A/N: Clearly this is not a chapter. It is an update however. While I did not originally intend to write a continuation of this story, I have decided I will. I came to this decision because of the number of readers of the story. I truly appreciate those of you that took the time to read this. I was not sure how this type of story, with a reliance upon the history of Greece and Rome, would be received. I was honestly kind of surprised I was not flamed for how I used Jason in the story. But I appreciate the comments I received as they adjusted parts of the story because the idea in my head did not match what I was able to write

I have started the research and planning for part 2. It will be published as a separate story but I will update this one when it is up. I cannot predict when it will begin being published as for it I am going much more in the weeds for historical and geographic detail. Once again, Percy and his family will be the central part of the story with the historical characters and other PJO/HOO characters playing their key roles.

Thanks.

Update: I have planned out roughly a three arc story. The starting point is nine years post the end of the last one. At this point it will probably have even less godly influence than the first. This is mainly to be able to better demonstrate the effect of Percy's family on the ancient world. The first two arcs will have Percy as central and in the third we will see the effects of his legacy. I have a rough idea on the historical people that I'm using to roughly scope the future actions of the family. As before, a lot of the historical context will come from the Romans present. (I also had an idea for an extreme AU. But given the current events this is unlikely the time to begin any sort of publication on it.)

On missing characters: 1) Leo, I just cannot write him. His personality and mannerisms are so foreign to what I have experienced or know that I could not do a version of him justice, particularly in this setting. I like to think he appeared on Calypso's island and seeing the shit show of their world they're just relaxing. 2) Rachel, most of the Gods, Chiron, Chris Rodriguez, far too many to count, this would have placed too many characters for the way I prefer to write. As was apparent, even my third person is very much tied to single individuals. I promise you the story would not have flowed smoothly with more personnel. 3) Piper, I promise I am working on ways to incorporate her beyond being just a part of the plot. I have her fighting in the final battle in this story, but due to her treatment for so long I decided against her making a miraculous recovery. Personally, I do not plan on describing her as "Beauty Queen" in the next story as I believe she would keep some of the scars of her experience. That experience may result in a change of her nature in the next story.

A preview of book two:

Melita, 176 BC

It had been forty years since the people of the island had assisted the Romans seize control of their home. For forty years they had been loyal subjects of the Republic. For forty years they had denied their Phoenician and Carthaginian heritage and submitted themselves to the Romans. They had seen the writing on the wall well before the Carthaginians in Africa. Rome would defeat them, Melita merely wanted to survive, so they had thrown in their lot with the Romans. There had been no other power capable of protecting them. The Seleucids and the Pontic Kingdom were too far away to support them. But then the Roman invasion of Greece had occurred.

The people of Melita did not know every detail of the battle of Thermopylae. But as famous as King Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans had been for delaying the god-king Xerxes, King Perseus and his defeat of both the Roman legions AND the titans' army had exceeded him. Within months of the Son of Poseidon's victory he had first defeated the Seleucids in Asia Minor with the help of the Kingdom of Pergamum. Several years later the King of Pergamum betrayed the Greek king to the King of Cappadocia. In response Greek armies had killed both. The crown prince of Cappadocia was crowned in his father's place and subjugated as a client state, Pergamum was punished for their betrayal and their existence as an autonomous state ended. Two years later the people of Cyrenaica had invited the King of Greece to rule over them, believing him preferrable to the Ptolemaic pharaoh of Egypt.

The Greeks, the "true Greeks" as many believed them, had extended their reach from their homeland. From their homelands in Attica and the Peloponnese they had initially slowly expanded into the Aegean Islands, Ionia, and Boeotia. The rapid expansion since their defeat of Rome had rarely been their choice. They had been invited into territory, whether by true invitation or by war. At least that is how the Greek traders who sheltered in the ports of Melita described the Greek rise in power. The people of Melita did not care how the Greeks rose, what they cared about was that the King of Greece did not mandate his subjects lives. He let them live as they saw fit, within a moral code he had published to all under his rule.

One century of the 14th Legion garrisoned the island. Eighty men of Legio XXIV reported to the tax collector of the main port. Their centurion was a young man of a somewhat wealthy family from Capernaum. A sixth son, he had been dutifully named Sextus Aquius. He had also fallen madly in love with Julia, daughter of the largest farmer on the island and devout hater of Rome. Her father knew what it would take to put the centurion at ease. Julia, dutiful daughter and inheritor of his hatred of Rome, did as instructed. As many of the soldiers were attending a banquet thrown by her father, she guided Sextus into her chambers. He closed the door behind him. Knowing he was looking at her, Julia pulled at the shoulders of her garment and it fell to the floor.

She dropped to her knees before him. Even before her touch she could see him reacting to her proximity alone. She pulled at his garments to move them to the side. Sextus undid his weapons and armor and they fell to the floor. Wide eyed he looked down on her as her head moved back and forth near his waist. He did not know how to react as a feeling he had never known swept over him. His face tilted toward the ceiling as his mouth hung open in pants of pleasure. Doing so exposed his throat.

Quick as a viper, Julia struck. The pugio that had fallen to his floor with his armor sliced across his throat. A wave of arterial blood covered Julia's naked body. Sextus attempted to cry out as he slumped to the floor but only a quiet gurgle emitted. Outside she could hear men falling as the poison her father had placed in the wine took effect. She drew the gladius from its sheath. The centurion had landed on his knees with his head tilted back. Julia took the sword in both hands and swung it. The blade severed the head and it rolled upon the floor. She lifted it by Sextus' blond hair and walked to the door. She flung it open and still clad in the Roman's blood alone she held the severed head high for the islanders to see. Three days before they had sent word to Athens, they had asked for the Greek king's support in their rebellion against their Roman oppressors. Regardless of his answer, the rebellion had started.