A/N: Enjoy! I own nothing but the plot. Also fuck you, Burning Maze, for offing a main character. T.T

The stories of the Ancient times follow the same themes...

War...famine...conquers...rebellions.

Nations rise and fall, leaving behind the tales of bravery and cowardice the only remnants of their existence.

Here is the legend of Jason Grace and Piper McLean, and their love that sealed the rift between their nations.

The first time Jason saw his wife-to-be up close was when she was standing over him, the heel of her foot placed flat on his chest and the point of her 18 inch dagger right underneath his chin. When he heard the other men bragging about being underneath their wives, this probably wasn't what they meant.

To be honest, Jason's pride stung a bit. He was the praetor of his military regiment, the son of Jupiter, one of the best Generals in the Roman armies. And now he had just been taken down by a Greek demigod. And a child of Aphrodite, no less. He made a mental point then and there to never underestimate children of the goddess of love. After all, Rome was founded by a son of Venus.

Even without the beauty of the warrior above him, Jason could immediately tell she was a daughter of Aphrodite. It was because the moment she was on the battlefield, an immense amount of lust had fallen upon the Roman warriors. And not bloodlust or something like that, actual lust that afflicted every single warrior that did not expect such feelings.

Jason had been fighting just fine a few minutes earlier. Then he had suddenly fallen to his knees, unaccustomed to the want and need his body was feeling. But he was faring better than the other soldiers. Those who got the brunt of the magic were writhing on the ground, their armors clanking together. A few even palmed at their groin area (embarrassing, he knew).

Oh, what was he kidding, even he had to control his own urges. His erection was painfully tight. Were it not for the armor that protected that area, he might have done the same.

He had heard of such powers before, in legends where Lady Venus occasionally bestowed such abilities to her children. Still, Lord Bacchus was more likely to grant his children such powers, where the ability to intensify lust made for some wild accessories to their infamous drunken parties and orgies.

So who was this sorceress that was causing his Cohort to behave like this? Jason growled, his alert blue eyes scanning the battlefield. The Romans had been winning just minutes ago, before the Greeks' reinforcements had arrived. Already they were regrouping. And the woman who had caused all this...

She stood fifty feet away in the middle of the chaos, wisps of brown hair escaping her braid. A battle helm obscured most of her face. She held her arms out, continuing casting her spell. Jason had to stop her.

As best as he could, Jason tried to pick up his sword again. Instantly, another wave of lust washed through him and he dropped the sword again. The urge to climax was building, like the pressure of a river holding behind a dam constructed of mere wood. He gritted his teeth. He had survived too many battles to lose like this. Whoever this woman was, she was the most dangerous being he had ever encountered.

Jason reached for his sword again. This time he grabbed the blade intentionally. A flare of pain broke through the lust-ridden fog in his mind as the blade sliced his palm. With not a moment to spare, he summoned the winds and flew straight at her.

She was startled obviously. But the magic once again hit him, just enough that she dodged his slash and aimed a well placed kick at his chest. Which brought him to his current position lying on the ground, her dagger pointed underneath his chin. This close to her, Jason could see her eyes. They were dark brown, then hazel, then golden amber, and then green... For some reason, her eye color kept morphing into colors he could not distinguish.

Then a hunting horn sounded. Jason grinned as the woman's eyes widened in alarm. Reyna had pulled through.

Jason took control of the distraction to slash at the woman with his sword. She barely blocked the sword with her dagger, snarling as waves of fresh Roman soldiers overtook the field.

"Come on, Beauty Queen!" A lithe man with elvish features trotted up to her, aiming a wave of bright flames from his hands at Jason's feet. Jason stumbled backwards at the unexpected assault, before somersaulting back on his feet.

By the time he had gathered his wits, the elvish man set fire to a small bag of something and threw it at Jason. On instinct, Jason slashed at the bag and regretted it immediately. If only the small bag was a bomb or whatever. He had meant to only hit it with the flat side of his blade and punt it somewhere else in case it was a bomb. However, the moment his sword had touched the bag, the bag exploded in a burst of smoke and flatulence. The smoke expanded quickly, covering the Greeks' escape.

