I.
She woke up with a start. Sitting up in her bed, she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, trying to force her vision to get with the program. She looked at the clock on the stand at her bedside, zero three twenty-five.
It was unusual for her to get woken up this late unless there was a real situation. The pounding on her door got more and more desperate the longer it took her to reach it, she pulled down one of the blinds to see who was causing such a commotion. She inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to calm herself from her suddenly eventful morning as she pulled the door open.
"S-sorry for waking you, Praetor!" The Probatio scrambled to get the words out, while simultaneously struggling to get air in. She must not be the only one with a breathing problem this morning. "There's a body in the Tiber, and it's just a really odd situation, ma'am. Centurion Hank sent me to fetch you as soon as they fished him out."
Reyna huffed as she lifted her cloak off the rack beside the door, slipping into her shoes. The door closed behind her as she stepped out. "What's the situation look like, Probatio?" she spoke calmly, but an air of confusion encompassed her words. "Who's body is it?"
At the speed the Probatio was dragging her along, she would be able to answer the question herself in a few short moments. "I'm s-sorry, Praetor, you know about as much as I do."
The boy that came to get her seemed young, eleven or twelve at most. "Centurion Hank didn't seem to recognize him, neither did anyone else."
What he lacked in size, he made up for in speed. She was forced to do a medium jog in order to keep up with him. "I understand, thank you, Probatio." Reyna said to the boy.
As soon as she turned the corner off of the Via Praetoria, she could see the crowd gathered along the river. Where the streetlamps didn't illuminate, legion sentries with torches picked up the slack. A group of one, maybe two? Dozen citizens and legionnaires struggling against each other to get a better look at the action.
Reyna picked up bits and pieces of chatter as she pushed people to the side, the resistance lightened as they recognized who she was. "Make way for the Praetor!" came from one of the ones she had just handled out of the way. And just like that, a hole magically appeared through the crowd.
Once she was through the unnecessary amount of bystanders, Reyna took in the situation. 'Body' was really a bad way to describe it, the kid laying before her looked perfectly alive and well, heart beating. Chest rising and falling with every breath. What was so urgent that she needed to be woken up an hour before she would have normally started her duties?
"Centurion, report." Hank turned to look at her, dripping wet from head to toe, with a snorkel still hanging around his neck.
"My sentries sounded the horn…" He looked at his watch, "Seventeen minutes ago, praetor."
Reyna really liked the precision in that statement. Hank continued.
"When I came out they reported a projectile of some kind arcing over the city." He gestured to the very alive dead body laying before him. "A couple of naiads rushed up to me and said something landed in the river, when I went down to check it out, this fella was stuck in the mud, ma'am. We already woke up Doc too, he should be here any minute."
Reyna squinted at the centurion, trying to comprehend the information.
"So you're telling me this kid flew across the sky and landed in the river? Is there a circus nearby? Was he shot out of a cannon?"
The corner of his mouth tightened into a smirk, "I'm not sure, praetor. If that was the case I doubt there would have been anything left to dredge off the bottom."
Hank shrugged. "I figured I should get you down here when we pulled a guy from the bottom of the river and he seemed fit as a fiddle. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm really wet, and he isn't. Naiads said they didn't have anything to do with it. Take all this as you will, ma'am."
Now the urgency made a little bit of sense. "He was dry when you pulled him from the river?" Hank nodded.
"Even his clothes, ma'am. Are we on the same page here?"
Reyna sighed as she tried to formulate a response that would keep the least amount of rumors from spreading amongst the present Third Cohort. "I think we are, Hank."
She nodded as she spoke to Centurion, turning to face the crowd that was getting larger.
"Legionnaires and citizens of New Rome," she announced, the group's chatter getting significantly quieter. "Please return to your homes or assigned patrols unless I call your name, in which case you will step forward."
She quickly scanned the legionnaires before her, before rattling off her new list. "Legionaries Randy, Charles, Sheila and-"
She needed one more. Another quick glance, this time at the boy Hank sent to summon her. She pointed at him. "You, Probatio. What is your name?"
