Chapter Text

Annabeth & The Power She Holds

Long Island Sound Beach, Camp Half-Blood

It was a surprisingly calm day. The winds didn’t dare to raise more than a mile or two an hour. The sea lapped at the shore lazily. The sun was high in the sky, releasing just enough warmth and heat so as to make the beach a necessary stopping point. There were faint clouds that hung about, but none of them dared to offer more than a cool passing shade, as if they feared retribution. In a word, it was beautiful. Slowly his eyes rose from the medical textbook to the rest of the other teenagers. He was one of the youngest there. But everyone was laid out across the beach. Almost everyone.

Out near the water there was a teen with deep black hair. He floated in place, unmoved by the currents and unswayed by the eddies. He looked perfectly at peace. Something that looked entirely right, and yet horribly wrong. There would have been more concerned at the boy’s face down stillness, except that he was watched by the owl eyed blonde.

The Blonde had sterling silver grey eyes that were trained on him. They had been from the moment she’d sat down on the large blue beach towel and he’d gone into the water. The book on her lap had been forgotten. Her entire focus was on him. 

She was clad in an emerald bikini covered up by a bright orange t-shirt with Camp Half-Blood’s logo on it and a pair of bright blue board shorts with little sharks on it. At least seven other campers had teased her and somehow been spared her wrath. The rest of the campers had not been so lucky. Her hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, but her bangs and a silver lock of hair hung in front of her face.

Finally movement showed the teen in the water exiting. Unlike normal though the girl didn’t return to her book. Instead a smile bloomed across her lips, and her eyes tracked him up to their shared beach towel. A few of the other present teens all watched. He was already bone dry and sat down. His sea green eyes turned to her.

“What Annabeth?” The Blonde’s smile grew larger. Annabeth leaned in and pressed a deep kiss right onto his cheek.

“You’re so pretty.” She answered like it was the simplest thing in the world. She stood up and took her book and a grey beach bag back towards the hill that led to camp.

“I- Uh… um…” He blinked rapidly. His brain on a full reboot. 

“We need to talk about the amount of power this woman holds. She’s got the two time hero of Olympus internally squealing like a schoolgirl.”

“I heard that Solace!” Called the teen. He’d begun to rise, his much more muscled physique on display. His eyes looked like the chasm depths of the deep ocean abysses. Solace wasn’t afraid though. Percy wouldn’t hurt him, though he’d probably make the next sword class suck. Of course Demigods and impulse control go together about as well as fire and gasoline, which is to say explosively. So he couldn’t help himself. He really couldn’t.

“Oh yeah? What you gonna do about it, Pretty Boy?” He was begging for his butt to get whooped across the arena. But it was so rare to really fluster Percy. How could he not take this golden opportunity. Though maybe he should have checked his surroundings better .

“Yeah Pretty Boy. Whatcha gonna do about it?” Shouted the even more muscled brunette who’d sidled up next to Will’s beach towel in a one piece. Oh yah. Percy was going to make his like horrible for at least a week for giving Clarisse yet another nickname.

The two time Hero of Olympus sputtered. Shook out and folded his beach towel. Then shoved it into a bright blue beach bag. He stomped over. Will wondered if Percy was actually going to do something this time. Nico wasn’t here. He’d stopped off with Hazel in New Rome. There was no Jason, Reyna, or Annabeth to be a voice of reason. Had Will finally overstepped?

Percy stopped in front of them both. His deep glare pulled a flinch from The Son of Apollo. Clarisse hid her’s better. Probably a Daughter of Ares thing. Or maybe it was the number of times Clarisse had seen Percy wolfing food down at meal times. Will really couldn’t say.

“I hate you both.” The Son of The Sea God spoke. But there was no venom, no hatred, just complete resignation, frustration, and perhaps even some internal groaning. Percy disappeared over the ridge. Clarisse whopped and ran for the water, surfboard in hand. Will watched in slow motion as she paddled out. Then she posted up waiting for a wave. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

Will was certain The Daughter of Ares had been out there for at least three hours. There hadn’t been a single wave. Not even a hint of one. She paddled back in, her face settled into a glare. Will had almost forgotten she’d been out there until she tromped by him. At the crest of the hill he heard her cry.

“JACKSON!” Will blinked. It was probably safest to stay away from water as much as possible until Percy got over his joke. He didn’t need to be soaking wet or worse for every hour of the day.

Nico & Hades Being on The Same Page

Mount Olympus

“So Uncle, how is Nico?” The tall woman who looked suspiciously close to Persephone sidled up to Hades. The Ruler of The Underworld raised an eyebrow at her. She blinked. “Oh come now. Surely you want to talk about your child. I mean he’s the first we’ve seen in forever. I doubt you can talk about him with Persephone after all.”

