Reaper of Rome

by Shadow of Olympus

Annabeth died at the end of the Giant war. Percy tries to live and move on, but Camp Half-Blood has too many memories of his lost love. So he leaves. (Not gonna lie I suck at summaries, always have, always will. This is my first FanFic, don't really know where I'm gonna go with it. But it should be fun.)

34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO Series, all rights go to Rick Riordan.

A/N: The document my chapter is on had a bit of a disagreement with the website so I apologise if there are any random letters or it appears that words are missing, I did try to find them all.

Percy POV

Much to my surprise, everyone I recruited was in the training area at 9 am sharp. I mean, I know they're Roman and they're all about rules and orders and stuff. But still.

Well, everyone except Lauren, but I expected her to be a little rogue and come late. There's always one isn't there.

"Don't suppose you've seen Lauren around have you?" I ask, walking over to James, who was in the middle of properly introducing himself to Angela and Peter. I forget that not everyone knows each other here like at Camp Half-Blood.

"Can't say I have, but she is a bit of a scatter brain sometimes. So I wouldn't be surprised if she was a bit late." He returns calmly, not in the least concerned. I guess that's true.

"Well, should we ge…" As I begin to ask my question I see a movement off to my right. It's Lauren and as I'm about to shout a joke at her I see another girl trailing just slightly behind her. Who's she got with her?

"Sorry I'm late, I ran into this one outside and had a listen to her life story before dragging her with me." Lauren calls cheerily, the girl in question seems to go beet red as she stares firmly at her feet. Did she forcefully recruit someone?

"Huh, ok." Is all I say in response as I wait for them to join us. I can just hear the whispering between Angela and Peter, but I can't quite make out what they're saying.

Lauren just marches right up to me and puts this poor girl on display before us. This is probably be mortifying for her.

"This is Liz, like I said I found her a long the way. She was torn between whether to come over or not." Lauren asks, as Liz quickly takes us all in. Also, how did she know we were training now?

"Turns out she heard what you were up to and wanted to join." Lauren adds with Liz nodding along. emInteresting, I didn't think we'd get many volunteers this early. Especially as very few people know what we're doing at the moment.

"Ok. Well Liz, I'm sure that Lauren has filled you in on the basics. But I just want to know a couple of things." I begin, watching as her gaze slowly rises to my face.

"First, what Cohort are you in? And Second, why do you want to join?" I ask, watching her face for any emotion that reveals itself. If someones put her up to this to spy, then we have a problem.

"I am in the 3rd Cohort, and the reason I want to join is because I want to be able to do more to protect Rome and its people." She answers confidently, but there is a slight flicker of a secret in her eyes. Something she's withheld. But is it good or bad?

"Ok, but if you join, you can't return to your old Cohort. We will act and be independently from the rest of the Legion. Also, you can't reveal to anyone the type of training I put you through, are you ok with that?" I ask, my gaze firmly fixed on her face. I can't let anyone know what my plans are just yet.

"I have no one to go back to in my Cohort, all my friends died in the siege. Just being in the barracks with all their empty bed breaks my heart, I need a knew start and I believe this is it." Liz replies, all the shyness and awkwardness melting away as she stands firm. Well, that's a feeling I can relate with.

"I see, well as long as you can accept me as the man in charge and don't hate the Greeks, you can join." I tell her with a small shrug, just catching the glimpse of a small smile on the lips of the others.

"Right then, let get to it. I'm going to completely redefine your understanding of how to fight." I grin earning a few laughs as everyone lines up in front of me, each of them looking a little confused at what I mean. But thankfully no one says anything, to try and contradict me.

We train hard till Lunch, everyone looks a little worse for ware, but no one is complaining. If anything they were all asking for more, which was tiring me out. Who knew being in charge was so tiring.

After I ate with my new Centurai, that's still weird to say, I set out and look for Reyna. But I can guess she will be coordinating the rebuild and redesign of our defences. Sure they only broke through the wall in one place, but it's the fact that appeared to have been done so easily.

I make my way towards the area the Principia used to be and try and quell the sense of guilt that tries to build in my stomach. I should have gotten there sooner.

I turn a corner and all but run into a small looking girl. Thankfully, I was able to spin out of the way instead of knocking her down. Yay quick reflexes.

I turn to find a small panicking girl in shinning silver. A hunter? Did she got lost on the way back to my house?

"Hey, are you ok?" I ask, raising my hands in peace and keeping a fair distance from her. She looks me up and down and the recognition begins to slot into place.

"Your the Praetorian aren't you? Umm, Peter?" She asks, still on high alert. She could at least remember my name if she's staying in my house.

"Yea, I'm Percy." I correct her, with what I hope is a warm smile. But her panicked state doesn't seem to deteriorate at all. What's got to her?

"Is something wrong?" I ask her, lowering my hands to my sides. She watches them the whole way down, suspicious of every little movement.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just making my way back to my sisters." She returns shortly. But she's still eyeing the street that she came down from cautiously. Was someone following her? There are still those that aren't very fond of the Hunt being here.

"Well I was heading to my house anyway, I need to grab some stuff and chat with Thalia anyway. So why don't we walk there together?" I offer, gesturing in the direction of my house. Which is the opposite direction to the way she was turning. But unfazed she nods and marches ahead. Something has really gotten under her skin.

We walk in silence for a few minutes, but the tension that this girl is giving off is unreal. It's like she's preparing to be attacked by something. Which for all I know, could be true.

"So what's your name?" I ask her eventually, getting bored of the silence. I mean, there's no guarantee that she'll answer me.

"Georgia." She returns in a small voice, her eyes still darting around everywhere. Georgia, that's a nice name. I've seen her around with the Hunt for a while I think, she must be one of the older Hunters.

"Nice to meet you." I say warmly and go back to walking in silence. At least she's not as hostile as some of them can be.

Another minute or two pass and we're just about to turn onto the street with my house on it, when Georgia stops and turns to me. Oh Gods she looks intense.

"Can I trust you?" She asks, which completely blindsides me. Has a Huntress ever asked a man if she can trust him?

"Of course, but why don't we wait till we're in my house before we start talking about whatever this is?" I suggest, but she just shakes her head as her eyes dart down the street again. What is it?

"No, I need to say this where my sister can't hear me." She explains, her eyes turning back to me. Wow, this must be really important for her not to want to tell her sisters.

"Ok then, what is it?" I ask.

"I think someone is going to try and attack the Hunt." She reveals suddenly, and the moment she says it I look up and down the street nervously as I lean in a bit closer to her. Who would try after what Reyna and I said?

"That's quite the serious accusation. But, I can't say that it sounds unlikely." I return, resigned to the fact that there will probably be Romans who hate Greeks and the Hunt for a long time yet.

"What makes you think you're going to be attacked?" I ask, giving another quick look around. We should get out of the open if we're going to talk about something this serious.

"I overheard some people whispering in the Forum, I couldn't catch all of it. But I definitely heard the them say something about an attack on the Hunt, they even mentioned your house." She reveals to me, her worry beginning to bubble to the surface as she starts the fidget. She serious about this.

"Ok, so here's what we're going to do. First, I'm going to drop you back to my house with the rest of the Huntresses. I'm going to take Thalia aside and tell her what you've told me, she'll know what to do." I start, pausing to see if she'll argue with me.

"Then, I'm going to go tell Reyna about this and see what we can do in an official capacity." I finish firmly, as I begin to see resistance build in her eyes. This is better than running around and just trying to hunt these people. I don't even know who they are.

