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Chapter Text

“Well if it isn’t the Greek boy scout,” Quin drawled. Becca twisted in her seat by the window to see what he was referring to and saw Percy Jackson standing by the fountain in the plaza in front of Bombilo’s and talking with Mahlia Finch, a legacy of Ceres, and one of the other Greek students enrolled in New Rome University. She couldn’t help the small smile that graced her face.

“Greek boy scout? Really?” Heather asked with a huff. Becca schooled her features and turned back to the table, preparing herself for one of Quin’s rants. Sure enough, he started right away.

Becca bit down a sigh. It had been more than a year and a half since the official signing of the Greco-Roman peace treaty and some people really needed to just move on. But this was Rome so of course that wouldn’t happen. Toxic traditions and millennial-old grudges were just as Roman as any battle formation they practiced. 

And Rome was all about tradition. It was strange to see the Greeks visit and marvel at the different generations they had here, from small children to elderly retirees, when the Romans were gobsmacked when they realized that all the Greeks at their camps were demigods. In normal times, probably close to 90 percent of the legion was made up of legacies. Roman demigods existed of course, but they were definitely the minority. None of the Romans had seen so many demigods in one place before. Becca can’t help but wonder if that isn’t a good thing. The problem with relying so heavily on legacies is that everything - old grudges, prejudices, family status - becomes stagnant. Nothing ever really changes in Rome, and as someone on the bottom of the Roman political food chain, it drives her crazy.

The friends she was sitting with at the cafe illustrated all that well enough. Heather was a first generation legacy of Janus and retired from the Third Cohort. Jordan was a third generation legacy of Februus and a current member of the Third. Both of them were pretty chill. But the others were all from old families and had the expected Roman stick up their asses. 

You could always tell who came from old families or those who wanted to someday be an old family based on their names. Old families didn’t believe in modern names like James or Sarah, instead choosing old Roman names like Cassius, Fabius, or Aurelia. Some Roman names were still pretty common in modern times like Antonia, who was a legacy of Ceres. Her family didn’t go back to the original empire but it was pretty close. Despite her pedigree, she was generally pretty chill, probably a result of being Centurion of the Third Cohort which always found themselves in the middle of the rivalries between the First and Fifth Cohorts. Marcellus (who went by Marcel) was a seventh generation legacy of Bacchus and was with her in the Second Cohort but now attended NRU. Unlike her, Marcel was a total snob, at least when he was around other snobs. His family wasn’t considered one of the Old Families of Rome because you had to have ten generations for that, but you would never know that based on his attitude. On his own he was fine, but as soon as he got around any of the other old Romans he became the biggest ass. 

But with Octavian gone, few beat out Quintus Pearson, an old family legacy of Virtus and Centurion of the Second Cohort, when it came to sticking to tradition and old prejudices against the Greeks.

Quin was her old Centurion, a position he got after the War on Gaea. They were good friends growing up but with the new title apparently came a permanent stick up his ass. While they still got along, she was still happy that she didn’t have to deal with his constant spiels now that she was attending NRU. 

“You can’t deny that he is powerful,” Jordan pointed out. “He took out that Giant pretty easily.”

“That alone should at least get your respect,” Heather added. “Not to mention the other stuff.”

Quin scowled. “He’s a son of Neptune,” he practically spat. “There’s a reason we don’t allow them in the Legion.”

Becca fought the urge to roll her eyes. “One, he’s Greek so is actually a son of Poseidon. And two, we haven’t had any in the Legion because Neptune hasn’t had any children since the actual ancient times.” 

“That’s not the point,” he protested before arguing about the order of gods for the millionth time because Rome placed hierarchies on everything, even when it came to gods.

At the top of the list were Olympians of course, followed by minor gods of war. Next came the gods with more abstract domains, like sleep, healing, and fortune, followed by gods associated with agriculture, and then nature. Water gods were second to last, followed only by gods of the Underworld. Despite being Olympians, Neptune and Pluto took their places with the other gods of their realm and so were pretty low on the list. 

Becca found the whole thing to be stupid, especially since things like water and agriculture were objectively far more important than war. But she wouldn’t really care if it wasn’t for the fact that the hierarchy applied to demigods and legacies as well. So being a legacy of a war god like Virtus - god of military strength - automatically put you above a legacy of agriculture like Pomona and that affected everything from being chosen by a cohort to your position in that cohort. Making it even dumber, legacies tended to marry legacies so almost everyone had multiple gods in their lineage; people like Antonia probably had close to the entire pantheon. With so many gods in their background, people chose the highest ranked to claim as their heritage while the generations were counted from the earliest in time, despite who that demigod’s parent was. The one exception to upgrading your heritage was Jupiter, which only a direct child or grandchild could claim but otherwise it was open. If your family spent a long enough time in the legion, eventually an Olympian would come up and you would be set. 

That’s fine, but what annoyed her was that people like Quin and Marcel acted as though the other gods in their lineage didn’t exist. They looked down on people like her, who the best she could claim was Juturna, the goddess of fountains. When she first came to camp and joined the Maniple, basically the baby legion for those too young to actually serve, the Matron who oversaw them solemnly suggested she work on marrying up once she joined the legion. She was nine at the time.

“He fought for Rome,” Heather continued to argue. “We raised him on a shield. Even you have to admit that means something.”

“Sure,” Quin scoffed. “And then he fired on Rome the next day.”

“That was the other kid,” Becca pointed out. “And they explained what happened. He couldn’t help being possessed.”

“So they say,” muttered Quin.

Antonia turned very deliberately to Quin and raised her eyebrows. “I know you are not doubting the words of Juno Sospita and Mars Ultor. Because they are the ones who confirmed what happened with the eidions and urged us to not dwell on the past.” That shut him up, at least temporarily.

A few weeks after they returned to camp from New York, an all-Legion meeting was held in the Senate Hall. Jason Grace and Percy Jackson were there, as well as the Ambassador of Pluto. For some reason the other Greeks of the Seven did not come but the purpose of the meeting was to solidify and formally approve the peace treaty with the Greeks. No longer riding the adrenaline of the battle and back on their home territory, quite a few legionnaires were now raising objections. It was a bit two-faced, but again that was kinda the Roman way.

She’s pretty sure the meeting was supposed to be Jason Grace’s chance to shine but Jackson did it better. Becca never put much stock into the old slurs of Greek trickery and cunning but watching him handle even the most taciturn legionnaires and lares with grace, she wondered if there really was truth in those old stereotypes. Despite smoothly arguing away a lot of the objections, it kept coming back to the fact that the Greek ship fired on New Rome. Both Percy and Jason explained what happened with the eidions, but of course had no proof. That’s when Lady Juno and Lord Mars showed up, backing their explanation and placing the blame on Gaea. Having two of the most important gods in Rome both show up two times in a matter of months when it had been centuries since a god visited Rome was a very big deal. It also put to rest any outstanding objections to the peace treaty, at least officially.

“I just don’t understand why the Greeks treat him as such a big deal,” Marcel said, shifting the topic slightly and sparing Quin from Antonia’s ongoing glare. “Or even the gods. Lady Juno and Lord Mars clearly backed him, and I don’t understand why. He certainly doesn’t look like much.”

“Demigods,” Quin muttered. Now it was Heather’s turn to glare at him. No matter what your heritage was, demigods beat out legacies. The resulting jealousy meant a lot of legacies resented demigods just on principle. But as Heather’s dad was a demigod of Janus and her mom a clear sighted mortal, she did not take well to any complaining about demigods or mortals. 

“Why don’t you just ask around?” she asked him. “Heroes have stories and people are always eager to tell them. I’m sure any of the Greeks could tell you more about him.” Quin gave her a look of complete horror. Like the idea of talking to the Greeks would somehow taint him. Heather rolled her eyes.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Jordan added. “It would be nice knowing exactly why he was part of the prophesied Seven. I know the Venus girl had sorcery and the Vulcan boy obviously had power over fire. But why Jackson? Just because they took a boat?”

Becca frowned at him. “He’s powerful enough to survive Tartarus. I doubt it was just because they took a boat.”

“I still don’t know if I believe that whole thing about Tartarus,” Quin complained. Both Heather and Becca rolled their eyes.

“Then ask ,” Heather repeated. “Really, anything to get you to stop complaining.” Jordan snorted and Antonia smiled.

“I’ll see what I can find out from Praetor Levesque,” Antonia told them, “but those of you at NRU probably have the most chance of getting new information.”

“He’s not even an official student,” Quin grumbled. “He just uses us for housing.”

Becca shook her head. “He’s working on finishing Praetor’s Grace work on the temples,” she said. “That takes a lot of work and it is for Rome, so I don’t see the problem. Plus he was Praetor. He has the right to live here.” Quin scowled but didn’t argue. 

Heather and Marcel both agreed they would see what they could find out at school and they all started to get up to leave. Antonia and Quin had an administrative meeting with the other Centurions while Jordan was due back at the Legion ahead of evening muster. Becca herself had hours of reading she needed to get through before the weekend. 

She trudged back to her apartment, her mood a little sour from the conversation like usual. Becca knew she was a terrible Roman and while she constantly had to censor herself for it not to show, inside she couldn’t care less. She wished she never had to come here. She wished she and her family could have ignored the existence of Rome like they wanted to. But the Fates had other plans. Gods, she hates the Fates.

In early March the Bay Area was doing that thing where it would be freezing one day and almost summer-like temperatures the next. Today was gray and drizzly, not cold but with a slight nip in the air that made it uncomfortable. But complaining about discomfort is un-Roman. 

In theory the idea of the Legion wasn’t bad. In fact, it was kinda cool to think that a small bit of the Roman Empire persisted, connecting them all back to something ancient in a way that most Americans didn’t have. As a kid she loved hearing stories about how the Legion moved around, first in Europe and then to America. It was like being in on a secret that only her family was cool enough to know about because they were legacies of Rome. She perked up every time Ancient Rome came up at school, even though back then they were too young to really study it. She didn’t understand why her parents were less than enthusiastic about it all, or why they seemed against sending her to train with the Legion like they had. Unfortunately she understood it now.

Walking with her knee brace always slowed her down so she wasn’t surprised when Marcel caught up to her easily. He lived in one of the main multi unit buildings common with NRU students while she took a small garden apartment on the far edge of town. It was away from much of the bustle of the city and she liked it that way. Marcel tended to walk her home for reasons she didn’t really understand, except maybe he appreciated the more quiet parts of the city too.

“What do you know about Jackson?” he suddenly asked her. Becca nearly stumbled in her surprise.

“Probably the same stuff as you,” she retorted. 

He nodded. “He took you home that one time though.”

“Yes,” she agreed, “he and his giant demon dog dropped me off and then picked me up a few days later to bring me back to camp. It wasn’t very illuminating.” That was a bold faced lie - the whole experience had been very illuminating - but Becca stayed quiet. Even though she wasn’t enlisted in the Legion anymore, no one could know the truth about that trip.  

She wished she could tell people what she learned about Percy, because the truth was she owed him. The Imperial War was hard. The War Against Saturn and the War on Gaea were bad too but nothing beat the battles here at camp. She lost her best friend Lien and had to watch her become an undead zombie. The experience still haunted her. After that, she didn't want anything to do with Rome. 

A couple weeks after the battle of San Francisco Bay, she went to Praetors Zhang and Levesque to ask for a furlough. She wanted to go home. What she didn't say was that she wasn't planning on coming back. It wouldn't be the first time someone deserted. Their praetor before Jason Grace, a legacy of Felicitas, actually went AWOL about a month before the battle on Mount Othrys. It appears that after Reyna was elected at the Feast of Fortuna, he woke up one morning and decided to nope out of all of this bullshit. She couldn't blame him. Maybe he had some type of power of prophecy that let him know what was coming in the next few years, or maybe his godly ancestor clued him into the fact that luck would not be on their side. In any case, they were one Predator short when the Legion stormed the Titan stronghold and so Jason was raised on a shield. 

She also knew her family would understand. Her parents didn't even want to send her to the Legion, but monster numbers were higher than usual when she was a kid. Being fifth generation legacies, they shouldn't have been on any monster's radar. But after a hellhound found her at school and a group of cyclops tried to attack their home, her parents realized something would have to be done. Becca was the oldest, old enough to go to the Legion. Her younger sister Jessica and younger brother Ryan went to separate sets of grandparents, each one about an hour away from their home in Birmingham. With all of them separated, it seemed to be enough to protect each of the kids. So when she was nine she gave up her Hello Kitty themed bedspread and pink bedazzled backpack for gold armor and polished combat boots. 

Of course now sending her to the Legion for safety seemed like an oxymoron. And after three wars when she was barely 18, she was done.

But once you enlisted in the Legion, you were required to serve at least ten years; you couldn’t just leave voluntarily until those ten years were up. The problem was she had almost two years left on her contract. Well, more like a year and a half but the way things were going that could be enough time for two more wars and she just couldn't handle it anymore. They all had nightmares but refused to admit it because “that wasn't the Roman way.” So when people got night terrors and woke up screaming, any excuse was accepted except for the truth of them just being traumatized beyond belief. When everyone trudged through morning muster and drills, barely able to stay awake from sleep deprivation, the answer was more coffee rather than acknowledging they were struggling. When Emily, a legacy of Venus who at just thirteen was now the youngest member of the First Cohort, broke down in tears during lessons because she missed her best friend Portia, her centurion Julius berated her for un-Roman conduct. Becca yelled at Julius for it which earned her a demerit and scolding from Quin, but it was totally worth it.

