The Forum of Nerva (open)

So when Lillie first arrived at Camp Jupiter, she'd been told there was a Forum. The one with the temples and the weird columns with bronze people on top, et cetera. That one, where everyone hung out at. But now she learned that there wasn't one but five different fora on top of the first one? What the hell! "Why do things easy when you can complicate them, amiright," she mumbled under her breath, pushing through the crowd. Wow, for a secret city housing a handful of demigods, this city was sure busy. Lillie wondered if it had always been this way - what did they do when the centre of civilization shifted? She heard things about how they could take the city down and re-construct it somewhere else but that sounded like a lot of hassle from a lot of people without architecture degrees.
Granted, Lillie hadn't really been here long. Her probatio tablet had only been taken away recently (it still felt weird without the familiar weight round her neck), so she was but a new addition to the Legion. She hadn't seen the world. She hadn't seen life. Or at least that was what her centurion told her every time she loudly doubted the Legion's capacity to do anything.


"Oh, scuse me," she said after hitting someone's shoulder. "My bad. Sorry, my bad."


Rubbing her arm, she carried on through the flow of people. Why were there so many here? Was it market day? Oh wait, it was market day. Her ADHD addled brain had been too focused on the architecture to notice how many stands of fruit and veg had been put up around the Forum, fresh produce that probably came from the backgardens of nature demigods. Ceres, Pomona, Volturnus, you get the jist. After haggling for the price, Lillie got herself a nice fat persimmon that sent juice all over her chin the moment she bit in it.

"What? You want a pic?" she growled at two snorting teens.

Hoping she wouldn't get turned into a meme, she pushed past them and went for the first exit she could find, between two buildings: and found herself in yet another Forum.
Admittedly, this one was longer and narrower than the main Forum Romanum. At the end stood a temple decorated with golden statues and flanked by two monumental arches. A colonnade went round the entire precinct, an alliance of metal appliqué and columns of some kind of purple marble which shone brightly in the sunlight. They were accompanied by friezes, depicting (from what she could see) images of people weaving then getting shot to death by Minerva. Lillie squinted. Was that Arachne? She shivered at the details of the frieze. Spiderification was gross.
On her right, jutting out from the colonnade, was a massive shopping centre whose name she took a couple of seconds to decipher. MACELLVM. Didn't ring a bell, but she decided to head over anyway. She was feeling hesitant, but still social nonetheless. Who knows, maybe she'd run into friends there.
Just as she scaled the steps (smooth marble!) something to her side caught her attention. Something was familiar… wait, was that buzzing?

"Sasha!"

Yes indeed, it was her. The enthusiastic pastel girl she met at Temple Hill. The one with the three moms.

"You have bees on your shoes?"

"That's not remotely comparable," Lillie retorted, but wiped the juice off her chin as fast as she could. With her kawaii headphones and childish bracelets Sasha looked out of place in Camp Jupiter, a bit like a teddy bear in a gun closet. Here, everyone's fashion was limited by senatorial decree to hobnail boots and camo pants, which was totally fine by Lillie but not so much by other people.
Sasha walked over to her, all smile and brown curls. She was cute but Lillie didn't find her attractive - too pastel and too shimmery.

"The Forum of Nerva? Who the f&ck is Nerva?"

Lillie couldn't tell if this girl was taking the piss or not. An emperor born in Narnia? What's next, a praetor from Loompa Land? "What the hell is Umbria," she frowned. "I don't remember that bit in the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe movie."

Lillie grunted. "Oh, sorry I don't have the entire map of Italy memorized. Is this really what is expected of us here?" She was okay with all the fighting and marching and strategizing. She was even okay with wearing scratchy togas when she had to. But she hadn't signed up for impromptu geography trivia. It's not like they were gonna go out there and conquer Italy all over again.... right? Right?