A/N: So after rereading the story. I found several small errors and one glaring weak point. The glaring weakness was the Artemis and Percy child situation. It made little sense and was, as stated in the review, "forced." That has been changed. As a result, Chapter 2 is extremely different while Chapters 1 & 3 have received smaller edits to match the new storyline. Within this chapter is an attempt to write as Percy that may fall flatter on its face than the Artemis piece.

Anyway, the story has changed. For those who liked the Artemis piece, apologies, but the edits have created options that will result in better writing because it fits closer to my own strengths. Hopefully you, the readers, will enjoy reading this as I enjoy writing it to distract myself from an increasingly calamity that is my work. Review, follow, favorite, or hate it, I just enjoy writing.

Macedon

Reyna's horse was next to Jason's. They were leading their legions west. The Boii had severely bloodied Legio VIII under Legate Michael Kahale. Given the numbers between the two, it was probably lucky the 8th was only bloodied. Jason's orders from Scipio had said to take two legions to Salona to meet replacement legionaries and then proceed north to counter the threat of the Boii. She had hoped Jason would take her legion. It was not because she enjoyed sharing his bed. She definitely enjoyed that, but it was more to keep an eye on him. Something was off with him. The Gemini legions would remain in Macedon where they would enforce the peace signed between Jason and the child-king Perseus. Legio VIII would reinforce them once it had received adequate replacements for their losses.

Pella had fallen two weeks before. In return for ending the six months of siege and not sacking the city, Perseus had sworn loyalty to Rome and agreed, by force, to provide five hundred boys a year to the legion and five hundred girls a year to the slave markets. Jason had claimed four of the girls for his villa in Rome and sent them back with two legionaries he trusted implicitly, since he had raised them from being slaves to citizens of Rome. The north of Greece was now Rome and per Jason "Once the Boii are defeated, we turn south in Greece. Boeotia and then Attica, then the rest." Reyna was not certain "the rest" did just to the men of Achaea, Arcadia, Argolis, Corinth, Elis, and Laconia. Even the helots of Messenia would fight against Rome in the name of Greece.

Reyna studied Jason Grace. She was not sure when the realization had dawned on her that the man she was sleeping with was not the boy she had fallen for as a young legionnaire in New Rome. This was the imperator everyone had expected him to be. Even as he professed his love of the Republic, she could see it. With each victory, each conquest, he became Caesar. He would be the emperor before the empire, a tyrant should they allow it. In New Rome the restrictions and politics had strangled him. Here, on campaign, he was Rome. He was power.

Athens

Annabeth looked at the daughter of the Amazon Queen. She stood next to Percy as the priestess of Hera intoned the marriage rights. The proaulia or pre-marriage rituals had been abbreviated, some were observed just to satisfy the questions of the Athenian people, some were ignored since Athena and Artemis had walked in on the two of them both naked. The gamos was the wedding day. Even that was being abbreviated, since in the Greek eyes she had no father or family to hand her to Percy. He had expressed his opposition to her being treated as such by the Greeks, but she had reminded him that this ceremony was more for the people than them. They wanted to see their king married. She and Percy had already committed themselves to each other in the flames of Tartarus and no one could present to them an oath more binding than that.

She was wearing a veil to satisfy those around them. Symbolically he would remove it at the end of the night. In his mind, he was already removing much more. They had known each other in every way, since their return from Tartarus. Since their reunion they had only come to know each other more. Only one question separated them. Would they have a child together? Percy's experience with Hippolyte seemed to scarred him from the notion. Annabeth knew the child had been as much a political decision as a lustful one, but killing the mother of his child had damaged him.

They were sitting in their chambers. They had left their own ceremony during the feast and retreated to the security of the private space. The night had been a mix of unbridled passion and restless sleep. Now the morning after, he seemed distant. On the terrace below their balcony Zoë was practicing archery with a daughter of Apollo. The girl had a scar on the left side of her face from a battle in Achaea. Percy was watching their practice, a cup of wine held loosely in his hand. She suspected what he was thinking about.