Because maybe she is too sensitive and maybe she is weak, but Becca was so sick of it all. Reyna and Frank, and then Hazel - all good people. But the “Roman way” sucked and she wanted to scream that from the rooftops even though it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Instead she would happily take the opportunity to run away and never look back.

The problem was flights to her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama from San Francisco weren't exactly cheap, plentiful, or quick. Frank was hesitant to give her a three day weekend pass when it would take most of a day to get there and another to get back. But she was desperate. So when a visiting Percy overheard and offered to instantly transport her via his hellhound, she swallowed her discomfort and agreed, figuring she would work out how to ditch him later. 

She quickly learned Percy was a lot smarter than most people gave him credit for. They traveled to a park near her parents’ house, reasoning that an unannounced hellhound appearing in their backyard would not go over well. He insisted on walking her the rest of the way. And then he just casually asked what the typical punishment was for desertion. 

Becca was sure her heart stopped. Percy noted how much she packed for a weekend trip and how she never asked how she would get back to camp. Knowing she was caught, she broke down into ugly, messy sobs on her parents’ front porch. When her parents noticed the noise, they found the son of Poseidon comforting her as she tried not to hyperventilate. The moment she saw her mom Becca threw herself at her, sobbing even harder. She thinks Percy might have introduced himself to her dad before picking up her bag and offering to explain inside.

It was an interesting afternoon. Becca was a mess so Percy explained everything that had happened at camp since communications went down a few months before. She interjected with a word here or there, choking out Lien’s name when he explained about the vrykolakai, which made her mom just hold her tighter. He gave them a moment to process once he finished, the only sound being Becca’s sniffles and stuttered breathing as she tried to calm down.

Her mom broke the silence first. “She is not going back there.” Becca didn’t think she had ever heard such venom in her mom’s voice before. Her dad went to answer but she steamrolled over him, switching to Latin and an argument soon followed. Her parents had both been with the Legion when the whole 1980s Alaska disaster happened and watching the survivors struggle with basic sanity had them both promising to never look back once they left. Hearing what happened recently was probably their worst nightmare. But her dad was worried about the consequences of deserting while her mom argued that Becca already left and would never get a fair trial if she returned and was suspected. Her mom’s side of the family was descended from multiple Underworld gods and had been generally shunned while at camp. As a result she had little love for Rome even under the best of circumstances.

Becca and Percy watched them argue for a few minutes before he waved his hand to get their attention. “I know I’m Greek but I do speak Latin,” he told them, in flawless Latin no less.  “Can you slow down and explain some of what you just said? Maybe I can help.” Despite the mess she was, she couldn't help but laugh at the look on her parents’ faces, which caused her to hiccup loudly. That seemed to break the tension in the room and both her parents sighed in resignation.

Her parents were chatty in the way that is common in the South, where you talk a lot but say little of substance. But at this point they had little to lose. So much came out: Becca’s full divine heritage, her parents’ experiences at camp, why they sent Becca despite swearing they never would, Jessica and Ryan being sent away for their safety, the Roman rules and procedures around possible desertion. 

Percy was a good listener. He asked some questions but never sounded judgmental. It was like he was a sponge, just soaking all the information up. When they finished, the first thing he did was promise he wouldn’t tell anyone associated with Rome anything they had said without their permission and he wouldn’t snitch on Becca no matter what, but warned he might have to tell some people on the Greek side some of it to get some answers. He wanted to return to New York and talk with some people. In return, he asked them to promise Becca would still be there on Sunday when he returned. They could make plans and get ready for whatever they decided to do, but she wouldn’t leave until he got back.

It was a pretty big ask. Suspicions and distrust of Greeks were practically ingrained into their beings as Romans, and constantly reinforced in their lessons. But Percy had an aura about him that made her trust him. It wasn’t a crush or anything like that, but a feeling that he really did understand what she was going through and could make it better. It was Becca who agreed she would be here on Sunday.

After her emotional breakdown, she was exhausted and completely drained but her mom insisted she drink a cup of soothing chamomile tea with honey, just like she made for Becca when she was little. She drank the tea and fell into a fitful sleep on the couch, the nightmares trying to creep in on the edges but never fully breaking through. 

Saturday passed in a haze. Becca sat in her pajamas in backyard not doing much of anything, just basking in the early blooming magnolia trees and the birdsong of an Alabama spring. Her parents talked quietly, probably about what resources they could afford to spend on Becca going underground for a bit and where she could go. They always stopped talking as soon as they noticed her watching. Her parents took her out for a huge meal at the BBQ restaurant they used to go to as a family before they all split up. Despite the circumstances, it was really nice.

Her mom asked if she wanted to talk about Lien but she couldn’t. Lien was a year younger than her but came to camp just a few weeks after Becca got there. They became fast friends and were pretty much inseparable after that. Her parents were local, living in Oakland, so she wound up spending more time with them than she did her own family. Every year it became a tradition for her parents to pick them up and take them to a local Vietnamese Tet celebration and they often came to New Rome to celebrate her birthday for an afternoon. Lien was more her sister than her actual sister Jessica was, but now whenever she closed her eyes she saw Lien’s undead face. So she couldn’t talk about it. She thinks part of her was worried if she said anything about Lien out loud, it would bring her nightmares to life, again.

When Sunday came, she waited restlessly. Despite how she felt on Friday, by Sunday she didn’t have much faith Percy could help. 

He proved her wrong. His feet had barely touched the ground after he jumped off the back of his giant hellhound before he told them he had a plan: medical discharge. Turns out he had spent the weekend going over Legion regulations and law (which he grumbled about being in Latin) and discovered that if a legionnaire was injured to an extent it hampered their long term ability to participate in the Legion, then they could apply for - and the Praetors would basically have to grant - a medical discharge.

It would get her out of the Legion and exempt her from the Auxiliary but the few medical discharges she knew about only came after serious injuries, as in lost limbs and permanent disabilities. She told Percy about the few cases she knew of. It seemed unlikely Becca could lie her way to a medical discharge.

Percy wasn’t dissuaded. He pointed out that as a fifth generation legacy, she was basically mortal, making injuries far more common and more easily debilitating. She probably should have been offended, but it was true. He reasoned that if it was something that interfered with her ability to fight, like a shoulder or knee injury, it would be easy enough to fake while also qualifying for the discharge. 

And she did have a recurring knee injury although she didn’t know what it was. Camp Jupiter and New Rome didn’t have any real medical facilities. Basically if an injury couldn’t be cured by nectar or ambrosia (which she couldn’t even have), unicorn shavings, healing balms, or antibiotics, you were pretty much stuck with it. She twisted her knee or something a few years back and it flared up from time to time, including in the recent battles, but Pranjal just told her to wrap and ice it despite sometimes barely being able to stand. When she told Percy that, his face lit up. He took down some information - full name, date of birth, height, weight, and such - and disappeared again, leaving them to wonder what he could possibly be up to.

When he returned again, it was with x-rays and CAT scans and paperwork diagnosing her with a torn ACL in her left knee and recommendations that she stay off her knee for at least nine months, with limited exercise for another six. Basically, most of the time she had left on her contract. It all had her name and date of birth, printed on official looking letterhead from Birmingham Hospital. Becca wasn’t sure it would hold up in the mortal world, but it would definitely be good enough at camp since they largely wouldn’t know better. Percy informed her that she retwisted her knee helping her mom in the garden and that’s why they took her to the hospital. He even had a rigid plastic knee brace for her to wear, and a magical insole for her left shoe that would give a slight buzz when she put weight on it so she could remember to use her crutches. The crutches they still needed to get, but otherwise she was all set.

It was still a risk, but Percy came with her and helped explain to Frank and Hazel what happened. Frank seemed to accept it but she was pretty sure Hazel knew she was lying. The daughter of Pluto didn’t say anything, probably because while she was gone a rumor had started that they were considering issuing a stop loss order to prevent anyone from retiring from the Legion until their numbers recovered. As a result, two legionnaires fled in the middle of the night; at least Becca gave them the courtesy of lying straight to their face.

Quin wasn’t happy but signed off on her medical excuse. With all the cleanup still going on and their reduced numbers, it took a few weeks for the discharge paperwork to be cleared. Ultimately it was though, and for the first time in years Becca felt like she could breathe. 

Percy stayed with Frank for a week after they returned, the lights in the Principia on long after curfew. Becca had a feeling they were discussing what to do with the Legion going forward. Another legionnaire deserted in that time, and demigod and legacy families started to pack up to leave New Rome. The general atmosphere was tense, and she overheard several girls consider following Reyna’s path and join Diana’s hunters. Too much had happened in too little time and they needed to get a handle on the situation as soon as possible.

On Friday there was another all-Legion meeting in the Senate House. Frank and Hazel announced there would be no stop loss order given and those eligible for retirement could leave the Legion and New Rome. The bigger surprise was they also announced that those legionnaires with less than two years left on their contracts could retire early, given that they agreed to attend NRU and join the Auxiliary for two years. It wasn’t exactly full retirement, but it gave the oldest of the legionnaires who had carried the burden of the wars the most a bit of a break and would hopefully stem any more desertions. And since most legacies usually didn’t attend NRU, it would also allow them to fill the Auxiliary while the Legion’s numbers improved with new recruits. It was a pretty bold plan, and while practical, also very un-Roman. Percy gave her a tired smile from across the room and she realized that he was the one who came up with it. She didn’t say anything; if people knew that a Greek was behind it, there would be an immediate backlash.

It did the trick though; morale improved almost immediately. Heather’s ten year contract was up in a few months so she stuck it out but Marcel took advantage of the early retirement. With her medical discharge, Becca was exempt from the requirement to attend NRU or enroll in the Auxiliary, but after some long conversations with both her parents and Percy, she ultimately decided to attend NRU for the time being. She made it clear though that if there was the slightest hint of new fighting, she would steal a unicorn and flee the state. 

It also helped that Percy somehow managed to find and entice two Roman psychologists - a legacy of Venus and a legacy of Aesculapius - to move their practices to New Rome. Therapy wasn’t exactly looked highly upon in Roman society but plenty of current and former legionnaires took advantage of their services. Becca still saw Tabitha, the legacy of Venus, once a week. She wouldn’t say that she has fully healed from her time in the Legion, but her head was in a much better place now. 

All of that was because of Percy. But she couldn’t say any of that to Marcel without giving her own secrets away.

“Why does it even matter?” she asked, annoyed. “He’s just one guy. And so what if he’s Greek? He’s helped defend the camp and helped save the world. Why are you guys so insistent that there is something evil lurking in the shadows?”

Marcel actually laughed. “Maybe not evil ,” he chuckled, “but you have to admit, he has a different vibe to him than the other Greeks.” That you refuse to talk to , she thought to herself. “I know Quin is annoyed he’s so active in Senate meetings. He isn’t even part of the Legion so why is he there?”

“He is a former Praetor–”

“Which doesn’t give him the right to be in the Senate.”

“--and Ambassador of the Greeks–”

“Which isn’t an actual title.”

“He doesn’t have a vote and the Senate meetings are open now!”

“Because he made them open. It wasn’t that way before he got here,” Marcel retorted.

“And is that so bad?” she shot back. He fell silent at that. Maybe because despite being new, having the Senate meetings open for anyone to attend and speak at was actually popular. Or maybe because they reached the central piazza and that always put a damper on their mood.

This used to be one of the main places where people hung out, with a huge fountain in the middle and benches spaced out in the open space. But the undead had a thing against running water and destroyed the fountain with extreme prejudice. Most of the buildings surrounding the piazza were heavily damaged as well. They repaired most of the damage throughout the city, including the surrounding buildings, but the piazza itself was still demolished. No one quite knew what to do with it. Finally they just cleared the rubble and pulled up the remaining cobblestones, putting a few truckloads of gravel down in the meantime. Few people hung out here anymore, the whole place just being sad.

When they cleared the piazza, they started arguing again. Becca realized that Marcel didn’t really have a huge issue with Percy Jackson, but rather just hated a lot of the changes that had come with the arrival of the Greeks. Most of those changes were hugely popular, both in the Legion and in the city, but a lot of old Roman families saw any change as being a disgrace to the legacy of Rome.

“Just cut him some slack,” she begged when they finally got to her door. “He might just surprise you.” Marcel rolled his eyes but smiled as he said goodbye. Becca watched him go and hoped she was right.

Chapter Text

Antonia didn’t put much weight in Quin’s whining about Percy Jackson and the Greeks; he had been complaining incessantly for the last year and a half. But she agreed with Heather - at this point, she was willing to pretty much do anything to get Quin to move on once and for all.

Admittedly, she was also curious herself. Her family first joined the legion in the seventh century and she’s been hearing stories about Rome since before she could walk. She’s pretty much heard it all. But she’s never quite seen a demigod like Percy Jackson. It wasn’t just the way people treated him, but also just his bearing. She noticed it when he first came to Camp Jupiter - handing Octavian his ass to him in his only Senate meeting as Praetor would be hard to forget - but his time since then only added to her curiosity.

The official debate over the peace treaty was illuminating. Percy was really the only representation for the Greeks, which is a lot to place on one person. Nico di Angelo was there as well, but as they all thought he was Roman for almost a full year before the truth came out, no one really knew what to expect from the Ambassador of Pluto and tended to disregard him. So everything was on Jackson to face down a rowdy Legion and the even more skeptical population of New Rome. 

