Hera knew she was meddling with fate, but she had no choice. However, she had no idea how permanent her actions would be.
Percy Jackson was not supposed to arrive at Camp Jupiter until June, yet somehow, he arrived six months early. He was supposed to have partial memories connecting him to Camp Half-Blood, yet he remembered nothing.
Hera supposed she should have known better than to try to make an unequal exchange. The fates simply evened the scales.
-Ω-
'Percy Jackson,' Percy thought to himself. It was his name, one of two things he remembered about himself. The other is that he was the son of Poseidon, or Neptune, as Lupa would say. He supposed he was lucky to know who his godly parent was, but the lack of the rest of his memories made him reluctant to say so definitively.
Still, Frank was constantly wondering who his own godly parent was, so Percy was glad he had at least one thing he didn't have to worry about.
Frank arrived at the Wolf House only a few days after Percy did. They were the only two demigods there, so they quickly became sparring partners and then friends. Soon, they would leave for Camp Jupiter together. Technically, it's a journey that's supposed to be done alone, but there are no official rules about traveling together.
-Ω-
The journey to Camp Jupiter was more difficult than Percy anticipated. He felt like he had been on the road before, and some of the instincts remained. He was able to hotwire a car for them to use – steal – but it was quickly abandoned after a day when it was spotted by law enforcement.
Percy and Frank trespassed through a lot of property while running away which ended with them accidentally running into a camp of Anthropophagites, a race of cannibals, who they had to fight. They could bring themselves to loot the camp for supplies, so the two boys found themselves camping with no equipment.
They managed to gather some supplies, but the journey remained perilous. Percy estimated that they ran into two monsters a day. He assumed Frank had to be the child of someone powerful, because alone neither of them would draw that many monsters.
Eventually though, they did arrive.
-Ω-
Frank may not have known who his godly parent was, but he had papers. This was enough to accept him into the legion, even if he was put in the fifth cohort. Percy had nothing. His fate was dependent on someone be willing to stand for him. Luckily, fate was with him. For now.
A young, dark-skinned, girl stood for him and Percy let out a breath of relief.
Relief that he was safe for now.
Relief that he wouldn't be on his own anymore.
Relief because, as strange as it might seem, he already felt a sense of belonging.
-Ω-
The girl who stood for him was Hazel Levesque and she was the daughter of Pluto. Apparently, she hadn't been at Camp for that long either, but as the child of Pluto she knew how it felt to be an outsider. So, when she saw the other shake their heads at the thought of accepting a son of Neptune, she stood for him.
Since she stood for him, Hazel had to show Percy how things worked around camp, and since she was already showing him around the centurions had her show Frank as well.
It was rare that three people got along as well as they did.
Two friends was all Percy needed to ignore the hostile glares from the legionnaires.
Two friends was all Frank needed to have the confidence to speak his mind.
Two friends was all Hazel needed to not feel cursed.
-Ω-
Percy adjusted to the pace of Camp Jupiter. He was surprised that he enjoyed it so much. At first, he recoiled at the strict order, but he found peace in the stability and grew even more confident in his abilities the longer he was there. He couldn't be positive, but he felt as if he had a very chaotic childhood. Camp Jupiter was a nice respite.
Still, he didn't completely reform. He couldn't bring himself to just blindly listen to orders, and found himself, with Frank, often purposing strategies during war games.
Their centurions, Dakota and Gwen didn't listen to them the first time. However, after the trio single-handedly won the bi-weekly war game they started listening.
And for the first time in years, the fifth cohort had a five-game winning streak.
-Ω-
After doing so well in the games, it shouldn't have been a surprise for Mars to appear to claim Frank as his son. However, everyone was shocked anyways. However, they weren't surprised when he gave the trio a quest.
-Ω-
The quest was simply to retrieve the eagle, so they were quite surprised to arrive in Alaska to find Death chained and a giant guarding him. The surprise turned to worry when they realized there was an army marching towards Camp Jupiter.
They practically flew across the waves as Percy was pushing them so fast back towards camp. As they neared Camp Jupiter, they could see the monster army marching nosily towards it.
Percy pushed to go fast.
They arrived in time to warn Reyna.
They only beat the monster army by minutes, but those precious minutes of preparation saved lives.
-Ω-
Percy fought the hardest he had in his life.
Slash. Dodge. Stab. Duck.
This was his new home.
Slash. Dodge. Stab. Duck.
He had to protect it.
Slash. Dodge. Stab. Duck.
He had to face the giant.
Slash. Dodge. Stab. Duck.
He needed a god.
Terminus.
