas. “Castiel? You’re with them?”
“Yes, and?” They glared at him.
“You’re Magnus?” Hazel stepped forward. “Annabeth’s cousin?”
“That’s me,” he confirmed. “You’re here to talk to the Hotel manager, right?”
“Yes,” Alexis said.
“Then follow me. Oh, and watch out for flying spears. Wouldn’t want another accident.”
They followed Magnus in, Carter and Sadie exchanging concerned looks. The entrance was a beautiful garden, full of massive trees and flowers and bushes. Castiel was just mad that they’d never gotten to see this before.
Magnus led the way into the Hotel. The lobby was massive and full of people, but the front desk was right at the front. Castiel had only been down here a handful of times, and they preferred the room when it was the dead of night and empty.
“Hey Helgi,” Magnus waved at the manager. “These are the people I told you about.” He introduced everybody briefly. Helgi scowled when he saw Castiel standing there.
“How did you get out? You know it’s against the rules.”
“I really don’t care,” they hissed. “And I’m not coming back.”
Helgi sighed. “Fine then, you miserable thing. Not my problem.” He looked Alexis over, then Treya, and the rest of the group one by one. Finally, he reached under the desk and pulled out a sheet of stickers that read “Hi! My name is ____, and I’m not dead yet!”
“Write in your name and put this someplace visible. Should keep you mildly safe while you’re here.”
“What do you mean, ‘while we’re here’?” Cas bristled. “We were just getting Magnus and leaving.”
Helgi raised a brow. “Magnus requested a companion, and unfortunately that companion doesn’t answer me when I summon them. You’ll have to go and retrieve it.”
Castiel was pissed. They did not feel at all like doing a tour of the Hotel. Just standing in the lobby was irritating enough. They didn’t need the entire group to watch them get increasingly angrier the longer they were stuck here.
“It’ll be fine, Cas,” Alexis promised. “We’ll be quick.”
It’s definitely not fine. Castiel crossed their arms, determined to make it clear that they did not agree with this plan.
They all walked over to the closest elevator. The walls were covered in buttons, one for each of the 540 floors. Magnus pushed the button for 19.
Thankfully, the elevators in the Hotel were massive, so the whole group fit in just fine. The Nordic heavy metal music playing from the speakers in the ceiling discouraged any conversation, which was fine by Cas. They preferred Magnus when he wasn’t talking.
As the elevator slowly ascended, Cas watched the numbers tick upward, thinking about the day they’d first arrived at the hotel.
“You’re going to love it here,” the warrior who was guiding them to their room assured them. “Very violent place. You’ll fit right in.”
Castiel glared at the back of the Viking’s braided hair. They were still reeling internally. Moments ago, they had been given an explanation of why they were here: they’d died a heroic death, they were a descendant of the Ancient Norse, and they’d been lucky enough to be holding a weapon when they were killed. Moments before that, they had been fighting for their life.
The attack had been well-planned and even better coordinated. The Roman forces clearly had a remarkable sense of teamwork. They’d swarmed the perimeter of the training camp and had quickly overrun the few guards who were actually at their posts. For all the years Cas had been there, the camp had never faced an external threat, so those assigned guard duty usually wandered about the camp to watch training exercises, which really meant they were watching Cas.
Cas had been getting their ass kicked again that day. They rarely won the training fights because they were too focused on not using their magic. The leaders of the camp didn’t like the explosive, destructive nature of Cas’ power. Unfortunately, without that power, Cas was next-to-helpless. They’d never been very tall, and after years of the meager rations the camp provided, they still hadn’t grown much. Not to mention most of the campers here were older and bigger than them.
The cry of alarm had the adults quickly prepared to fight, their weapons out and facing the entrance to the camp. The camp was in a massive field, with wooden walls making up the perimeter. The only way in or out was a gap in the wall, big enough for a group of Vikings on horseback to safely ride through.
Cas and the rest of the trainees were shunted behind the adults. That didn’t stop the older kids from grabbing their own weapons, ready to put their training to use. Castiel fumbled for their boot, finding the tiny knife they’d had since they were back in Russia.
The Legion was efficient and ruthless. They broke through the flimsy line of guards at the entrance. They rode on large, tan horses. Their helmets had long red plumes bursting from the top, and matching red banners trailed from their spears. Castiel saw one up close as it impaled the ground only a foot to their left. With a yelp, they scrambled to their feet and raced toward the cover of a sleeping quarter. A second spear grazed their shoulder as they ran. They turned and saw that the horses the Romans had been riding had mostly been felled; a show of Norse strategy. There were now maybe 20 Roman soldiers advancing on foot. To Castiel’s horror, they seemed to be advancing toward Castiel.
They grabbed the cut on their shoulder as it started burning. One soldier broke through the line of Norse warriors and charged Castiel. They screamed and drove the knife toward his neck, but the knife glanced off the armor. The Roman soldier was taller, stronger, and heavier than Cas, and their struggle was futile.
As the Roman spear pierced their chest, their hold on their power vanished and the camp exploded around them.
And then they were standing in a hotel lobby, surrounded by massive wolf heads and Vikings and managers telling them they were dead.
The elevator number hit 19 and the doors opened with a ding.
The elevator number hit 19 and the doors opened with a ding. Magnus stepped out of the elevator first. Castiel shook off the lingering feeling of their memories and followed along with the group. It was only as they passed a door that was too familiar to them that they realised what floor they were on. 19. They turned back quickly to check, and sure enough, the door was familiar. It was theirs. Which meant the door Magnus was about to knock on was…
“Wait.” They stopped, but Magnus had already knocked on the third door past Castiel’s. Alex’s door.
This is not happening.