He did it though. It was astounding to watch. Everyone expected Jason to be the one to do most of the talking given his status with the legion. Even though he was no longer Praetor, the Senate quickly approved his new status as Pontifex. It would make sense for him to take the lead. But with several people looking to take Octavian’s place as king maker within the Legion and now on their home turf, Jason’s usual deliberative approach stumbled in the face of performance theater as they all tried to outdo each other in their outrage over the Greeks.

Jason was a good leader. He was thoughtful and deliberative, and had spent more time at Camp Jupiter than pretty much anyone else. Even by the time he graduated from the Manible to the Legion at twelve, he knew Roman customs and traditions inside and out. Add in his parentage and power as the son of Jupiter and there was little question he wouldn’t join the ranks of Praetor eventually.

A son of Neptune was different. If Juno herself hadn’t vouched for him when he crossed the Little Tiber, it is unlikely they would have even let him join the Legion. It had been a century since the last legacy of Neptune was a part of the Legion, and millennia since the last child of Neptune was in their ranks. Maybe it’s superstitious but children and descendents of the sea god were not trusted. The infighting and rivalry between Jupiter and Neptune was well known after all, and the Twelfth Legion was Jupiter’s own.

Which is why Percy’s ability to charm a rowdy Senate was a sight to see. Since then she gave him the benefit of the doubt despite not knowing much about him.

She hadn’t learned much more about him from Hazel except that the daughter of Pluto adored him and basically considered him a brother. From what she’s seen of their interactions, the feeling was mutual. Antonia didn’t know Frank well enough to feel comfortable asking, so she went about Legion business and for the most part, put Percy Jackson out of her mind.

However today half of the Third Cohort was taking lessons in hand to hand combat from Percy and another Greek, a daughter of Venus. Given that she showed up in flawless makeup and clearly styled hair, Antonia wouldn’t have thought she would be very competent in that area but the girl had skills. They were practicing knife fighting in pairs when a teenage girl stumbled into the clearing and rushed over.

“My Lord!” she exclaimed as she stopped in front of them. It took a moment for Antonia to realize she was talking to Percy. Why would she refer to him as “lord”? When she looked closer, she noticed a slight green tint to her skin and the whites of her eyes which meant she was a tree nymph. Romans didn’t bother much with nature spirits but she heard the Greeks consorted with them frequently. Still, that didn’t explain the honorific.

“Calm down, Oaklyn,” Percy said soothingly. “What’s wrong?”

“Please come quickly,” she rushed out. “There is an attack going on. Many dracaena, over a hundred, just south of Barberry Peak. They are burning everything in their path. I was sent to get you and warn that they are headed this way.”

“We need to muster the Legion,” Antonia immediately said, her long years of training kicking in. “We can amass and meet them on the eastern border.” To her surprise, the Venus girl just glared at her.

“We can’t wait for them to get here. It’s too dry. If they continue to set fires, everything in the park will burn,” she retorted. The nymph nodded frantically. Of course. They were worried about the nature spirits in the park.

Percy just grinned. “Well Tanaka, up for a little skirmish?”

“Like you have to ask,” she smirked, rolling her eyes. Before Antonia could say anything else or ask if they really thought battling a hundred dracaena was a skirmish , they both took off with the nymph leading the way. They ran far faster than any mortal or legacy could, a sign of their demigod nature. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought their feet weren’t even touching the ground.

Antonia shook off her shock and ordered one of the legionnaires to inform the praetors of the situation and another to gather the other half of their cohort. A few minutes later, Praetor Zhang dropped out of the sky next to her, turning from a sparrow to a person in the blink of an eye. She still wasn’t used to that. After a quick conference, he ordered her cohort to follow Jackson into the Siesta Valley Recreation Area while they placed the other cohorts on the eastern border. 

She led the Third Cohort into the park, marching at double time and following the smoke. Most of them knew the park from scouting missions, but didn’t necessarily know it well. Still, Barberry Peak was an easy landmark and they made good time.

Not that it was necessary. They got there less than thirty minutes after Jackson left and just in time to see them and two other Greeks take out the last of the dracaena. She saw a few of the snake women running away in the distance and they let them be. Other than a solid coating of gold dust on the ground and the continuing fires, everything was calm. 

The nymph must have lied about the numbers, that’s all she could conclude. Because there was no way four demigods took out a hundred dracaena in less than thirty minutes. In any case, she now felt like an idiot to be just standing there with her cohort.

“Well, boys and girls, what did we learn today?” Percy asked at large.

“That fighting snake ladies is way better than sitting in my calculus class,” the other Greek guy answered solemnly. 

Percy raised an amused eyebrow. “Didn’t think that needed learning, Trav.” Hank, her fellow centurion, murmured that he was a son of Mercury. Antonia may be more civil towards the Greeks than people like Quin but she certainly didn’t go out of her way to know them or even learn their names. The two continued to banter back and forth before Venus’s girl spoke up.

“We need to do an assessment of who is left on this side of the country after the Titan War. If there was a whole dracaena den with a grudge, chances are there are others too.” Percy snapped his fingers and pointed at her, letting her know that she was right. 

“In the meantime we need water,” the other Greek girl said, standing up from where she had been kneeling by a small scraggly bush. The bush at least had some fresh green leaves at its tips, but had also seen better days. Antonia knew she was a daughter of Ceres but couldn’t remember her name. Katia? Kayla? Kaitlyn? Something like that. “Buckets, shovels, and grass seed wouldn’t go amiss either.” Percy frowned but nodded looking around. 

Suddenly a cold wind swirled around them. Antonia looked around and noticed the late afternoon light had dimmed considerably. Weather in the Bay Area was notoriously fickle but not like this. It wasn’t until Hank repeatedly bumped her shoulder that she followed his gaze up where the previously mostly clear sky had turned incredibly dark in just minutes. Without warning, a curtain of heavy rain moved over them, eliciting a few yelps in the cohort's ranks. “Watch the wind, Perce,” Ceres girl warned. The son of Neptune just nodded and the wind let up while the heavy rain continued for a few minutes before lightening to a steady drizzle. The ground steamed in some places where small smoldering fires still burned but the rain did a good job of putting out most of the flames.

“Thank you, my lord,” a small girl - probably another tree nymph - said from her spot where she was hugging Ceres’s daughter around the waist.

“Percy, Gula,” he told her gently. “Call me Percy.”

Gula nodded solemnly, “Thank you Lord Percy.” That elicited a belabored sigh from Percy while the two Greek girls tried to hide their smiles. The son of Mercury didn’t bother covering up his amused grin.

Antonia and Hank shared a wide eyed look. There was no way the son of Neptune caused the rain storm. Right?

Just then Praetor Zhang showed up, dropping from the sky as an eagle this time. He quickly conferred with Jackson and Ceres’s girl. He looked a little annoyed but not surprised there was nothing left for the Legion to do despite being told of an enemy attack.

“Did you find out what this was all about?” he asked Jackson instead. “From what I’ve been told, these kinds of marches on camp aren’t common.”

“Yeah, it was Queen Ssstacia?” he said questionably, looking over at the Venus girl who nodded in agreement. “Apparently they were the main dracaena den on Mt. Tam and hold a grudge. Not much you can do about that.”

Frank suggested they check out Mount Othrys, which had Antonia grimacing in silence behind them. Luckily Percy immediately disagreed.

“It’s not Mount Othrys anymore, just the Mountain of Despair. But we can only get in there at sunset, which there’s no time for now. Plus, Ladon is no joke. I don’t think it’s worth it. I doubt they are actually stationed there anymore. They’re just pissed because of what happened before.”

“How do you know about getting into the Mountain of Despair?” Hank asked indignantly. Antonia wanted to kick him to keep quiet but she understood where he was coming from. The Mountain of Despair was their territory; the Greeks shouldn’t know much about it except that it existed.

Percy looked over at them nonplussed. “Because I’ve been there before,” he said flatly. Hank looked taken aback as he started talking strategy with Frank again. Antonia almost didn’t notice the son of Mercury come up behind her as he handed a backpack to Ceres’s girl with another slung over his shoulder. Maybe they had dropped them further back.

“It happened a few years ago,” he said to her as he searched his bag. “Lady Artemis was captured by the Titans and there was a quest to rescue her. No one really knows what happened except it was bad. Two hunters died on the quest and Percy had to hold the sky to free Artemis. Needless to say, he’s never expressed a desire to go back.”

Hank scoffed but looked a little unsure. Ceres’s girl handed him a small bar of something which he took a huge bite out of. The wound on his arm immediately started to heal and a moment later was completely gone. Ambrosia. 

They keep some at camp but it is closely guarded. The whole science around how “divine” a legacy was wasn’t really understood but there was no question that their godly side diminished with every generation, even if no mortals were introduced into the bloodline. Technically, most first and some second generation legacies could handle the godly food in incredibly small doses depending on their lineage but it was always hard to gauge. Over the years there have been too many accidents with legacies trying to prove they were more favored by the gods and therefore had more ichor in their veins, only to burn up. Antonia watched it happen herself when she was new to the Legion and never wanted to see it again. As a result, it was reserved only for demigods and pretty much only in emergencies. To see the Greeks carry it around and use it so freely was a little disconcerting. The son of Mercury didn’t seem to notice though. 

He shrugged before swallowing. “You can believe me or not but it still happened. It’s why Artemis and the hunters respect Percy even though he’s male.” With that the two of them walked away, the son of Mercury taking another bite of ambrosia before tossing the rest to the daughter of Venus. 

Her attention went back to Frank as he agreed to bring some supplies from camp for the clean up and place the Legion on stand down, although the Fifth Cohort would stay in scouting positions until tomorrow. He took off again as an eagle leaving Antonia and Hank just standing there with an increasingly restless cohort behind them.

Percy turned towards them with a smile. “Sorry guys. Didn’t mean to drag you all the way out here for nothing.”

“We didn’t actually ask for them,” called out Venus’s girl from where she spoke with the other Greeks. That struck a nerve in Antonia’s pride.

She straightened her shoulders. “If there was an imminent attack on the valley then of course we would respond.” The Venus girl just rolled her eyes. “And as we are here,” she continued, “we can help with whatever clean up you have.”

This time it was Ceres’s girl who gave her a skeptical look. “I thought helping nature spirits was unbecoming for a Roman. If it’s not marching or killing something then it isn’t worth doing, right? Not ‘good enough’ for ‘the glory of Rome’.”

“Katie,” Percy interrupted sharply. The girl shut her mouth but clearly had far more she wanted to say.

“We can help,” Antonia stubbornly repeated. Everything the girl said was true, but like Hades was she going to let some graecus get the better of her. Hank shifted uncomfortably next to her but didn’t say anything. The three Greeks all turned towards Percy, waiting for his decision.

Antonia met his gaze unflinchingly but it was hard. Gone was the laid back and often goofy Greek they were all used to. Now Percy stood straight-backed and unmoving, clearly thinking and calculating as his green eyes seemed to pierce her soul. It was unnerving. Finally he seemed to decide something and gave a short nod. “Fine. Have four of your cohort head to the northern ridge, four to the west and four to the east. Scout to make sure there aren’t any other visitors. Keep your guard up though as some of them ran away and may be still in the park, whether or not they had reinforcements. Do not engage unless you have to. Remember this is a scouting mission, not a fight. If you come across any sizable numbers, sound the alarm immediately. The rest can stay here and help repair the hillside for the dryads.”

She felt the legionnaires behind her immediately start to divide up and head to their assignments before they remembered that they didn’t take orders from Percy. She couldn’t blame them; her body unintentionally did the same thing. That’s when she finally understood why all the Greeks, and even Frank and Hazel at times, deferred to him; he was a commander, but more than that, he was a general. His voice had a natural authority to it that you almost couldn’t help but follow.

Swallowing, she turned to her cohort and ordered them to do as Percy said. Hank quickly went with the scouts while she stayed with the Greeks. Jordan stayed with her group and they shared a meaningful look. They had quite a lot of new information to consider when it came to Percy Jackson. 

“Great,” one of the younger legionnaires, a legacy of Somnus, complained behind her. “We get to play in the dirt in the rain.” Percy raised an eyebrow and the steady drizzle immediately lightened to more of a suspended mist. 

“Better?” he asked sweetly. The boy nodded quickly, eyes wide. Jordan was pinching her arm, clearly freaking out just as much as the son of Somnus. “For the rest of you,” he continued with a lopsided smile that screamed trouble, “do what Katie says.” 

He turned away as Ceres’s girl - her name being Katie apparently - stepped up and issued instructions. Antonia and Jordan were put to work digging a small trench to funnel water down the hill and away from one of the smaller scraggly bushes. The job was made much easier once Frank showed up with a bag full of hand tools.

Once they were alone and none of the Greeks or nymphs were near them, Jordan instantly turned the conversation to Jackson and what they just heard and saw about him.

“You don’t think it’s true, do you?” he asked in a hushed voice. “Actually holding the sky on the Mountain of Despair?” It seemed just as crazy to her but it was a strange thing for someone else to lie about. Maybe if it was Percy himself but why would the son of Mercury lie for him? They continued to discuss it and the other things they saw. Did they really take out that many dracaena by themselves? Did he really create that storm? Neptune was known as the Stormbringer but did that apply to his children as well?

Antonia noticed that at some point, the small nymph talking to Percy before was standing only a few feet away, watching as they worked. She looked at the bush forlornly as she twisted a strand of her mousey brown hair. She cleared her throat but that didn’t gain the girl’s attention.

“Umm, you there–”

“Gula,” Jordan whispered.

“Gula,” she corrected. “Do you know where Praetor Jackson went?”