"Ok?"

"Yea, ok, that's fine I suppose." She returns, looking a little deflated. With that, I start pushing her towards my house, but I get the very unsettling feeling that we're now being watched.

I try to subtly look around, but I don't see anything or anyone watching us. Well that's not a pleasant feeling.

We quickly file into my house and I'm immediately greeted with half a dozen arrows and knives. This is my house.

"Always a pleasure girls." I deadpan, waiting for either the recognition to kick in or for someone I know to come around. Either of those options would be preferable.

"Percy?" Comes a shout from another room.

"Yes?" I call back, a little confused. Who the hell could know I'd just walked in without seeing me… Oh, right.

Jenna comes running into the hall and her vacant black eyes falling on me while a huge smile grows on her face. Gods it's good to see her.

"How's it going?" I ask awkwardly, a few arrows and knives pointed at me.

"Girls, it's ok. This is his house after all." Jenna says, calmly stepping through the small group.

"What're you doing here?" She asks, completely unfazed by all the weapons still half aimed at me. Maybe it's a blind thing.

"I've come to talk with Thalia, is she around?" I ask, slowly relaxing as the rest of the Hunters begin to leave the small corridor. Thank fuck they don't shoot on sight anymore.

"Yea, she's upstairs. I think she's in your room." Jenna says, spinning around and heading for the stairs. I knew the cheeky devil would take my room.

We quickly climb the stairs and walk up to the door of my room, where Jenna pauses for a second before knocking on the door. Why'd she hesitate. Is Thalia in a bad mood.

"Go away." A tired sounding Thalia shouts. Oh, she's just asleep.

An evil grin begins to grow on my face as I walk towards the bathroom and pull some water from the tap. This is going to be great.

"Mind out Jenna." I say, as I come striding across the hall to kick to door open. The look I see on Jenna's face is less than motivating, she actually looks a bit concerned. I'm sure it'll be fine.

I kick the door open and in the split second it takes me to throw the ball of water I see a few interesting things. First, Thalia is in fact still in bed. Lazy lazy girl. Second, she's not alone, and third Sophia is the other person. Oh shit, this is not going to go down well. I've lived a decent life until now.

Both Thalia and Sophia look over just in time to see a sizeable ball of water smack Thalia in the face. There's a moment of unbreakable silence as the three of us just look at each other. I'm going to die.

"Percy, what in the name of every single fucking God do you think you're doing?" Thalia begins, here rage evident even if she wasn't beginning to give off sparks. Be smart here Percy.

"Room Service?" I return dumbly. Yea, that was a long shot.

"Your lucky that I can't get up right now, otherwise I'd kill you." Thalia growls, pulling the duvet closer around the pair of them. I don't even know which God to thank for this saving grace. But I can hazard a guess.

I just look between the two of them as a small grin begins to grow on my face again.

"So, how long has this been going on?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, and take the great pleasure in watching them both blush deeply. Not that long then.

"I mean no…" Sophia doesn't get to finish her sentence as Thalia cuts her off. Let the girl speak.

"What're you doing her fish for brains?" She grinds out, the sparks coming off of her beginning to intensify. But so much fun is to be had with this. Also, she should try not to electrocute her special lady friend.

"I came to have a fairly important chat, but if you two are busy I can wait downstairs." I smile, expecting the knife that appears in the air out of nowhere. So predictable.

I extend my Shield and duck behind it as the knife clangs off of it. I can never express to Tyson how thankful I am for this shield.

"I'll wait downstairs." I laugh, diving from the room as another knife is launched at me and only just misses my head. She still has frightening aim when she's half asleep.

"Bye." Sophia calls after me with a small laugh. I roll to my feet next to Jenna who is just looking down at my with a disapproving look.

"A heads up would have been nice." I say, standing up and shrinking my shield back into a watch.

"Maybe, but you still shouldn't barge into peoples rooms." She frowns at me.

"Technically it's my room." I shoot back, which makes her smile and laugh a little. She can't fight that logic.

"Let's go wait in the kitchen." Jenna suggests, making her way back down the stairs.

It takes about ten minutes for Thalia and Sophia to come down the stairs. Probably took that long for Sophia to calm Thalia down.

Sophia, smiles at me warmly but there is a slight blush in her cheeks. Thalia however still looks a little pissed at me. That's to be expected though.

I don't say anything, I just lead them into the kitchen where Georgia is sitting, nervously biting her lip. I lean against the wall behind Georgia and let Thalia and Sophia sit opposite her. I wonder how this is going to play out?

"So, what's happening?" Thalia grumbles out, still looking hostile.

"Georgia has something to tell you." I state, looking down at the girl sat in front of me. I can't be the one to tell them.

"Well… I heard some people… maybe… planning to attack the Hunt here." Georgia mumbles out, looking nervously between the two Hunters in front of her. They don't immediately respond, both seem to fall into deep thought. Well that's unexpected from Thalia.

"Are you sure you heard that?" Sophia asks carefully, keeping her voice low so the rest of the Hunt doesn't overhear the conversation.

"Yes, it was some shifty guys in the Forum." She returns adamantly, confidence burning in her eyes. She's really sure about this.

"Ok, so here's what we do." Thalia starts, also keeping her voice down.

"We'll move the more severely wounded upstairs, the less critical will have to stay down here but towards the back of the house away from the street and the rest of us will rotate through watches to keep an eye out for an attack." Thalia lays out, her initial rage at being disturbed completely gone now. That was a really quick plan.

"Why would people still want to attack us? I thought we were in the clear now." Georgia cries quietly, tears threatening to explode from her eyes. Sophia reaches across the table and gives Georgia's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry, we've got this and Percy will keep an eye on us as well." She smiles, giving me a very directed look. I feel like that's a given at the point.

"Of course, who would I have to shoot at me at random times for no good reason if you guys were gone." I joke, laughing at the glares in all three of the girls eyes. I could just send Midnight if she was here, but she went with Reyna this morning.

"Ok, so I'll go fill Reyna in and see what we can do." I tell them, turning for the door and making my way to the exit. Hopefully nothing bigger comes from this, Rome is too fragile as is.

(Line Break)

I find Reyna about twenty meters from the ruined Principia, stood looking over a table with about eight different plans for reconstruction splayed out. I'm so glad that's not my job.

"Hey." I say as I walk up to the table. Reyna glances up and a small smile lights up her face. Still as beautiful as ever.

"Hey, how was training?" She asks, stepping away from the table and rubbing her eyes. Probably not as hard as what you're doing.

"It actually went alright, Lauren picked up a new girl on her way in. Liz I think was her name." I inform her, giving a quick glance to the plans on the table. The redesigned Principia looks pretty cool.

"Hmm, I think she'll be a good addition. I fought with her during the siege, she's very capable." Reyna surprises me with the information, but I take it thankfully.

I loop and arm over her shoulder and turn us towards the Legionnaires who are working on clearing the debris. How they've nearly cleared it all away is beyond me. The Greeks would have taken days.

"So how's this going?" I ask, trying to keep this good mood for as long as I can. She can wait to be burdened with this for a few minutes.

"It's actually going ok. We've nearly cleared the space to start rebuilding and the new design has a lot more defence capabilities than the old one." She smiles, seeing something I can't when she looks over the area. She is remarkable.

