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Hera's POV
It wasn't often the Queen of the Gods would take an interest in mortal affairs. Most were boring and usually Hera wanted both parties to die anyway. Most of them didn't effect her and she didn't have a reason to be interested. Mortals were for playing with, nothing more.
That was what Hera thought. Usually.
But this was something else, something that Hera's entire existence counted on. If the Romans and Greeks didn't get along then the gods may as well jump into Tartarus right now, save the Giants and Gaea the trouble. This was their last hope. The demigods had to get along.
And if they didn't... well Hera didn't want to think about that. The rest of the gods would probably kick her out of her own kingdom if the demigods didn't get along in the end. That's why she was watching this little scene with high hopes. She needed this to work. If she had a say in it, it would.
So Hera may have put some extra protection on the demigods. Sadly, she couldn't help Leo Valdez who was already under an ediolon's influence, but the rest she could. At least for this little meeting. After that, well they were on their own.
Besides, one demigod against hundreds couldn't do that much damage could he?
She had even given protection to the stuck up daughter of Athena (not exactly her favorite demigod in the world that one) and helped Percy get his memories back faster than the gorgon blood would have. All to help make this little meeting work.
By Zeus it better.
Hera wasn't exactly known for following her husbands orders, so it wasn't surprising when she found herself changing into a crow (one of her sacred animals; a peacock may have attracted attention) and flying over the scene with watchful eyes. Hopefully Zeus wouldn't punish her for this, it wasn't like she was exactly interfering.
Besides, as a crow her headaches weren't as bad. Thank gods, because hers had been absolutely excrutiating.
Romans prayed to her constantly, over and over, and Greeks thought of her as Hera all the time so Hera had been one of the gods suffering the most from the impeding war.
It was times like this she almost wished she could be as non-important as Aphrodite. Almost. Really, she would never want to be Aphrodite.
As a crow, her form didn't constantly change, and no one thought of her as a crow when they prayed so it helped quite a lot.
Back to the matter at hand.
Hera made sure she heard and saw everything as if she were standing right beside the demigods. She beat her wings and carefully placed herself on one of the ladder rungs hanging from the massive floating ship, the Argo II. She was just above the demigods and it would be oh so easy to put some bird droppings on Annabeth Chase's head.
But no. She couldn't. Hera had to focus, had to hear what the demigods were going to do. Percy had at least convinced the Romans not to shoot them right away so Hera was hoping that Jason, Piper, Leo and Annabeth didn't mess this little... talk, up. If she did it wouldn't just be cows following them around. Especially Annabeth.
Even now Hera was trying not to do anything rash to Athena's daughter. Ever since Jason and his friends had freed the goddess and then returned to Camp Half-Blood, Hera had been on the unwelcome end of many curses thanks to the blonde girl. Mostly it was curses for sending Percy away, wiping his memory, putting him in more danger blah blah blah.
Well the Queen of the Gods was sick of it. It was only because of her (alright, and maybe some pleas from Aphrodite) that Percy had even remembered Annabeth in the first place.
Of course Hera hadn't done that for the girl. She had only let the boy remember his girlfriend because she knew that Percy would do anything he could to see her again. His loyalty was something Hera used to make sure he went on the quest, the only way she knew he would save Camp Jupiter or die trying. The boy would go anywhere, do anything, for that girl.
So Hera used that.
If they had been any other demigods Hera would probably bless them. She was the Goddess of Marriage after all. She and Aphrodite worked very close together in the relationship department. Together the goddess's could make sure they stayed together happily for the rest of their lives.
But it wasn't anyone else. Annabeth had insulted Hera enough over her years and Percy Jackson certainly didn't love her. So why should Hera bother about them?
Besides, Aphrodite doted on the couple so much they probably wouldn't need her help. The love goddess had spent so much time building their relationship Hera didn't think she would tear it down. No, Annabeth and Percy were quite secure in their feelings for each other. Sadly, that might be the only thing they were secure in. Hera knew that a troubled road lay ahead of them, Poseidon had shown her enough of Percy's future to see that. (But that's another story)
It wasn't hard to see Piper's shock, or Leo looking around at every girl in the area. Jason obviously was ecstatic to be home and Hera felt a warmth coarse through her at seeing that.