The nymph looked up but her sadness didn’t lessen. “Lord Percy went to see if the local naiads could help,” she said quietly. Antonia supposed “naiads” were more nymphs. Based on Jordan’s shrug, he didn’t know either. Katie walked over and urged the girl to let them work and she would help her bush start to regenerate. Gula nodded and hugged Katie again, who picked her up easily and placed her on her hip as she walked back to one of the other groups. No wonder the girl seemed so sad; the bush was quite pathetic looking and had clear damage from the fight. Jordan broke off a tip from one of the singed branches, causing Antonia to smack his arm and a whispered argument. She knew nothing about nature spirits so for all she knew, that could hurt the girl. Finally Jordan conceded.

“Why does she call him ‘lord’?” he suddenly asked. “Wait until Quin hears about that. ‘Lord Percy.’ Maybe that’s what we should call him around town.”

“Only if you want to get your ass kicked,” a new voice said from behind them. Jordan yelped, cursed, and spun around from his crouched position, landing on his ass in the mud. Antonia only fared slightly better, staying upright but losing her hand trowel when she threw it by instinct. Nico di Angelo watched impassively as it sailed past and landed downhill.

“Di Angelo,” she snarled. She swore sometimes he would appear out of thin air and it creeped her out every time. A dark power from his father, no doubt.

Jordan glared at him. “Why would he kick my ass?’ he asked, going back to Nico’s original comment as he tried to salvage some dignity. Nico fixed him with an unimpressed look.

“Percy is a prince of the sea. He has a responsibility to the mythological creatures that fall under his father’s domain. That’s why they call him ‘lord.’ He takes it quite seriously. Calling him ‘lord’ as a joke is spitting in the face of that, not to mention disrespects his father. And I’m pretty sure you don’t want to do that.”

“How does a tree nymph fall under Lord Neptune’s domain?” Jordan asked, confused.

“Poseidon,” Nico automatically corrected, “and they don’t. Grover is Lord of the Wild and Pan’s handpicked successor. That means a lot to nature spirits. Percy helps Grover out a lot with his work, especially when it comes to water stuff.” He went on to explain that technically freshwater spirits didn’t fall under Lord Poseidon’s domain but he cared for them when possible. It was actually Lord Triton’s job but the god of waves hated it and as a result, there was an 84 year long wait list for freshwater nature spirits and river gods to petition the court for help. Nico waved a hand as though to say “it’s complicated." In any case, he said Percy largely took over the job and now that wait list was down to only 52 years, which was quite an improvement.

Jordan just gaped at the son of Pluto. “Are you telling me that Lord Neptune - I mean, Lord Poseidon - handed over another god’s sacred duties to Percy?” Antonia asked faintly. 

Nico got a thoughtful look on his face and tipped his head. “I never thought about it like that, but…yeah, pretty much.” Now it was Antonia who almost fell on her ass. “Anyway,” he continued as though that wasn’t the craziest thing ever, “most nature spirits not connected to water see Percy as the other half of Pan’s legacy, especially since he received Pan’s blessing too. There’s even talk of formally naming him the Lord of Wild Waters.”

“Who is Pan?” Jordan asked, his tone even more bewildered than before. Antonia had to admit she didn’t know either. At this point the conversation was giving her far more questions than answers.

“Faunus to you,” he sighed. “He faded a few years ago. It’s a big deal.”

“And Grover is the faun who comes around sometimes?” Antonia asked.

“Satyr,” he corrected with gritted teeth. “And yes, that is Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild.”

Antonia and Jordan exchanged a look. She wanted to ask what was a Lord of the Wild but didn’t think it would go over well. Luckily she was saved when another nymph, this one with pale skin and bright blue eyes, called him over. He picked up the two square bales of straw at his feet.

“Point is, it’s not a joke. I know caring about nature spirits isn’t the Roman way, but Greeks take it seriously. Ignore that at your own peril.” He walked away, leaving them utterly dumbfounded.

Three hours later, covered in mud and extremely cranky, the Third Cohort regrouped and started to march back to camp. There were no new enemy sightings from the scouts and the clean up team apparently made good progress on halting further soil erosion for the nymphs from the fire. Katie had spread some seeds and sprouted new grass as well as helped the injured tree nymphs grow some new green wood. It was interesting watching her work. Antonia might be descended from the same goddess but she would never have abilities like that. It left her a bit wrongfooted with how distant the two of them were in terms of their heritage.

Most of her thoughts were taken up with what they learned about Percy Jackson though. Much as she expected after his original orders, he commanded the crews, both Greek and Roman, with ease. For Romans who have suspicion of Greeks ingrained into their training, that was saying a lot. She thought back to the Senate meetings and the casual grace he had with wrangling the different priorities of the Senators. There was little doubt left in her mind that he was a natural born leader, far more than she ever gave him credit for before. That, coupled with his demigod powers (which were also far more than she previously suspected), his apparent royal title, and his status with both nature gods and spirits meant one thing: Quin was going to freak.

Chapter Text

March may be the official start of spring but it never feels like spring for Heather until April rolls around. She hated winter and missed the dry weather of her native Southern California but at least even with the rain in Oakland, the general feeling of renewal permeated the air. It would be nice if that feeling spread beyond just the weather and the blooming flowers.

Quin was still in a mood about Percy Jackson and plenty of others still took every opportunity to complain about the Greeks. Personally Heather had no problem with them. Most of the Greeks were a little standoffish but that had more to do with how the Romans treated them than anything else. Few Romans tried to befriend them, most didn’t bother learning their names, and practically all of them referred to their godly parent’s Roman aspect rather than their Greek. Rome may not be trying to kill them anymore, but that was about the only courtesy given; most of New Rome and Camp Jupiter disrespected them at almost every opportunity.

Heather was pretty new to Rome, being the daughter of a son of Janus and a mortal woman. She didn’t have the weight of Rome’s legacy on her shoulders like some of the kids from the old families. It let her think a bit more critically about everything that had happened and about Rome in general. She had a long conversation with her dad when she was home on furlough after the War on Gaea. And talking with him put a lot of things in perspective.

It was hard to explain just how different the Greek camp was to Camp Jupiter. It had all the appearances of the mortal summer camps she saw in movies at home with a few additions, like a lava spewing rock wall. Nymphs and fauns openly socialized with the Greeks, helping carry the wounded after the battle and comforting those who lost friends and siblings. Siblings. Because the Greeks really did seem to view themselves as one big family. That was perhaps the most shocking thing for her. It wasn’t just that they divided their living spaces by their godly parent, but that they accepted their godly relations as applying to each other too.

Her dad wasn’t surprised. He pointed out that from what she told him, they were all demigods. As a result, their lives before they came to the Greek camp and outside of it were probably very different from what most of the Legion experienced. Some of this she knew. As the child of a demigod, monsters would still sniff her out from time to time, but it wasn't as bad as what demigods got. 

She was also driven to Sonoma by her parents and dropped off almost directly to Lupa and within the warded boundaries of Wolf House. Most Roman demigods didn’t have that luxury; born to parents who often didn’t know about their divine heritage, an unknown number never survived long enough to make it there. Most who did had to do so on their own. Sometimes Lupa would send her wolves to escort them to Sonoma but it wasn’t common and usually for only demigods who did know about their godly parent or children of Olympians (because otherwise, why would you walk off into the wilderness with a bunch of wolves?). The rest got dream messages or hints about where to go and that was it. When he was ten, her dad ran away from home and was chased by a cyclops for almost a full day before he made it. Even then he swears there was some divine intervention because he wasn’t within the wards yet when he finally collapsed. People like Antonia and Quin never had to go through that; if anything, their arrival to Wolf House is treated like a festival, with the whole family dropping them off and holding a party in the mortal section of the park before handing them over to Lupa. It's a luxury most demigods could only dream of.

In his view, the threats that demigods face are so different from legacies that it would make sense for them to band together. Even at Camp Jupiter, demigods tend to be closer to each other than with legacies. It’s not as strong, probably because demigods are the minority at Camp Jupiter, but she could see his point. 

There were other differences too. For example there didn’t seem to be much of a hierarchy. They had senior campers but all the senior campers went to the war council, whether they were the child of Ares or of Iris, the goddess of rainbows. The cabins seemed to serve the same role as temples, albeit temples they lived in. While they were all different, they also all seemed to be the same size. It was only when she looked more closely that she realized the Olympian cabins surrounded the camp’s fire pit while cabins for non-Olympians fanned out around them. But that was the only indication that some gods were above others in rank.

She could also understand why nature spirits favored the Greek camp. New Rome was beautiful but also very developed. Basically they had a river and some open fields but otherwise the camp and the city took up most of the valley. In comparison, the Greek camp was bordered by the ocean on one side and surrounded by huge forests on the other. The area looked largely untouched, the camp being an addition but not a replacement. It had a completely different feel to it. Different, but nice.

Her dad listened and they wondered together about why those differences existed. He didn’t seem surprised that the Greeks existed, but he didn’t actually know anything more about them than she did. The one thing he stressed was to be careful of towing the Roman line that their gods were better than the Greek versions now that the camps were reconciled and socializing. No matter what their personal opinions may be, gods were gods and openly suggesting that could be taken as a major offense by their Greek forms. He also reminded her that the Greeks were children of those gods, and if family was as important to them as she thought, then disrespecting their children could be an offense as well. She took that advice to heart. Janus was often seen as the god of doorways but he was also a god of beginning and endings, war and peace, and duality. He was also a solely Roman god with no Greek equivalent, but it was a reminder that two things could exist of equal value at the same time.

(There was also the fact that even though gods don’t typically interfere in their lives, apparently they had been fighting with the Greeks for 2000 years because Lady Athena held a grudge over a statute; not offending them further was pretty high on her list of things not to do.)

It’s why she bought a book on Greek gods - and another on modern Hellenism just in case that was relevant - to take back with her to Camp Jupiter. The Hellenism book didn’t really tell her much about how the Greeks lived, but it did follow the history of the worship of the Greek pantheon. With the Roman history she already knew, she could trace a line of how they intersected and diverged throughout history after the fall of Rome. It was actually pretty cool.

Heather didn’t exactly advertise her reading material but she did make an effort to correct other legionnaires and NRU students when it came to using the correct name for the Greek gods. Most rolled their eyes and ignored her, but when she left the Legion and started school at NRU, one of the Greeks overheard and smiled in thanks. 

And so she may have ambushed him a bit later when she saw him studying at a cafe. She had so many questions and he was the first Greek to show any type of warmth towards her. Turns out his name was Jake Mason and he was a son of Hephaestus studying electrical engineering. He took a few classes at NRU but the rest he took in person or online from UC Berkeley down the road. A lot of the Greeks split their schooling that way, a new development to expand the number of majors available that Jake said was Percy’s doing. On that she didn’t push, but she did badger Jake about Greek life in general.

Over time they had become friends of a sort. They weren’t close and only had one class together, but he put up with her endless questions with amusement. She repaid the favor and filled him in on the Roman way of things. He obviously took issue with almost all of it, but graciously didn’t say much. The more she had to explain, the more she started to see how horrible it probably sounded to an outsider. As a result, they mostly stuck to the Greek side of things.

Although, there were definitely topics he would shy away from. Whenever the War Against Saturn came up, Jake got an odd look on his face and tried to change the subject. It was kind of strange. Percy told Becca that Saturn’s attempted rise was years in the making and was the reason for increased monster numbers when they were kids. He also told her that targeting those with divine blood was a big part of his strategy which may have been why so many legacies had monster problems when they really shouldn’t have. Heather had no idea how Percy would even know that. Her dad pointed out that even if Rome was the one that stopped Saturn’s rise, it was unlikely the event passed by the Greeks completely unnoticed. Still, it sounded like the Greeks knew more than they did even though they didn’t fight in the battle. It clearly made Jake uncomfortable though so she didn’t push it.

Turns out Jake wasn’t the only Greek where the War Against Saturn was a sore point. 

Connor Stoll was in one of her classes, aptly named “Olympus and Rome.” It was a required course for all NRU students but only offered once a year. Most Romans took it early on to get it out of the way while others waited. None of the Greeks seemed thrilled with the concept of the class, which was all about the history of the Legion upholding Olympus after the fall of the mortal empire. Jake said the other Greeks were hoping the requirement would be dropped but it fit into Connor’s schedule so he became a bit of a guinea pig. 

While everyone else saw the class as an easy A, often swaggering in and barely paying attention if they chose to show up at all, Connor always sat in the back near the door, constantly taking notes as all this information was new to him. Heather felt a little bad for him; they all grew up knowing these stories and this history but it was completely new for him and there was a lot to cover. It didn’t help that some students would make snide remarks about Rome doing all the work while the Greeks sat around and did nothing. Per usual for the Greeks, Connor ignored the comments even though sometimes she could see they really bothered him.

However today they were getting to the Roman Triumph Against Saturn so the lecture hall was far more full than usual. Pretty much everyone at NRU played a role in the battle on Mount Oryths, though some far more than others. Heather suspected that most of them saw this class as an opportunity for a bit of a victory lap.

Professor Hewitt smiled broadly as he told them all to settle down. A few students who rarely came took Becca’s normal seat so she sat with Heather on the far side of the lecture hall. Connor looked a bit curious, but a bit wary too at how many students showed up.

Professor Hewitt started with the regular background of the gods’ original victory over Saturn and the threat his return was to not only the gods, but to creation itself. It then delved into recent history, with ominous warnings by their auger (who remained nameless) of dark forces rising and a visit by Lupa informing them of the rise of Mount Othrys. Then the story of the battle began.

