Percy's quick rise to power did not go unnoticed.

Over in San Diego, a war god was contemplating the recent events.

Mars was not exactly thrilled with the senate appointing Percy Jackson, of all people, to work in the most prestigious and important position that Rome could offer to an individual. He was worried that the new Pontifex Maximus would undermine his image in Camp Jupiter. He and the son of Poseidon did not have the best of relationships, specially when Ares was involved. Percy's first impression of Camp Half-Blood was almost getting thrown into a toilet by his children, and his first encounter with a god, Ares himself, almost resulted in the death of the future hero of Olympus by the hands, or claws, of mechanicals spiders build by Hephaestus.

Now, he could just storm New Rome and demand that Jackson was to step back from his position, but it was not so simple. If Mars did that, his image could be damaged in the eyes of the Senate. He sometimes envied Ares. Even if he was the second most important god to the Romans, second only to Jupiter himself, he still couldn't just overrule the will of the Senate because of bureacracy and legal aspects. He sighed. There was only one thing that he could do now. He flashed to Mount Olympus, and luckily, some gods were already inside the throne room. Mars cleared his throat, drawing the attention from the chatting Zeus, Hera and Demeter, who shifted into their Roman aspects as soon as they noticed Mars.

"Yes, Lord Mars, what's the matter?" questioned the king of the gods. Mars could appreciate the respect that Jupiter gave to him, compared to the way that Zeus treated Ares.

"It is an urgent problem concerning the well being of Camp Jupiter. I would like for the council to be summoned here."

Jupiter nodded.

"Very well." he fired his master bolt at roof of the throne room, signaling the other gods to show up. One by one, the Olympians appeared, first in their Greek forms but quickly shifting to their Roman aspects. Mars himself sat on his throne.

"So, Lord Mars, what is this "urgent problem" that made you ask for a meeting?" once again Jupiter asked.

"You see, Lord Jupiter, as you know very well, the position of Pontifex Maximus in Camp Jupiter has recently became... vacant." He said carefully, not to spite the anger of his parents, specially Juno was still grieving over the death of Jason Grace.

"Yes. Are you suggesting that we should appoint another Pontifex Maximus?" the king of the gods asked, intrigued.

Mars chuckled.

"Well, no. Because the brave Senate, always one step ahead, has already voted another man into the position." that earned many curious glares and eyes to be widened by the other Olympians.

"And who has the Senate chosen to be the the bridge of the people of Rome?" Ceres asked.

Mars couldn't help but to grin, anticipating disaster.

"Percy Jackson." he spoke quietly, but even someone outside the throne room could hear his words resonating. There was silence for the longest seconds of Mars's immortal life, before all Hades ensued.

"WHAT?!" screamed Jupiter, Minerva and Juno at the same time.

"YES!" Neptune cried in victory, punching the air.

"He's gonna die having more titles than all of the council combined." Apollo commented to Mercury, who laughed alongside Venus. Diana rolled her eyes. The other gods were quiet about it, but appeared to be very interested. Bacchus, who was usually very uninterested in council meetings, was on the edge of his seat, grinning. Vulcan and Ceres had blank expressions on their faces but were very clearly paying atention. Mars could see that Vesta was smiling on the hearth.

"We need to remove him immediatly!" Jupiter yelled, earning a glare from Neptune.

"Indeed we must!" Juno agreed.

"Weren't you the one that sent him there in the first in place to quote on quote, "unite the camps?"" Apollo asked, doing the quote gesture with his hands to make up his point.

"It's totally different!" hissed the queen of the gods. "I sent him there with his memories completely wiped and with the idea that even if he returned one day after the quest in the Ancient Lands, it would be as a civilian! But to be appointed Pontifex Maximus, the same position that my champion was occupying before he was struck down by that vile emperor? He's already infecting the Romans! They aren't respecting the memory of their former leader!" she yelled, exasperated.

"Lady Juno, with all due respect, you are being foolish." spoke Minerva, quietly.

Juno's face became red with anger.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I stand by what I said." Minerva did not back down. "May I remember you all that it was Percy Jackson that made us honor the minor gods in Camp Half-Blood, and we should all admit that this brought a new age for an Olympus that was decadent before."

"I thought that you despised the boy, Minerva?" asked Ceres.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "I simply thought that he was extremely naive and untrustworthy, but I was gladly proven wrong in that regard. And we need someone to honor the promise that Jason Grace made to Barnacle Beard's daughter near Athens." she waved her head to Neptune, who flinched at the memory that Kymopoleia existed. "He has proven to be a strong leader who led the charge in not one, but two wars."

"Now, wait a minute-" Jupiter started, but Minerva quickly cut him.

"Father, I know what are you thoughts in respect to the boy, but let's not pretend that he wasn't leading the quest of the seven. He and my daughter went to Tartarus itself, for crying out loud! I think he is trustworthy enough to lead Camp Jupiter."

