The klaxon sounded for a meeting at the oculist. This was an early call to be sure as usually Counsels didn't happen until after supper, but there were important things to attend. A new set of Romans demigods were preparing to graduate from their service in the legion, returned reports of Polythesis's army were brought in from the 2 cohort, and of course there were logistics regarding the implementation of New Rome's most recent Praetor.

Reyna always hated the long billowing purple robes. By tradition everyone in the camp donned the attire that attended the counsel, but to her it seemed largely impractical. She had to take extra large steps to make sure she didn't step on the dragging end and plant herself face-first into the ground. However, appearances were important, and Reyna wasn't one who complained about anything. Well, anything except the awful cherry cakes Rufus always tried to serve on Fridays.

After turning in her weapon dutifully too Terminus, the praetor marched swiftly up the steps into the main amphitheater. Decorated with the different banners of the cohorts and those of Ancient Rome, the room was large enough to accommodate nearly every demigod in the legion. Already the noise level was rising as conversation and gossip echoed off the stone pillars and walls. Yet as she drew near the romans hushed and stepped out of her way in respect. Reyna approached one of the two chairs seated at the head of a large table, located on the forefront of the amphitheater. She sat down in the uncomfortably large stone chair, reminding herself for the hundredth time that she would replace it with something more practical later, and swept her gaze out over the room.

It was still early in the afternoon so the bright sunlight still bathed the room in stripes as the pillars cut long shadows across the theater. However, despite the hot day the entire building was relatively cool, mostly thanks to the stone walls and fountains surrounding the oculist. Most of the damage to the city from the recent battle for New Rome had been repaired, legionaries being trained to build could accomplish much, but scorch marks and small debris remained visible. She glanced down at her watch. The meeting would officially start in 15 minutes. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Octavian take his place, albeit much more humbly than he had in the past. Recent events had thrown him out of favor and he seemed to more or less be keeping a low profile.

As more and more demigods filed into the amphitheater Reyna scowled and glanced at her watch. 8 minutes. It was prudent for a Praetor to be early to gatherings like this, but the chair next to her remained empty and it's owner nowhere to be seen. The conversation quieted down as everyone found their seats and the leaders of the cohorts took their places around the table. Nervous mummers echoed throughout as more and more people noticed his absence.

2 minutes. Reyna let out a quiet groan. Where was he? Just as the tension in the room began to mount, footsteps could be heard echoing. Just then a figure appeared at the top of the center stairs, his figure silhouetted by the sun. Reyna did not need to see his face. She took in the casual stance that still managed to emit authority, the power that seemed to radiate off of him in waves, and more than all that the powerful yet soft spoken voice that filled the room.

"Sorry I'm late" Said Percy Jackson as he strode purposefully down the stairs. Romans stared in silence as the new Praetor went to take his place in the chair located next to Reyna. She took him in as he approached. Like her he wore the purple garments that signified he was a Praetor, but unlike her his didn't dangle down and drag along the floor. Rather, his robe tightened against his chest and ran smoothly along his side. She could see the evidence of carefully made cuts, which allowed him to wear his attire more like a sash. The lowest portions still draped over his legs but were cut into two sections rather than just one, and fastened to his thighs with armor straps.

Reyna didn't know whether to be furious at him for disfiguring his uniform, or at herself for not thinking of it first. As he sat down next to her she could feel some of the tension in the room ease, but the disbelief was still very much there.

"It is prudent for a Praetor to be punctual." She whispered in curt words.

"Is it also prudent to wear a bathrobe? I couldn't stand to wear this thing to another meeting. So I had to make some changes." Percy said not sounding the least bit remorseful. Whereas Reyna sat upright in her chair, letting her gaze sweep coolly over the audience, Percy leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. His eyes locked onto individuals, jumping around the room seemingly trying to memorize every face. When he turned to look at her she once again had to look away. She didn't know why but it was always difficult to meet his gaze, something about his striking green eyes.

"Comfort is not a priority here, especially not in light of defacing your position."