“Aphrodite,” Hades stared at her face. Pointedly avoided looking down despite the fact that The Goddess of Love was clad in a dress he would never get Persephone to wear. “What makes you think I want to talk to you about my son?”

“Uncle, who else is going to listen to you? In case you haven’t noticed people aren’t lining up to enjoy any kind of talk with you.” Hades would no doubt regret this, but Aphrodite did have a point.

“Nico is at that very special age where a boy has only one thing on his mind.” It was all Hades could do to avoid tearing up at the pride in his child. Days like this were the ones where he wished that he never had to miss a day in his child’s life.

“Boys?” Aphrodite went with the answer most accustomed to her, and to almost everyone. Hades rolled his eyes at her. Nico was his child, not Zeus’. Of course once it could have been said the same thoughts would have followed a child of Poseidon, but Perseus had most certainly dissuaded the idea of him cheating on his girlfriend.

“Murder.” Came a tiny voice compared to the two ten foot tall deities. Standing at Hades’ feet was no one other than his son. The pale boy smiled up at them both. Apparently someone had threatened Will, The Apollo kid, and now Nico was insistent upon getting revenge for his friend. Hades wouldn’t let it be known that it was for love his son was contemplating murder. No if that got out he’d lose what little respect he had left. Well not actually, Poseidon would be overjoyed and try to get him to spout constant facts about Will Solace in the midst of Council meetings like he did with Annabeth Chase.

Aphrodite blinked.

“That is so… wonderful dear. I’m very happy for you.” Then she turned and strutted away. That was definitely an encounter to remember. Most people couldn’t shut Aphrodite up so efficiently. Just another reason to love Nico he would need to add to the list the next time the kid asked for a favour or crashed at the palace for too long and he debated turning him into something.

Sleepovers & How Do You Like Your Men?

Jackson-Blofis Apartment, New York

Laughter echoed from the room on her left. The woman shook her head and continued. They were all almost adults. If they wanted to stay up late then who was she to say? They’d fought wars. What was staying up past midnight.

Inside of Percy’s room. Because where else were the five going to sleep. Percy was spending time with Poseidon and Amphitrite. Apparently his step mother was less than pleased to have him away for so long and had all but decreed family bonding time. 

“Alright, are we actually doing this?” The sole blonde haired boy looked around at the girls. They smiled and nodded. “Okay. How do you like your men?”

“I like my men like my books. Novel, unpredictable, with a spine.” The brunette with feathers in her hair and a large purple ‘SPQR’ t-shirt turned to look at the grey eyed blonde on her left.

“Oh, are you sure about the spine part?” A caramel skinned raven haired girl took a pillow to the face.

“Shut up and wait your turn, Reyna.” More laughter echoed out. They’d probably have to be quiet soon. No one wanted to wake up Estelle after all. “Annabeth go for it.”

“Okay Pipes. I like my men like my cookies. Sugary, blue, irresistible…” Annabeth glanced towards the door, making sure the kitchen light was off. “And made by Sally.”

Oohs exploded around the room as Annabeth’s cheeks turned beet red. The blonde slapped a hand over lips. Reyna cackled while Hazel looked extremely flushed. Piper offered her hand for a fist bump and got a very weak response.

“Alright, fast, Hazel go before Annabeth puts her cap on to disappear.” Reyna received yet another pillow to the face. The girl didn’t look any less dissuaded from her comments than she had previously.

“Like chocolate. Coming in different shapes and sizes, sweet, keeps me on a rush.” Annabeth smirked at the Daughter of Pluto.

“Keeps you on a rush huh? Do we need to talk to Frank about safety?” No one thought Hazel could turn that colour as she practically became a tomato. “Alright Will, your turn.”

“Like my coffee. Short. Dark. Bitter.” The laughter ratcheted up a few more clicks as Annabeth waved for a bit less volume. The group slowly came down and all eyes turned towards Reyna.

“Alright Persassy stand in, whatcha got for us?”

“I like my men like my tea.” Piper’s brow furrowed.

“But you don’t like tea.”

“Exactly.” Piper blushed, and Annabeth realised Jason maybe should be afraid Reyna might steal his girl.

“Wait but I saw you drink like four cups of tea in a row the other day?” Hazel looked at her Praetor. The corner of Reyna’s lips curled upwards.

“What, I may not like tea, but it certainly has its uses.” The room erupted in laughter. Piper knew they would have to do this again. Probably a safe bet to keep Spin the Bottle away from Reyna though. The girl might make someone pass out, either from comments or a kiss.

Big Three Kids & I’m The Oldest!

