Hiii guys! It's been way way way too long that I haven't posted, so long that all my previous fic documents have all been automatically deleted. Hope to the gods there's nothing I need trapped in the Tartarus of deleted documents :P

Anyway, here's my new story. The good stuff starts next chapter. I won't be quick with updates, but I assure you that it is worth the wait! Originally, I wanted to put publishing on hold until I finished it in its entirety since I have it all planned out, but PJOforlifeFairyTailFan, one of the coolest and kindest people I've met on FF, has been so great that I couldn't help but give her and my readers (granted, I don't have many but still) a bit of what I've been working on.

I do not own PJO, but if I did, I'd write a Roman prequel series to HoO, exactly like PJO but Roman. You get me.

Enjoy!

"I dare you to tell everyone that you and Reyna are dating."

"What?! Kota, no!"

"Well… They do deserve to know."

"I swear, one day, I will murder you in your sleep. Both of you."

"Guys… No killing, please, or I'll have no friends left and I'll have to third wheel all the time. Actually, I kind of already am the established third wheel for all you guys."

What is this madness and chaos, you ask? Oh, just five Roman demigod best friends playing a game of Truth or Dare… Roman style.

Granted, there's a lot less violence than one might assume by hearing the phrase "Roman style", so hey, that's a plus!

Here's how it works. The players—Jason, Reyna, Gwen, Dakota and Bobby—sit in a circle with a bottle and a coin in the middle (and all weapons carefully stowed away in a vault that only Bobby can open because he was voted the least likely to kill his friends).

The players each go in turns to be the askers, which means that they get to dare someone to do something or ask a question.

They spin the bottle to determine who gets asked.

Then, they flip the coin to determine if it is a truth or a dare—this way, cowards cannot run from dares and the shameless cannot run from telling the truth. Originally, this game was played with a knife that was thrown into the wall, and whichever side (hilt or tip) hit the wall determined if it was a truth or a dare. However, they quickly realised that this method was easily rigged—with a bunch of professionally trained demigods, knives were easy to "hack", especially for Reyna.

So, no weapons it was.

Oh, and one more thing—dares are only asked of the person the bottle points to, but truths can be for all people in the game.

"Look," Dakota said, trying to ignore Reyna's death glare while he persuaded Jason that it was a good idea, "everyone pretty much knows, anyway, so all you'd be doing would be to confirm that."

Jason sighed as he laid a soothing hand on his girlfriend and fellow praetor's shoulder to calm her down. Thankfully, it worked, and Reyna's muscles immediately let loose of the tension.

"Kota, I've told you this so many times already. We've decided not to tell the camp yet because we don't want them to think that their praetors are focusing on dating and not on working in the best interest of the camp."

Reyna shot Jason a grateful look. "It's not the right time yet. And even though some people know that we would always put the legion before ourselves, we don't want even a seed of doubt to be in people's minds."

Dakota frowned. "But Gwen agrees that you should tell, right?"

Gwen sighed, fiddling with her blonde ponytail. "Well, I do think it's been long enough since the Giant War… I'm one hundred percent sure that the whole legion and New Rome would be behind their beloved praetors and would support you. You led them through two wars and two victories—if they don't want you to be happy, then they don't deserve to be a part of Rome. I mean, there's so much gossip around about how cute you guys could be, but I've also heard some things that are… not so good."

Reyna's fingers froze in the middle of retying her signature black braid. "What do you mean by 'not so good'?"

"Well…" Gwen trailed off, not wanting to tell Reyna. "Jason's really attractive. Lots—and I mean lots—of girls would jump at the chance to, well, jump on him."

The daughter of Bellona raised her brows in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything.

"Reyna, you're super gorgeous too, you know. It's not all about Jason."

The blond-haired son of Zeus' eyes flashed with something dangerous and dark. "They can answer to me, then. Expect casualties."

They all laughed. "You know, it would be much easier to just tell everyone. Then, no problems, because I pity the guy or girl who's stupid enough to try to get between you two."

Jason and Reyna shared a look, smirking at each other. "Kota, why don't you just give me another dare?" he suggested, changing the topic.

The curly-haired son of Bacchus pondered, sipping Kool-Aid. Suddenly, a wicked grin appeared on his lips. "Fine. I dare you to embarrass Reyna in front of the whole camp."

"Done!" Jason grinned, slapping his friend on the back.

"No way in Tartarus—" Reyna started to complain, but it was too late. Gwen was already spinning the bottle to see who it would land on for her turn.