"Percy, talk to me."

"Annabeth, I…" His voice broke. "I don't know how to talk about it."

"Seaweed Brain," she had not used his nickname very often since her arrival. "Just talk to me. You don't have to say it in any particular way."

"Alright fine. Hippolyte was an attractive woman, no better way to say it, probably no worse way either." He chuckled slightly and Annabeth smiled despite rolling her eyes. "She was a beautiful woman. Strong, brilliant fighter, strong morals. Cared greatly for her people."

"She sounds like the kind of woman you would like."

"Because she sounds like you, Wise Girl." He smiled slightly. "I didn't use my powers against them. It would have made the fight shorter, but they were honorable women. I wanted to give them an honorable fight. I had killed two of her bodyguards before she fought me herself. It's really nothing you can just get over, killing people. I've had to so often, but it's never easier." A tear escaped his eye and brought them to hers.

"It was a good fight, but in the end I had Riptide against her throat. I asked why she was here and she told me. Her only requests were that I let her people go in return for peace and punish those that had harmed her people. Instead I offered to let her live in return for peace between Amazons and my Greece. She countered with her proposal to ensure long lasting peace between us. I'll admit I was lonely, she was willing, and after all it was for peace." He had put air quotes around the final two words. Annabeth was not particularly happy with discussing Percy's sex life that did not involve her, but she was glad that he was talking at least.

"How long did the two of you, um," she was not sure how to word what she both wanted to hear, but was not sure she wanted to hear.

"About a month, as I settled the agreements with Ephesus and then I had to return to Athens. The Achaeans were hunting demigods again." She had heard about the hunts from survivors like the archer teaching Zoë. "I was not certain if she was even pregnant when we left. But a few years later Mithridates sailed to attack Lesbos. I'm not sure why she joined him considering our peace, but she did. I had been fighting on land for so long I did not have the Navy to defeat his fleet. I used my powers to sink them all. Two hundred ships, fifteen of them full of Amazons, and Hippolyte. The survivors sent word back. Apparently their hatred of me was so great they were willing to kill Hippolyte's daughter to torture me." He let out a sad breath.

"Thank the gods that Hylla was willing to sacrifice her safety to pray for Artemis to rescue her." Percy nodded. "What happened to Hylla?"

"Last I heard there was basically a civil war, has been since I killed Hippolyte. Hylla was winning. I know Kinzie was fighting for her because she bore the message of the civil war. Otrera was opposing her. Otrera was the one calling for Zoë's death."

"But your daughter is their princess?"

"I'm not sure that it works that way with them, but in theory yes."

"How old is she?"

"You've been here for a year, so nearly seven."

"Percy?"

"Yes?"

"How many people have you had to kill?" He froze.

"I thought we agreed to not discuss that." His voice was cold and level. She pushed anyway.

"Percy, I love you. But some of these things you have to talk about. If you just keep it inside eventually it will tear you apart. You know how it was after Tartarus."

"Fine!" Annoyance had boiled over. "I don't know, Annabeth. I've killed so many I can't remember. With my sword I know it's been at least seventy, maybe eighty, with my powers too many more." Zoë was running towards them. Percy instantly calmed.

"I hit the bullseye!" She yelled, hopping up and down. Percy smiled at her.

"That is why someone else had to teach you. You'd never hit it if I had taught you."

"Is he that bad?" Zoë had turned to Annabeth. Annabeth smiled at her husband.

"Yes, he really is."

Athenian Fleet, bound for Crete

Since the collapse of Macedon Crete had fallen into chaos. The grain convoys of Egypt however were reliant upon the protected harbors of Crete to make their supply runs to Athens and from there the rest of Greece. Pirates and greedy noblemen were preying upon his grain supply. As king, he could not allow it, as Percy, he would not watch people suffer.