I give her a light kiss on the side of her head before taking my arm back and turning towards her with a more serious expression. She's still looking at the workers with a happy glint in her eyes when I start talking. Why must I always be the bearer of bad news.

"There is something else I need to talk about." I start, watching as she registers the tone on my voice and slightly deflates. She know it's going to be bad.

"Can't get a day can we." She half smiles, turning her now weary eyes to me. The constellations are breathtaking every time I see them.

"One of the Hunters overheard some people in the Forum talking about attacking the Hunt at my house." I whisper, looking around to make sure no-one is in earshot.

"What?" Echo's in my head as Midnight comes bounding over and skids to a halt in front of us. Reyna looks like she had the exact same reaction to the news but doesn't repeat the wolf.

"She didn't quite see who the people were, but I have no reason to believe that she'd lie about this." I add, looking between the two of them. Midnight just prowls in front of us, her anger beginning to bleed into me. Is this what it's like for her when I get angry?

"Why people would plan this after what happened the other day is beyond me, but it is also a sound strategy. The timing couldn't actually be better." Reyna sighs. I don't need her to explain what she means as it's fairly obvious, this group is using the weakened state of Rome to attack. Knowing full well that there isn't enough man power to deal with it at the moment. Tactically sound.

"Ok, so here's what we're going to do. We're going to go get Nico and have him investigate from the shadows, and I want you two to go and stay at your house for the time being. Until I can set up a proper guard for them." Reyna lays out, kind of frighteningly quickly. Oh Nico had something to tell her.

"Oh yea, Nico said he has some information for you by the way." I tell her after nodding along to her plan. A little grin flickers at the corner of her mouth at this information and it's the littlest be terrifying. What're these two up too?

"Great, I'll go see him now and get this all underway. I know you're going to get your family tomorrow, so I'll try and have a guard in place by tonight at the latest." She tells me, giving my arm a reassuring squeeze. I'm getting a little giddy at the concept of mum coming here.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I love you." I say before giving her a proper kiss, and for a moment the rest of the world and our issues melt away for a second. But all good things must end.

We separate and with one last smile I stride off with Midnight back towards my house. We can't have some idiots start this fight.

I get back to my house in record time and quickly explain to Thalia, Sophia and Jenna what's going to happen. They're not so pleased, but with such little information to go off we really can't just start accusing people left and right. That would make more problems rather than solving them.

"Have you finished moving all the more severely wounded?" I ask, looking to Sophia. She just nods in response, already very tense at this whole situation.

"Good. I'll have Midnight patrol outside and I'll set up on the roof so that I can see if anyone is approaching." I tell them, looking between all of them to see if they have anything to add.

"I'll sit with you." Jenna states, a look on her face demanding that we speak alone. emThat's weird. /emBut I don't argue and just nod. I wonder what's on her mind.

We make our way to the second floor, heading for the balcony to climb onto the roof. Riley comes tumbling out of a doorway, giggling as she finishes rolling at my feat. At least she's still having a good time.

"Percy!" She exclaims happily, scrambling to her feet and wrapping her small arms around me. Gwen shyly pokes her head out of the door that Riley came rolling in from.

"Sorry, she escaped me." She whispers nervously. emShe must have heard what was happening as is trying to keep Riley from exploring too much.

"That's alright, I was just on my way up to see the two of you anyway." I lie, flashing my lopsided grin as I pick up Riley.

"Have you been giving Gwen a hard time?" I ask in a mock stern voice, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Nooooo." Riley draws out, looking as suspicious as a hand grenade. The little trouble maker.

"Well, if that's the case and you continue to be good. I'll see about getting your brother to come and visit and maybe give you some tips on how to use your powers." I offer in a knowing tone. She just smiles her sweetest smile and nods happily. She would probably thrive in the company of the Stolls.

"Good. How've you been Gwen?" I ask as I put Riley back down.

"I've been alright, I've just been keeping an eye on the younger girls to make sure they don't get into too much trouble." She answers, but her tone and expression tell me something else. She's really nervous about this whole situation.

"Hey just wondering, have you been claimed yet?" I ask her quietly, but from the sad look her in eyes I can guess her answer.

"No, not yet. But I'm sure it'll happen soon." She returns trying to sound upbeat and hopeful about it. Maybe it's not one of the Olympians.

"Yea I'm sure they'll claim you soon, whoever it is." I reply, trying to mirror her hopefulness. I really wonder who it could be.

On that final note I give them a small wave and carry on towards the balcony with Jenna, who has been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time. Is she mad at me.

We walk out onto the balcony and easily climb up the wall to the roof and find a spot which is at least a little bit comfortable. I pull my cloak around me and my hood up to hopefully help conceal me a little bit. The sun is still just up, it would take an idiot to miss us.

"Can we talk about what happened at the wall the other night?" Jenna eventually asks after ten minutes of silence. That's not what I was expecting.

"Um, sure." I respond uncertainly, not sure where she's going with this.

"When you were fighting the Shades we were effectively useless to help. We shot them every which way we could think of but nothing seemed to work." She starts, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes. After talking with Chaos about how to fight them and seeing the arrows from the girls go straight through their chest I'm a little confused.

"Well it turns out that they only have two weaknesses." I jump in before she can continue, which makes her turn sharply towards me.

"What?"

"Yea, apparently there is something in the dead centre of their chest which you need to hit to be able to kill them." I tell her looking up at the passing clouds. Wasn't there something else?

"Oh, and the sun." I quickly add. Come on Jackson, you only just got told this.

Jenna just looks at me dumbfounded, her jaw so close to falling open.

"How did you find this out?" She asks, the shock evident in her voice.

"That's doesn't really matter. What does is the fact that we now have something to aim for when we're fighting them now." I begin, my eyes following a particular cloud as it tracks across the sky.

"So don't bring yourself down because of what happened, none of us knew how to fight them and all that matters to me is that you were there with me when I was fighting and able to pull me out before I got taken." I finish, turning to her with gratitude in my eyes. She can't see your expression dumb ass.

"But that was mainly Gwen, I don't know who her parent is but they're very powerful. Maybe more powerful than an Olympian." Jenna reveals quietly, but there's no need to whisper as I've made my house a sanctuary. The Gods couldn't listen in even if they wanted to.

"Stronger than an Olympian, that's an interesting idea." I mutter, letting the idea fill my mind. I mean, it could make sense. It's not like the Gods are the only ones wandering around. Maybe it's one of the Titans, that could explain why she hasn't been claimed yet.

"You know, I've been having a similar thought." I tell Jenna, bringing my attention down from the skies. But if she is a Titan's daughter, who's would she be? And how would people take it if this info came out? She might be hunted by everyone she know's.

After that conversation, Jenna and I spend the rest our watch talking about nothing in particular as well as noting down every suspicious person that came by.

And just before the sun fully descended a group of ten Legionaries come jogging up the road. Mostly female, but with the way the Legion is in at the moment it's probably the best that Reyna could do. I'll go check in with her immediately.

"Alright, well I'll catch you later Jen." I say as I climb to my feet. I extend my still painfully knew wings and hop off the roof. I get an unsteady flap in and land just in front of the small group of Legionnaires, giving the girl in the front a small fright. I should probably not scare everyone by just dropping out of the sky randomly.

But the girl quickly regains her bearings and salutes me with a short "Praetorian." The rest of the group quickly follows suit and I wave them all down. Being saluted is a weird sensation.

"I'm glad you guys are here, they might not be." I say, pointing a thumb over my shoulder at one of the girls in the window that has a deep frown on her face. What good timing.