It landed on Jason.

The proceeding coin flip was a tail, meaning that she could ask everyone any question. Technically, she could also choose to ask Jason a personal question, but since he was dating Reyna, there was no interesting or embarrassing information about him that she couldn't get out of her best female friend.

Gwen was going through a kind of deep phase right now. She only asked meaningful questions that would make people really think about their lives instead of funny ones that would be stupid and not worthwhile in knowing the answers to. So, searching through her vast repertoire of questions that would expose one's psyche, she asked:

"What is your definition of perfection?"

Bobby was the first to answer. "The Lord of the Rings books and movies. Though the books are obviously way better, the movies were actually not bad for movie interpretations of classic novels. Harry Potter is perfect, too. Almost on the same level as LotR, but not quite as classic. Emma Watson, though. She is perfect. Daniel Radcliffe is perfect. Voldemort's nonexistent nose is perfect."

Jason chuckled fondly, ruffling his friend's dark hair. "You're such a nerd, Bobby. A nerd who rides a war elephant."

"You know what? Scratch all that, Hannibal is perfect."

The five all burst into laughter for a moment until Bobby sobered up. "I'm being serious, guys," he said, brown doe eyes wide and dark brown hair flopping into his face as it always did. "Don't insult my real best friend."

"So, we're not real, then?" Gwen challenged.

"Of course you're real," Bobby quickly amended, avoiding the fearsome blonde's green gaze. "But I don't see any of you guys charging into war with me or letting me piggyback on you brandishing a sword or picking up said sword with your nose when it gets knocked out of my hands."

None of them could argue with the piggybacking part.

"Plus, elephants don't pull down your pants, Dakota."

Next was Dakota's turn. "It's easy for me," he said proudly. "Bet you can't guess what it is."

"Kool-Aid?"

"Girls?"

"Girls in lingerie?"

"Japanese food?"

Dakota looked at all of them weirdly, especially Gwen and Reyna. "I'm not that girl-obsessed, you know," he told them. "I may have a Victoria's Secret subscription, but I only look at the designs, not the people."

"Yeah, right."

Dakota ignored Jason's taunt. "Bobby, I love Kool-Aid, but it's not perfect. There's always room for improvement, and even my favourite drink of all time has its problems."

"For example, it might lead to diabetes," Reyna put in with a knowing smile, eyes glowing with playfulness.

"Shut up and don't judge me," Dakota shot back. "And finally, Jase was the closest."

"You love sushi."

"That I do." The two long-time friends grinned childishly at each other. "But wrong again. The closest thing to perfection is…

"Roasted salmon in teriyaki sauce laid on a bed of bacon-wrapped grilled asparagus paired with fluffy buttery mashed potatoes and ratatouille with a cup of warm pumpkin spiced latte not from Starbucks, but get this—made by Gwen. And enjoyed in bed, wrapped in a warm blankie."

Gwen rolled her eyes but smiled. "I do make a mean PSL."

"That," Reyna said with an eyebrow raise, "sounds much more complicated than it actually is."

"I bet I can make it," Jason announced. "Maybe for your birthday, if you're lucky."

His girlfriend only nudged him playfully. "No thanks, Sparky. Being the Airhead that you are, you'll probably mess it up and burn down the Mess Hall. Also, I want to eat something good and unburnt by lightning on my birthday."

Jason stuck his tongue out at her, though she was probably right.

"A kind gesture is all that matters to me."

Her other four friends stared at Gwen as if she was speaking Swahili.

"What do you mean?"

Bobby started humming the song by Justin Bieber, which earned him a jab to the ribs from Dakota.

All eyes were on Gwen, searching for an explanation. Jason and Reyna's gazes were laced with confusion and interest, while the other two boys were frowning.

Gwen sighed. Her deep phase was really getting to her. By no means were her friends petty, or materialistic—they were Romans, and pretty clothes would not faze them at all—but sometimes they weren't really on her wavelength.

"A kind gesture means the world to me," she began. "It shows me that someone is thinking of me at any random moment in time, and wanted to do something nice for me because they care. And that really touches my heart."

"Here's the legacy of Venus part kicking in," Bobby mumbled to Dakota.

The blonde smiled. "For example, when Adaline bought me a bunch of toffee chocolates when she had her time off in New Rome after I'd mentioned how much I loved them once. Or when Kota brought me breakfast in bed when I got a cold."