Jupiter grumbled under his breath, but Juno wasn't convinced.

"Yes, Lady Minerva," she scorned. "because you are very clearly the defender of Roman ideals and wants its prosperity above all other things, right?"

Minerva kept her cold, analyzing expression.

"My previous conflict with Rome has been resolved as soon as the Athena Parthenos was delivered to Camp Half-Blood. I have the best interests in mind when it comes to Percy Jackson's appointment as Pontifex Maximus."

Juno's face, although not red anymore, was still filled with anger. But even in her rage, the queen could not find an alternative that was not to send Percy Jackson straight to Pluto. As such, she kept her silence.

"When was he appointed?" Jupiter asked to Mars.

"Yesterday." the war god answered.

Jupiter scratched his beard. "So... the inauguration ceremony will happen today, right?" Mars nodded, so the king continued. "If we are really going to let him keep his position, we shall send one of us to represent Olympus at the ceremony." as soon as he said that, Mars got up from his throne, followed by Minerva and Juno. Mercury had raised his hand, but he quickly put it down.

"I shall go. I introduced the damn boy to Rome, so I shall be the one to congratulate and guide him." proclaimed Juno.

Minerva burst out laughing. "Really? The boy hates you, Juno. You took eight whole months of his life. Don't take credit for it."

"I am the god that represents Rome itself," Mars argued. "Even if Jackson has bad feelings for Ares, I will not tolerate any other god, barring Lord Jupiter, to welcome a Pontifex Maximus into his new position."

The three of them kept arguing for a while, until Neptune slammed the bottom of his trident to the ground, effectively silencing the other deities.

"Oh, shut up! I know very well that you all just want to curse him. Again, for you." he glared at Mars, who just shrugged.

"Thank you, brother. I feel like my head is going to explode from this council bickering all day." said Jupiter. "Now, I believe Lady Minerva would be the best option."

"WHAT?" yelled both Mars and Juno. Minerva was visibly smirking.

"Now, I know that you two have made very good points, but I, as the king of the gods, believe that Minerva shall fully reconcile with the Roman demigods and legacies." Minerva's smirk flickered, but she composed herself.

"As you wish, father." she said humbly, bowing slightly. Juno's face was purple with rage, but she did not made another point.

"Search for the boy's intentions, and if he is the best option to be the bridge between Olympus and Rome. And also, appear in the best light for the civilians and legionnaries alike. Show your value to them, why you were revereed so much in Greece. Go now. Council dismissed." he directed himself to the other Olympians.

Once again, Minerva bowed, and flashed away. Soon all of the other Olympians did the same, except for Juno and Mars.

"How did you let this happen?" Juno questioned, her face not having the beetroot tone anymore.

"Sometimes you have to be pragmatic. Let your enemies make the first move." Mars explained. "Athena and Ares are generally depicted as opposites in war. Ares as the dumb bloodthirsty warmonger, and Athena as the calculist and cold goddess of strategy. But I'm gonna show them the power of Mars Ultor, and why Minerva was left to rot. Less important than freaking Bellona, and that's a fact."

Juno had an eyebrow raised. "I just hope you have the means to keep the boy from destroying your image."

Mars spat on the ground.

"I'm not going to have my imaged destroyed by that brat. I am the patron of Rome since its foundation. Just watch, mother, just watch." with that, the god of war flashed away, plans already popping up on his mind.


Percy had never felt so smart.

Sure, some people thought he was all laid back, a powerful althought not the smartest of demigods. That it was Annabeth the mastermind behind him.

But was it Annabeth to rise to Rome's most important position in one day?

Right now, he was getting ready for the inauguration. The whole camp was invited. Fauns, nymphs, civilians and legionnaries. It was even rumored that Lady Lupa herself would show up. But of course, no one (apart from Annabeth and Nico) knew of his true intentions. He saw a lot of potential for Rome to mirror communist states before her. Of course, New Rome wasn't a normal community. It did not need agriculture, at least for the moment. He had a suspicion that the moment the gods found out his motives and goals, they would instantly cancel all blessings and maybe even embargo camp. As such, he had bold plans in regards to agricultural productivity.

Of course, there was the problem of manpower. The attack on camp had taken its toll in the amount of men Camp Jupiter could raise. Not only that, but also to work. He also had bold plans for that. But out of nowhere, a knock on the door of his and Annabeth's house burst him out of his thoughts.

"On my way!" he said out loud to the person waiting at his doorstep. When he opened the door, he almost fell on his back.

Standing there was a woman who looked like she was on her thirties, with black curly hair who went as long as her shoulders and a very stoic face. However, her most outstanding features were her piercing grey eyes that he knew too well at this point.

"Who is it, Per- oh." Annabeth had appeared, but quickly stopped talking when she saw who was waiting for them. "Oh" was a fitting reaction.

"Hello, daughter, and... Pontifex Jackson. Congratulations for your promotion."

"Thank you, Lady At... Minerva."