"But I want you to pair up and guard the perimeter of the house. No one gets near unless it's me, the Consul or the Praetors. Do you understand?" I ask, knowing full well that if Reyna picked them then they'll do the job. They all give me quick nods and then break off into twos and walk towards my house. I really hope nothing happens while I'm gone.

I give Jenna one final wave, which she returns from the balcony and then I head for where I know Reyna will be.

"I'm heading out. Keep an eye on the place." I call out to Midnight, who I don't really expect to respond from where ever she is around here.

"I'll keep them safe." Her soft voice floats through my head and puts my heart at ease. Everything is going to be fine.

I trek back to the Principia and find Reyna now set up in a small tent, with the same table but different papers on it. Or maybe just more, the stacks have grown some.

"How's it going?" I ask, hugging her from behind and kissing her lightly on the neck. She sinks into the hug for a second before turning to face me.

"Fine, we've cleared nearly all of the debris and can probably start rebuilding tomorrow if everything else goes as planned. How's the house." She returns, her brow pulled together tightly. She has far too much to worry about at the moment.

"The house is fine, the guard is all set up and the Hunters are prepared for anything. So I'm sure it'll be fine." I reassure her, flashing a small smile. She does seem to relax a little but only a little. She's going to be worrying about this for a while.

"Are you sure you have to be the one to go and get your mum? We can send a small group of Legionaries to do it." She asks, concern spilling over her words. Where's this coming from?

"It'll be quick and easy if I just go. Less suspicious as well if only one person is moving around." I tell her, a little confused by her question.

"I just don't want an incident to happen like the last time you left. I don't know what it is, but the powers you have from Vesta seem to keep the whole city calm." Reyna elaborates, fear seeping into her voice. So that's what she's scared of.

"Don't worry, there's no one in Rome like Benjamin and I'll only be gone a few hours at most." I tell her, stroking the side of her face softly.

"So don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine." I reassure her again, planting a kiss gently on her forehead. I really hope nothing happens while I'm gone.

"Now, let's go eat and get some sleep. You're going to drive yourself mad if you stare at these papers any longer." I grin, looping an arm around her and walking her away from the tent. She follows reluctantly and shouts an order over her shoulder for someone to gather her papers. Oh the perks of being in charge.

We stop at one of the small cafe's on the way home to have dinner, it's unusually quiet but that's expected. We talk quietly between ourselves, relishing this moment of peace that is so rare.

"So have you had any luck with your powers that Chaos gave you?" I ask after a while. Need to make sure she hasn't gone wild again.

"I haven't really had time to practice them, I can't even make sense of the tattoo." Reyna admits, swirling the drink in her glass thoughtfully. Maybe I can make something of the tattoo.

"Do you want me to have a proper look at it? See if I can figure anything out." I offer, paying for the meal as the waitress walks by.

"Yea could you, I mean yours all makes sense. The Hearth, the Flames and all the Greek script basically explains your powers." She tells me, sounding more than a little annoyed. Wait, it does?

"Sure, so let's go have a look." I return, trying to sound like I know what she's talking about. I've tried reading the script a dozen times and it doesn't make sense to me.

We leave the cafe and head home, walking through a peaceful city hand in hand. It's only peaceful because everyone is still scared from the attack.

We make it back to Reyna's and head to her room to get ready for bed and for me to inspect her tattoo. I can't believe I haven't tried to properly look at it already, we've just been so busy the last couple of days.

Reyna strips down to her bra and sits on the end of the bed patiently as I examine the tattoo. Holy shit this is detailed.

Much like mine it starts on her chest and spreads over her shoulder and down to her elbow, but that's where the similarities end. Where mine is black and red, Reyna's has the full colour spectrum painted across her in beautifully intricate galaxies and nebulae. It's beautiful.

On her chest is an image of the cosmos, on all its glory as it spreads over her shoulder. On the inside of her bicep is Roman tower shield with a single Gladius coming out of the top, with mirroring spears crossing behind the shield. On the shield is an Eagle and SPQR, with tiny Latin text lining the edges of the shield. On the other side of her arm is a Crow in full flight, but you can just make out a few other crows in the background.

But between those two main images flows water and flame. emIs that supposed to be me?/em And on a closer inspection there are more words in the rolling waves of the water. Interesting. I can read this, how can I read this and not mine which is in Greek?

"It's all written here, can you not read this?" I ask a little suspicious, but an idea is slowly forming in my head. What if we can't read our own because it's intentionally illegible to us, but not other people. I should test this.

"You can?" She asks incredulously, looking about as surprised as I felt reading it.

"Tell me." She insists.

"Ok ok. So this bit says something about being as swift as a Horse, with the strength of an Ox and the endurance of a hound." I start, looking back at Reyna who nods along.

"Chaos did say that my physical abilities would be enhanced, she even thinks I might be as fast as you now." Reyna grins, nudging me with her elbow and making me laugh. Sure.

"We'll see about that." I laugh before looking back down at her tattoo.

"Ok, so this says, 'No matter where my bearer shall be without a weapon she will not be, call on me and any weapon shall be.'" I read from the shield tattoo.

"I'm guessing that means you can summon weapons, kind of like Mars was doing in the dual." At the mention of the dual Reyna's expression turns dark, so I quickly continue.

"Um, this bit says something similar but it's about armour. So you can summon armour I guess and this bit is about keener battle senses and enhancing your current ability." I continue turning her arm to get a better look at the writing in the waves. emThis bit is a bit intense./em/span/p

"This bit is a bit more menacing. It reads, 'Oh bearer mine, you hold the power of the constellations. While you shan't be able to form a universe, you will be able to wield starlight like others wield water and flame. But be warned, starlight burns hotter than any flame and flows wilder than any current.'" I finish, looking up at Reyna slowly. But she is in deep thought about what I just said and isn't looking at me. Thank the Gods.

"So Chaos told me all those first powers, but left out that last bit. She did seem a little excited about it though." Reyna starts twisting a strand of her short hair between her fingers deep in thought. I still need to ask why she cut her hair.

"Starlight." She repeats thoughtfully.

"Is that like how some of the children of Apollo can use sunlight?" She asks out loud, finally turning her attention to me. Maybe, and that also gives me a different idea.

"I guess so, but I guess we'll never know unless we try them out. Carefully though, the last line is a bit concerning." I tell her and she nods in agreement.

"I can put you through a similar regimen that Hestia put me through when I was learning her powers if you want." I suggest, lying down on the bed. It was brutal though, for a kind and compassionate Goddess she can sure give out a beating.

"Yea I think that will help, don't want to spiral out of control if I get angry or something." She half jokes, but there is a guilt in her eyes. eIs she talking about what happened when she got the news about the Legion?

Reyna lies down next to me and turns to face me. She really is beautiful.

"Why did you cut your hair?" I ask suddenly, surprising Reyna a little. But she just smiles softly.

"Do you not like it?" She ask jokingly, but there's a catch in her voice.

"O-Of course, I was just wondering." I scramble, not expecting to have this turned on me. But Reyna just laughs at me before lightly pulling on a strand of her hair.

"I don't really know, I think at first I said it was to keep it away from my eye." She starts, slowly tracing the thin line down her cheek.

"But I think it was more to show that I had failed. That I had been so beaten by the enemy and I kind of wore it like a badge of shame." She explains sadly. She really thinks that?