Annabeth stood next to him on the deck of the trireme. They had argued about her joining him, he had lost. Not that he had expected to win. He loved her too much to risk her health during the battles he knew would come. Though anymore it was not just her health. He knew what was growing inside her even if she refused to change her life because of it.

One hundred and fifty ships had set sail from Piraeus and ports along the south of Greece. Fifteen thousand soldiers accompanied them. Gortyne and Knossos were their primary objectives. Annabeth had planned the strategy but left the battlefield tactics to Percy. She had to admit that he had a much higher grasp on strategy and military planning and logistics than she would have ever believed possible. She did not wish to know the situations that taught the lessons he had to learn. Percy had always been a brilliant warrior and had shown moments of tactical proficiency, but now he truly acted as a leader of men.

The core of his army had been fighting with him for years now. She had witnessed him call at least two hundred of them by name. As always, Demosthenes was next to him at all times. The strategos had pulled her aside to explain himself before departing Piraeus. "It has nothing to do with others threatening him. It is because he will kill himself one day to help the least of those he can. He cares too much and risks too much to protect others. He will fight a whole battle by himself if he can to protect a single soldier." The explanation was so much what she expected out of Percy Jackson it sounded like fiction.

"He's always been that way," she had responded. He had countered that it would only get worse with her here and with their child. They had not told anyone. The wily general smiled and then calmly explained that very little around the royal palace happened without his knowledge.

Percy

I suppose I should start journaling again. I stopped after Tartarus because of how dark shit was. I'm sure that's some sort of symptom of PTSD but I'm a son of Poseidon, I don't research things. I leave that stuff to Annabeth and she's damned good at it. After waking up here, it was more of the same. My shit was dark, because I was in a shitty place.

After Tartarus Annabeth and I had spent damn near every waking moment together, and most of our sleeping moments too. It was probably overdependence of sorts, but being together was like a safety blanket. Then I had woken up without her in a big ass bed in the palace in Athens. Demosthenes had been the first to greet. He had called me lord from the beginning, I hated it, but had I known then that lord would turn into king I wouldn't have complained nearly as much.

Now I had my queen with me again. She had always been a queen, but I guess it was official now? I mean in reality, she was the daughter of Athena, why the hell isn't she the ruler of Athens and me the companion that just gets to fight shit. I was good at fighting shit. Swords and battles made sense to me. Ruling kingdoms and planning wars didn't. I did it because I had to and because Demosthenes held my hand along the way.

Shit. That's exactly what I did during the Titan and Giant wars isn't it? I was thrown into it because of who my father was and Annabeth helped me through it. I guess it's true isn't it? The more things change the more they stay the same. I get thrown into a shitstorm, I have to figure it the fuck out. I think if I had realized how much that would be a summary of my existence as a demigod I'd have turned it down. "Here's a shitstorm, figure it the fuck out."

Annabeth and Demosthenes are staring at me as I laugh to myself now. She has a little smile because she knows what I'm doing and I can feel my heart beat differently. She's beautiful as hell. Maybe more beautiful than ever since I know she's pregnant with our child. I haven't told Zoë yet, but I'll have to soon.

I never lost faith that Annabeth would return to me. Despite the month of weakness that resulted in the blessing of my daughter. As much as I want to stay angry about cheating, if I didn't have Zoë I don't know where I would be. It amazed me how quickly Zoë clung to Annabeth. She had always been wary around women. I don't know how much she remembers of her childhood before me, but I hope it's very little. I also don't know if she knows how her mother died. She does know her mother was an amazing warrior and an Amazon queen. But I've told her little else.

That will have to be a problem for after I solve the issues on Crete. As I write this I'm noticing I don't joke as much. Maybe that's Tartarus, maybe it's my current situation. No matter what caused it, I'm glad that I am writing here again. I tell Annabeth mostly everything, some things are too much for me to bare burdening her with, that's what Demosthenes is for. But I think this is enough for my first time writing in the journal for a long ass time. Hopefully I can look back in a few years and this will seem heavy and overly depressing and I can say I'm back to my old form. Hopefully.