It was a fairly accurate retelling, although a bit more generous to some of the cohorts. The Legion traveled to Mt. Tam the afternoon of August 17 and reached the Garden of the Hesperides shortly before sunset. They used a triple line formation that placed the weakest cohorts up first (really as fodder though no one said that aloud) and the more advanced cohorts in the back to take their place as they fell. That meant the Fifth and Fourth led the assault, the Third backed them up, and the First and Second basically watched (not that Professor Hewitt said that). 

The Fourth subdued Ladon, ultimately trapping him under a magical net though not without difficulty. Heather’s eyes shifted over to Camilla, a legacy of Juventas who now sported ugly red scars from her chin all the way down her neck from Ladon’s claws. It was a miracle she hadn’t severed her jugular or carotid. Still, the blood loss and resulting infection left her bedridden for months and she was one of the lucky ones; three of her cohort who fought Ladon beside her didn’t make it off the mountain. 

The Fourth took heavy injuries so it required all of who was left and part of the Third to keep Ladon restrained. The Fifth led the charge into the Titan stronghold, followed by the rest of the Third, where they met three hundred dracaena warriors, a pack of hellhounds, and Krios. The Titan seemed surprised by the attack, but was a formidable enemy, using magic to blast away anyone who got too close. While most of them battled the dracaena, Jason used the winds to disorient Krios and fought him in close quarters combat. Heather was too busy trying to not get skewered by a snake to catch much of that fight, but ultimately Jason prevailed and reduced the Titan to dust. That’s when the First and Second Cohorts joined them, helping with the last of the dracaena. Jason struck the Black Throne of Saturn with lightning, reducing it to rubble and stopping the rise of the Titan Lord. With a position open, Jason was immediately raised on a shield to the position of Praetor.

Professor Hewitt really got into his retelling. He whispered dramatically to create suspense and raised his voice for the action. There were sound effects and arm waving and everything in between. Most of the students ate it up. But the longer it went on, the more uncomfortable she became at having a sixty year old professor who had likely never seen fighting outside of war games treat the battle like a video game. There was no mention of casualties. Even though they didn’t have many, it seemed important to her that they acknowledge people had died.

She wasn’t alone. Becca started a running commentary under her breath, mostly commenting on what idiots the rest of them were. It was also easy to pick out members of the Fourth and Fifth cohorts who did the bulk of the fighting because they were absolutely silent. Camilla was staring blankly at the wall and Gwen, who was Centurion of the Fifth alongside Jason, had a small fake smile on her face while her eyes looked completely blank.

In the back, Connor just seemed confused.

“That’s it?” he suddenly asked.

Jared, one of the legionnaires of the First, scoffed. “What? Defeating a Titan isn’t good enough for you, Graecus ?”

Connor shifted a bit in his seat. “No, it’s just…what about the rest? What about missions before the final battle?”

“What missions?” Auraellia, a total snob from the Second, retorted.

Again, Connor just looked dumbfounded. Gwen explained that there were some scouting missions done in the year leading up to the battle, a few in Sonoma around Wolf House and in the nature reserves adjacent to camp, but nothing else. The magic of the Mountain of Despair means that they can’t see onto it from outside, and monster numbers weren’t any higher in the area than usual. The scouting missions were a precaution given the warnings Octavian gave from his auguries. 

“Oh,” he answered quietly.

Professor Hewitt cleared his throat and they all turned back to him. “As I was saying,” he continued, “after three hours of courageous battle–”

“THREE HOURS?!?” Connor exploded.

“Sunset was at 7:58,” Gwen told him gently. “We had to get into the garden before then and just barely made it. From there the actual battle lasted until just past 11 pm. So yes, it was about three hours.”

“It was a hard fought battle, Graecus ,” Auraellia sneered.

“Yeah I’m sure, but three hours isn’t a war. That’s, that’s—” He waved a hand and seemed to struggle to put into words whatever he was thinking.

“It’s longer than you fought Gaea,” Marcel pointed out.

“Then we fought Gaea,” Connor corrected, his temper finally starting to show. “Last I checked you aren’t one of the Seven. But you do realize there was a lot of fighting in that war besides that one battle, right? The Seven and the Hunters and the Amazons…there was fighting literally all over the world. That’s a war.” A few students scoffed but some looked at him curiously. Professor Hewitt moved to take control again. Heather was pretty sure he was mad that Connor kept interrupting his big finish.

“Again, as I was saying , after three hours of courageous battle, the Titan Krios met his demise at the hands of the son of Jupiter. The Titan Lord’s blasphemous throne was destroyed, ensuring he could never rise from the depths of Tartarus as he planned. Rome prevailed, as we always do, to set a path for the gods’ glory to shine through. And that is how Olympus was saved,” he finished, even giving a small bow.

Raucous cheers erupted, several students banging their desks and chanting “ Vivat Roma.” The noise wasn’t enough to drown out the sound of the side door slamming open as Connor stormed out. Several students rolled their eyes and jeered. Even Professor Hewitt smirked in satisfaction. But Gwen and Camilla both looked at the door he left through thoughtfully. Marcel caught her eye and shrugged. She asked Becca if she knew what that was about but the girl had no idea.

Becca had another class but Heather left to try and find Jake. She struck out at all his usual hangouts, so widened her search for any of the Greeks. To find out what caused Connor’s outburst or to check if he was okay, she wasn’t sure. The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Romans may often treat the Greeks like crap but to their credit, the Greeks rarely took the bait. The daughter of Ares who sometimes visited was an exception, but even she stuck to sharp insults and dry humor rather than physical displays of anger. 

After a few hours, not only did she not find Jake, but she couldn’t find any of the other Greeks. She stopped by the bookstore to ask Tyson, but he didn’t know where any of them were. It was like they all just disappeared. 

The next day wasn’t any better, and on Thursday when she returned to class the first thing she did was look to see if Connor showed up. He hadn’t. Auraellia seemed almost pleased that he stayed away. It made her angry. But then she noticed that Professor Hewitt seemed fidgety as he urged the class to settle down. It was another full class, most students probably expecting the War on Gaea to be covered next, giving them another victory lap. They were wrong.

“Students,” Professor Hewitt started, “I’m pleased to announce we have a special guest speaker today.” He was smiling but you could almost feel the anxiety rolling off him in waves. “Please welcome Miss – or umm Huntress – Zuya.” He stumbled back, giving the girl who emerged from the corner of the room a wide berth.

She walked to the front of the room with the same confidence all the hunters seem to have. Heather would have put her age around fourteen, not that it meant much. She was unusually tall and lithe, and the way her cognac eyes swept the room reminded her of a lioness surveying its prey. 

“My name is Zuya, daughter of Ares and loyal hunter of my Lady Artemis. Over the centuries I have fought many battles at the side of my Lady, and alongside my sisters. In that time I have seen that arrogance is often the downfall of many.” Her eyes raked over the rows and several of the guys shifted uncomfortably. Marcel looked like he wished he had a weapon on him. Most Romans didn’t think Diana’s Hunt still existed until Percy showed up and introduced a whole other side of the mythological world to them; the boys in the Legion and New Rome quickly learned they were not to be messed with. “I’ve been told you are under the delusion that only Rome played a role in the Second Titan War. I am here to correct that misunderstanding.”

And then she told the craziest story Heather had ever heard.

About a son of Hermes who grew disillusioned with the gods and conspired with the Titan Lord. About Greek demigods, some of whom didn’t even know about their divine heritage, being targeted and recruited by the Titan Lord to help him rise from Tartarus. About an ominous prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi that predicted the possible fall of the gods. About the capture of Lady Artemis, placing her under the sky in order to free the Titan Atlas. About a quest through the Labyrinth and the rise of the Titan Lord through possession of Luke Castellan's body and an invasion of the Greek camp. About a year of endless missions and raids by the Greeks and hunters all over the Eastern Seaboard. And finally, three days of almost nonstop fighting to defend the island of Manhattan and Olympus while the gods fought Typhon outside of New York, ending with the defeat of the Titan Lord.

All that was insane but it was the smaller details that stuck in Heather’s mind. When they were in New York, the Greeks roughly equaled them in number but back then that wasn’t the case. Apparently the Greek camp was half the size it was now, and with demigods defecting, their numbers just got smaller and smaller. By the time they got to the final battle, Zuya said they ultimately had about 50 demigods plus 27 hunters; that was just under two Roman cohorts. They defended Olympus with just two cohorts. Less than, probably. Zuya didn’t explicitly say but it sounded like casualties were high. She made a point to note they had help from nature spirits and centaurs that she called Party Ponies, but still. Heather has never been but she’s pretty sure that Manhattan is big, at least far bigger than Mt. Tam. She couldn’t imagine trying to hold that with just two cohorts, so her brain couldn’t quite comprehend trying to do so with far fewer numbers. In the end they had to pull back to the Empire State Building but even holding that with the enemy numbers Zuya gave wasn’t quite computing in her head.

No one spoke while Zuya talked. Looking around the room, indifference soon turned to disbelief and then shock as the story went on. By the end, a few even looked angry. The war for the Greeks lasted years . It sounded like the first couple of years were pretty quiet but the last year was anything but. No wonder Connor was pissed. She would be too if a group of people just casually dismissed that kind of experience in favor of a three hour battle that half of them barely fought in.

And in the middle of all of it was Percy Jackson. He was on every major quest, held the sky so Lady Artemis could fight the Titan Atlas, led the battle in Manhattan and fought both the Titan Lord and the Titan Hyperion, devised the strategy to allow the gods to take down Typhon, and finally was the prophecy child that saved Olympus.

“And that is how Olympus was saved,” she finished dryly. She tossed a glare over her shoulder at Professor Hewitt who looked like he wanted to hide in a very dark corner. 

Holy shit.

“For their service to Olympus, Grover Underwood was officially named Lord of the Wild and a member of the Council of Cloven Elders. Percy Jackson was named Savior of Olympus by the Fates, Hero of Olympus by Lord Zeus, and Hero of Atlantis by Lord Poseidon. Tyson, Percy Jackson, and Clarisse La Rue were also named Generals of Olympus after the battle. Annabeth Chase was hired to design some new buildings for Olympus, including a new Palace of the Gods.”

It was Becca next to her who raised her hand and asked the first questions since this started. “I thought Percy was named Hero of Olympus as part of the Prophesied Seven?”

“He was,” Zuya confirmed. “All of the Seven were as well as Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo, and Gleeson Hedge. Percy has earned the title twice, the only hero to do so in Olympian history.”

“Oh,” she responded faintly. Across the room Marcel’s mouth was still open in shock. 

“Furthermore, Percy was offered godhood–” someone behind her sounded like they actually choked on that revelation, “--but turned it down in favor of binding the gods with a sacred oath for greater recognition for the minor gods and their mortal children. Several gods who sided against Olympus were granted amnesty at his request, in exchange for a renewed oath of loyalty. Many of those gods assisted the Seven in the War on Gaea, ensuring the continued survival of Olympus.”

She paused and looked around the room again. “So you see, the next time you want to take credit for the downfall of the Titan Lord, remember that you didn’t do it yourself. Your contribution is valued, but you did not win the war.” Normally a statement like that would be met with enraged yelling by someone ; this time, there was just silence.

Zuya warned them not to bring up the war with the Greek veterans as it was a sensitive topic. With a final glare, she turned on her heels and strode out of the room, not even saying goodbye to Professor Hewitt. The man stumbled to the front of the class before almost seeming to wilt. In the end, he dismissed the class early and everyone left in an unnatural silence.

Out in the hall, Heather darted after Gwen, wanting to get her take. She was a first generation legacy of Venus and generally a good reader of people. She also had some of the most contact with Percy besides Frank and Hazel before the Greeks showed up. Heather was vaguely aware of Becca hobbling after them before Marcel pushed all three of them into a small empty classroom. 

Once he closed the door, he turned to them. “Well?”

“It makes sense actually,” Gwen admitted. “Percy didn’t have any memories when he got here but you remember the war games. The kid knew how to fight. Plus Frank told me about their quest afterwards. He was definitely experienced. Not just in fighting, but strategy too. And that was without having all his memories back. It also explains why Queen Juno chose him for the Seven, and why Annabeth Chase was on the quest as well.”

“Yeah, but…,” Marcel shook his head. “That’s a lot for one guy to pull off. I mean, that’s even more than Jason.”

They talked further but in the end had to admit that it made sense. Little pieces of information they had all heard about Percy and the Greeks slotting into place. It explained why Jake tried to avoid the topic of the war, the way Connor reacted, little tidbits they had each overheard here and there. It was insane, but apparently the truth.

“Quin is not going to be happy,” Marcel muttered.

“No, but I’m more worried about Julius,” Becca admitted, and all four of them grimaced. 

Gwen gave them a cheerful smile. “Well on the bright side, the next Senate meeting is going to be interesting.” They all groaned and left the classroom to go their separate ways. 

Chapter Text

Quin hated Percy Jackson.

Contrary to what people thought, it wasn’t even that he was Greek. Octavian had made the rounds ahead of the Feast of Fortuna, trying to get votes and making clear that Jackson was a graecus . No one paid him much attention. Some believed him, some didn’t, but either way he came to camp with the blessing of Queen Juno and Lord Mars sent him on the quest. Those two things alone gave a lot of people pause on dismissing him. The general consensus was they could deal with Octavian’s accusations if and when the questers came back. In the meantime, Octavian wasn’t making many friends by continuing to harp on the issue when they had been informed a major attack was imminent.