"Well I like it, I think it suits you." I tell her, earning a small smile. I take in her face, my eyes following the scar that goes through her eye. I get lost in the constellations in her eyes for a second. It is really cool having stars in your eyes, mine are only green and red.

"What is it?" Reyna asks softly.

"I'm just taking in how beautiful you are." This makes Reyna blush slightly, which only makes her more beautiful.

"I love you." I say before wrapping her in my arms and kissing her, next thing I know Reyna is straddling me as she tries to work my top off.

And before things can escalate any further a small cough makes us both freeze as we slowly turn towards the balcony door. Is that thing like permanently open?

Sat in the doorway casually scratching behind her ear is Midnight, with what can only be a grin across her face. She always has such impeccable timing.

"So what's going on in here?" She asks as she struggles to restrain what sounds like a laugh, slowly walking over and jumping up onto the bed.

"Adult things." I say back to her, which earns a small tap on the forehead from Reyna. Was that necessary?

"I can see that." Midnight laughs, jumping down from the bed and heading for the bedroom door.

"Just let me out and I'll be out of your way. I need to sleep if I'm going to be on guard tomorrow." She says sitting by the door. Reyna climbs off me and opens the door for the grinning wolf, who trots past her with her head held high.

"Oh and you might want to close the balcony door. Don't want the neighbours hearing your evening activities." Midnight says, making Reyna slam the door shut in her face. But we can still hear her laugh floating through our heads. She so happy with herself.

Reyna strides across the room and quickly closes the balcony door and draws the curtains. It seems that she was not deterred by the intrusion, but she's taken Midnights advice to heart.

She turns back to me and all but jumps back onto the bed as we continue what we started.

(Line Break)

When I wake up in the morning I can't help feeling a little giddy, and seeing Reyna curled into my side under the duvet just multiples that feeling a hundredfold. Things are looking good today.

I extract myself carefully from bed and quickly get into my training gear and head to the training area for morning training with my Praetorians. I can't believe this is all going ahead.

I get to the training area first and I practically bounce over to the automations control settings. I don't think anything can bring me down at the moment. I just know that Mum, Paul and Lily are going to love New Rome. I got her confirmation that they're good to come late last night.

I set the difficulty level to extreme and pull Riptide out of my pocket. I'm so glad I had some of the Vulcan kids and Legacies put this together, the one at Camp Half-Blood was really helpful.

I press go and three hatches open in the floor at the other side of the training area and forty fully armed automations rise of platforms from below.

I centre myself as I uncap Riptide and lower into a fighting position. Let's do this.

A buzzer sounds and I ignite my right arm and grin before charging at the first group of automations. A group in heavy armour with shields, pila and gladius'. Today's going to be a good day.

(Lauren POV)

Thinking I should probably try and set a good example to some of the younger members of our new little 'emGroup/em', I arrive a little early and run into Liz, Peter and Angela. So I'm not the only one getting here early, damn it.

But before anyone can make any kind of comment we hear clanging coming from inside the training area, and as we share a confused look we all jog in the direction of the noise. Please don't be any kind of enemy that was in hiding.

We're all about to round a corner and get a full view of what's happening when James appears out of nowhere and stops us with a finger to his lips. The fuck is going on?

He indicates for us to follow him and he peeks around the corner, so naturally I follow suit without asking questions. Where's the fun in getting all the answers if you can just check it out yourself.

We all look around the corner and I hear at least two gasps come form our group. If I hadn't seen him fight before I probably would have gasped as well.

Percy is in the process of laying waste to dozens of automations. I've never seen automations like this, did he get them specially made?

The way they move is so lifelike, so much like how we fight that compared to the other training automatons it actually looks like he can have a fight with them. Not that that matters apparently, he's still cutting through them with terrifying ease.

"Are we ever going to be able to move like that?" Angela asks, clearly in awe. I feel that sister.

Percy just continues to dance through all the strikes, ducking and weaving out of the way of arrows and thrown pila like he's evading a snowball. I really don't know if we'll ever be that good.

"It's hard to believe that he went to a summer camp instead of a training vigorously for years, isn't it." James states, just smiling at our new Centurion. It really is.

Percy punches through one of the automations with his flaming fist and pins another to the floor with two giant icicles and slowly turns on the last automation. How long has he been at this? Are the automations repairing themselves?

As Percy stalks towards the last opponent, the defeated automations begin to slowly reform. Not fast enough to rejoin the fight though, which is probably how they were designed.

The last automation easily stands at eight feet and it standing with a huge battle axe by its side and I can tell from here that it's a lot more powerful than the others. But Percy seems unfazed as he slowly circles the machine, a small smile in his face and his eyes beginning to glow a little. Is he going to burst into flame again?

"I'm glad he's on our side." Peter whispers to the group.

"I'd sure as hell hate to be his enemy." James agrees with a small nod, unable to take his eyes off of the fight.

"How long has he been at this?" I ask James, who just shrugs in response. Helpful.

"I don't know, he was already at it when I arrived and that was only like five minutes before you guys arrived. But I don't think this is his first run through." James returns, still unable to look away. How many times has he done this this morning alone.

"It's fascinating to watch isn't it?" A voice says from behind all of us, making us jump in unison. We turn and Reyna is stood in running gear with Percy's wolf next to her. Her name is Midnight right.

"The way he moves and fights is so fluid but calculated, so delicate but destructive. I don't know a living or dead Demigod that could match him in single combat." Reyna continues as we all turn back to carry on watching as Percy slowly circles in closer. No one, surely there's someone somewhere. Right?

"He's like a wolf hunting." Liz quips, making Reyna giggle. Has Reyna ever giggled before? What's he doing to her?

"Oh yes, he is very much like an apex predator when he fights. He knows at any moment he could lose, that he could die and everything he loves will be lost, and he's accepted that." Reyna starts, giving the wolf a stroke between the ears with a smile. They are very close with this wolf.

"But, he refuses to accept that outcome. He keeps pushing and fighting to mould the future he wants, to make sure all of his friends and family can live happy lives." Reyna continues with a loving smile. She really does love him.

"We're lucky to have him on our side, Gods know that he has every right to turn his back on Olympus. But thankfully it's in his blood to stay for his friends." Reyna finishes with a final smile before turning around a continuing her run. She's a lot different than when she's being all official.

Percy's steps are light but deliberate as he edge closer to the huge automation and the moment he is within five feet it picks up its axe, spins it and strikes at Percy with blinding speed. Oh shit.

I take a step to go help but Liz grabs me and looks just as confused as to why. I turn back and see that Percy is slipping between the earth cracking strikes as well as deflecting the ones that get too close. He's like the very definition of a swordsman, are we really this outclassed by him?

The automation swings low and Percy jumps, lands on the shaft of the battle axe and springs even higher, then on his way down he spins once. A flash of his blade passes through the automations neck and everything stops when he lands.

Then after a few seconds that feel like a lifetime, the automations head falls from its shoulders and the rest of the body crumples. Percy stands up and looks around, a small triumphant grin on his face and then he spots us and waves like a giant idiot. He ruined his own cool moment, how expected.

We tentatively wave back and then make our way over to him as he shuts down the automations, they reform into groups and then sink down beneath the training area. Did he have this all built?

"Percy my man, are you sure you really need us?" James jokes making Percy laugh.

"Of course." Percy returns heartily. Does he not realise how strong he is?

"Are you sure? You were basically a one man army just now." Peter adds, a little bit of fear mixed into his awe.