Wide eyed, he briskly replied "Kenny, Praetor!"
"You'll do fine, Kenny. The rest of you, please disperse so the medicus has ample room to work."
A groan came from the crowd, but the legionnaires quickly returned to the task they had before all the exciting drama whisked them away. The citizenry followed suit, albeit more slowly.
The doctor arrived in short order, given the fact he was riding a gurney like it was an oddly shaped rowboat.
"What's the damage, friends?" the doctor asked, as he wheeled his mighty vessel into port next to their unconscious guest.
"Not much as far as I can tell," Hank began to retell the story of his surprise snorkel adventure, providing the most necessary details for the doctor. "Our best guess is this guy missed the runway and landed here. Dug him out of the mud at the bottom of the river and here we are. What you're seeing is what we saw, Toby."
The doctor had a look of confusion drawn across his face. "He's breathing, Hank, and it doesn't look like he's having very much trouble."
Toby pulled out a stethoscope, slipping the earpieces into his ears, and laying the chest piece over one of the unconscious boy's lungs. "That one sounds fine," He slid it to the other lung, "That ones fine." Lastly, he held it over his heart. "Sounds like the pump house is working as intended. You said this guy missed the runway? Like he fell out of the sky?"
Hank shrugged again. "That's how I understood it."
Toby looked at the boy again, and retrieved a pen light from his med bag. He drew up one of the boy's eyelids, and shined his flashlight into his eye. "I can't find anything wrong, nothing looks broken."
Reyna leaned over him, her curiosity growing by the minute. The boy's eyes. They were green, like cartoon acid. No, they were green like the sea.
"Hank, help Toby with whatever he needs, you belong to him for now. Keep these legionnaires on guard duty until we know what that boy's intentions are."
Hank pulled the snorkel mask off of his head, "Understood, Praetor. Thank you for coming to aid."
Reyna nodded as she turned to walk away. She heard Toby begin to speak to Hank and the four legionnaires. "Best I can tell, he's just unconscious. Help me get him up on the gurney, I guess we'll take him back to the laboratory."
She let her lips form a smirk as she continued walking toward Camp Jupiter. Still, the sun hadn't begun to rise over New Rome. "This is going to be a long day." Reyna said to herself with glee.
She slipped into her office at the Principia, slowly clicking the door closed behind her, letting out a heavy sigh.
She sat down at her desk, retrieving a pen and a pad of paper. Reyna began transcribing her current thoughts, and jotting down notes for the obvious senate meeting that would take place some time after sunrise.
She could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, despite numerous attempts to blink the tiredness away. She lulled back in her chair, resting her head against the bookcase behind her. Closing her eyes once more, she was asleep in no time.
When she opened them, she was in a long, dark hallway. Reyna could hear footsteps approaching, she quickly took in her surroundings, searching for a place to hide.
"Deodamnatus!" she exclaimed to herself, there wasn't a single nook or cranny for the daughter of Bellona to slip into.
She cut her losses, leaning on the wall she had backed up against. Making a hasty attempt to look as careless as possible; If anything, could she catch any monsters by surprise?
A moment later, a clink clink clink began to echo from the same direction as the footsteps. Empousa? She wondered. For that kind of noise, they must be moving pretty fast.
Reyna raised her eyebrow as she watched a metallic spider scurry past, paying her no attention. What did Vulcan have to do with anything?
The footsteps continued to grow louder, she peered into the darkness, in the direction the spider had come from. A faint glow could be made out, it was getting closer. Reyna could feel her heart rate increase. Would you die if you got killed in a dream?
She looked down at her belt. She hadn't thought to bring her knife. Great. She prayed to any god that would listen. If they couldn't help her, at least make it quick.
The glow was almost on her now, the footsteps drowning out the sound of her heart trying to pound out of her chest.
"Here it comes," she thought. Her stomach growled, it had been awhile since dinner. "Why, gods?" she caught herself saying out loud.
She looked at the glow again, she could make out two figures now. The light was coming from a sword, which was just wonderful. She could hardly make out the face as the first one passed by, she squinted, and time seemed to slow down.