Plenty of people thought they would never see the three demigods again. Even if Alaska didn’t hold the stigma from the previous disaster, it was the Land Beyond the Gods and with only four days to succeed, most people considered them goners. When they did show up, just in time to help turn the tide against Polybotes and his army, Quin was one of the ones swept up in the victory. They had their eagle back, they defeated a Giant, and the quest more than tripled the amount of Imperial Gold the camp had. In that moment, no one cared if Jackson was Greek because he acted in Rome’s best interest. Quin was one of the legionnaires cheering for him and calling for him to be raised on a shield. Even today he can admit that Jackson earned that honor. 

No, it wasn’t that he was Greek. It was that his entire life Quin had been raised to be a good Roman, to honor tradition, and uphold the legacy of Rome. And Percy Jackson seemed determined to destroy all of that.

It started on his first day as Praetor. Quin wasn’t at the Senate meeting but heard he spoke fairly about his Greek connections. That’s fine, but the problems started as soon as the other Greeks showed up. Romans are trained not to show emotion, so making out with a girl  in front of the Legion was already a major breach of decorum but then he let that same girl - a daughter of Minerva, no less - attack him in front of the entire Legion and then laughed it off like it was no big deal. It was a disgrace. It didn’t matter how Jackson personally felt about it; as Praetor he had an obligation to uphold the honor of the Legion. Letting himself be attacked so openly by a supposed “diplomatic” party of their sworn enemy was hardly that. Attacking a Praetor was an act of war and yet he just laughed. Jason Grace’s horrified face when it happened reaffirmed his thoughts. It was a subject that came up again during the official treaty talks. Probably best the girl didn’t return to California with Jason and Jackson.

Given that, was it so hard to believe that these Greeks fired upon New Rome of their own free will or that Jackson was in on it? Quin has to accept the word of Queen Juno and Lord Mars that there were other forces at work, but at the time there was no reason to think that. Some wanted to believe in Jason and Jackson - two demigods they raised on a shield after victories for Rome - but the actions of the Greek daughters of Minerva and Venus complicated that. Octavian was a prick that no one liked but he was Roman through and through. Reyna didn’t have anything to excuse the attack so was it any wonder that the Legion increasingly turned to Octavian?

(Of course that was a mistake too. It figures that Octavian would follow the Roman tradition of batshit crazy leaders suffering from delusions of grandeur.)

Quin actually respected Reyna leaving to travel to the Mare Nostrum. Technically it was illegal, but it was necessary and was done for Rome. That came up in the treaty talks too and it was Jackson who argued the illegality away, noting the order for Reyna to come to Greece came from Minerva and so was divinely sanctioned. She also received help from the Hunters - directly on the orders of Lady Diana - and received help from Lady Minerva and Lady Bellona to defeat Orion and save the statue. That was a lot of divine interference when they were used to getting none. The issue was easily dismissed, and rightfully so in Quin’s opinion. He just wished that it wasn’t Jackson who made the argument.

He would have been happy to be free of Percy Jackson once the treaty was fully ratified. But instead, it seemed to just be the start. Leo Valdez showed up on a bronze dragon and brought with him news of the Emperors and another attack on the valley. Days later Lord Apollo showed up - as a mortal - and another battle was soon upon them. Lord Apollo left, leaving behind a Legion in tatters. Percy Jackson showed up a couple weeks later to visit his cyclops brother and he’s been a constant off-and-on presence since.

With Jackson came a lot of changes: modifying Legion regulations on acceptable hairstyles, changes to punishment regulations, opening up the Senate meeting for anyone to attend, seminars on relations with local nature spirits, new training schedules, banning the import or sale of single use plastic in New Rome, and more. He had no official title - technically he was a Pristinus Praetor but that was more a form of address than a title. Some called him Ambassador of the Greeks but that wasn’t a title bestowed by the Senate. It didn’t matter; Percy Jackson was there at almost all their Senate meetings and in some ways wielded more political power than Praetors Zhang and Levesque.

It was infuriating. Worse, he was also incredibly hard to rile. People would openly insult him, criticize him, berate him even and he would just smile and make a joke, or take their concern at face value while ignoring the vitriol. Sometimes he would just calmly respond in a way that metaphorically handed the person their ass on a platter. That has happened a few times with Julius, an old family legacy of Mars and Octavian’s replacement as Centurion of the First Cohort. Quin usually agrees with Julius on the issues but he took Octavian’s place in more ways than one and was generally just an ass. Watching someone beat him at his own game was admittedly satisfying, not that he would tell anyone that. But when it was Quin who tried and failed to get a rise out of Jackson, the whole exchange would just leave him angry.

In the Senate meeting after the fight with the dracaena, the issue of the clean up after the Titan War kept coming up, with Jackson apparently dumbfounded that they hadn’t really done anything after their victory on Mount Othrys. And why should they have? They didn’t treat monsters like they were people, and so had no reason to think that Queen Sstacia or whatever would be a problem later on. Quin made an appropriately scathing remark about how they weren’t gifted magical wards that keep monsters out so they had to focus on their own territory rather than go looking for problems. That earned a few cheers from the audience but Jackson just got a thoughtful look on his face and nodded.

It made Quin want to strangle him.

So yes, he hated Percy Jackson. As far as Quin was concerned, everything was fine with the Legion until he came into their world. Since then it has been nothing but trouble and devastation, the Legion today being a shadow of what it was before they ever heard the name Percy Jackson.

And now he was back for their regular monthly Senate meeting with quite a few friends, some of whom Quin was sure didn’t live in New Rome. Praetors Zhang and Levesque sat on the front dais as usual, and Jackson and Nico di Angelo sat up front but to the side - also per the new normal. However, several more people sat with them today. Quin recognized the cyclops, Diana’s lieutenant, and an incredibly buff girl that had to be one of Mars’s children. 

Across the room and sitting in the regular seats were pretty much all the Greeks living in New Rome as well as a few more. They all seemed to be in their late teens to early twenties. Quin had no idea what they were doing here and based on the whispers and glances towards their section as people filed in, he wasn’t the only one in the dark.

“We have several things to discuss today,” Frank said over the general noise of the crowd, taking control of the meeting. He didn’t have a natural air of authority but since his growth spurt, the guy was huge. That alone made people hesitant to ignore him. His actions in the Imperial War also earned the genuine loyalty of the Legion. “Pristinus Praetor Jackson has some news. Percy?”

Percy flashed him a quick smile. “Right. So it was brought up last time that you guys don’t have wards around the valley like we do at Camp Half-Blood. After talking with some folks, that can be changed. Olympus has agreed to put up wards if the Senate approves.” A beat of silence met his announcement before the crowd broke out in whispers. “These would be god-level wards,” Percy continued, raising his voice above the crowd who instantly went quiet. “Our wards are keyed to allow demigods inside while keeping monsters and mortals out. Your wards would have to be keyed differently given the number of legacies at camp and mortal family members who are approved to be in the city. However Hecate is confident it can be done and you all would be tasked with setting up how you want the wards enforced.”

“What about Terminus?” someone called out.

“The wards would be on the valley as a whole. Terminus is the god of boundaries and would still be responsible for protecting the city and serve as a line of defense if the city is attacked. He just wouldn’t be the only divine line of defense if that happens. Most of his duties would still be enforcing the rules of entrance to the city, something he seems quite eager to continue,” he finished with a wry smile. Several people laughed.

“What about the sewers?” someone hesitantly asked. Quin looked over and realized the question came from Leah DeVries, one of the newer legionnaires from the Fifth Cohort. She was only about thirteen and had been at camp for just a few months before the Battle of the New Moon and San Francisco Bay happened. To say that experience left an impression would be an understatement.

Percy gave her a comforting smile. “Now that we know where they lead to, the wards would cover them as well.” Leah nodded and looked down as a fellow legionnaire wrapped an arm around her shoulder. 

“And how did you manage to get these wards?” Julius of the First Cohort asked. His lip was curled in a sneer, showing his obvious distrust.

“I asked,” Percy simply said. Several Greeks smirked, and Jupiter’s girl whispered something to him that caused him to smile.

“You just asked Olympus to give us this?”

“Yep.”

Julius scoffed. “And I suppose we are just supposed to trust these wards? That you have the best interests of Rome by forcing this magic on us?”

The daughter of Mars rolled her eyes and the cyclops frowned. Looking over, he noticed several of the other Greeks in the audience scowling.

“No one is forcing anything,” Percy said calmly. “That is why you are here today. It is up to the Senate to decide whether to accept Olympus's offer. As for trust, I’m not the one doing the magic. If you don’t have faith in Lord Jupiter’s willingness to help Rome, then I suggest you take that up with him.”

Several people snickered and even Antonia had a small smile on her face. Frank was trying to look neutral (and mostly failing) while Hazel beamed at the come back. 

Julius just glared. 

Quin scanned the audience. Most people looked happy at the idea but there were some frowns and scowls. Looking at the division, it seemed that this was going to come down to another issue of the First versus the Fifth Cohorts. It was starting to become a common theme of Senate meetings. Quin normally backed the First, not big on change himself. This time though, he paused.

“That’s not the Roman way,” he called out. The room immediately went silent. Percy met his eyes. “We are self-reliant. We uphold the legacy of Rome ourselves. We don’t rely on the gods to protect us.”

Mars’s girl actually snarled while several other Greeks rolled their eyes and grumbled. Quin knew that he was the one who brought up the issue of wards before and wondered if Jackson would call him on it.

“It’s not the way you have done things before,” Percy acknowledged. “Even our wards are relatively new and they aren’t foolproof.” Mars’s girl crossed her arms and scowled up at the ceiling. Quin wasn’t sure of the details but according to Marcel and Becca, there had been battles at the Greek camp. “You would probably still need to have lookouts,” he continued, “especially for new recruits arriving, and you shouldn’t drop your guard. But the wards would allow more freedom for the legion to train and take care of other responsibilities rather than just patrol the borders.”

“Having the wards would save lives. Maybe if you had them before, more people would be here today,” the daughter of Mars said bluntly. Jackson gave her a look and she quieted.

“She has a point. It would have been better to have these wards up before the battles here at camp. The problem with divine enemies is they know all our weaknesses and they don’t fight fair. If the wards existed, then Polybotes and Tarquin would have never been able to enter the valley. The Legion would have kept the high ground and could have defeated them with far fewer casualties.” He paused, thinking over his next words. “And given your current numbers, I believe it’s a good precaution to have while the Legion rebuilds.” His voice was firm but gentle, clearly understanding what a sore spot the current state of the Legion was but not willing to completely ignore it.

A few whispers broke out but it was like most of the chamber was holding its breath to see what Quin’s response would be. Antonia caught his eye and gave a small nod, telling him she agreed with Jackson. He saw a few other centurions nodding too. Julius was still sneering. Quin leaned back and didn’t contribute further as a few more people asked questions.

The current numbers of both the Legion and the city was something no one really talked about even though it was a huge issue. Rome didn’t lose that many people on Mount Othrys, but took the brunt of the casualties in the War on Gaea. The Imperial War, though, nearly wiped them out.

A year later and they had gained some new recruits but all the cohorts were short of the typical 40 person roster. Based on numbers, they didn’t even have enough for three complete cohorts. Jackson had started personally bringing demigods to Lupa rather than have them make it there on their own (another change) and while some of them scoffed at the coddling, no one really objected because they needed as many people as they could get. Only four centurions held their positions from the War Against Saturn to today: Michael Kahale of the First, Antonia and Hank of the Third, and Leila of the Fourth. Julius and Quin only became Centurions after the War on Gaea and the remaining Centurions were from after the Imperial War. Antonia and Leila were overdue to retire and Hank’s ten years were up in a few months but none of them had filed the paperwork to move to the city; they simply couldn’t afford to lose their experienced leadership. Between death and promotion, the Fifth Cohort alone went through seven Centurions in less than two years. Stability was something the Legion was in desperate need of.

There was a lot of quiet (and not so quiet) judgment around the legionnaires that still retired after the Imperial War. Quin had mixed feelings. The loud part of his brain hated how weak the Legion currently was, hated that people would choose to leave in such a time of vulnerability. However a quieter part was more accepting. It had been a hard two years and there were no good solutions. When word got out they were considering putting a stop loss in place for the Legion, four legionnaires deserted. Two families of second generation legacies - who lived their entire lives in New Rome - left within a month of the Battle of San Francisco Bay. Three more demigod families left as well. Despite her negative attitude towards Rome that she tried (and often failed) to hide, Quin loved Becca like a sister. But if her discharge papers had been rejected, he had no doubt she would have deserted as well and just the idea of having to hunt her down made him sick to his stomach. 

(It was also why he didn’t say anything to her about her younger siblings who were absent from the Legion. Few even knew she had a brother and sister because the politics there was a mess, but he could understand why she didn’t want them here at camp when she had one foot out the door herself.)

Instead of a stop loss order, the compromise was to let those eligible to retire do just that, but with the agreement they would attend NRU and therefore bolster their dwindling Auxiliary numbers. Some people like Heather would have attended anyway given that monsters pose a bigger threat to her, but Becca and Marcel almost certainly wouldn’t in normal circumstances. The Auxiliary was also far more active now than in the past. Required drills were held once a month and some of the older people in the city signed up for refresher training. Pretty much all the students of NRU were basically still part of the Legion on a part-time basis, attending training sessions on a regular schedule. Because the numbers for the cohorts were so uneven, they floated between the different cohorts rather than stick with the one they retired from. The whole thing wasn’t very Roman, but he could see how it might be in Rome’s best interest to bend their normal ways a bit here and there.