"I don't know how true that is, they were just automations. Fighting a real opponent is a lot more difficult. But more importantly, I can't be everywhere at once." He finishes dead serious. Bringing the mood down slightly, but he quickly slaps a smile on and changes the subject.

"Anyway, let's train." He says happily. What were you just doing man? Your training is going to kill us. But despite all that, I have a good feeling about this group.

(Erebus POV)

Everything is falling into place, my next step is to break the boy fully before the war even truly begins. The skirmish was just the start, but my next move will cripple him of that I'm certain.

"Sire, we're prepared." One of the Shade informs me as it forms next to me.

"Excellent, then proceed we don't have much time." I order it, it bows in return and fades into the shadows agains. We can't miss this opportunity.

"Boy!" I bellow, and Benjamin's head peaks around a corner. Obvious disdain on his face as he slowly makes his way over to me. If not for his knowledge of the New Rome I would have killed him like any other Demigod.

"Master, what can I do for you?" He asks, mock bowing to me. The moment I don't need him, I'm feeding him to a Hellhound.

"Are you sure the information you gave me is correct?" I press, glaring down at him.

"Of course, my sources may be less than they were. But they are still reliable." Benjamin confirms confidently. I will have to take his word on it.

"It better be, or it'll be your life." I threaten, spinning on my heel and walking away. Taking great pleasure in the fear painted across Benjamins pale face. Fear truly is a wonderful motivator. I wonder where the other boy has run off to though?

I carry on down the corridor for a bit and then step into the shadows. I reappear deep within my palace, in front of a giant iron door. I'm sure it's time we let them loose.

I push open the door and am greeted by a group of somewhat attractive woman. How truly deceptive they are.

The Mormolykeia have always been a favourite of the monsters created. So wonderfully useful to use on infiltration missions when they can replace a woman in the encampment.

"Ladies I do believe I have finally found a suitable job for one of you." I call out to them. Immediately all their eyes are on me as they begin to creep closer to me.

But one in particular confidently walks towards me seductively, trying very hard to catch my attention. emOh yes, she'll do perfectly.

"I'm going to need you to take the form of this woman." I command, making a shadowy picture appear in my hand.

"Hmm, she's not the prettiest. But I shall do it, as a thanks for freeing us." She returns in a sickeningly sweet voice. But she starts to slowly morph into a different woman entirely. In all honestly it looks painful.

"Excellent, when you're ready come to my throne room and we can discuss your job." I say, disappearing into the shadows.

What the only thing a man can do once you've taken everything from him? Break.

(Percy POV)

Training this morning was great, everyone was so motivated and Angela and Peter have already progressed so far compared to yesterday. They must just have an innate talent for swordplay.

But once training is finished my mind is set to only one thing. Get mum here.

I quickly chow down on some lunch with the others and then head home. I get changed into a pair of black jeans, a grey t-shirt, some boots and my long jacket that I got from Hestia all that time ago. I've been through so much with it, there's no way I would have stopped wearing it.

I quickly track down Reyna to tell her that I'm off, and with a kiss I head towards the stable to find one of my oldest friends. I haven't seen him in so long.

"Boss, that you?" A familiar voice calls out in my head, making me smile happily.

"Sure is buddy." I reply, running up and giving Blackjack a hug around his neck. I missed you buddy.

"Boss, I heard you were out of action for a while and then this whole attack went down and I had to kick some dudes head because he went after Guido. I hope that's cool." Blackjack tells me quickly, not even sounding the littlest bit sorry. I should have come to see them sooner, shit's just been so busy lately.

"Yea, I took a good beating and I was out for a few months and then that siege was a bit intense. I'm sorry I haven't come to see you much lately." I apologise, my chin hitting my chest as I find it difficult to look him in the eye.

"No worries Boss, I always know you're going to come back. So don't sweat it. Just give me a few doughnuts and we'll call it even." He returns, a small laugh playing through my head. I have the best animal friends. Speaking of animal friends, I hope Mrs O'Leary is ok in the Underworld without Nico there.

"Deal. So you up for an extraction mission?" I offer, making two doughnuts appear in my hand and handing him one.

"Extraction? Sounds fun, who we getting?" He asks, his front hooves tapping in excitement at being able to fly into a potentially dangerous situation.

"We're going to go get my mum, stepdad and little sister. This is a high priority mission, we need to be quick but stay under the radar." I explain, watching a fire light in his eyes. He's too ready for this.

"Think you and Guido are up for the task?" I ask with a smirk. Knowing full well that he is.

Blackjack rears and flaps his wings a few times in excitement, which sets off a few of the other Pegasus and earns him more than a few curses thrown his way.

"Oh Hell yea, we got this. Hey Guido, we're heading out. Saddle up!" Blackjack shouts excitedly, bouncing happily in his stall.

"You know we literally can't saddle ourselves right." Guido returns, ever the voice of reason. It's good that Blackjack has someone like him to level out a situations mood.

"Good, then let's get the chariot and go." I call to them both, opening their stalls and walking over to the chariot. Blackjack all but gallops to his position, excitement oozing from everywhere. Guido takes a much calmer approach, but still moves with a purpose. No wonder he chose Reyna to be his rider, they're so very similar.

I hitch the pair of them to the chariot and climb into it. This should be big enough to carry all of us, I can send their stuff here another way.

"So where we heading Boss?" Blackjack asks, already pulling slightly on the reins. I feel like his excitement is exceeding mine at this point.

"We're heading back to New York." I return deadpan. You know this man.

"Oh yea, I forgot that's where they lived for a second." He laughs as he and Guido begin to pull the chariot out of the stable. We clear the stable and they break into a gallop, flap their wings and we're in the air. You know, I used to be so scared of the sky. But since Zeus said that it's ok for me to fly, I can understand why Jason likes it so much. The Ocean is still better though.

(Line Break)

It take just about four hours to fly to New York, which Blackjack assures me is a hell of a lot quicker than if I'd got a plane. In all honesty I have no idea, so I'll take his word on it.

It's early afternoon when we arrive and the city is still bustling with activity. Finding a place to land is going to be kind of difficult with all these people. Even the mist won't be able to hide all of this.

And after a few flyovers, we finally spot a relatively quiet spot in Central Park that's hidden by a fair few trees. It's a few miles to get home, but it'll have to do.

We land and give Blackjack and Guido some doughnuts to feast on as I big a quick walk home. A sense of nostalgia hits me as I walk amongst familiar streets again, with the red hues of the setting sun really making this a picturesque moment. I've missed this place.

As I'm walking through the streets, familiar sounds, smells and places all call out to me. Pulling my attention for minutes at a time, it takes me a bit longer to get home than it should have. You're not a tourist Percy, come on!

Walking down the street to my mums flat, the sky has turned from a soft red and oranges to a deep crimson and all the people have disappeared, which begins to unsettle me. It's a very peculiar colour.

I get to the entrance to the apartment complex and am walking up to the door when a familiar voice calls my name. I turn around and see Jenna running up the street at full speed. Oh Gods, what's happened?

I back away from the door and jog down the street towards her, the panic making me feel a bit sick. Please let everything be ok.

"Jenna, what're you doing here?" I ask, the panic obviously leaking into my words as my heart rate rises drastically.

"Artemis sent me, apparently there was a report of an impending attack around here." Jenna relays, only a little out of breath. Ice begins to fill my veins at her statement. Why would she only send Jenna?