"Is that why Romans set aside hours each day to take a bath? I didn't realize skin treatment was key to success in the legion." Reyna let it end at that. Now was not the time to discuss this. In fact, there was never a time where arguing with Percy Jackson was productive or conducive to mental health. Reyna stood to address the counsel and call the meeting officially to order. A quick roll call was taken of all the important figures and so began a summary of past events.

The treaty made with the Amazons was official, already there were some emissaries being traded between the groups. All of the imperial gold collected by the questing group had been inventoried andstocked, as well as the newly re-acquired imperial eagle. Reyna didn't pay much attention to all the mundane issues and updates other than to nod her head in approval from time to time. What they were really here for was coming soon. Eventually, those that would be retiring from the legion and moving into the city of New Rome were called forward.

There weren't many, 9 in total, and two of them were a couple. So Reyna stood and began the ceremony as Percy watched intently. Normally this would be performed with both leaders but due to his new appointment and lack of knowledge, this one was left to Reyna alone. She rattled off the standard speech, thanking them for their faithful service and welcoming them to their new lives in the safety of the city. None of the graduates had achieved a significant rank so there weren't many awards or honors to be read off. In truth, Reyna did appreciate these events, she cared about every legionnaire and wanted to

honor them especially in light of recent events. It was simply hard to focus on that in light of the danger that lay ahead regarding the prophecy of the seven. She stumbled through several of her sentences and almost forgot to call the legion to feet for send off.

Throughout all of this her fellow praetor sat silently, if not fidgeting with his thumbs. Still, with his ADHD she was impressed at his patience. He was obviously doing his best to pay attention to everything she was doing in order to later mimic her. Reyna made a mental note to walk him through the particulars later. After the honors were completed the Romans who were sent out reported all information relating to the remnants of the monster that had attacked just a few weeks earlier. So far it seemed they had all but routed the enemy.

Finally came the business regarding the newly appointed praetor. His situation was highly irregular as he hadn't even finished his probatio before becoming a praetor. After seeing his skill and cunning in battle there were few left who questioned his ability, but he simply lacked a lot of the knowledge and training that came with Camp Jupiter. All his training and experience came from this other camp, a Greek one that he couldn't even name. With that brought more concerns. Hazel had told her about Percy's insane gamble with the gorgons blood. While it had paid off for finding the location of the glacier, it had only marginally improved his memory. Reyna worried for him, she could see the silent anger and pain in his eyes whenever important facts of his life evaded him. He didn't even know his mother's name, he wasn't even sure he still had a mother.

Despite all this the son of Neptune did his best to put all his troubles aside and represent a strong front for camp Jupiter. Just like a good roman should. Remaining calm and collected in all situations, and never letting emotions get the better of him.

Octavian stood for the next event, which would be the oath Percy would take as part of the role of praetor. All legionaries took an oath when joining the legion, but the praetors had a special promise they had to make for the betterment of camp Jupiter and by extension all of New Rome. Octavian surprisingly hid his contempt for the duration of the ceremony. He stood Percy in the center of the round table with a tablet in one hand and said off the oath, having Percy repeat after him. When that was finished he donned the son of Neptune with a circlet of gold bearing an emblem.

Reyna applauded with everyone else and Percy quickly returned too his seat looking very much self-conscious from all the attention. She tried to give him a reassuring smile but didn't think he saw it. After the main events were finished there were a few last minutes announcements Muster would be canceled for the day and the next, there would also be a memorial service this Wednesday for those that fell in the battle for New Rome. Individual honors would be given later and organized by the relatives, if any, of the deceased.

At last Reyna stood once again to dismiss the counsel. This time Percy joined her and together they walked up the center stairway and out of the oculist. Once they reached the top step the rest of the Romans began shuffling their way to the exits. Many gathered around the graduates to congratulate them personally and shake their hands. Due to the canceling of muster there was a good deal of the morning left before lunch that was free. Well, free to everyone else at least. Reyna as usual was swamped with work. Not only all the normal duties she performed but on guiding her new partner through them as well. Once he learned however, things would be much easier. She hoped.