Any other demigod Hera didn't care too much about. But Jason was hers. As far as Hera was concerned she had done Jason a favor by getting him away from his dreadful mother, his troubled sister who could go to Hades for all Hera cared, and sending him to Camp Jupiter. He was much happier, Hera had made sure of that. Besides, she looked out for him much more than Jupiter would have.
Reyna, poor girl, was obviously trying not to do something crazy, like scream or cry, now that she had Jason right in front of her. The poor leader was staring at his hand joined with Piper's like it had just slapped her in the face.
Oh Jason, Hera thought ruefully, you're such a heartbreaker. And you don't even know it.
Reyna was one of the very few demigods whom Hera actually liked. She was strong, a leader, fought for what she believed in and was able to stand tall even when she was breaking inside.
She reminded Hera very much of herself. Of course she was a daughter of Bellona, so she had some qualities that Hera definitely didn't. But mostly, she was someone Hera felt deserved much more than what she had.
She noticed the praetor's gaze linger on Leo, and she saw that the son of Hephaestus was surprisingly looking back at her with the same interest.
Hmmm, Hera would have to have a chat with Aphrodite when she got back to Olympus. See what that goddess was up to.
And then there was Annabeth, who was frantically looking around at every single face. Percy himself had stopped, just out of view of his girlfriend.
Stupid boy, he had to get out there! Or else this meeting would never work.
Oh no, Hera thought as she felt a headache start to overwhelm her. Not now!
But she could do nothing to stop it. With a final throb of pain left in her skull she was no longer Hera the crow.
She was Juno. The crow.
She squacked a bit and rustled her wings, trying to get more comfortable. Unfortunately, the comfortable postions of a crow on a rope ladder were limited.
She settled down and looked down below her once again. Thankfully, the son of Neptune had finally stepped in sight and his appearance caused quite the disturbance.
His two friends, Hazel and Frank, were taking in Jason, Piper, Leo and Annabeth. The couple's eyes froze on Annabeth and then went to Percy and back again. They obviously knew who she was.
Percy hardly spared the new trio of demigods a glance. Fortunately, the others were looking at him enough to make up for it.
Jason started taking him in right away, assessing him, making sure he remembered every detail. He took in Percy's build, the way he held himself, his appearance. Everything.
Juno felt a surge of pride. Of course Jason would start assessing him for weaknesses and strengths. He was a Roman. He took in everything and thought of every possibility.
Piper was looking at Percy curiously, like he was a puzzle she was going to figure out. She frowned at the older boy now and then and glanced at the daughter of Minerva a couple of times. She smiled at the boy but Percy didn't notice.
Leo was looking a little bit awe-struck. He had obviously felt the power from Percy and he was looking him over similar to Piper. After a few seconds he grinned, and Juno could almost see the boy restraining himself from going to introduce himself. Leo also glanced at Annabeth a couple of times but neither Percy nor Annabeth noticed.
Neither of them noticed because they were too busy staring at each other. Both demigods looked like they were in shock and they didn't move except to breathe. Juno didn't think they even noticed when Reyna started to speak after the awkward silence.
"Jason Grace, my former colleague. I welcome you home. And these, your friends-"
And then Annabeth and Percy broke rank. At the same time they stepped out of line and then started running to one another. Only when they finally touched one another again, wrapping each other in their arms, did the two demigods relax. Only when they could feel the other, did the let themselves feel safe for a moment.
Why hadn't she killed them when she had the chance? Maybe then the Romans wouldn't go to draw the weapons they had left at the city limits.
Jason tensed, Piper smiled, and Leo looked at the couple in amusement. Hazel smiled and Frank looked at the couple like they were crazy.
But it was Reyna who drew Juno's eye. Once again she looked like someone had just punched her, very hard. She was staring at Percy and Annabeth and couldn't seem to look away like every other person who looked on at the scene. Except instead of smiling, or pointing, or whispering about it to someone, Reyna looked like she was holding back tears.
