A/N: I admit, I was too high on sugar before and posted the first chapter again. However, this is the second chapter, I think.
So thanks for reading this. If you have anything to ask, just ask in the review and tell me how I'm doing so far. Horrible? Good? Okayish? It's been a prologue and this is kinda like the introductory. The plot and everything will begin developing soon. Here goes nothing, but first...
The Twelve Olympians: Only time will tell if Kronos will remember. So far I'm leaning towards not remembering
Years Ago
"Do not let your patience wear thin, son. Our plan will be delayed. Kronos has not yet fallen and we cannot begin until he does." The sleepy voice said.
"What if Kronos wins?"
"He will not." she said in a strict voice, then calmed down a bit. "He has lost the first time and he will lose again. I will make him regret not helping his brother not matter how different they are, even if this means helping the demigods."
"Yes mother. For now those Romans will just have to deal with the fact that their precious standard is forever lost in the sea. With their fear of Neptune and the waters, they shall never find it." a deep voice said. He hurled the eagle standard with all his might into the freezing cold sea. It was carried away by waves to who knows where.
Present time
Perseus woke up in his room which was a bit too luxurious. Then again, it was the praetor's house. He had decorated it to make it feel cozier and this was where he lived for twelve years. It was insane when he thought about it. Camp Jupiter was the only home he ever remembered, except for the Wolf House, but that was more like a training place.
He looked around his house which was truly decorated for the son of Neptune. There were symbols of tridents and a few real ones all over the room. Near the large doorway that leads to his bedroom from the living room was a fountain of stone. There were colourful seashells decorating it as water continuously poured out. There was a mural that he could change with the wave of his hands. Currently, it showed Atlantis and sea life surrounding it. When he activated it, it would be like a monitor watching Atlantis. It was also a portal when activated, but little people knew that. He didn't go to Atlantis often. His step-mother Salacia and step-brother Triton would often try to make his visits as miserable as possible. When they were away from Atlantis, he would visit his father. Recently, they seemed more hostile than usual.
After wearing a purple toga over his Camp Jupiter T-shirt, he wore his purple cloak and eagle medal. On his way out, he walked into the azure blue living room, past the cobalt blue couches and out the white doors. Today there was a senate meeting that Octavian demanded to have, claiming multiple issues in camp that needed to be solved. In other words, their esteemed Augur was going to whine and complain about everything Percy and Reyna did wrong for about a couple of hours. While he does that, the centurions and Lares were going to boo or cheer as the two praetors try to shut Octavian up. It was just an average senate meeting. It was like this ever since the old Augur had retired unfortunately.
The praetors sat in their chairs, while everyone else just sat down in their respective seats. Once everyone was present, the meeting began. "Today we are here because Octavian has called a meeting to discuss certain issues he has within the camp. Octavian, you may begin" Reyna said.
"Thank you Perseus. There are many things to be discussed that I do not find myself happy with and I am sure the gods would certainly agree." Great, pull the gods into this. Sometimes Percy really wanted to strangle Octavian. "The fauns need to be dealt with, the paths need to be refurbished, and the water in the baths is too hot. There is so much to discuss, we may even need another senate meeting tomorrow."
Perseus scowled at the Augur, who also happened to be the centurion of the first cohort. "You have murdered more teddy bears I assume. This is the will of the gods? They want us to make sure every pebble on the ground sparkles?" The room erupted in soft laughter and quickly quieted down as Octavian looked at them.
"This may not be the will of the gods, but this camp must be kept in shape. If I were praetor, I would make sure everyone needs were met-"
Percy glanced over at Reyna to see that she was having one of her days, which meant that he would be alone in arguing with Octavian. Luckily he was more cunning than he was often credited for. "Of course we must keep this place in order. Octavian you shall shine each pebble yourself. In order to get such perfection you demand, it can only be done by you. I do not expect to see anyone else. As for the fauns, we allow them to stay here to honor the god of the wild, Faunus. Unless you are saying that we do not have space here to honor him."