He lifted Terminus's stone head and slammed it into the giant.
The fighting ended.
Percy was lifted up on shields.
-Ω-
Praetor. Praetor. Praetor.
-Ω-
Being Praetor was large jump in responsibilities, yet Percy didn't feel worried. He had a strange feeling that he had been in a similar position.
It also helped that Reyna was a good teacher.
-Ω-
While Percy had adjusted to the pace of life of a Legionnaire, being Praetor was a whole other level. He had to learn about Politics.
The Praetors are in charge, but they can be overruled if the senators and augur combine their powers. There are also the honorary senate members to contend with who were former legionnaires. Many plans and power plays were disrupted by Percy's election on the battlefield. It had been expected that Octavian would become the next Praetor as he had been collecting votes for the election in June.
Due to this disruption, Reyna stressed to Percy how delicate the balance of power was currently. It was vital that they remain a united front.
Percy swore he would do anything to protect New Rome and Camp Jupiter.
So, he and Reyna spent the majority of their time together. She was the first person he saw in the morning and the last person he saw at night.
They were constantly seen together, whether it was at meals, watching the war games, or simply walking around New Rome.
In this way, they established an image of unity.
-Ω-
Slowly, they built a solid foundation of trust. Reyna had been leading Camp Jupiter alone for months. Everyone relied on her. Friend or lover, she needed someone she could lean on, and that was a position Percy could fill.
-Ω-
Percy enjoyed Reyna's company. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't place why. She had told him about how they met in the Sea of Monsters, but he was sure that wasn't the only place he remembered her from.
After spending several weeks joined at the hip, Percy learned that Reyna was similar to him. He didn't realize it at first, because she acted so serious, but eventually she let her guard down when they were alone. Like him, she's fiercely loyal which is why she's so strict. She prefers to fight, not plan, but learned to become a planner so she could be a better leader. And she's funny, her humor is a dry sarcasm, so Percy didn't realize that she was making a joke the first few times. Now he makes a point to laugh at all her jokes.
He also makes it his goal to make her laugh at least once every day. The first time he heard her laugh he almost had an aneurysm. It was late at night, both of them had had too much coffee, he made a dumb Rome pun, and Reyna lost it. She doubled over in laughter and Percy could only stare in amazement.
-Ω-
Their friendship was not the only thing they worked on building. Large parts of New Rome had been destroyed in the battle with Polybotes. The city needed rebuilding so that was their main task.
It worked in their favor as they decided to update many parts of the city while they rebuilt. This garnered favor with the veterans who put pressure on the senators to be more supportive of their Praetors.
The week they unveiled the new Senate building they received more oaths of loyalty than they did the day Percy became a Praetor.
-Ω-
The growing support was good because they were going to need all of it if the memories Percy recovered were true.
-Ω-
Percy's memories were coming back slowly, but they were still coming back. He remembered his mom and had vague memories of his best friend, Grover, and even vaguer memories of another camp. He couldn't remember the name or location, but he knew now that he was sent to Camp Jupiter on purpose.
Reyna was the first one he told.
-Ω-
They had assumed that there had been somewhere else for demigods to go, Percy being alive proved that. However, having actual confirmation changed things. There was a war coming, they would need the other camp's help to defeat Gaea.
So together, Percy, Reyna, Frank, and Hazel made a plan. It was obvious that Percy and Jason were switched, their next challenge was how to reveal the information to the Senate without starting a war. There were some preparations they could make now, such as adding a place for the Greeks to stay outside of the city limits to the city plans.
However, much of their planning had to wait until Percy remembered more information about the other camp.
-Ω-
Luckily, they didn't have to wait long because soon Percy met Nico di Angelo.
-Ω-
Percy thought the best way to describe meeting Nico was like getting punched in the face while having a lake poured into your ears. The moment they shook hands, he was flooded with memories, mostly things that related to the other boy.
He remembered getting the curse of Achilles. He remembered Mythomagic. He remembered Bianca and her death. But most importantly, he remembered that Nico had been at Camp Half-Blood.
So, Nico was recruited.
-Ω-
Nico was their eyes and ears in the Greek camp. Initially, he wanted them to contact Camp Half-Blood, but they had already agreed that that should be a last resort.
The reason was based in politics. They couldn't be in contact with the Greeks before even announcing their existence to the Senate, it would look like a conspiracy. And if Percy were to remain trusted by the Romans, he couldn't have anything to do with the Greeks until the Camp trusted them.
Nico had the unique position of being able to say he was an ambassador to both camps on behalf of his father. This was crucial for their new plans.