"The rest of the Hunt is setting up just around the corner, but I saw you and Artemis told me to warn you." Jenna explains, just before I can ask my question. I guess that makes sense.

"Ok, well my first priority is to get my family out. Can you help?" I ask, almost pleading as my heart pounds in my chest. This attack can't happen whilst they're here, they could get caught up in it.

Jenna nods in response and we run into the building and up the stairs towards mums flat. We need to hurry. Did Jenna's eyes look a bit off?

I push the question from my mind and push on up the stairs, almost running headlong into an elderly man slowly making his way down the stairs. It must have been a trick of the light outside.

I apologise to the old man and keep climbing, his angry voice throwing all kinds of insults at me as he waves his fist. I didn't realise old people actually did that.

"Too much bloody noise today." The old man mutters, which catches my attention. What else has been loud today? Back off ADHD, it's not the time.

After a few more flights of stairs, we reach the right floor and fly down the corridor looking for the right number. Faster Percy.

"Percy something's wrong!" Hestia's voice calls out in my head, which nearly makes my trip over as I turn a corner.

"I'm sorry Hestia, I'm in a bit of a rush. Can we talk later?" I ask her, realising that I'm blowing off a Goddess. Please don't be mad at me.

"No Percy this can't wait. Where are you?" She asks, the urgency in her voice slowing me down a bit. What's wrong?

"Percy come on!" Jenna calls from ahead of me, already standing outside my mums door. How does she know where mum lives?

I push aside the question and ignore Hestia as I close the last few meters and slam on mums door with my fist. My hands beginning to shake with fear. They're fine, the attack hasn't happened yet. Otherwise there would be monsters everywhere.

There is no response to my first round of banging, so I bang on the door again. The desperation beginning to show itself in my movements. Please be ok. I wonder why Hestia hasn't tried to contact me again.

"Jenna sta…" I don't finish my sentence, because when I turn around there is a much taller version of Jenna than when got here. Oh fuck no.

I back into the door, my hand reaching slowly for Cyclone under my jacket and watch as the giant version of Jenna slowly melts away in a grotesque spectral looking woman. I just led her to mums flat.

"Oh boy, this will be ever so sweet." Her horrible grating voice says, I'm almost surprised that my ears don't spontaneously start bleeding. Wait, I didn't lead her here. She knew where she was going.

Before I can pull Cyclone out, she strikes my fast and hard in the chest sending my flying through the front door of the flat. She hits like a bloody sledgehammer.

The first thing that registers when I regain my bearings in the room is the smell. The acrid stench of death and rot assaults my nostrils as I pull myself to my feet. But before I can locate the smell the woman is on me again, slashing at me with enormous nails that look wicked sharp. I don't even know what kind of Monster she is.

I quickly pull Cyclone out to counter her and in one smooth motion I deflect her nails and take off her left hand. At least she's not a powerhouse like the Shades, or the black bloods.

She screeches in pain, blood pouring from her stump of a wrist. She backs up a few paces and hisses at me with pure hatred. I can beat her, I will protect my family.

"What's wrong? What happened to all that confidence?" I jeer, taking a few steps towards her and she only backs away another step.

"What even are you?" I ask, genuinely curious as I look her up and down. I'd say she's a ghost like the Lares, but they can't actually touch us.

"I am one of the Mormolykeia, the once servants of Hecate." She growls in return as the stump of her wrist begins to glow slightly. Oh no you don't.

I close the distance between us in a flash and slash down at her neck, but she manages to get her arm in the way in time and I only succeed in cutting her arm off halfway up her bicep. Damn she's quick.

She tries to side step around me and get a strike in on my side, but I spin in the same direction and duck under her strike and drive Cyclone into her chest, all the way to the hilt. Thank the Gods she was weak, I couldn't bare it if I'd dragged Mum or Paul into this fight.

"I wouldn't be so pleased with your victory boy. It's the only one you've won today." She cackles, as she dissolves into golden dust. What does she mean?

But as I watch the last of her disintegrate, the smell that first hit me when I landed in the room engulfs me. What is that smell?

I turn around and her words strike truer than any blade could with their meaning and my heart shatters as I fall to my knees in anguish. How could this have happened?

I look around the kitchen and it's like a bomb went off. Who knows, maybe it did.

But the thing that brought me to my knees was the sight of Paul pinned to the wall with a spear, his feet hanging off the ground and a confused smile on his face. He didn't even see it coming.

The tears start to pour freely from my eyes as I pull myself to my feet, the sound of Pauls blood dripping on the floor my only company. Please, please don't let this be true.

A pain in my heart builds as I slowly make my way through the flat, looking into every room and seeing a similar scene of destruction in each of them. Please.

I shakily stop outside of Mum's bedroom door, taking in the scratches and gashes in the door. As well as a couple of piles of gold dust with blood mixing in with them. She fought back, maybe she's still inside. By the Gods I hope Lilly is in there with her.

I go to knock on the door, but the door slowly opens after the first knock and the hinges creak horribly as it does. No, by all the Gods no.

I slowly push the door the rest of the way open and once again I'm brought to my knees as an unimaginable pain courses through my very being, the air in my lungs abandoning me. How could this have happened? I was prepared, I had time.

Before me lies the broken body of my mum, still clutching the small imperial gold dagger that I had given her. A wail explodes from my as I curl in on myself, small tremors shaking the building. I was here, I was here.

Slowly, probably the slowest I've ever moved, I crawl towards the body of my mother and rest her head on my lap, carefully brushing loose strands of her hair from her face. She's still warm, It happened whilst I was talking with that monster outside.

A hollow kind of weight pulls on my heart and a lump forms in my throat as I look down at her face, so at peace you could think she was asleep if not for all the blood. Pipes begin to creak and groan in the walls, the water reacting to my emotions.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I cry, my tears dropping down onto her cheeks heavily. I gently wipe them away, but as I do there's a slight twitch in her face and one of her eyes opens.

"Percy?" She asks weakly, one of her hands slowly raising to find me.

"Yes, it's me." I respond quickly, grabbing her tightly. She's alive, I can save her.

"Just hold on, I'll call Apollo and he'll fix you right up." I state, trying to wipe tears from my eyes as I begin to look up.

"N-no, fi…find Lilly. S…s….secret panel… the wa…wardrobe." She manages to get out, her breath coming painfully. Lilly's alive!

I quickly jump to my feet, after gently resting her head back down and run over to the wardrobe. I throw open the door and begin searching the inside. Where is it?

"At t-the back dar-ling." Mums weak voice quietly informs, making new tears spring to my eyes.

I inspect the back wall better and find a small hole, no bigger than a fingertip and I jam my finger into it and with a click a panel opens slightly to the left. When did they build this?

I pull the panel open slowly and inside is a sleeping Lilly wrapped in a blanket, blissfully unaware of what's transpired. Oh precious girl, I'm so sorry this has happened.

I gently pick her up with my shaking hands and make my way back to mum who has the smallest smile on her face as her eyes slowly track us. I need to call Apollo.

"Ok, I've got Lilly. I'm going to call Apollo now." I tell her, but her eyes don't see me anymore as they stare blankly at the ceiling. No, no, no.

"I'm glad I got to see you one last time." She whispers.

"No, just hold on. You'll be fine." I plead quietly, not wanting to wake the small bundle in my arms.

"I love you both so… much." She manages with her final breath, then she lies still and my heart shatters completely as I quietly sob. My knees impact with the floor and a shockwave rattles the whole building. I was distracted for a few minutes, I should have just come straight here. Why did I have to look at everything on the way here? They'd still be alive if I'd just come straight here.

