Chapter 63 – The Calm

Nico wasn't sure why he'd eventually agreed to join Percy on this quest. Sure, Percy had looked increasingly uneasy back at Camp with all the muttering and rumours that had started spreading, but he was Percy Jackson. He'd saved all of the campers far too many times already in the years he'd been at camp. Nico knew it couldn't last, sooner or later Percy would save everyone again and the other demigods would all realise they were stupid for not trusting Percy.

Up until Nico had gone with Percy to the Titan Camp, he'd been worried about Percy. The son of Poseidon was increasingly ostracised from camp due to being so outspoken about the Titans and the gods. It was reminding too many of the older campers of Luke and no one could forget that Percy was with Kronos, even if there were many rocky patches the two had between them. While Percy didn't brag, and Nico doubted Percy could brag about anything, he didn't make any effort at hiding anything either.

Many campers, Nico included, still had nightmares about the war against Kronos. Bianca had died because of Kronos' stupid war. Nico knew he could never forgive many immortals for that, Kronos amongst them. Nico certainly didn't like Kronos either, in any way. He had strung Percy along and laughed every time Percy had stumbled after him and fallen. Then Kronos would push Percy back up onto his feet and do it all over again.

Percy deserved better. It wasn't right. The two of them should have never become involved with each other. Every myth that Nico could think of off the top of his head which mentioned a relationship between an immortal and a mortal cautioned against such interactions. They always ended in tragedy for the mortal. Nico's skin crawled at the thought of such a thing happening to Percy – and with Kronos being the immortal, who'd already showcased an astounding lack of regard for mortal lives, Nico didn't have high hopes.

Percy, despite claiming that he didn't care about what had happened to Kronos, was clearly lying. Nico couldn't understand why Percy was still so caring, but he found he wasn't particularly surprised. It was Percy after all. But after so many betrayals from Kronos, Nico would've thought that even Percy would eventually decide enough was enough.

Then at the Titan Camp, Nico had realised that even though Percy wasn't as popular on the east coast anymore, Luke and even Alabastor had certainly been trusting in Percy's abilities to figure out what was going on despite the sharp jokes and resentment from the son of Hecate. Percy seemed to be gathering the trust of demigods who'd been exiled or were outcasts in their own ways over time. People who needed someone who'd defend them to the last breath.

And that was just so Percy-like that Nico found he wasn't even surprised.

Over an hour had passed by as Percy and Nico filled the three Romans in on everything happening, their gazes becoming increasingly more concerned. Nico, making an impulsive decision, handed one of Alabastor's cards to Reyna once they were finished speaking. The Roman Praetor stiffened sharply.

Reyna looked extremely disapproving of the magic card. "They are traitors to Olympus," she said curtly.

"They're offering to help," Nico pointed out. Besides, he'd liked Alabastor at least. Alabastor clearly had his own reasons for being so firmly anti-Olympus, but despite that he'd had no involvement in Bianca's death. The son of Hecate had also given them all a way to speak with each other with the shutdown of communications.

Percy let out a derisive snort. He pointed at the card. "It's probably going to kill you when you activate it."

"I think that Alabastor wants to help other demigods," Nico said with a sharp glance towards Percy. He understood Percy's intense dislike of Alabastor, especially considering their history together and the events of the year before, but it definitely wasn't helping. "It's Olympus he doesn't like. Same as Luke. Never know if you'll need the help or not," Nico said. "But isn't it best to have it as an option just in case?"

Frank shifted slightly, but didn't move to take the card. His clear uneasiness of both the card and Nico made Nico's lips twitch slightly. Since Frank was dating Nico's sister, it was good for him to have a healthy respect of Nico.

Percy grimaced. "I hate to say it, but Nico's right," Percy said, ignoring the offended frown Nico directed at him in response, but the son of Hades doubted it was meant maliciously. "Olympus is silent again. We've only got each other now."

Reyna sighed and accepted the card, quietly tucking it into her desk. She rubbed her fingers against her forehead. "Nero," she said then, getting back to the situation at hand.

Nico nodded slightly. "I can ask my dad what he knows about them not dying," Nico offered, "but it might take a while."

"We just thought you should know," Percy added. He hadn't stopped fidgeting the entire time they'd been talking, not that any of the others had been any better. "Roman Emperors, New Rome and all that," he elaborated.

Jason shifted. He'd been leaning against one of the walls off to the side while they'd talked, and there was a small frown turning down his lips. "You mentioned the fires here," he said to Percy and Nico. "We've been thinking about looking into them ourselves. Piper and I were going to meet up at the Hall of Records and do our own investigation into the Burning Maze."

"Hall of Records?" Nico echoed, frowning slightly. "L.A.? Like the DOA?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "What's DOA?"

"Underworld entrance," Nico dismissed.

Percy scowled. "You're telling me that both the entrance to the Underworld and this Burning Maze that Grover mentioned is in Los Angeles?"

