The senate took the warning of war from Olympus seriously. It had been just over a year since then, but the Legion had doubled in size, as well as there was now defensive walls and moats being designed and built. Percy was loving life in New Rome. He'd overcame his introvert self and started to be involved. He taught sword fighting classes, which let off a weird dynamic, because he was fourteen teaching some kids over five years older than he was. He put the whole 'sixteen' prophecy that Neptune spoke of into the back of his mind. He had three more years until then.
He was meeting with Reyna at their spot on the Tiber today, with a surprise.
"Percy?" He stood and turned, and Reyna stood there in a dress that stopped just below mid-thigh, and Percy almost had to slap himself to stop from looking.
"Howdy, newly appointed Centurion of the First." Reyna giggled and sat on the edge. Percy followed.
"I hate that title already."
"But it sounds so good. Centurion Reyna!" he whispered the last part, mocking the roar of a crowd, and Reyna laughed again.
"How long until I get to tease you about being Centurion of the Fifth?"
"Probably as long as it'll take Jason to become Praetor." He said with an almost bitter laugh. Reyna frowned.
"Why do you say that? Why don't you think you can do it before he does? You two are like, the number one and two candidates for it."
"Reyna, I have ties to Neptune. They still think I'm a son of Neptune. He's a son of Jupiter. He's gonna be favored by literally everyone who has a say in it." Percy said, feeling more jealous. Reyna massaged circles on his back. He sighed into it, comfort overtaking the frustration.
"Atleast you have me, and Frank, and Hazel. And hey, you and Jason are like brothers. He's not the worst person to have be praetor, am I right." She rubbed his shoulder with a smile.
"Sometimes you're too good to me, Reyna." Percy said, smiling back.
Reyna wanted to scream at him that she liked him, but she didn't have anywhere near the confidence.
"I know." She said, winking at him. "Hey, do you think you could train with me?" she asked. Percy shrugged.
"I don't see why not. Why do you want me to train with you?"
"Well, you're putting on all this muscle." She squeezed his arm, which was in fact, much bigger than it was when they first met, "as well as you're like, I don't know, the best swordfighter in camp." Percy blushed and looked away.
"Yeah. Me and Triton, my father's true son train everyday here at the crack of dawn. You can join us, I'll let him know." Reyna gawked.
"You train with a god?" Percy nodded.
"I have for about… fifteen months now?" he said nonchalantly. Reyna hit his shoulder. "Ow."
"You're so careless about that information. 'Oh, yeah! I'm Percy Jackson! I train with gods in my off time!'" she mocked him. He laughed; a laugh that made Reyna feel butterflies.
"I'll be humbler about it next time, just for you, Centurion." He said, looking into her eyes. She didn't respond, instead leaned forward, tilting her head every so slightly to the left. He leaned forward as well. He felt her breath on his lips.
"Reyn- h-holy Neptune!" Jason squealed, and Reyna jumped up, wiping off her dress. Percy stood in the same position, disappointment ringing throughout his body. "There's a senate meeting… in-uh, fifteen… I'll- shit… I'll go." He stumbled and walked away. Percy stood, now six-foot-one, and looked down at Reyna.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled, and Reyna looked down.
"It's okay. It was a heat of the moment situation. I'm like a sister to you, right?" She said, looking up into his eyes. If his heart wasn't on the floor, he could notice the lie in them, but he was too busy thinking about that. Sister. He wanted to tell her that she was so much more to him.
"Yeah. A sister." He whispered, and Reyna looked away.
"I'll, uh, see you later. Crack of dawn, tomorrow?" Percy put on a fake smile and nodded.
"Yeah. See you then."
X
Reyna realized how serious Percy took this training thing. He put so much effort and thinking into every movement, every swing, every jab was flawless. Triton had the three of them duel, scoring each victory. Percy beat Reyna every single time, almost flawlessly. Ten straight wins, no breaks, no mistakes. He and Triton went five for five. When it came time for Percy to work with his powers, Reyna stuck around, watching Percy put on a show. He was almost an expert, but every time he tried to vapor travel, he could only move five feet, and puked every single time. Reyna laughed at each puke. Percy glared at her.
"Do you want to work on that… thing? Percy." Triton mumbled once, and Percy's eyes glossed over.
"Y-Yeah. She knows." Percy responded, and Triton's eyebrow shot up in curiosity.
"A trustworthy friend, Arellano is? I see it now, brother." He poked Percy in the ribs, and Percy laughed it off.
"What are you working on, Percy?" Reyna asked.
"Triton wants me to learn how to utilize the tattoo. We've tried everything to get it to appear, but it's never appeared."