"Hey!" Dakota exclaimed, jumping up indignantly. "That was supposed to be our secret!"

Jason and Reyna wore matching smirks. "Kota, you don't have to pretend," Reyna said, her voice dripping with honey. "We know you have a crush on Gwen."

"Yeah man, you looooooove Gwen," Jason added.

Dakota's face flushed as red as his cherry Kool-Aid. He didn't even bother to splutter and complain about how wrong they were, because Gwen probably knew about it even before he finally realised what the fluttery feeling in his stomach meant.

"Right here, guys, right here," Gwen reminded. "But it's just so nice when people think about you or do things for you when you least expect it. Don't you agree?"

Murmurs spread around the circle as they couldn't argue with Gwen's reasoning.

"So, yeah, that's my definition of perfection—that moment of surprise followed by gratitude and then warmth when you receive that kind gesture."

Reyna honestly didn't have much of an idea of what perfection was. She didn't really believe in it. Circe had always stressed that perfection was what her girls should strive for. However, Reyna staunchly believed that total perfection was unattainable, and was a useless goal that only served to bring despair.

Yes, people could have their own perspectives and takes on what, to them, seemed to be flawless and perfect and impossibly so. But Reyna had her own opinion. Perfection was only a phenomenon, one of the human mind comparing things endlessly and finally deciding that one thing stood out as the best. Perhaps that thing was the best thing that that person had encountered, or experienced. However, by no means was that thing "perfect"—being the best did not mean perfection. There had to be something better, or at least, there would be, in the future. Ideals of perfection change a lot during one's lifetime. That meant that perfection was something that was unfathomable, something that was impossible to tie down or to associate with only one object, be it a memory or a feeling.

But, nonetheless, she had to answer Gwen's question. Reyna sorted through her various memories, picking out some of the most deeply buried and treasured ones.

Was it the day that she had reached Camp Jupiter after running for what seemed like eternity, the day that she had succeeded in her first mission, the day that she had proved herself worthy of being a demigod, the day that she had first met Jason?

Or was it the day that she had finally escaped from the pirates with Hylla, the day that she was finally free from the chains of C.C.'s Island, the day that she had taken charge of her own life?

Or perhaps it was the day that Jason had been pronounced praetor alongside her, just after their successful storming of Mount Othrys, where she had looked upon the dead and wounded bodies of her comrades that littered the unforgiving black stone, and had let loose one tear, before catching Jason's—her best friend's—hand in hers and pulling him close, thrusting their glowing swords into the air and looking down at their past while also looking towards their future, not knowing anything but that they would always be side by side?

(That last part wasn't so true, but at least they had found their way back to each other as she knew they always would.)

Or could it be the day that Jason had come back to Camp Jupiter for the second time, running to her with scratches on his face and blood on his hands and a limp in his step and, in that deep whisper of his, had said "I remember now. I remember you now." and had smiled at Reyna like she had been dreaming of for a year, that she had missed for too long, the one that shone as radiant as the sun that one could not describe as other than sincere and the one that made the small scar on his lip from such a stupid, stupid accident that was just so Jason curl up like another dimple?

All these memories flashed through Reyna's mind, blurring into one spectrum of events in her life. There was no way she could fish out the most "perfect" one.

Then, a strong feeling tugged at her heart, and she knew.

That feeling was associated with each one of the memories that most stood out in her life.

Victory.

She was a daughter of Bellona, after all. A daughter of war. Was it not obvious that she would love the sweet sound and feeling of victory?

The calm after the storm. The peace after the war. The relief after the pain.

Swords in the air, wind through her hair, ichor dripping from her blade, and Jason by her side, blue eyes gleaming with something wild and exciting.

Veni, vidi, vici. Just as the great Julius Caesar had put it.

"Victory."

Whereas his four friends had made up their minds relatively quickly, the gears in Jason's head kept turning and stopping and turning and stopping.

He wasn't exactly in the best position to answer Gwen's question at that moment. He had no idea whatsoever of what his mind or heart called perfection. And Jason Grace was never speechless. There were just too many options.

"Gwen, I'm gonna have to sleep on that one," he said with a wry, apologetic smile. "I'll definitely give you an answer within the week, okay? But seriously, that is hard."

Gwen laughed, a merry sound that sounded like the twinkling of Christmas bells. "Sure, Jase. However long you need."

And thus began Jason's quest to find perfection in his heart.

That's it! Thank you for reading :) Please review, even if it's just a short comment, and follow/favourite me! 3

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