He never said anything but he knew Jackson was the architect behind that plan. Quin overheard him talking with Frank and Hazel during one of his his visits shortly after Apollo left a devastated Rome behind him for New York. He also suspected Jackson had a role in their newfound connections to UC Berkeley that greatly expanded the number of programs available to study at NRU, increasing the chances that people would want to stay.

Maybe that’s why the Greeks bothered him so much, he mused. There weren’t very many of them here but given how few Romans were left, their presence was really obvious. The more changes that were made, the more easily it was to blame these new outsiders for all the Legion’s misfortunes.

Ultimately they took a vote, all the Centurions voting in favor of the new wards except for Julius. He watched Jackson sweep the room with his eyes, taking in the reactions. When he came to Quin, he gave a short nod of acknowledgement.

Frank then turned to the next item on the agenda which turned out to be the reason so many Greeks were here: the dracaena issue. Thalia Grace, the cyclops, and Mars’s daughter all stood to give their relative updates on West Coast monster gatherings, which were far more numerous than Quin would have believed. Some of the visiting Greeks also chimed in with rumors and intel they had gathered from the East Coast.

As they spoke, Quin recognized some of their names. Becca, Heather, and Marcel filled them all in about the story Diana’s hunter told about the Greeks and the War Against Saturn. Not that they needed to; the story was all the Legion was talking about within an hour of the class being dismissed.

(Antonia called the information illuminating; the word that came to Quin’s mind was humiliating. The most significant victory in perhaps Legion history was quickly reduced to a side battle that wasn’t that needed. Meanwhile the Greeks - and mainly Percy Jackson - recovered Lord Jupiter’s sacred symbol of power, recovered the Golden Fleece, rescued an Olympian goddess, navigated the Labyrinth (which most of them didn’t believe had still existed), and actually defeated Saturn himself. So yeah, the whole thing left him feeling a bit wrongfooted.)

Plans were made based on the new information, the Centurions ordered to assess their cohorts for small teams that would go out on specific missions for the larger monster groups. A few of the Greeks would accompany them as they had more experience - another stab to his pride - but otherwise would just keep the Legion informed of any new intel. A few more administrative things were handled and finally Hazel called the Senate meeting completed.

After the meeting ended, people stuck around and chatted like usual. Quin wasn’t in the mood and tried to slip out, only to be stopped by Percy Jackson himself.

“Hey, it’s Quin, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” he said, trying to sound curt. It wasn’t hard.

“Becca told me you are a legacy of Virtus.” When Quin nodded, he continued. “I know that he already has a temple here but it wasn’t one that was repaired or remodeled last year. I was wondering if I could pick your brain about it. I’ve had a hard time getting any concrete information about him.”

That was not what Quin was expecting at all. Jackson’s expression seemed genuine though, and he was heading the work on the temples. He nodded and gestured to Jackson to follow him outside. Eventually they decided to walk to the current temple, Quin telling him about his godly ancestor along the way. The son of Neptune asked a few questions here and there, but mostly just listened.

When they reached the temple, Quin had to force himself not to grimace. It had definitely seen better days. Virtus was an important god in Rome, the god of bravery and military strength, so it wasn’t a surprise when Tarquin’s forces targeted the temple. Temple Hill was outside the protection of the Little Tiber so the undead had complete reign there. Even though they didn’t destroy the temple, there was still damage. One of the white marble walls was cracked down the center, and several of the terracotta roofing tiles were broken or missing. One of the torches at the entryway had been torn from the wall and later reattached in a very messy and haphazard way. The inside wasn’t much better but with so few numbers, temple maintenance had taken a backseat for the Legion. They built the temples Jason Grace had planned before he died and made repairs to the damaged temples of Mars and Bellona, but that was it. 

Quin was the only descendent of Virtus left in the Legion or New Rome. Maybe others would come in the future but for now seeing the poor state of his ancestor’s temple, it felt like a personal failure.

The son of Neptune stepped inside and approached the altar. Opening his backpack, he took out an apple and small glass bottle of honey, placing them on the altar as offerings. After looking around a bit, he gestured for Quin to follow him outside. They sat on the steps to the temple and talked.

Jackson explained that some of the old temples needed repairs or could use some remodeling and this was one on his list. He asked what Quin would like to see as the god’s descendent. It was a surprising question. Romans preferred tradition over creating something new. It really shouldn’t be up to Quin what the temple should look like, it should just be.

But thinking about it… Quin explained what the temple fully looked like before, as well as what the old temple when the camp was in England looked like based on his family’s stories. Both emphasized military strength - an important part of Virtus’s legacy - but neglected the other aspects of the god. Virtus wasn’t just about valor in battle, but also about a person’s general character. Both also emphasized the god’s “maleness.” In Ancient Rome, it was believed that only men could have virtus and therefore receive the god’s favor. That tradition continued to today but having fought side by side with women in several battles now, continuing to pretend that such an important god and characteristic of the Legion only applied to men made even Quin a little uncomfortable.

Jackson laughed at his explanation, but in a good natured way. They talked further about temples in general, and how to represent gods in an inclusive way, especially when said gods aren’t available to advise. 

At some point the conversation turned to the state of the Legion. Jackson thanked him for voting in favor of the wards, which made Quin uncomfortable.

“I didn’t do it for you,” he said awkwardly.

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Jackson replied easily, “but I also know you are one of the more vocal Centurions when it comes to tradition and as you said, it isn’t very Roman. I appreciate you being able to keep an open mind.”

Quin didn’t know what to say to that so he stayed silent. He racked his mind for a way to end the conversation and leave but Jackson’s next words shocked him into forgetting.

“It can’t be easy, being the first one representing your family as one of the ‘old families’ in New Rome.” 

“How did you–” Those records were supposed to be sealed. Jackson raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk. They were sealed to all but the praetors, and Jackson had been one. It makes sense that Reyna, Frank, or Hazel wouldn’t bat an eye at giving him access. Quin scowled.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone. I find the whole way you guys do - what would you call it? Family rank, I guess? Yeah, I find that to be really stupid but it’s your culture, not mine, and I’ll respect it.”

Quin just looked at him askance before blowing up, asking why in Hades he would look up that information. He quickly lowered his voice, not wanting to draw attention to the conversation. He was of an Old Family of Rome; knowing that he was the first of his family to qualify wouldn’t change that. Still, he never told anyone. He didn’t want it to seem like he was a newbie. So even though it wasn’t a big deal, something about the whole thing made his blood boil.

True to form, Jackson just leaned back on the steps and stretched his legs out. Again, incredibly hard to rile. 

“I heard Zuya made quite an impression a couple weeks ago,” he said instead. Quin had no idea what that had to do with anything. “I know she can be pretty harsh sometimes but after Connor told everyone what happened in class, she was the compromise. It was either her or a bunch of Greeks beating the crap out of any Roman they could find.”

“You could try,” Quin scoffed. Jackson flashed him a grin before it disappeared just as fast.

“Either way,” he conceded, “not really great for diplomatic relations.” Quin nodded. There hadn’t been any real tension between the two camps but something like that would change things.

Without warning he switched back to answer his original question. Jackson explained that he found out about his family kind of by accident. He went through the rolls to see who all was here when he was thinking of taking over Jason’s work on the temples, and also to get a sense of all those who died. He dug in further to the family rolls when looking for information on a few specific minor gods. That’s when he came across Quin’s family. 

“I didn’t think much of it at the time but the information stayed with me, I guess. And I started to think about it later on. I know being declared an Old Family of Rome is a big deal. And with you making Centurion, I’m sure your family is very proud.”

Quin glared at a pebble in the path in front of them. He didn’t care about anything Percy Jackson may think. Unfortunately he just kept talking.

“But I also started to think about how that might weigh on you, with everything that has happened.I don’t know you at all, but I have far too much experience in seeing past the masks people put up to make it seem like they are okay when they are anything but. And it seems like you’ve been struggling.”

The heat in his veins instantly turned to ice. There were a million things he wanted to say - to scream - at Percy Jackson, starting with what the fuck did he know and ending with curses on every single person Jackson cared about but he didn’t. The words just wouldn’t come. Because the moment Jackson said that, it put words to a truth Quin had been denying to himself for months. “Romans don’t struggle,” he managed to say past the growing lump in his throat. “A good Roman is not defined by their defeats. A good Roman always looks forward and does not dwell on the past. A good Roman…,” he trailed off, voice getting shaky. “A good Roman does not struggle,” he repeated, trying to put force behind his words.

Jackson just hummed. Opening his backpack again, he pulled out two sodas, offering one to Quin. He just stared at the offering. Seriously, what the fuck was with this guy? But Jackson shrugged and placed it next to Quin, popping open his own and taking a sip.

“You might as well get comfortable since you are going to listen to me for a bit. Because honestly? All of that is bullshit. Everyone struggles. And sure, maybe it’s the good Roman thing to keep moving forward, but you are missing the bigger picture which is Rome is far from alone in having to rebuild.”

Quin refused to look at him but curiosity made him listen as he started to explain the fallout for the Greeks from what he called the Titan War. 

“I started camp when I was twelve. There were a little over a hundred campers there that first summer. Three years later, after the war ended and I turned sixteen, we had twenty three survivors. Total. And only eleven people from that first summer made it until the end of the fourth.” Quin looked up and met his eyes at that. “The Greeks you saw today? All Titan veterans. And there’s only a handful more out there. We were all that was left.”

“I first met the Hunters of Artemis when I was fourteen,” he continued. “The Lieutenant at that time was a girl named Zoe Nightshade. She used to be immortal, probably older than my dad even, and long story but she lost her immortality before she joined the Hunt. She had been with Artemis for over three thousand years and was Lieutenant for two thousand. Hunters are immortal unless they fall in battle.” He paused, looking up at the late afternoon sky. “And I watched her die.”

“Zoe wasn’t even the oldest of the hunters. Back then that title went to Phoebe, a daughter of Ares who joined the Hunt almost four thousand years ago? There were others too. Basilia, Chloe, Eleni, Melina, and Sophia all joined before Zoe. Eleni died on a raid during the Titan War, Chloe, Sophia, and Melina died during the Battle of Manhattan. Phoebe and Basilia died at San Juan. In the end, only four hunters that were part of the Hunt when Thalia joined and became Lieutenant are still alive. Zuya is the oldest now, and she’s only been with the Hunt for a few centuries.”

“The Amazons fared pretty well, since they typically stay clear of the gods’ messes. But San Juan hurt them badly. They lost over a third of their number in Orion’s attack. Queen Hylla told me it’s the worst single massacre since Panaema .”

“So really,” he said, turning back to him, “you guys are just late to the party.” Quin snorted and looked away. “Can’t really blame you. It’s a really shitty party to get invited to.”

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes. Quin finally popped open his soda and took a sip, trying to gather his thoughts. “How did you recover? I mean, how did you rebuild after losing so much of your camp?”

Percy sighed. “It was hard. In some ways it was easier having so few of us. We all knew each other and had been through a lot together, so it was easier to take a hard look at what needed to be changed for the new campers without being judged for your opinion. That doesn’t mean everyone agreed, but there was enough common ground to build a foundation we could all build upon. Then again, in some ways it really sucked, because we all were dealing with all this grief, and anger, and uncertainty but had to smile and put on a happy face for the new campers who couldn’t really understand. Of course having another war less than a year later didn’t help,” he scowled, “as I’m sure you can relate.”

Shaking his head and erasing the anger from his face, he continued. “In the end we had to rely on each other a lot more than before, because we’re it, you know? The Titan veterans are my family. I will always be there for them and while it took awhile for me to accept, they will always be there for me. That isn’t just about rebuilding camp, but also just healing from the wounds the wars gave us.” 

“It’s also not over. A lot of us have stuck around or been more involved with camp than what is usual for kids once they reach eighteen. We know we have to hand over the reins but want the younger ones to be ready.”

“My point is you really aren’t alone and you don’t have to hide yourself away from your friends. I don’t know them well, but I know Becca and Heather both really care about you and I don’t think either one of them gives a shit about Roman emotional repression.” Quin couldn’t help the laugh that came out, knowing he was right. “Both would be happy to lend an ear for your problems. And I know Rome is all about tradition. It’s something you value and have upheld for generations. But moving forward, building something better from what the wars have left behind - that’s how you honor your family and the legacy of Rome. And you’re doing good Quin. It may not feel like it, but you are.”

That was what finally did it, that is what broke down his walls. Because he was struggling, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, and every day he was filled with doubt about whether he was good enough, was upholding Rome and the Legion well enough. That Percy was able to see through all of that when no one else tried did him in.

So he started to talk. Not about anything too deep, but his worries about the Legion, the expectations of his family, not knowing how they were ever going to fully recover from the wars. Percy was a good listener. He didn’t offer platitudes or tell him everything would be okay.It was obvious he knew a lot about dealing with the same kinds of thoughts. 

“I know a lot about what it’s like carrying the weight of everyone’s expectations,” he said dryly when Quin asked. “Sometimes it’s inevitable, you know? But sometimes it’s a weight we put on ourselves when we really don’t have to.”

“So, are you planning on being named Pontifex once the shrines are built?” he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from himself. It was the most Quin had talked about his fears and feelings since the Imperial War but he had definitely reached his limit for now.