Octavian paled. "Of course not. Faunus is greatly respected here."
"As for the water issue, I can fix myself."
The meeting went on and Octavian did not disappoint. He complained and complained, like he was throwing coal at them. Percy simply caught the coal, set it on fire and threw it right back at him.
"What do you think Reyna?"
Hearing her name seemed to get her attention. "Well I would agree," she said, unsure.
"You have all heard it here. Our praetor Reyna has agreed that this camp is not tidy enough. The stables need more cleaning, statues need dusting, grass need cutting. She has agreed herself that this camp is a mess!"
Reyna stared ruefully at what she had gotten herself into.
"This is where the children of gods call home; of course it can never be too tidy. Octavian you make a valid point. Along with pebble wiping, toilet cleaning and all the other duties only someone as visionary as you can accomplish, you can also clean the stables, dust the statues and cut the grass. We will forever remember you and your dedication to the cleanliness of this camp. You will a wonderful housemaid."
"No, but-"
"Meeting dismissed." No one argued with Percy, especially if it meant being free of Octavian's complaints. "Oh and Octavian, I hold you to your word." he said smirking at the Augur.
It was priceless to see Octavian force a smile onto his face. It seemed to almost kill him to say "Of course praetor. Have a good lunch."
When everyone was gone, only the two praetors remained. "Thank you for helping me not make a fool of myself."
"Reyna, what's wrong?"
She stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether she should tell him. "It's nothing."
"We've been colleagues for years, I know when there's something on your mind. If you want to talk about it, you can talk to me." He left her to her own thoughts.
After lunch Reyna went to Percy's house. She knocked on the door.
"Come in." A voice from the inside said.
When she entered, she was surprised to find Percy's living quarters clean. The living room was a mixture of blue and the occasional white and black. He was sitting on an L-shaped couch manipulating a ball of water as he examined some scrolls of the camp's plumbing. He looked like a regular kid except for the power he radiated.
When she first entered the camp, she was wary of Percy. Neptune was never one of the honored gods for Romans and a son of Neptune could be bad news for her new home. When joining the legion, she became the Centurion of her cohort after a while was elected as praetor when one of the previous ones retired. She had no choice but to work with him and she learned that he wasn't as bad a she thought.
"Percy are you busy?"
He rolled up the scrolls on the coffee table and the water flew back into a fountain. "Nope." he gestured for her to sit down. "So what's up?"
"I just wanted to talk to you about this morning. I'm sorry for leaving you alone to handle Octavian."
"I'm always away on quests leaving you alone in senate meetings with him. No worries."
Reyna took a deep breath. She could trust Percy. She had to trust someone and that person would be him. "This morning I was thinking about my sister."
"Hylla, right?"
"Yes. Before I got to Camp Jupiter I lived in Circe's Spa. Circe would turn men into guinea pigs since actual pigs were too smelly."
"Not offended at all, though I did consider having the floor covered in mud." It seemed like a smile was tugging at her lips and Perseus couldn't help but smile himself.
"One time, three demigods came. One was a boy with blond hair. I remember there were two girls, one with grey eyes and the other could charm speak. They managed to free the guinea pigs and turn them back to humans. Blackbeard was not happy being in there so they destroyed the spa and kidnapped my sister and I, along with the other attendants. We were prisoners on his ship and they kept staring at us. One of Blackbeard's men had wanted to take me for himself. My sister let herself be taken instead of me. That night I couldn't sleep, all I heard was my sister's screams." Her eyes were watery and she couldn't stop the tears from falling.
Perseus knew that Reyna had a tough past, just not this tough. He moved closer and placed a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her.