I'm hanging by a thread, threatening exploding into a million pieces when Lilly shifts slightly in my arms and draws my attention to her. She's still asleep so content and happy, now her world is going to be turned upside down and it's all my fault.

I hear a creak behind me and in a flash I've pulled Riptide from my pocket and have it millimetres from the throat of Thanatos with more than a few horrifying looking woman behind him. You can't have her!

"Perseus, I mean you no harm. I just wish to escort her soul before they can get to her." Thanatos says, indicating slowly at the woman behind him. What are they?

"They are called Keres, and they're my sisters. They feed on violent deaths and by the looks of this, violent it was." Thanatos continues, keeping a cautious eye on my blade as well as his 'Sisters'.

"You can't have her." I manage to get out with a croaky voice, my blade steady where my voice is not as I stare down the God of Death. I will fight them all.

"Perseus, I know you're distraught but you cannot fight them and I can't hold them back forever. Please let me take her so she can rest in peace, they will offer no such promises. They will only feed on her." He tells me, his voice level and calm. More concerned with the Keres behind him than the blade at his throat. No, I can't, she can't be dead.

Slowly the tip of my blade falls to the floor and I fall back down to the floor, crying softly into the blanket Lilly is in. Thanatos breaths a small sigh of relief as he goes to move past me, pausing for a second to rest a hand on my shoulder.

"I truly am sorry." He says, his voice full of compassion and remorse. That doesn't change anything though does it.

He quietly kneels over mums body and whispers a small prayer which makes her glow for a second, but then she returns to normal and remains still. That's it, she gone forever. But I can't breakdown here, I need to get Lilly out of here.

Numb I slowly pull myself to my feet, wiping the stream of tears from my face and make my way past the Keres to the door, down to the street and back to Central Park. The sky now black and menacing, until I spot the moon shining bright to lead the way. Is Artemis inadvertently helping me? Probably not.

I make it back to Central Park and walk over to where I left Blackjack and Guido, who are happily munching on some grass.

"Hey Boss, you took forever." Blackjack calls out jokingly, seemingly unaware of my mood. When I don't reply he get a bit more suspicious.

"Hey, I thought you said there would be more people. Where's you family?" He asks, his voice coming out slightly panicked as he looks around the trees.

"Here. She's it." I say quietly, indicating to the still sleeping Lilly as I try and keep my voice in check. Which makes both their eyes go wide.

"Boss, no. We were too late?" He asks, but I don't respond. I just climb into the back of the chariot a crack the reins softly for them to move.

Blackjack doesn't ask anymore questions as we fly back and I'm grateful, as I know I would fall apart if he asked even one. I can't believe I failed them. How can I keep letting the people I love die if I'm meant to be a hero?

(Line Break)

We land back in New Rome having not spoken a word the whole way, the moon our only companion across the sky. Keeping a sad vigil as we fly through the sky.

The pain in my chest having not subsided at all. I guess it might never go away.

Lilly wakes up as we land and groggily asks for mum and it takes all my strength not to breakdown. I tell her that she's on her way and Lilly just nods sleepily as she looks around.

"Where are we?" She asks tiredly.

"This is New Rome, it'll be your new home." I tell her, trying to keep my voice as level as I can as I slowly wander back towards the city limits. I keep my head down and pull my coat closer around us as Lilly slips back to sleep. I don't want to deal with people right now.

By the grace of whichever God I make it the Pomerian Line without running into anyone, but that is shattered when a grump old voice calls out to me.

"Praetorian! What're you trying to smuggle into my city?" Terminus bellows appearing right in front of us. Not now you useless statue.

I don't answer and go to walk around Terminus, which only seems to aggravate him as he appears in my path again. You're a God, you know it's a little girl.

"Stop right there or I will strike you down." He yells in my face, and in a moment of lapsed concentration I let my rage consume me. I glare promised violence at terminus as the ground shakes and cracks beneath my feet. This is not the time!

Terminus has the common curtesy to flash about twenty feet away and if he could shrink in fear I'm sure he would be.

"You'll pay for this boy!" He cowers, flashing away to Gods knows where. I look down at Lilly in my arms and relax, thankfully that I didn't wake her up. I'll apologise to the arrogant statue tomorrow.

I carry on making my way to Reyna's house, careful to avoid anyone and everyone I see, walking through the streets this late. But thankfully anyone that does see me quickly moves away. I'm sure there will be gossip tomorrow about how I was tormenting citizens at night. But I really couldn't care.

My mind goes kind of blank as I continue to walk through the streets of the city, slowly making my way home. To the only home I have now.

After taking longer than I probably should have I find myself outside of Reyna's door. I can't break.

I open the door quietly and lock it behind me before sneaking into the living room, where Reyna is curled up on one of the armchairs wrapped in a blanket with a book open on her. She couldn't look more beautiful.

I try to leave without waking her, but I didn't account for Midnight being curled at her feet and she very much wakes up when I try and leave. Fuck.

"Percy, is that you?" Midnight asks tiredly, slowly raising her head and looking around she blinks a few time before looking back at me. Please don't ask.

"Percy, where's Sally and Paul?" Midnight asks innocently, but it's enough to make the tears start again as I lean against the nearest wall and slide to the floor sobbing quietly as I bring a hand up to cover my face.

I immediately feel the heartache from Midnight as she lets out a quiet whine. She pads softly over to me, nuzzling into my side her soft cries making me cry harder. Am I curse to the people I care for?

"Percy I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry." Is all Midnight says as she presses her soft head against mine. Would it be better if I just left?

"I'll wake Reyna." Midnight says after a while and I don't have the strength to argue with her as I watch with watery eyes as she approaches Reyna silently and nudge her softly with her nose. Am I putting both of them in danger?

Reyna wakes after the second nudge and looks down at Midnight confused before Midnight turns to me. Reyna follows her gaze and I can see that tears are already falling from the corners of her eyes. No, please don't you cry as well.

She climbs off of the chair and rushes over to me and wraps the two of us in a hug so fierce but gentle that it throws me through a bit of a loop for a second. Please don't ask?

"Come on, let's go to bed." Is all she says, helping me to my unsteady feet she then puts an arm around me and guides me towards the bedroom. Thank you for not asking.

Reyna has to convince me to give Lilly to her so that I can get changed, but when I do my limbs suddenly feel like lead as the full weight of all my emotions hit me. She's actually gone. My beautiful, wonderful and loving mum is gone and there's nothing I can do about it.

It takes me forever to get ready for bed and by the time I am Reyna has already climbed into bed with Lilly in the middle sound asleep. How do you tell a girl that isn't even two yet that her parents won't be coming back?

I climb into bed with them and wrap my arms around the pair of them and give a light squeeze. I won't let anything happen to either of them.

"I love you Percy." Reyna whispers, placing a soft hand on my face and wiping a stray tear from my eye.

"I love you more." I whisper back, my voice so small I nearly thought I didn't even respond. Midnight jumps softly up onto the bed and curls up at the end, resting her big head on my legs.

"I love you too." She whispers with a remorseful voice.

"I love you too little lady." I return, giving her head a soft pat and I let the darkness of sleep take me.

I refuse to lose anyone else.

A/N: There it is boys and girls, I hope you enjoyed it. I know it turned a bit dark towards the end there, but it can't all be fun and games. Until next time.