Percy actually laughed. “Hell no. I’ll get the shrines and temples up because that’s what Jason wanted and it’s a good thing. But keeping these bitches happy afterwards?” waving his hand around to the temples, “That’s all on you guys.”

Quin stared at him as thunder sounded in a cloudless sky. Percy just looked up and rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath in Greek..

“Kelpy, are you picking a fight with my dad again?” came a voice heading up the road. Looking over he saw the Lieutenant of Diana walking towards them. 

“You got a problem with that, Piney?,” Percy grinned.

“Nah. Just invite me next time. I wanna join in.” More thunder sounded and the two Greeks just grinned like madmen.

Yep. Greeks were still crazy.

Percy formally introduced the two of them and Thalia nodded in acknowledgment. It wasn’t exactly warm but he probably deserved that.

“I assume I am being fetched?” Percy sighed. Thalia nodded and explained he was wanted. Or rather his kitchen was wanted for Katie to cook in. As a former Praetor, Percy got a small cottage to himself while most of the Greeks at NRU were in small apartments with simple kitchenettes. He nodded and got up, grabbing both their empty soda cans which Thalia smashed with her bare hands.

“Show off,” he grumbled. The girl smirked.

Percy turned and reminded Quin to keep in mind what he said. Quin just nodded. He watched as the two Greeks headed towards the city arm in arm, bickering like siblings and talking about Greek gossip and future plans. Eventually Quin stood up to head to the barracks, still needing to get rid of his toga before evening muster. 

As he walked towards camp he couldn’t help but think maybe he didn’t hate Percy Jackson as much as he thought he did.

Chapter Text

May came with a soft breeze and warmer temperatures. Being San Francisco it still rained, but on this particular Sunday late in the month the weather was brilliant - endless blue sky without a cloud in sight. It was an official holiday for both the Legion and New Rome, the day when the new shrines that Jason started and Percy finished were finally unveiled and consecrated. 

It was also a formal event, everyone wearing festival togas to mark the occasion. Unlike the typical white used for Senate meetings, festival togas were colored and styled with embroidery to denote a person's divine heritage. Such togas were often handed down the generations within old families from when such events were more common. But since there hadn't been one in years, an assortment of seamstresses - mostly nature spirits - had popped up to design and make togas for those who needed them. All of it was free, which Becca suspected was another scheme of Percy's.

She wasn't used to wearing a toga but her neighbor helped her make sure it was tucked and folded right. She still felt subconscious as she made her way to Temple Hill. For some reason the central piazza was blocked off so she wound her way through the side streets. She was finally free of her knee brace, having run the allotted time given for her “recovery.” People marveled at how steady her gait was so she just smiled and thanked the gods. It felt nice having all that behind her now.

Her parents even flew out for the ceremony, although she knew it was really to check in on her. After everything that happened, they wanted her back in Alabama but Becca was doing okay in New Rome. She stopped by their guesthouse to pick them up. Her dad’s toga matched her own, light blue with a darker blue design of flowing water on the trim. Her mom didn’t want to advertise her own Underworld heritage so she wore a simple white toga with dark gold lines on the trim. 

Heather and Gwen saw them first when they got to the site, Gwen actually squealing when she saw her and gushing over how pretty her toga was. Her parents urged her to join her friends and would catch up later. They headed off as the three girls gossiped about who was here and what to expect. 

The site itself, which seemed to be a large raised square maybe 400 feet long on each side, was still roped off. Unlike the other temples it had no roof and was open to the sky. Before the actual platform stood two slanted marble markers on each side of the entrance giving the site its name: Campo Gratiae in Latin on one side, and Field of Grace, the English translation, on the other. Several flowers had been placed at the base of both markers, likely a tribute to Jason.

They wandered around, catching up with some other people and generally just enjoying the day. Eventually a bell sounded and the consecration ceremony started. A young girl that Becca didn’t recognize stood in the middle behind a gold brazier. She was dressed in a white toga with flame designs incorporated along the trim. It wasn’t until she started the ceremony, talking quietly and yet somehow projecting her voice for everyone to hear that Becca realized the trim of her toga were actual flames; she was a goddess. When she started the prayer, it was revealed to be Vesta, which had several people kneeling on reflex. Romans weren’t used to gods showing up, or at least they hadn’t been before Percy came. They were slowly getting used to it but Vesta was one of the most revered gods in Ancient Rome; even back then few had ever seen her in human form.

Frank and Hazel stood to one side, representing the Legion. Frank’s toga was a dark red with solid gold trim, while Hazel’s was solid gold with black trim and what looked like gems sewn into the border. On the other side stood Percy, who someone finally managed to get into a toga. It was sea green, a few shades darker than his eyes, with blue, silver, and bronze waves embroidered on the trim. Next to him stood Jason’s sister Thalia, wearing a silver toga with an electric blue meander trim. She looked quite unhappy with her outfit.

Seeing them up there made Becca feel transcendent. She rarely cared much these days about the history of Rome and her role in it, having become too jaded over the years, but she could feel the thread that linked all of them to that history and those people from millennia ago. It was a humbling feeling, but also filled her with a kind of pride she hadn’t felt in years.

Offerings were thrown into the fire and Vesta called upon the gods to recognize the honor Rome had given them that day by honoring Rome in kind. It sounded a lot more balanced than Becca was used to when talking about their relationship with the gods; she wondered if that was new or if it had always been that way.

Finally the ground was deemed consecrated and named sacred to the gods. Vesta waved away the ropes and invited everyone to come and bask in their new creation.

And it was beautiful. Rome has hundreds of minor gods so an individual shrine or temple to all of them just wasn’t possible. What Percy created was a bit of a compromise. The Field of Grace was divided into different sections, each representing a theme: agriculture, botany , wind and air gods, water gods, gods of the Underworld, and so forth. Although the entire thing was built with white marble, each section was decorated and designed to represent those gods with a central pillar for offerings. The names of the gods themselves were then written on stones that surrounded each pillar, along with their domains, titles, and small depictions of some of their sacred objects. Pamphlets with a map and description of each section were handed out, along with a directory for the gods represented. All in all, several hundred gods were honored.

She found her parents at one of two Underworld sections, her mom staring disbelievingly at the stones that honored her ancestor Vejovis. He was a god of healing and protection but his association with death also placed him in the Underworld. Becca knew it was probably a huge shock. She grabbed a few flowers from one of the passing nymphs who carried them in baskets for the worshippers, handing one to her mom and placing the other at the base of the platform with a small silent prayer. After a moment, her mom followed her actions.

Hazel walked up and Becca quickly introduced them. She told her mom they made a daughter of Pluto a Praetor but she seemed in awe to see Hazel standing there, claiming her Underworld heritage so freely. Hazel did the expected small talk as host, thanking them for coming. She also gave a cryptic message with a gleam in her eye that both of them understood perfectly; finally their own divine heritages were being respected. She squeezed Becca's arm with a smile and left to work more of the crowd. 

As she wandered through the shrines she noticed that Vesta was not the only divine presence there. Several gods wove through the crowds, some in the Greek form and some in their Roman. She could only tell the difference because the Roman gods wore togas. Lord Apollo was giving a personal tour to his Roman daughter Madison who Percy brought to camp a few weeks ago. She was really young, only six she thinks, so Percy bypassed Lupa for the time being. Becca didn’t know the details but knew she had no mortal family to go back to. There was talk of taking her to Camp Half-Blood for a couple years so she could grow up a bit before being thrust into military life at camp. The Greek demigods living in New Rome were there as well, not in togas but still dressed formally as they helped the nymphs with offerings, directions, and refreshments.

She spotted Percy off to the side talking with a tall man in a dark blue short sleeve button-up that looked so much like an older version of Percy she actually did a double take. She figured that must be Lord Poseidon. As she watched, the god slung an arm around his shoulder and kissed the top of his head. Even from afar the pride was palpable.

After some more socializing and checking out the shrines, Becca and Heather lined up at the refreshments table. A little ways away, Percy stood talking with Jake and Drew, Madison now happily sitting on his hip. It seemed Jake and Drew were giving him ideas for what he needed to do for Camp Half-Blood now that the shrines were done. Percy whined about having too much work.

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “I guess that’s what they say - semper ad meliora.” The two Greeks just stared at him.

“Yeah,” Drew nodded. “I totally say that all the time.”

Percy smirked while Jake asked what it meant. Little Madison was trying to work it out in her head.

“It means, oh it means… ‘always…flowers’? Is that right?” she asked with her nose adorably scrunched up. 

“ Meliora , not melora ,” Percy corrected her gently. She was really too young for Latin to fully come to her but it was a good start. 

“It means ‘always towards better things’,” Hank called out from the table. 

“Nice,” Jake nodded. “Not sure it needs to be said in Latin, but…”

They continued to banter as Becca and Heather laughed, heading out again into the crowd with their snacks. 

After a few hours, people started heading back into the city. Terminus let them all by without his usual OCD commentary on their appearances. Just past the gates, Camilla came running up to them.

“Did you see?’ she asked breathlessly.

They didn’t know what she was talking about so she grabbed Heather’s hand and started dragging her into the city. Becca soon realized they were headed to the central piazza.

Which somehow, overnight, had been completely rebuilt.

A new grand fountain sat in the middle, a mix of old and new styles. Stone benches lined the piazza once again, but that is not what Camilla was so worked up about. “Look!” she gasped, pointing to the ground.

Beneath their feet the gravel had been replaced with large stones, each one engraved with a name. Looking around, Becca realized it was the names of those who had served in the Legion during the wars, both living and dead. She and Heather immediately started looking for specific names. While she looked, she noticed it wasn’t just names of legionnaires, but of people in the city, both those who fought in the Axillary and the civilians who helped take care of the wounded and rebuilt after the battles. There were no cohort numbers given with the names, or titles or any other descriptors, just the names themselves; they were all treated equally. 

It took twenty minutes but near one of the newly installed lampposts, Becca found the one name she had been looking for: Lien Minh Vu. And next to it for all prosperity was her own: Rebecca Jean Watson.

She bent down to touch the stone reverently with one hand, while another covered her mouth. Lien’s death was still a sore point for her but it was getting better. The idea that she would be remembered like this, for everyone that came to the Legion and the city after, had her absolutely speechless.

“Do you like it?” a voice above her asked. The hem of a sea green toga entered her view. She looked up at Percy. “I figured you would want to be together.” She jumped up and gave him a hug, which surprised him but he gently hugged back. She asked him how he managed to do all this.

“You gave me the idea, actually.” Her face scrunched in confusion. “Your ancestor? Juturna? Goddess of fountains? I didn’t know there was such a thing. Took a while to track her down but she was pretty game once I did.”

Becca laughed. Somehow it didn’t surprise her that Percy Jackson could look up a goddess he had never heard of before and almost immediately get her to do what he wanted.

Heather came over, looking a bit emotional herself, and wrapped an arm around Becca’s shoulder when she saw the names. She thanked Percy sincerely, but he just waved it off with a smile. Someone called his name and he left for the other side of the piazza.

She spotted Quin over by the fountain and the girls wandered over. Quin had chilled out over the past month, especially about the Greeks. She wasn’t sure what brought about the change, but she was glad to see more of the friend she grew up with in the Second Cohort than the uptight ass he became after he was named Centurion.

Unlike the old tiered fountain, this one had water that cascaded from bowl to bowl in a spiral pattern. Different motifs were carved into the white marble catches. Becca spotted different flowers, grains, waves, birds, arrows, swords, spears, and more all mixed together. She realized they represented the different domains of the gods, but not the gods themselves. Quin was staring at the inscription in the center of the pedestal that read:

Si monumentum 

requiris, 

Circumspice

“If you seek a monument, look around you.” 

And she realized that is what this was, a monument to all those who fought to keep Rome standing. Some weren’t with them anymore, but their sacrifice endured. The monument was the city and the Legion and Rome itself. Of their struggles and pain and perseverance. Because in the end, they were the legacy.

She threaded an arm through Quin’s and leaned her head on her shoulder. She felt lighter than she had in a very long time.

Marcel, Antonia, and Jordan soon joined them, talking excitedly about the piazza renovations. It finally felt alive again after more than a year of being a sad reminder of everything they lost. The charge in the air was palpable. 

Heather was watching Percy talk with Nico and Vesta - or rather her Greek form, so Hestia she thinks? - on the edge of the piazza. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, turning their attention to the son of Poseidon, “the naiad who made my toga called him the Prince of Changing Tides for how much change he has brought to Olympus.”

“And the camps,” Becca added. 

“The tree nymphs–”

“Dryads.”

“Sorry, the dryads call him the Lord of Wild Waters,” said Jordan.

“Savior of Olympus, two-time Hero of Olympus,” noted Becca.

“General of Olympus,” Antonia added.

“Hero of Atlantis.”

“Child of prophecy, hero of the Prophesied Seven,” listed Marcel.

“Bane of Titans. Bane of Giants. Bane of Gaea.”

“Pristinus Praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata,” Quin finally chimed in. They fell quiet for a moment.

“They say he’s going to become a god,” Antonia mused.

“A Greek god,” Marcel corrected.

Quin hummed. “I don’t know,” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe a Roman god too.”

“If it happens,” warned Jordan. “Because apparently he already turned down godhood once.”

“If it happens,” Antonia agreed.

Becca smiled. She knew they would come around on Percy Jackson eventually. She was starting to think it was almost impossible not to. “Well in the meantime,” she said, looking up at Quin, “ Semper ad meliora.” He smiled back.

“Semper ad meliora.”