Percy shut his eyes. He thought of last night, when Reyna and him were about to kiss, and Jason interrupting. He thought of that disappointment, that frustration. He thought of Jason's privilege, and the people who mistreated him. He thought of his birth father, and how he abandoned him and his mother when his stepdad abused them. He let out a scream, and his hands felt hot. He opened his eyes, and the tattoo was there, spiraling through his arm, like a flame. Speaking of flame, his hands were on fire.
His hands were on fire.
"What the fuck." Triton said. Triton never swore. "What'd you think about?"
"My dad. My real dad. It appeared." He reached forward, and the green-white fire followed, obeying his command. He thrust his hand forward, thinking about shooting it, and the fire shot forward, about five feet.
"Calm down, brother. Don't burn down the west coast." Triton said, and Percy nodded. The tattoo started to retreat into Percy's palm, where it always emerged from. "That's interesting. I do wonder what happens if completely controlled & planned." Triton wandered off.
"You're not going to tell Olympus, are you?" Percy asked quietly, and Triton laughed him off.
"Of course not, brother."
X
"Why am I invited to another senate meeting?" Percy complained and Reyna rolled her eyes.
"I wasn't told, but if you're summoned, you better show up, now c'mon, lets go." Percy sat up, and his bedsheet fell off him. Reyna's cheeks shot red. He stood, only in basketball shorts, and the scars and muscles on his chest were screaming at her.
"Where'd you get those?" Reyna whispered.
"A combination of my step-father and Triton." He said, grabbing a t-shirt from his drawer. Reyna walked forward, touching one of the larger scars, stretching from his upper right shoulder to the small of his back. He flinched at her touch. He turned and looked down into her eyes. Obsidian eyes bore into sea-green, and Reyna's hands went around his neck. He stood frozen, too caught in her eyes to move. He broke it, dropping the t-shirt, his hands cupping her hips. He leaned down.
Reyna blinked.
"Percy- I," he instantly removed his hands, and took a step back.
"Sorry. Senate meeting." He said awkwardly.
"That's not what I was going to say." Reyna said stiffly, but Percy ignored her, throwing on the shirt.
"We should go. I shouldn't have-"He caught himself, looking at her. She couldn't meet his eyes. "Centurions shouldn't do that with legionnaires anyways, right?" He said, but his feelings didn't match the words he was speaking.
"Yeah." Her voice was merely a mumble, as opposed to the clear, commanding voice Percy was used to. He threw on his converse and walked out of the room.
The walk to the senate house was awkward. Neither of them said a word, opting to just walk in silence. As they walked through the doors together, the senate room settled down. Julia and Derek rose, acknowledging Percy & Reyna.
"Centurion Arellano, thank you for summoning legionnaire Jackson." Reyna nodded, walking to her seat in the bleachers behind them. Percy stood on the floor, awaiting whatever the Praetors had for them. He was expecting something small, like a request to teach another class. He knew it was not going to be small when Lupa walked in.
"Lady Lupa." Percy bowed, and the others followed.
"Rise, Perseus. I am here to give you a mission. Stirrings of a sea monster in the San Francisco Bay. The Praetors contacted me and decided it would be in everyone's best interest to send you to investigate, and if possible, kill the monster." Percy nodded.
"Do we know what the threat is?"
"Rumors say the Trojan Sea monster." Lupa said, quiet. Gasps came from the senators behind and around Percy, but he ignored them.
"Am I to eliminate it before it has the chance to enter the Tiber?" The Praetors nodded.
"If needed, cut off the connection between the sea and the Tiber completely, before it has a chance to enter. The safety of the city is more important than a minor god's pride." Percy shook his head.
"That'd create more issues than it'd solve, I'm afraid."
"What are your other ideas?"
"I am confident I can kill it before it gets the opportunity to do any real damage, praetors. If I am not able to, the legion's newfound numbers and strength should be more than enough." The praetors seemed satisfied with that answer and adjourned the meeting. Jason, Reyna and Percy walked out together, a silence looming over them.
"Percy, please come back to us." Jason asked, turning on his friend. Percy smiled, nodding his head.
"Have I ever not came back to you losers?" Percy joked, and Jason laughed.
"May Olympus be with you, Percy." Jason said, walking backwards. He shot Reyna a wink before turning and walking away. Percy turned to Reyna, and eyebrow raised. She sighed and took his hand in hers.
"You'd better live, Perseus." She whispered, a tear crawling down her face. "I'd want to finish what was happening earlier." She mumbled, and Percy's heart fluttered. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll kiss you for real if you get back." She whispered in his ear and walked off. He stood in the same spot for five minutes, holding his cheek, before snapping out and running to grab some things for his journey.
had a dry streak when it came to writing but im back on it lets go