All around the battlefield, his war-hardened and training toughened warriors were collapsing and gagging as the smell of overcooked rotten beans messed with their sense of balance.

Jason dropped to the ground for the third time in his life. First he and his warriors were afflicted with a lust spell and now they were dealing with poison farts. He was going to kill the Greeks the next time he saw them.

The next time he did see the Greeks and the second time Jason met her was when his sword flew over her head to parry a javelin that would have made a gaping hole in her head. She returned the favor mere seconds later by tackling him and rolling together away some feet away. Where he had been standing just a moment ago, was now a sizeable crater where a large boulder now lay.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly to her. She had tackled him with the speed of a lioness.

"Don't mention it. Now get off of me." She grunted.

Jason blinked, not realizing that he had ended up on top of her. He quickly scrambled, pulling her up. He was so close to her again, those kaleidoscope eyes bright. His hand hummed, from where he had touched her hand. It was reminiscent of when her lust spell had overtaken him.

But the battle was still raging around them. Jason turned away from her to throw himself back into battle.

The Romans and Greeks had taken a temporary alliance, albeit a very unstable one, to defeat the horde of monsters that were overrunning both nations. Apparently the forces of evil were taking advantage of the chaos surrounding the warring nations so the monsters could defeat both weakened nations easily. A mastermind plan worthy of the Titans themselves. Fortunately, the Greeks' Oracle had received a prophecy from the gods, and the children of Apollo in both camps had received the same. Or else Jason would never have had seen both Greeks and Romans fighting alongside each other like they were currently going. He had even met his sister Thalia, who was on the Greek side.

But there was no time to think about such mundane things. Jason shifted his Imperial gold sword into a javelin and launched himself into the thick of the fighting.

Jason lost track of how many times he had seen her before the marriage ceremony. Their marriage ceremony to be exact.

With the evil forces defeated (for now, at least) the Greeks and Romans needed to forge stronger alliances. They had worked well on the battlefield, saving each other's lives and defeating powerful enemies. But could they achieve peace without turning into rivals again? That remained to be seen.

Both sides had agreed to arranged marriages of their leaders. And not just any leader, but the strongest that they had.

The duty had fallen to Jason.

At first, he thought he would be betrothed to the blond woman who was the best strategist in the Greek side. She had caused them many losses. Whenever she turned her gray eyes onto him, Jason felt like she was plotting his death and calculating every weakness he had. But Annabeth was engaged to the son of Poseidon, whose green eyes softened whenever Annabeth was around.

A son of Poseidon and a daughter of Athena? Jason could hardly believe his eyes. If those two rivals could work together, then perhaps the Greeks and Romans had a high chance of cooperation and peace as well.

A conch horn blared, announcing the arrival of the Greeks to the Temple of Apollo where the marriage was being held.

Reyna fell into position by his side, with Frank and Hazel behind her. Jason was grateful for her presence. Reyna was forever a great support, a pillar of strength, and a kind friend.

Friend? She had wryly asked one time.

Jason was not as oblivious as other people thought. He knew of Reyna's feelings towards him. Most praetors ended up getting involved at one point or another. But Jason was confused as to what he felt towards Reyna. She had been a companion to him for so long. To see her in another light, a romantic one at that, was...different.

And then this alliance with the Greeks had happened. The other candidate was Octavian and damned would the nations be if Octavian were the one marrying the Greek. That was too powerful of a position for the power-hungry centurion and augur. Even the Greeks had taken one look at Octavian and flatly refused.

So it ended up being him. It was his duty to make sure his people were safe. Feelings were nothing for him, and the stakes were too high.

It was Reyna's duty, too. She had sacrificed as much as or even more than he had. Though he wished she didn't have to be there for the marriage ceremony, knowing that it probably crushed her inside. But Reyna was never one to run from a fight. That was one of her many traits that he admired.