Percy followed her silently, gazing level into the middle distance in a slight brood. This was something she had noticed more recently these past few days. She knew he was disappointed his memories hadn't returned, but that was all she knew. He never spoke to her about the pieces he did manage to retrieve and certainly not what they meant to him. Reyna knew that if she had lost her memories, save for enough pieces to tease her with her past, she would be driven mad. Yet not once had there been an outburst or even a tear. Part of her had worried what would happen if his memories did return. Where would his loyalties lie?

But for now he had remained unquestionably devoted too their cause, risking his life for everything they stood for despite not knowing who he was. That was far more than she should ask from him. Yet here she was, asking more by putting him in the most difficult position at camp. Well, that wasn't necessarily all her. He had been raised on a shield after battle. But she still felt responsible. In the end, she knew she needed help. She couldn't possibly shoulder the weight of both positions any longer and knew he would make a great leader.

Together they approached the print house, a large workshop with steam constantly puffing out of the large chimneys. Rapping on the door three times, a small petite figure opened the door. Raziptula, or Razz for short, was quite the character. From her cracked framed glasses, too her frazzled red hair, too her, well, indecent attire. She spoke in a high pitched quick voice that made Reyna flinch slightly.

"Hello REY!, I wasn't expecting you today! Were you coming about the officiated letter from Springfield? Well the station chief there sent an advanced notice via IM saying that their press had an explosion accident, something about the tithers breathing fire into the exhaust. Well suffice to say the engine was out of commission, and so were the operators. But no one died! That's good right? Anyway, he sent a transcript for us to print ourselves but you know how those go..." She rattled on for 5 more minutes, barely taking a breath in between sentences. Reyna glanced back at Percy, who was doing everything he could to divert his eyes from Razz. Her skant clothing was soaked and clung to her like well used bandages. Under normal circumstances Reyna would have tried to talk her down, hold her down if necessary. She had long ago given up threatening her for using that coined nickname "Rey", this was a girl that didn't get direct confrontation like that. Besides, despite her quirks she was the head chief

of all print and regulations at Camp Jupiter and was very dedicated to her job. Not to mention deadly with a gladius, every bit as good as Reyna herself. Perhaps even better.

Razz proceeded to usher them in to show them the progress on all the new documents that were being transcribed from a hand held easy-go recorder that was used to record the IM message. Their message would be printed onto official document paper and stored in the archives. But that's not what they were here for.

"Razz, how is progress on the plating and identification documents for our newest Praetor?" Razz brightened.

"Oooh! They just finished this morning! We were cooling and revising them during the Senate meeting after the first ones were a bust. Right this way!" The chief skipped ahead of them, her hair whipping around like streamers at a parade. Percy followed tentatively, looking around at all the pumps and belts. Along with the rows and rows of printing plates used for official engravings and announcements. While this wasn't the official news press for New Rome, it still handled the vast majority of their legal postings. Which meant that a lot of this stuff was strictly off-limits to all but high ranking officers. It had been some time since Reyna had been in here, she had avoided it if she could help it. The air was hot and humid from all the steam powered engines. Her normally tame hair was becoming a frazzled mess and would soon be as wild as Razz's.

The building always seemed so much bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. The small redhead led them through a maze of machines and shelves. Until finally they arrived at a long rack with rollers that had dozens of plates, documents, signs, and other important prints laid out to cool. The rack was huge and full but Razz immediately found what she was looking for. "It took me some time to get the design, color, and material right. I have never done a son of Neptune before you see. I must have scrapped 20 ideas before I settled on one! But I think you will like this." This was not a surprise to Reyna. Razz expected nothing but the best of herself when it came to her work. Even so, she wasn't prepared for what she saw.

Razz flipped the plate over and showed it to the two Praetors and Percy took a step back. It was a masterpiece. Looking into felt like looking into the depths of the ocean, beautiful and powerful. The colors were vibrant yet subtle enough to not be oppressive. The words Praetor Percy Jackson were emblazoned on the front and seemed to glow like fire in contrast to the deep dark colors behind. This would be installed at the second Praetor home, the one previously occupied by Jason, to represent Percy's authority and position. After which it would be moved to the archives to be immortalized alongside the record of every other Roman leader back to Augustus Caesar himself.