"In the morning she came back to the dungeons where we were being held. She didn't say anything but her eyes... They were so full of hate that I was afraid to get close to her. Ever since then I couldn't think about my sister without just dazing out. She joined the Amazons, hating men as much as Diana's Hunters. I came here at Camp Jupiter avoiding males. For years I've felt the guilt. She wouldn't have had to do that if not for me. "
"Reyna, you have to know it's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything that could have stopped it."
"But that is exactly it. I felt so weak unable to help the people I cared for. I was useless."
"You're not anymore. You can take down anyone. Your sister did it to protect you and it didn't go in vain. In front of me I see an independent, powerful women and I would pity the poor fool who dares to piss you off." She looked up from her hands. He looked into her usual calm eyes which were now red. Physically, he prepared to get slapped for saying the wrong thing. Instead she hugged him. They just sat there for a moment, Reyna soaking Percy's shirt with her tears. While he just gently patted her back.
She let go and Percy felt a little disappointment inside himself which he quickly pushed away. "Thank you."
"Anytime."
The tears quickly dried and her eyes were back to normal. "You know I used to fear you. Or at least felt intimidated."
He let out a soft chuckle. "Reyna Avila RamÃrez-Arellano and intimidated or fear don't go together. What could I have possibly done to make you scared of me?"
"You know the legionaries admire you right? They look up to you Percy. Besides, how do you expect a little girl to react when she heard about this hotshot who had gone on hundreds of quests and survived? You recovered the standard, somehow managed to bring honor to the fifth cohort, fought the hydra, Medusa, and so much more."
"I try my hardest to survive and it was more like thousands of quests. Anyway, we are the same age. I wasn't like thirty or anything."
Reyna rolled her eyes. "That made it more terrorizing, a boy who was the same age had done so much while I gave people makeovers at a spa. Everyone wanted this Golden Boy as their praetor after he had saved the camp and the people in it. I was almost brainwashed into thinking it too and I hadn't even met you before, only heard stories. You were like a roman myth that seemed to incredible and implausible to be real and here we are in a world where gods and monsters exist."
"So what stopped you from being brainwashed? Golden boy seems flawless."
"When you turned down being praetor the first time. You declined the position and I decided that you were too good to be true. I knew there was some dark secret you have." she studied him for a second. "You aren't that different from the stories."
"No dark secret that I know of, just a dark past." His sea green eyes darkened and his tone became sad. He leaned against the couch, facing straight at the mural. "When I was born, the monsters constantly came by. I was still an infant, I couldn't protect my mother. When the attacks became more frequent, she had tried to bring me to the Wolf House. The car was knocked into the sea, I survived but she didn't. Eventually I made my way there and trained with Lupa for a few years, then came here. It's tiring to be the child in the great prophecy, but I wouldn't wish it upon anyone else."
He glanced at his watch which was a navy blue watch that had Roman numerals instead of normal numbers. "Well it's time for a little revenge. Would you like to join me?" She nodded and followed him outside towards the baths.
"Why is everyone leaving the baths?" Reyna asked.
"Our friend Octavian has demanded the public baths become his own without notifying us."
As they got closer, they could hear a noise. It seemed like someone with no vocal cords screaming in fear. Then they realized it was Octavian's singing. When there was only a wall that separated them, Percy had a concentrated look on his face.
There was a high-pitch scream that could only come from Octavian. "Who's messing with the water? Too cold! Too cold!" Octavian ran out of the baths to them in a towel and shampoo still in his hair. "What is the meaning of this Perseus?"
"Octavian, today you said that the water in the baths were too hot. I wanted to cool it enough for your comfort. Cold enough for you?"
"This can't possibly be aloud. He is abusing his position of authority."
Reyna kept a straight face as Percy was trying hard to not roll on the ground laughing. "He is not abusing his position anymore than you do. Perseus was simply making you feel comfortable. As for the fact that you have been using the public baths as your own, this will be discussed in the next senate meeting."
Octavian's turned beet red and stormed off. When he was out of earshot, even Reyna started laughing. "I say he got what he deserved."