Jason shrugged. "Apparently, yes," he said.

Percy grunted, not looking too happy to hear that. "Really? Great." He nodded slightly, despite the clear sarcasm in his tone. "Just watch out if Hyperion's still down there then," he added.

Nico grimaced. "He's a nasty one," Nico said. "Out of all of the Titan brothers, I'd say Hyperion's one of the worst. Though that doesn't really mean much with them."

Percy rolled his eyes. "He's no different to some of the gods." The son of Poseidon paused briefly, tilting his head to the side a fraction. "But maybe too much like… Ares or something to be comfortable around him."

Nico privately doubted that Percy could be comfortable around any immortals with how much he seemed to speak back to them. He just shook his head slightly at Percy. "Your perception of immortals is skewed," he said.

Percy considered that for several moments, before he nodded slightly. "Yeah, probably," he said, causing Nico's lips to twitch upwards. Percy returned the small smile with his own grin.

Reyna cleared her throat, a finger tapping on the desk to get their attention. "Did Ops say-"

"Rhea," Percy muttered, corrected Reyna's use of the Roman name. "It's Rhea." Nico ignored him, as did everyone else.

"- anything else?" Reyna asked. "Other than Nero. That's only one of the Emperors we have to watch out for. A Triumvirate always has three. Who are the other two?"

Percy blinked, looking surprised as he too realised they had no idea whom the remaining two Emperors were. "No. Nothing else."

Nico shook his head. "No. Rhea didn't say," he said. "I think she was only really concerned with Nero." Nico grimaced slightly. He wasn't really surprised. Rhea had only been concerned about her Grove being threatened, it made sense that she only cared about them removing Nero's threat from the Grove and didn't care about the other two Emperors that weren't causing her problems. "Again, maybe my dad can help with that," he murmured. "Maybe there's some souls from Ancient Rome that never arrived in the Underworld when they should've." Nico would have to take a trip down to the Underworld and visit his father to ask him to investigate.

Frank grimaced. "This is just what we need now," he said tiredly.

"Something wrong here?" Percy asked.

Reyna waved a dismissive hand. "We've been trying to make some changes with the Legion," she said. "There's been a lot of protesting against them."

"It's not good timing that there's Roman Emperors walking around when there's this much discontent here," Jason said. At the curious looks of Percy and Nico, he continued. "The Praetors have raised the age for retirement. Legionnaires in the Legion have to be older than sixteen and have to remain in the Legion for fifteen years of service, or until the age of thirty-five. Whichever comes first," Jason explained. "After all the recent wars, we figured we need a way to stop younger kids from having to fight in wars where they could die."

Reyna inclined her head. "As you can imagine," she said tiredly. "The formerly retired legionnaires who have now been called back into service in the Legion are… displeased."

"Yeah," Percy said. "Can't imagine why."

Nico frowned slightly. "So what caused that change?" He asked curiously.

"Deaths," Reyna said curtly. "Too many younger Legionnaires died between the wars against the Titans and Terra."

Percy however was nodding his approval despite the chaos it was no doubt causing in New Rome. "That's good," he said. "Keep the younger ones safe." Nico figured Percy was thinking about his own first quest when he was only twelve. Of course, if Camp Half-Blood had something like that in place too then Bianca would've also never been killed. Maybe Chiron should look into it too, but Camp Half-Blood operated differently to the militaristic New Rome and also had the advantage of the barrier around Camp. Still, Nico was sure there had to be older demigods out there who would be willing to help out Camp Half-Blood and protect the younger demigods. "What about New Rome's University?" Percy abruptly said. "If you want to study there, are the students going to be enlisted too?"

Reyna shook her head. "Students at the University are exempt for the duration of their studies," she said to Percy, looking faintly amused. "Unless New Rome is attacked directly and the Legion falls." They all knew why Percy had asked, since it was well-known that he was looking to study there himself. Percy nodded slightly.

Nico nudged Percy's ribs. "Looks like you don't have to worry about that at least," he said.

Percy frowned slightly. "Yeah, that's good at least," he said. He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm supposed to be studying for exams right now," Percy groaned. "Got to make sure I pass if I want to get into the University."

"This should be over quickly," Jason spoke up. "They're Emperors. But there's only three of them, and now we know what's going on. They might be… immortals, but they're not real immortals. They can be stopped." Jason smiled at Percy. "You'll be back to study and pass your exams before you know it," he said. "And now I know what Piper and I might encounter down in the Maze we can prepare for it," Jason added.

Percy grinned. "Yeah. You two be safe down there," he said to Jason. "Keep an eye out. Especially for Hyperion."

Jason nodded, his gaze firm. "We will," he swore.

Reyna was smiling slightly as she watched the two cousins. "There is one more thing, Percy," Reyna added. "Since you're here. Technically, you never relinquished your position as Praetor," Reyna said to Percy.