Her eyes shot wide open. It was the boy the Third Cohort scooped up out of the river.
Reyna looked at the figure behind him, "Why does it always have to be spiders, Percy?" the girl whimpered, the boy, Percy, all but dragging her through the tunnel.
She attempted to close her eyes, trying to focus on the girl's face. Her body resisted, her eyes opened as a knock shook her office door.
"Praetor? Are you in there?" A muffled voice called from outside.
"Aye, come in." Reyna managed, as she sat up straighter, and tried to make it look like she hadn't been woken up.
The door swung open, Centurion Jason Grace stepped into the room. "Good morning, Praetor Reyna."
"Morning, Jason." She quickly patted down a few stray hairs.
"There's rumors floating amongst my cohort that the Third fished somebody out of the Tiber last night, and nobody knows who it is?" Jason spoke as he pulled one of the comfy guest chairs toward Reyna's desk.
Reyna sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "That sounds right to me." She said it as nonchalantly as she could, trying to not make it seem like a big deal. "I had Hank post sentries outside his hospital room, he should be relieved by noon. Would you mind?"
Jason nodded. "I assume the senate will want to convene, it seems like this guy caused a little bit of a stir."
"A stir?" Reyna asked.
"Somebody no one has seen here before ends up in the river. That's never happened before." Jason said, "Dakota says there are rumors floating around my cohort already, we can only assume it's the same everywhere else."
Reyna nodded, "I'll have to do my best to address any issues at the senate, then." she informed him, "Would you mind letting the other Centurions know? I need to think about what I'm going to say, then I should go speak with Octavian."
Jason exhaled a laugh, and smiled. "I think that's the least I could do for you," he replied. "Good luck."
II.
It always took Reyna a long time to walk to the temple of Jupiter. There was something about the place that made her dread going there, and anyone in Camp Jupiter could tell you that something was a blonde-headed son of Apollo. She stood outside the doors for a long moment, preparing herself to deal with Octavian; She stepped forward, knocking on one of the tall doors.
"Come in!" she heard from the other side. The doors swung open with an almost menacing wooosh, the wind causing a slight whistle through the opening.
"Praetor!" Octavian called, "Whats the special occasion?"
Reyna crossed her arms in front of her, "Had any reading lately, Octavian?" she asked the augur.
Octavian pointed to the pile of mauled teddy bears at Jupiter Optimus Maximus' feet, "Quite a few, actually. Care to be more specific? I haven't got all morning, you know." a slight smile drawing across his face.
She looked away from the boy in an attempt to keep herself from scowling at him, "Oh, I don't know." she rolled her eyes as she spoke, "Anything about birds? The sky? Oh, I don't know, a stranger crash landing in the river?"
"Well now that you mention it..." Octavian nodded in a overbearing manner, saying, "I seem to remember something about someone falling into the Tiber."
Reyna waited.
After a short pause, "Mind sharing?" she asked.
"Of course, of course!" Octavian replied, "Well, if I remember correctly," he perked up, "And I usually do!"
Gods help him if she came to her feelings.
Octavian continued, "There was fire, so much it would disturb even a child of Vulcan. And an explosion. That kid in the hospital? He was in the middle of it, caused it maybe. Like he represents destruction."
Reyna nodded, "Is that all?" she asked.
"For now, as far as I know." Octavian replied.
"Thanks for the insight." she said as she turned to walk away.
"I'm always happy to oblige the Praetor's request!" he called after her.
She strolled back through the doors of the temple of Jupiter, yelling over her shoulder, "Senate meeting, 12 o'clock!" the doors swinging closed behind her.
Author's Note: As stated in the summary, the events of this story take place during and after those of the Battle of the Labyrinth. All events prior to that are the same as canon, diverging at the point you hopefully picked up on. I'd love to hear your feedback as this is my first story, and I didn't do much research to see if this was even an original plot. So if this too closely resembles something else, I'll be happy to respond accordingly. Obligatory all characters, locations, and storylines are property of their respective owner's.