The Fields of Mars, Camp Jupiter

The group of teens all stared at each other. None was willing to give an inch. The shortest of them shook his head. His bob of black hair followed with the movements.

“I’m telling you I’m the oldest. No one here has lived longer on this world than me.” The tallest of them clucked his tongue.

“Sorry Neeks but I don’t think it counts if you got trapped in the Lotus Casino for sixty years.” The tall blonde shrugged.

“Sorry Nico, Aquaman has you there.”

“Okay so then its me.” Spoke the second shortest among them.

“Hey wait. I was a tree for longer than you’ve been alive the second time. Also technically you were resurrected.”

“Has everyone forgotten I am quite literally the physically oldest person here.” Everyone turned to look towards the tall blonde like he would solve the problem.

“I don’t know why I’m here. Percy is oldest physically. Technically Hazel has the longest overall lifespan. Nico has chronologically lived the longest. Sis, you aren’t the oldest. You might have been born before Percy but if we count that than either Hazel or Nico win out.”

“Some brother he is!”

“Bro! I thought you had my back!”

“Is this how you treat your friends Grace?”

It took Reyna, Annabeth, Will, and Frank to contain the damage. All kids of The Big Three ended up rebuilding much of The Fields of Mars. Piper and Leo were also forced to help after they ended up jumping into the frey and increasing the chaos.

All Big Three Kids were banned from ever arguing about who was oldest again.

Reyna & Training A Greek Standard Army

Camp Half-Blood, Long Island Sound

The caramel skinned woman in bright golden armour and with a purple cape stalked up and down the lines. At least half of Camp Half-Bloods oldest campers were here. No more than four lines of ten at the end of the day. Percy was off in New Rome working on being Praetor, he’d asked her to help them. So here she was on one of her few days off. Staring at Greek armour, Greek weapons, Greek Half-Bloods.

“Who here among you has been in combat?” Her hobnail combat boots rung with every step she took. Each Greek in every line raised their hands. She wasn’t surprised. “Of you, who has led warriors in combat?”

Her surprise rose sharply as only three hands remained up. Her obsidian gaze picked them out. One was a brunette woman in bright red and gold armour with an electric spear, a bright shield, and a deep scarlet plume on her helmet. Clarisse LaRue, The Drakon Slayer. The other two were identical. A pair of boys. The Stoll Brothers. They were pranksters, but they’d done good work during The Battle of Manhattan. Especially given they were pushed to lead The Hermes cabin following Castellan’s betrayal.

It rankled her. A defensive battle was easier. She couldn’t dispute that. But every story Percy had told. Everything she’d heard. The Greeks had half The Legion’s own paltry numbers at best. They’d defended an entire island alone. No Gods, no city, no defences. Just them.

“I’m certain you think you know war. Some of you do. But none of you have fought in a Roman Legion. You have not used Roman tactics. Rome conquered Greece. Our Cohorts and Centurions could outflank the slow moving tank that was a Phalanx. Your lines were strong, but strength means nothing if they are attacked from behind.” She stopped directly in front of Clarisse. “You are all strong warriors. But none of you are soldiers.”

Clarisse stared her down. Her eyes flickered with orange flames. She smiled at The Daughter of Ares. This is what she wanted. This was her evidence.

“Soldiers fight as one. They do not leave their own behind. They complete their objective, even if it costs them lives. They do not divide themselves by Godly parent.” She turned away from Clarisse. “I am Praetor Reyna. I lead New Rome and The Twelfth Legion Fulminata. My partner Praetor Jackson has asked me here to turn Greeks into soldiers. He knows you can fight. He knows you are true warriors. He also knows that if a fight were to happen between Rome and Greece now, the victor would be the one with more troops.”

Silence fell across the arena. The Greeks stirred. It rankled their pride. Reyna wanted that too. She needed to show them why they would lose. If she couldn’t show them that, if they couldn’t see it, they would never learn.

“Who here thinks they can put this arrogant Roman in her place.” Almost every hand shot up. None faster than Clarisse’s. “Then have at me Daughter of Ares.”

Clarisse pressed in. Her spear jabbed, swung, and struck towards her. Reyna, without drawing her sword. Neatly stepped out of the way. Percy had told her how Clarisse would fight. Reyna had to beat the strongest person at camp to get their attention. Since Percy wasn’t here, that meant Clarisse.

Maimer II, as she’d been told the weapon’s name was, came close. Reyna caught it behind the spear tip. She pulled. Clarisse trudged forward and her helmeted face collided with Reyna’s well placed elbow. Then The Praetor brought a kick into Clarisse’s knee. As The Daughter of Ares fell Reyna vaulted up, swung herself over Clarisse’s back and came down pinning Clarisse in place with her own spear.