If the prophecy of the Seven was really coming true, then they would need a neutral party for the trip. The Senate would never agree to four Greeks and three Romans. So, Nico would have to be the neutral party.
Percy and Jason obviously had to go since they were the ones swapped.
Nico told them the other one guaranteed would be Leo Valdez because he was building the ship they would need.
Then it was likely to be Jason's girlfriend, Piper McLean because she went on the quest to free Hera with Jason and Leo. Percy couldn't help but notice that Reyna seemed to be sad to hear about Jason having a girlfriend.
The last person Nico thought would come was Annabeth Chase.
"She's your…close friend," Nico explained. Percy believed him. He had some memories of her, but she was mostly in the background. Still, her constant presence was enough to convince him that they were close.
-Ω-
"This memory loss is driving me crazy," Percy muttered.
"How so?" Reyna asked, looking up from her document.
"Ever since Nico arrived, I've remembered more about Camp, but the more I remember the more I'm aware of everything I've forgotten. Like, I have face in my head but no names for them. I remember what my cabin looked like, but I don't have any memories from being inside it," he vented.
Reyna reached over and patted his hand.
"They will come back in time, don't worry. Nico said that Jason has recovered many of his memories, you will too."
-Ω-
Memory loss and preparation for war aside, Percy enjoyed his life at Camp Jupiter. The more he got to know the legionnaires the more he liked them. They took longer to trust, but that was because they were in a more militaristic environment. Percy was proud that he managed to get their trust.
He was more relaxed than Reyna with them as well. He liked to joke that they had a good cop bad cop routine. However, he still carried out punishments on those who broke the rules. Reyna would remind him that he could be friendly but could not seem like a push-over.
Still, he felt a trill of happiness every time he was walking through New Rome and heard someone call him by his name and wave hello.
New Rome was another part of Camp Jupiter that Percy grew more found of every day. He was still missing many of his memories, but he could remember that he spent much of his time moving around. The idea of a safe place where he could settle down and go to school without worrying about monsters was intoxicating.
-Ω-
Reyna was trying to suppress her excitement, and Percy was instantly suspicious.
"What are you up to?"
"Just close your eyes and come with me." Percy sighed, but obediently closed his eyes. Reyna grabbed his hand and lead him through a doorway, down a hall, around a corner, and through another doorway.
"Okay, you can open them," Reyna whispered.
In front of Percy was a giant mist maker and a reflective light. Together they made a giant rainbow. He turned to Reyna in confusion. She held up a drachma.
"Call your mom."
-Ω-
Percy cried for a long time while he was on the call with his mom. She had to be sworn not to tell anyone but talking with her was the second happiest moment he had at Camp Jupiter.
The happiest happened directly afterwards when he kissed Reyna (And she kissed back).
-Ω-
Their relationship progressed slowly. They were the leaders of New Rome and Camp Jupiter and they had a war to plan. They couldn't let their relationship ruin that. But they couldn't hold back their feelings either.
It was common to see the two walking around New Rome in the evening, holding hands while discussing business.
-Ω-
Percy knew he was missing something important (Annabeth), but Reyna greeted him in the morning with coffee and a kiss.
She giggled as he tickled her.
She swung their arms as they walked hand-in-hand down the main road in New Rome.
She rubbed his back when he remembered new things.
She bit her pen while looking over document.
He kissed the spot on her forehead that she always rubbed when she was getting tired.
And he couldn't bring himself to push his memories and find out what was missing.
-Ω-
Then it was too late.
The memory came to him suddenly.
Him and Annabeth.
Underwater.
Kissing.
"Percy, what did you remember?"
Percy wouldn't forget the look in her eyes when he told her.
-Ω-
They stopped taking walks around New Rome.
-Ω-
Their relationship changed again, but it didn't become cold.
They're still friends.
Friends who have feelings for each other.
Friends who have feelings for each other and know the other likes them back.
But Reyna wasn't going to be the 'other woman'.
And Percy refused to be the douche who uses amnesia as an excuse to cheat.
So, they go back to being friends.
They're still united.
It's just a bit awkward.
-Ω-
The drama is forgotten as there are more important factors at play. Soon, it's time to present their information about the Greeks to the Senate.
Together they stood.
And the senate listened.
When the Greeks arrive, they will be tentatively accepted.
-Ω-
The Argo II parks at the convenient dock built for it. Guards are placed around it, much to the protests of one Leo Valdez.
Jason Grace is wearing a Praetor robe, and Percy scowls internally.
The four demigods descended to greet the Romans, not aware they were expecting them.
Percy remained at Reyna's side and greets them cordially.
They aren't together, but they are still united.
