Chapter 1

"A Centurion at age 12 thats legendary man! I am so proud to be the cousin of the almighty Jason Grace. The legionnaires will tremble in your presence." The young man teased the blonde boy who was holding up his Centurion badge as if it belonged to someone much bigger than him.

"It's just such a huge responsibility. I have only been Optio for a year. I had no idea Zach was thinking of retiring to the city, and leaving me in charge. I thought he might be a lifer, or that he might run for Praetor when Cassie stepped down." Jason said, still in awe of the situation.

"You deserve it Jason seriously plus Gwen will keep you on the right path. Everyone in the cohort respects you. Olympus knows you have saved my life more times than I care to count, and you're the son of Jupiter, this is just a stepping stone for you." Percy told the young man seriously.

Jason frowned, "You think they are grooming me for Praetor?"

"Literally no doubt in my mind. Give it another three or four years. Maybe you will lead a quest, or maybe lead the cohort into battle, or if nothing else you will keep leading us to victory in the War Games." Percy said with a smug grin.

"Okay that last one was just stupid. We were the first ones over the walls, and they turned water cannons on us? I thought Octavion was going to have a conniption over that boneheaded decision." Jason said, causing both boys to erupt in laughter.

Percy mimicked, "WATER UP MY NOSE!"

This caused the boys to nearly roll on the ground at the outburst that came after the games from the nitwit who had attempted to blast Percy and Jason off the walls. It had been a good year for the two sons of the Eldest Olympians.

The two looked over the river, the spot where they had met five years before. They were holding coke bottles in their hands from the local cafe. It was a celebration after all. The two quieted down after a few minutes, and Jason said, "Percy, I want you to be my optio. I know when we talked about it years ago you said that it wasn't a good idea but-"

"It's still not a good idea Jason. I know Gwen would approve, but like I told you they are grooming you for Praetor, and you would totally ruin it by making me your optio. Being the Son of Neptune is like a curse to the legion. Even with Triton's training, presence, and approval, I can tell most of the legion doesn't like me. I think most of them tolerate me because we are so close, but if you make me optio you are putting that target on your back. I mean face it the senate will have your head on a platter inside of six weeks if you do this." Percy said sadly.

Jason huffed, "I don't care what others think. Unless our cohort discharges me it's not like they can do anything else. So it takes me 10 years instead of 5 to become Praetor, if that means you are Centurion Jackson at that point it's okay with me. Besides maybe Gwen will be a lifer, and you can put the moves on her when you're Centurion.."

Percy sighed, shaking his head, but the smile on his face was irrefutable. He ignored the comment about Gwen not wanting to get into the crush he had on his Centurion. The two sipped their drinks and stared off towards the clear skies. Percy asked, "What do you think about the gladiator challenge tomorrow?"

Jason grinned, "Probably come down to you, Michael Kahale, myself, and Larry could be Hank too. Your trident work has gotten really good over the last year, and most don't know how to fight it, but Larry, and Michael are both too damn good to lay down and take it."

"We could fight in finals, and make all these older teenagers look stupid. That would be pretty funny." Percy said with that damnable grin he always wears.

Chuckling, the boy responded, "It would be something."

Small talk wasn't necessary between the two boys; they were much too close for that. Jason had taught Percy everything there was to know about Rome when they were just eight years old. All the gods and goddesses, the monsters, the cohorts, the fighting styles, the maps, the strategies, tactics, and anything that it took to keep a demigod alive. Percy owed a lot to his cousin, and they had been through a lot over the last five years together. Training together every day, learning to live with the grief of being the only mortals left in their respective families, and of course finding family in each other. It wasn't easy in New Rome watching all the families interact everyday. Percy remembered when Larry was raised to the second Cohort Centurion his family threw him a huge party in the city. Percy or Jason would never get anything like that. This quiet little celebration between the two of them was as good as it would get, but to them that wasn't a bad thing.

Jason spoke after minutes of silence, "You ever wonder what it's like out there?"

Percy laughed, "Well if you listen to our monsters education class it sounds like nothing but doom, gloom, and monsters straight out of Tartarus."

Jason shook his head, "Oh come on man it can't all be like that. We train so hard, and I just want to go out there and see it all. Put our skills to the test. I want to go to Rome and fight my way through the Mare Nostrum. I want to fight through the world and its problems one monster at a time. You and I against the world, it's the way it should be!"

Percy grinned. Jason couldn't say these things to the average person. The Mare Nostrum was forbidden territory, and any person who attempted to venture it would be subjected to decimatio but he trusted his cousin with his life, "Well we are only five years from retirement if we want it. I'll follow you anywhere, cousin."

The boy held up his bottle and the two clicked their Cokes, and began their stroll back into camp after a few moments of silence. As they made it through Temple Hill Percy steered off the path wishing 'Centurion Grace' goodnight as he wandered over to his father's shrine. As he got older this shrine really bothered him. In Greece Poseidon had been one of the big three, and one of the most powerful Gods. He was nearly as revered as Zeus, but in Rome Neptune was feared more than worshipped. This shrine spoke monuments to that. It was the size of a tool shed, and admittedly it was an eyesore among the beautiful monuments and temples here on Temple Hill.

When Percy had first arrived he was angry at Rome for doing this to his father, but instead of wallowing in the anger he took his first wages for serving in the legion, bought cleaning supplies, and at least took down the cobwebs from the altars and ceilings.

He bowed his head and took a knee pointing his eyes towards the floor, "Father. I won't let you down tomorrow. I will show you and Triton that the tutelage of the sea is not being wasted. After I win this contest I will bring honor to the House of Neptune, and I will set about building you a temple father. With all the accomplishments the sea will help me with in my life I will repay it here. This i swear father."

With that Percy rose, placing a hand on the pedestal sprouting from the ground, and felt a small wave of anger burn through him. The Romans feared his father, and he would teach them to fear him as well.

(A/N) Good news my friends I am back! Welcome to 2021. HAPPY NEW YEARS. So this is the Rise of House Neptune, and I have been working on this story for months. I am 27 chapters into writing this, (about 75k wordS) so there is A LOT of content to be unveiled. I am planning to update once a week until I finish and then I will update twice a week. If the story gains crazy popularity maybe I will update faster, but big things are coming with this story. So please give it a follow and stay tuned till Next Friday. Cheers!

-OrionB15

Update 11.14.21, this is my only super short chapter. It was originally tied in with the prologue, but I didn't like the way the scene break fit in, so I repaired it to be two separate short chapters. After this the average chapter length is around 4k words. I have fixed the Triton error that my long-time readers will know about, and I have added a length to my discord page down below. Cheers!

TyvJpjh7Xj