Reyna released the weapon and planted her boot onto Clarisse’s backplate. The warrior went down into the dirt. The Praetor looked at the lines of Greeks. No one else looked ready to challenge her.

“Does anyone know why I won?”

“Because I got angry, you were cool and collected. Like Athena’s kids.” Reyna turned and watched Clarisse as she rose. “Because you played me.”

“Correct. A soldier and a warrior are needed at different times. You can’t just be one or the other. You have to learn how to be both at the same time. Clarisse’s anger and strength would have beaten many other opponents. But I knew her, I knew how she would fight, I knew how to press her buttons, I knew how I could beat her.” Reyna let Clarisse take her place back in line. “If you want to stand a chance beyond a phalanx of melee you cannot let your enemy know you. Romans are well known. Our tactics are easy to see and straightforward. Yet they carry the day. Why?”

“Because you work as one.” A blonde boy with bright grey eyes looked at her. Reyna nodded.

“Had Clarisse not been alone, had all of you followed her I would have been beaten. My skills, my knowledge, my strength would not be enough. You are all capable. But you need to learn to act as one. No needs give you commands and you know your places. I’ve seen that. It will not always be enough. At some point someone will have to give commands, and others will have to obey. I have only one question for you all. Can you follow orders?”

“As long as you don’t start telling us to call you Strategos or Ma’am.” Reyna smiled at her.

“Oh you’ll be calling me Praetor or Praetor Reyna.”

+1: Reyna & Nico’s Underpreparedness

Hades’ Cabin, Camp Half-Blood

The pale faced dark haired child of The King of The Underworld was not panicking. Wait should he bring his sword? Monsters could show up. He should bring his sword. Where’s my sword? The Stygian Iron blade was nowhere in sight. Okay maybe now was a time to panic. How long did he have to get ready again? Three Hours! That was not enough time.

The door to the cabin slammed open. He spun. He glanced about for something to defend himself and found… nothing. That’s right his sword was missing!

“Nico Di Angelo!” Shouted a very angry caramel skinned woman who stomped in. She was clad in a bright purple shirt branded with gold lettering that spelled ‘SPQR’ and shorts that were far shorter than Nico had ever expected to see her in. Either way her blazing crimson tinted obsidian eyes definitely glowed in the darkness of the cabin. He was a child of The Big Three, so there is no way he would ever admit to this, but a tiny little ‘meep’ escaped from between his lips.

She stopped just short of him and crossed her arms over her chest. She stared down at the shorter boy and raised an eyebrow. Was it possible that she and Bianca were related? Because he was fairly certain his thirteen year old sister had managed the exact same look back at Westover Hall.

“How could you get yourself a date and not tell me? I mean do you know how hard it is to do a thorough background check in a day? You have to give me more time to prepare for these things. I can’t just let you go off with just anybody.” She huffed as she finished her words. Nico bit down the bubbling laughter. He did not need to die tonight.

“Sorry Reyna, it wasn’t exactly preplanned. Plus all it is a starlit picnic out in the woods. We’re not even leaving Camp’s boundaries.” Reyna shook her head and led him to a chair. She pushed him down into it and Nico was faced with their reflections in the mirror.

“Its a camper. I guess I’ll have to live with that for now. But my dogs will be watching Di Angelo. If he tries anything-”

“Reyna!” She tutted and picked up a brush. She ran it through his hair and hissed at all the knots that the brush caught in.

“How can you see with all that hair in your face?” Reyna started to brush harder. Nico almost yelped at one particularly brutal knot that Reyna seemed unwilling to let go. “You needed a haircut months ago!”

A few more brush strokes cleared out the last of the major knots. Reyna continued to work on some of the smaller knots that he gotten caught up in his hair. The entire time she tutted and huffed. Nico sat there. He winced every time she tugged a knot out of place. Reyna was no Bianca. There was absolutely no doubt in that. However if Bianca couldn’t return… Reyna was a pretty good substitute.

“Please don’t pull so hard.” Nico’s small words were lost to the space between them. Reyna worked her way through his hair. As she finally finished with the knots Reyna pulled out a hairband. Nico glanced up at it. His mouth opened, but before a single word could pass his lips Reyna pounced.

Inside of minutes Reyna had his hair tied up back into a small ponytail. Reyna crossed her arms over her chest again and stared at Nico through his reflection in the mirror.

“There.” Reyna leaned over until her face was right next to Nico’s. “Much more presentable.”

Nico stared back at her obsidian eyes. Yah, Reyna was definitely someone he enjoyed having around.

“You wouldn’t happen to have some time to help me pick out an outfit would you?” Reyna smiled.

“For you Deathboy? I’ve got all the time in the world.”