Minerva smiled.

"Well, at least you remembered. I'm fairly certain that Annabeth here was about to call me Athena."

Annabeth blushed slightly.

"Maybe. Now, mom, I think we should t-" she started, but Minerva interrupted her by raising one hand.

"I know that you are angry at me because of the whole fiasco in Rome, and I am sorry for the situation that you had to endure. For both of you, actually." Both Percy and Annabeth raised eyebrows, surprised that a god was actually apologizing. Apollo didn't count. "But I need to speak with Pontifex Jackson here. Legal procedures."

Annabeth sighed.

"Go on, seaweed brain. Just don't get yourself killed."

Percy smiled. "Come on, wise girl, if I survived that night on Olympus after rescuing you and Artemis, I'm not gonna get combusted now." He kissed her forehead and close the door behind him, looking Minerva in the eye.

"Walk with me." she said, and Percy did so, following her around New Rome. They were silent for a moment, until Minerva finally spoke. "What are you real goals, Percy Jackson?"

Percy almost froze at that question. Almost. He was not a scared boy anymore. Even if Minerva knew the truth, she couldn't do anything.

"To simply continue the work that Jason was doing. Continuing to honour the gods, specially the minor deities. Do not get me wrong, Lady Minerva, but I do not want a repeat of the wars that happened recently."

Percy, just like in the Senate House, wondered how would Minerva react to that. What he wasn't expecting was for her to start laughing.

"Now, now, Percy, I know that you have quite the good relationship with minor gods, but this isn't the focus of your work."

"Yeah?" Percy said nervously.

"May I correct myself, this is not going to be the focus of your work as Pontifex Maximus." Minerva said.

"What?"

"I want you... to destroy this place and all that it stands for." she explained, her previous smile turning into a devilish grin. Percy was dumbfounded.

"Excuse me? Why would you..." Realization struck Percy, and Minerva's grin became even wider. "But I thought your conflict with Rome was resolved?"

"Come on, Perseus, even you know the taste of vengeance. These damn Romans stole my identity, raped my land and burned it all down. Athens wasn't a center of a state for nearly two millennia. I want you to destroy this vestige of that damned empire, even if I fade, Athena is still going to have the last laugh."

Percy did not know that to say. Was the whole quest for the Mark of Athena a waste? Did he fall into Tartarus for nothing?

"Now, I know that sounds bad..." Minerva continued before Percy could think of getting Riptide and slicing the goddess in half. Of course, he couldn't do that inside New Rome, but he could still punch her really hard. Maybe. "But know that if you agree, you would be under my protection. I will be forever in debt with you if successful. What do you say?"

Percy thought for a moment. Technically he did want to reform Rome as a whole, destroying its current values, but he didn't want to destroy it all, no matter what his name said.

"Look, Lady Minerva... I will think about it."

Minerva kept grinning all this time. "Very well, son of Neptune. I shall wait for you in the Senate House."

Before Percy could say anything at all, Minerva flashed out, leaving Percy alone to his thoughts.


The Senate House was not peaceful.

That was an understatement, actually.

Even if weapons were not allowed anymore inside New Rome, to prevent a second coming of Caesar, senators, civilians and legionnaries alike were bickering inside the building, which had been magically expanded. Percy did not know how, but it was certainly bigger.

On his side, sat both Frank and Hazel, who looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there today.

"Sorry about all of that." Percy apologized to the couple, who was caught up in surprise.

"What? Come on, Perce, it's not your fault that the proud Camp Jupiter has been reduced to a bunch of angry toddlers." Frank argued.

"I don't know. It kind of pains me to see them like this."

"They really do not shut up, right?" a voice said from behind them, and Minerva appeared once again, out of nowhere. Both Frank and Hazel bowed quickly. Percy stood in place.

"Lady Minerva, why do you gift us with your presence?" Hazel asked formally.

"Rise, praetors." Minerva told them, and they did as such. "I'm here as a representative of Olympus for the inauguration of Pontifex Jackson. Now..." she turned her attention to the loud crowd. "EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" she screamed, drawing the attention of everyone, who were pretty shocked to see a goddess appearing out of nowhere. "Thank you. Now, Lord Jupiter himself has sent me to represent Olympus in Pontifex Jackson's inauguration. However I have my own interests coming here, as I would like to elect an ambassador to defend my interests in the Senate."

Everyone started to mutter with each other, discussing who could this person be. One name resonated.

"My choice is a veteran of war, someone that has been representing my name for more than a decade at this point and the person who took the first steps for the current cooperation between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter."

Percy's eyes widened as he realized who Athena was refering to. This was about to get really complicated.

"I would like for all of you to welcome Annabeth Chase, ambassador of Minerva, goddess of wisdom, strategy, weaving, crafts, poetry, and magic
as the newest member of the Senate of New Rome!"

Far, far away from Camp Jupiter, a goddess with brown eyes screamed in frustration.