The doors opened. Percy walked in first, regal with his armor studded with pearls. Annabeth was right at his side, her blonde hair pinned back in soft curls by a circlet of pearls. She had traded her customary bronze armor for a dress that was simple but elegant.

Jason smothered a grin. Though he had faced against them many times in battle, they had also worked together more recently against the monster armies. He appreciated and respected them, knowing they were loyal to their peoples and would never break their oaths. And now it seemed that the pair didn't bother hiding their relationship anymore. The pearls were obviously gifted by Percy. The Annabeth Jason had come to know would be caught dead if she wore any other jewelry.

Then there was Leo, whose mischievous eyes lit up as Jason nodded his head in salutation. Though Jason had been annoyed when Leo had set his tent on fire before the alliance, he quickly got over the fact when Leo's contraptions and machines brought destruction upon the monster armies and saved both Romans and Greeks. The son of Hephaestus quickly became Jason's closest Greek friend.

Then she came into the room. The Romans murmured, the feeling of unease adrift. He held a hand up and they shushed. But he understood their discomfort. Besides conquering hordes of monsters, she had nearly taken down an entire Roman legion just by casting her spell of lust. Many of those spellbound were in the Temple currently. No doubt they were embarrassed or wanted revenge in some way.

Beauty Queen, Leo had called her. The influence of Aphrodite had never been so strong until now. She had indeed been beautiful on the battlefield, even with armor stained from monster dust. But now garbed in a simple silk white dress that clung to her curves so naturally, his bride was stunning. Her dark hair was braided, woven with real gold ribbons and delicate flower pins made of real gold. The gold armlets around her arms enhanced her lean biceps. Although only her lips were rouged with the tint of bright berries, she was more beautiful than any of the women who slathered on tints and creams he had ever seen.

Piper.

The epitome of Aphrodite.

Her expression was unreadable, though she had a flash of nervousness in her eyes. Jason's tense shoulders relaxed just a tad. Of course she would be nervous, too, just like he was.

Soon, Piper had reached the altar, looking slightly up at him with a small smile. She smelled like sweet oils and lavender. He tried to discern what color her eyes were once again, but they only swirled in their mysteriousness.

The rest of the marriage ceremony blurred and suddenly they were in the pavilion, feasting on fine meats and delicate fruit. The food was usually delicious, but the fresh bread tasted dry in his mouth. Jason had been nervous before battles of course, but marriage was another thing altogether.

Reyna had pulled him aside and warned him to let her know if Piper or any of the Greeks dared to harm him.

You can never let your guard down too much, she had said.

Somehow he doubted the Greeks would kill him. Piper sat beside him, her fingers drumming nervously on the table. Once, her hand had brushed against his when they both reached for the same jug of mead. A shot of electricity ran between them, causing both to pull their hands back.

"Sorry," Jason muttered. Sometimes when he was nervous, real sparks of electricity tended to come out.

"It's okay, Sparky," Piper returned with a smile. Still there was a hint of wariness in her eyes.

Jason half-grimaced, half-smiled at the nickname chosen for him by Piper. No doubt Piper was also thinking of the consummation after the marriage ceremony. But he swore on the River Styx that he didn't intend to let loose the electricity. In fact, he was sure that he didn't. Something else had transpired between them.

When the back of her hand had brushed his, he felt just a twinge of that lust he had experienced on the battlefield. It had happened every time their skin touched.

In the shadows of the temple, Jason caught sight of Octavian, sneering at the Greeks. Just to be a rude bastard, Octavian had hinted earlier that the Graecus scum would most likely stab Jason in the consummation process. Luckily, the small rumors Octavian had spread had been snuffed out, in case the Greeks heard and turned on their new allies.

Jason had a feeling that he wouldn't be stabbed in the back. The marriage had already been consummated.

After all, he was the only one privy to Piper's secret.