Previously
Silence reigned for a few moments, before someone started the chant. It spread throughout the lines, until the entire Field of Mars was ringing with the sound of two very important words:
Ave Primus Pilus!
Presently
Percy threw a scroll across the room. He was getting tired of being forced to read scroll after scroll after scroll of history and tactics. It just would not stick to his brain, and he was getting very impatient with it.
He got up and walked out of his room, walking between the bunks of legionaries that filled the barracks. He needed some peace and quiet.
As he walked through New Rome, he thought about how far he'd come in the few short weeks he'd been in the Legion. He'd begun to pick up Latin, although he wouldn't be able to actually hold a conversation in Latin to save his life for another couple years. He liked to think that he'd come far in the leadership department, although, with no one else around to based himself off, it was hard to tell.
Sure, he could base himself off Reyna, Frank, Larry, Dakota or any number of the Legion's officer corps, but they have been in command for a much longer time. Everything came naturally to them, and while it came naturally to Percy in the heat of battle, he struggled to lead in the day-to-day life of the Legion.
He liked his Cohort. They still thought themselves above the rest, but he hoped that he could train that out of them. They accepted him, albeit reluctantly at first. Murmurs of discontent were still common, but they were getting rarer by day. For awhile he was following Michael's recommendations to the letter, but now he was beginning to get more and more ideas of his own. Already he had incorporated a few changes to the training regiment, and he also began to enforce his own rules in the Cohort.
His legionaries were following his order to the letter however. When he tried to incorporate a new way of fighting that closely resembled that of the ancient Greeks, they nearly broke down his door and all but ordered him to take it off their training plan. He also made some what he would later learn were fairly disparaging comments of Rome's university, and they were quick to tell him off.
All in all, everything was working fairly well, except one thing. Learning how to be Roman. He struggled with Latin, he struggled with Roman tactics, he struggled with Roman culture, he struggled with Roman history.
He wished it was a simple as getting help, but even that failed. It was as if he ran into a wall every time. It was as if his brain couldn't cope with the culture shock. He would gobble up as much as he could, but by the time he woke up the very next day, he'd forgotten everything.
And that lead him to be where he was now. Standing in front of the Tiber, praying for some sort of assistance from anyone who would listen, and wanting to desperately slip underneath the surface and be whisked off to Atlantis, never to be seen again. But he couldn't do that either, his loyalty wouldn't let him.
"Trouble Perseus?" a stern, cold voice sounded behind him. Percy turned around to find the least likely of all goddesses behind him.
"Indeed, Lady Hera." he replied.
"Might I be of assistance?" Hera asked after a moment. Percy's eyes widened.
"I-why?" he asked. Hera never helped any demigods, and the last time she appeared before Percy, she wiped his memory clean. So, he had a valid reason to be suspicious, at least he thought he did
"It's a favor I owe your father. He has heard your prayers, but we both know that he's unable to help. I, however, can." Hera answered
"May I ask how?"
"What do you mean "how"? Speak clearly child!" Hera snapped. Clearly, she wasn't entirely happy to be there, which meant she was being honest. Although, why or how Hera ended up indebted to Poseidon, Percy didn't have a clue, nor did he paticularly want to know.
"I meant how can you help?" Percy asked hesitantly.
Hera pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I am the protector of Rome itself child. I am one of the most important dieties in Rome, save Mars and my husband. If you're willing, I will teach you the ways of Rome and of the Legion."
Percy thought for a moment. What Hera was offering was something that he frankly wouldn't get anywhere else. But at the same time, as bad as it sounded, it was Hera. He hadn't always had the best experiences with her, and he didn't know if he could trust her fully. All in all, it seemed too good to be true, and Percy knew from experience that such things usually came with strings attached.
"Not to be disrespectful my lady, but what do you want in return?" Percy asked.
Hera just blinked in surprise. It wasn't often that a mere demigod would be able to see through her plans, but Percy had a habit of doing the impossible.
"You'll owe me a favor, and a fairly big one." she finally said.
"And if I refuse?" Percy asked.
"Then you fail your mission. And you will fail them." Hera said curtly
"Them? I'm not here because the Praetors want me to be. I'm here to help Michael take the reins in the way he needs to" Percy said, confused.
"Not the Praetors, child. Your Cohort! You won't be able to represent them the way they deserve to be represented. Michael will go back to bumbling fool he was, the First will act like they're the only ones with the favor of the gods, and you will continue your life of mediocrity." Hera snapped.
"I like my life of mediocrity!" Percy protested. Hera just looked at him for a while before answering.
"Do you, child? You are the son of the Sea. Power flows through your veins the likes of which I have rarely seen in Poseidon's spawn. You are not meant to be a simple nobody, going through the motions of life until one day you are buried under a simple marble stone. I'm sure your father told you that the Sea doesn't agree with restraints, but the Sea also hates normalcy. It wants to be either feared or revered."
"You make it sound like I'm not going to leave after this mission is done" Percy said slowly. Hera simply shrugged
"I'll gratefully accept your offer, my lady." he replied after a moments consideration.
"Good." was all Hera said before flashing away. Percy just rolled his eyes. Gods will be gods, no matter how much they wanted to "help". He wished he'd asked what type of "favor" he'd owe Hera, but he couldn't change that now. He walked back to the barracks and went back to trying to cram as much as information in his brain as he could.
Timeskip
"Percy!" Hazel squealed before collecting herself "Ahem, Primus Pilus."
"Ave Hastatus Prior." Percy replied formally, before breaking out in a huge grin and pulling Hazel into a hug. Hazel fell into step beside Percy. Technically, it was a breach of protocol for a Centurion of a different Cohort to march with a Cohort, but nobody was going to speak up. It was a rule that had been flaunted long before Percy came to Camp Jupiter.
"I heard about Annabeth" Hazel said in a low voice. Percy almost froze. He hadn't stopped to think about it since he rejoined the Legion.
"I'm sorry" Hazel continued.
"It's fine, I guess. I can understand why she did it." Percy replied. Hazel stared at him in disbelief.
"What?" Percy asked dumbly.
"You understand that the girl you fell into the Greek personification of hell for left you because she was too selfish to accept that you want to help other people too?" Hazel asked slowly. As much as Percy wanted to protest that harsh description of what had happened, it was very accurate.
"Well, yeah. I was the one championing a normal life and all that garbage. Hades, I brought her to New Rome. I'm not saying that it was the right decision, or that I like it, but I can understand why she made it." Percy said.
Hazel mulled over that for a long while.
"You're a better person than me Percy, that's all I can say." Hazel said.
Percy didn't know how to respond to that, so he quickly changed tact to a slightly less heavy topic
AN: I originally wanted this to be a little more, but time escaped me. Next chapter however, I'll aim for close to five thousand words. Lofty aspirations, I know. But a guy can dream, can't he?
Anyways, it's becoming abundantly clear that this is going to be a little more than a couple chapters. So, as if I'm not strapped for time enough, I'm going to be running this alongside Silver and Sea Green. That means quality may drop, updates might be slow, the whole nine yards.
Also, let me be clear on one thing. I'm going to completely ignore The Trials of Apollo. I read the first two books and gave up after Jason died. I'm not a fan of Meg, I don't like that Percy was once again thrown to the side, I'm critical of Reyna joining the hunters. and all in all, it seemed more like a cash grab. So, if I do things that aren't in keeping with the pile of lore that ol' Rick heaped on with that series, that's why.
With that, I can only thank you for reading, and wish you a good day/evening/night.