-Ω-
Annabeth rushes forward.
Percy doesn't.
Annabeth stops.
-Ω-
It was hard. Percy suppressed his instincts. This isn't how he would have greeted them, but it's how he had to greet them. For the benefit of Rome. Part of him wanted to run to Annabeth too, but the rest of him was rooted in Rome.
-Ω-
The plan worked.
There was no more doubt in the eyes of the Legion.
Percy Jackson may have been born Greek, but he is Roman now.
-Ω-
"I refuse," Percy said coolly.
"You can't refuse! I was elected Praetor first. It is only right that we return to the positions we left behind," Jason argued.
"And I was elected when you disappeared. At this point, I've been Praetor longer. I swore an oath and I am not going to break it. So, I say again, I refuse to step down."
Jason glared at him from across the table. Percy thought he understood why Jason was so fervent about getting his position back though.
"Reyna, do you mind if Jason and I talk alone for a moment?"
Reyna nodded and Percy tried to ignore the betrayal in Annabeth's eyes.
-Ω-
"You don't really want to be Praetor again, you just don't want your friends to see you as a traitor," Percy said as they stepped into his private meeting room.
Jason sighed and sank into a chair, "How did you know?"
"Because that's how I feel about Camp Half-Blood."
"What? The campers could never see you as a traitor, you're practically a legend there!"
"How do you think they'll feel when they find out that I don't want to come back? That I'd prefer to be the leader of another camp?"
"…I understand. You really like Camp Jupiter that much?"
"Yes," Percy answered confidently.
"Ah, okay, I won't fight you on Praetorship," Jason said with a grin. Percy noticed that a weight seemed to be lifted off him.
"Thank the gods, Octavian is enough trouble," Percy joked. Jason let out a small laugh.
"But, if you come back to Camp Half-Blood and try to take my position there then we'll have to fight," Jason warned. Percy nodded his agreement.
"Ok, and Jason? Don't worry about being seen as a traitor. The legionnaires aren't dumb, they'll be able to tell that you still care about New Rome."
"Right back at you, Jackson."
-Ω-
He breaks up with Annabeth.
"Is it because of her?"
"No! Yes…yes and no. I care about you, but I don't remember most of our time dating. I still can't tell what memories are real and what are just dreams. I remember fully all of my time with Reyna and…I do have feelings for her. I'm sorry Annabeth, but it wouldn't be fair…"
"Percy, I understand."
Still, he couldn't help but feel like the biggest asshole on the planet.
Every day, he remembers more about her and their relationship and those memories war with the ones he has with Reyna.
He can't be with either right now, not with a war coming.
-Ω-
They drop Annabeth off at Camp Half-Blood to prepare the camp for war.
Then they head for Greece.
-Ω-
While Annabeth and Reyna ready their camps to fight Gaea's army, the seven have two tasks.
Free the Doors of Death and stop Gaea from rising.
Easier said than done.
But they're the chosen seven.
They make do.
(Leo dies in the process, but he comes back so it's fine)
-Ω-
The war was over, but Percy couldn't rest until he knew Reyna was safe.
(She was)
-Ω-
Together they return to Rome and rebuild once more.
-Ω-
This time, Reyna kisses him first and they start taking walks through the city again.
-Ω-
Piper comes to Camp Jupiter as Camp Half-Blood's official ambassador. Her official reason is that she wants to be closer to her dad. The real reason is that she broke up with Jason.
She couldn't help but doubt the validity of her relationship due to the memory manipulation. Percy can relate more than anyone and welcomes her with open arms.
-Ω-
Reyna retires first and assumes an advisor position while going to college.
Percy misses her but he can't be upset about working with one of his best friends. And thanks to Reyna, he's able to train Frank well.
-Ω-
Eventually, Piper returns to Camp Half-Blood.
Someone needs to fill the ambassador position.
So, Percy retires.
He thinks Hazel will make a great Praetor, and he's looking forward to college.
He convinced his mom and Paul to move to New Rome so he could still be near them. His mom can work anywhere, and Percy was able to get Paul a position as a lecturer. He's looking forward to being taught by him again.
-Ω-
(Word comes that Annabeth and Jason got together)
-Ω-
Finally, they're able to settle down.
Reyna rents a storefront not far from camp and starts a martial arts school directed to help troubled kids while Percy is able to get a job as a marine biologist.
Eventually, he gets down on one knee too.
(She says yes)
AN: There it is, this is an idea I had for a while and I finally sat down and wrote it. Let me know what you think!
Edit: I decided to make a drabble series based off of this, it will be called Life of a Praetor.