And when Percy and Annabeth kissed Juno felt something like exasperation mixed with happiness rise in her. Really, the couple couldn't have waited a few more minutes to do that? Instead they had to go and make a scene, and in demigod camps whispers spread like wildfire. So Annabeth and Percy would probably be one of the most talked about things of the day, despite all that was going on.
Aww's came from most of the females as they kissed and when they pulled apart Juno saw faint moisture in Annabeth's eyes.
Juno felt a little bit of sympathy for the girl as she watched her struggle to grasp what was happening. It must have been hard, to go through everything she had and not be able to do what she wanted now that she had the love of her life back. If it had been Juno, she knew that Jupiter would be suffering multiple slaps from her right now.
Percy himself seemed emotional as well. "Gods, I never thought-"
And then Annabeth judo flipped him over her shoulder.
Juno laughed, which really just came out as a 'caw'. It was pretty funny to see the Hero of Olympus speaking one second and then flying through the air the next. Grudging approval for Annabeth filled the goddess as she saw the girl pin her boyfriend to the ground, ignoring the Romans cries.
But Juno didn't ignore them. She saw more than 1 demigod step forward, ready to help their praetor. Hazel had to put an arm out to her boyfriend and Reyna had to bark out a command before the Romans, albeit hesitantly, stayed where they were.
Annabeth ignored all of that. Tears were filling her eyes and Annabeth was blinking fast to get the to stay where they were. "If you ever leave me again, I swear to all gods..."
Now even Juno could admit that Annabeth was a strong demigod. So to see her nearly break down in front of strangers, not caring what anyone thought, it was surprising. Juno didn't know whether to admire the girl or pity her.
Luckily, Percy didn't do something stupid like try and comfort her. That would have made her seem weak in the Romans eyes and maybe Percy knew that. Instead, he laughed.
It wasn't what Juno would have done in his position but she supposed it would work.
He didn't laugh long, but it took a few second before his laughter turned into chuckling. Finally though, he spoke. "Consider me warned." He said, and when he met Annabeth's eyes as he talked Juno saw a deeper message pass between them. "I missed you too."
Suddenly Annabeth smiled and helped him up, and Juno could see that whatever had just passed between them had obviously helped. Just like that they were brushing themselves off and holding hands, waiting for the others to talk again like nothing had happened.
Jason glanced at them with a strange look on his face before smiling and turning back to Reyna and the mass of Romans behind her. "So.. yeah. It's good to be back."
Laughs rose from some of the campers and Juno felt the worry that had been plaguing her disappear.
It seemed like seeing Annabeth and Percy reunite had somehow made all of the demigods relax. Hopefully they would stay that way.
It had been moving, Juno admitted to herself later once she was back at Olympus. The couple had made quite a scene with their little reunion and the display had touched some nerve in herself that she hadn't even known was there.
Maybe she would bless them afterall.
Maybe.
oooOOOooo
And there you are my fellow fanfictioners! Hera/Juno had made an appearance! In this chapter I was trying to convey how the gods thought of mortals, because in truth (well in the myths) the gods toyed with their children's lives endlessly and they loved watching mortals and demigods get out of tough situations. I think Hera likes to stick to the old ways, so I feel like she still thinks of people as just things to watch and play with instead of actual beings.
Anyways...
OHMYGODS! I read the first chapter of House of Hades and Rick Riordan... I seriously hate and love him. It was amazing! Following Rick's usual pattern of hinting at some big quest/task (Hazel's this time) and FEELS FEELS FEELS of Percy and Annabeth. Okay maybe not... but they are mentioned and Hazel mentions Percy and how worried she is... Oh gods, it was like I read the Tartarus scence all over again for the first time. So. Many. Emotions. It met expectations and now I would kill for more of the book. I did not get the Son of Sobek so I read it on the internet, here's the link below if you wanna read it. Just warning you, it will make you want the rest of the book even more.
Link: s/9413202/1/Official-First-Chapter-of-The-House-of -Hades
If you read it... well just know that I probably feel the exact same way. That is the only sympathy I could offer you.
Thanks to the people who review! All the followers, favourites... I seriously can't type my appreciation enough. Keep it up and I'll make sure my writing improves each chapter!
Sorry for the author's note, I just had to get that frustration and emotions of House of Hades out there. Love you all!
Percyjacksonfan3