Razz pushed the plate forward, encouraging Percy to take it. Slowly, he accepted it with a sense of wonder. Reyna was satisfied to see him, for once, at a loss for words. As he was doing that Razz turned towards her with a somewhat somber expression on her face. "There is something you should know," she began "I was here late last night and someone stopped by, they wanted permission to search the archive of some of our officiated texts. I went ahead and let him because those had been made public anyway, but it

was quite unusual." Reyna wasn't sure why she was telling her this but pressed for a reason.

"Did you know who it was?" A nod.

"That's why I thought I should tell you, I thought you would know but when he didn't come to the Senate this morning I knew he had left without telling you. As far as I know I am the only one who knows he was in camp at all. It was that other child of Pluto, Nico." Nico De Angelo, like Percy, had shown up out of the blue at camp. Nobody knew much about him, but Reyna knew enough. Before him Jason had been the most powerful and deadly demigod Reyna knew. Then came along this lanky and scruffy teen. On first impression he didn't look like a lot. His long messy black hair hung in front of his eyes like they were hiding. The boy didn't have the towering presence of authority of Jason, nor his deft skill with a sword, or even his impressive looks and stature.

But underestimating this demigod was a lethal mistake. It didn't take long for Reyna to learn that this was the most dangerous individual she had ever faced down. A true child of the underworld, Nico carried with him a piece of death itself. She did not want to fear him, yet she tried her best to make sure he was an ally. Because if Nico wanted her dead, she would be a rotting corpse. Percy had also looked up at the name.

"I know that name, I don't know him but I know the name. We knew each other before...we just did. He lied to me, I just can't contradict him yet." the son of Neptune said. He had put away his plate and was now looking at Razz. "Do you know what he was looking for?" She shook her head.

"He asked me for privacy, normally we monitor everything that comes in and out of here carefully but..." But Nico was not one to whom you said no. Besides, she never would have seen him enter or leave if he didn't want it. Permission was only asked as a matter of courtesy.

"Can you sift through to find out what is missing?" Percy pressed. Razz looked at him like he was crazy. "Do you have any idea how many copies of records we keep or how far back they go? I have no Idea where he started. We would never be able to take an inventory much less make sense of it." She ran a hair through her mangled hair, almost getting it stuck in the process.

"Maybe you could ask him yourself through an IM, although they don't reach the underworld." Reyna thought it was worth a try, but had a feeling Nico wouldn't tell them anything even if they did get in contact with him. She looked to Percy and heard him echoing her own thoughts.

"If he was going to come out and say why he was here he would have done so last night or this morning." Green eyes darted across the floor as Percy obviously was wrestling with his thoughts.

"Nevermind him for now, there are other things to prepare for, as well as something I would like you to look up for me." Reaching into a small bag at his hip, Percy pulled out a parchment that had writing on it. Looking at it, Reyna could immediately see it wasn't in English, or even Latin. Razz looked at the paper and shook her head.

"I can't read ancient Greek, sorry" she said. Percy pressed it into her hand.

"A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds" Percy rattled off. "While we were in Seattle we ran into a Harpie named Ella who had a perfect memory. She quoted this off when she saw me, but she can't give me any real context other than she read it off one of the pages of the Sibiline books. Let me know if you find anything like it, I have a feeling it's a key to finding out who I..." he trailed off and swallowed. "Just do this for me".

"Yes sir" By now Reyna was getting itchy to leave. The steam had nearly soaked her uniform and her uncomfortable robe was becoming unbearable. Sweat seemed to cling to her like honey and all she wanted was to leave for a nice Roman bath. She looked to Percy who was, annoyingly, perfectly dry and unbothered by the hot steam. In fact he probably enjoyed it. Before anyone could bring up another reason to stick around Reyna spoke up.

"I believe it is time for us to go, we have other business to attend to and I need to show Percy where to mount his plate." She practically shoved him out the door into the open air. Reyna was surprised when almost immediately the claxon sounded for lunch. They had been in there longer than she thought. Percy's eyes brightened.

"Food! Finally, I was starving" He walked on ahead in the direction of the dinning hall. "We can go to the houses to hang the plate after class this afternoon," he said. Reyna hurried to catch up, slightly annoyed, but also hungry herself. Hopefully Rufus had prepared something edible.