Nico's eyes flicked to Percy, who looked startled at Reyna's words. "But you can't have three Praetors," Nico pointed out. Jason didn't look surprised with what Reyna had brought up, he'd probably also been discussing it with her since Frank's field promotion was extremely unorthodox.

Frank nodded his head. "Yes. Percy will have to formerly step down," he said.

Percy groaned. "Like, properly formerly?" He asked.

Reyna's lips twitched. "I'm afraid so," she said, looking amused by Percy's annoyance at Roman formality. "But it can be after the Emperors are dealt with," she added, looking rather troubled at the mention of them again.

"What, finding out I was Greek and then running off to join a Greek trireme which had attacked New Rome wasn't grounds for instant expulsion?" Percy asked.

"Unfortunately not," Reyna said, clearly disappointed. "Neither is having sex with a Titan, apparently. It's never occurred before."

Percy frowned at Reyna, stiffening instantly and clearly preparing himself for an argument. Nico shifted slightly, half holding his breath, since the look in Percy's eyes suggested he was close to breaking out a hurricane in the middle of the office. "Everyone keeps bringing that up like it's a bad thing," Percy said, clearly annoyed with Reyna's comment. "But no one likes to think that the world is still intact, and that Kronos is still an asshole ninety-nine percent of the time. Nothing's changed."

Reyna only shrugged slightly. "And there lies the problem. He should be in Tartarus by now." It went unspoken that she wished the Roman Emperors would do that for them whilst they had Kronos.

Percy's lip curled up dangerously into a sneer. "Are you suggesting I should've killed him? Maybe stabbed him in the back and ripped out his heart like he tried to do to me?" Percy demanded. "I'm not like him," the demigod said fiercely. Nico swallowed tightly. Percy could be terrifying sometimes without intending to be, and he never even seemed to realise it. It was perhaps made even worse because Nico knew Percy had picked up some of Kronos' habits. Percy had picked up more than he knew or realised himself. "I don't do that to people who trust me, to my friends. Not like Kronos does," he said bitterly.

Reyna was silent for several long moments as she stared back at Percy. The son of Poseidon fiercely held her gaze. She smiled, faintly surprising Nico. "I know," Reyna said. "I just wanted to hear it from you."

Percy eyed the Praetor warily, before he slowly nodded.

Jason stirred. "I should probably get in touch with Piper and tell her all of this before we head into the Maze," he said. He nodded slightly to Percy. "It was good to see you again, bro," he said, lips twitching. "I just wish it was under better circumstances. Maybe we can hang out more when this is all over? If you're going to join New Rome University, I should take you around New Rome properly."

Percy smiled. "Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, bro," he said, clearly appreciating Jason changing the subject.

Reyna rolled her eyes at the two, whilst Frank made no effort at hiding his amusement in contrast to Nico. The son of Hades frowned slightly. At least Percy still had friends in Camp Jupiter, despite Reyna's clear disapproval of his actions. Nico could see how much the constant questioning of Percy's loyalties frustrated the son of Poseidon.

Nico was surprised anyone was even asking about it. Why wasn't it clear to everyone that Percy cared for his fellow demigods just as much as before? Everyone always focused on the Titan Lord's presence looming in the background and never on Percy himself. Percy had never been loyal to Olympus; it was always the other demigods, the ones who were just as lost as he was now. Percy's lack of respect for immortals of all kinds was legendary.

"Will you two want to sleep here in New Rome overnight?" Reyna asked them.

Percy, immediately shook his head. "No. There's campers in danger back at Camp Half-Blood. We should get back as soon as we can."

Reyna inclined her head slightly, a tinge of respect in her dark eyes. "Of course," she agreed. "Will Aquila consent to take you back, or will you need a ride?"

"Percy's promised Aquila organs of an immortal," Nico dryly said. "I think Aquila's determined to stay with us until he receives them."

"He'll demanded even more eventually," Percy bemoaned, even as he smiled slightly. Nico realised then that somehow Aquila had practically taken Percy under his wings.

Frank grunted. "Never think I'll be grateful for the existence of that bird."

Percy laughed. "Yeah, he's an annoying bastard, isn't he? I keep thinking he's going to roll and chuck us off his back."

"That's putting it lightly," Jason groaned. "I've never heard of birds swearing so much until him."

Percy's lips twitched up slightly, tugging up the corner of his mouth. "You hear birds talk?"

Of course, both Nico and Percy knew Jason could already, but Percy seemed determined to tease their cousin over it. "Like you can talk, fishboy," Jason returned.

Percy snorted, only looking amused. "That's even worse than Thalia's names for me," he said. "Speaking of, have you been in touch with her lately?"

Jason shrugged. "Yes," he said. "She said her and the Hunters are hunting the Teumessian Fox somewhere in Indianapolis," he said.

Percy frowned. "Isn't that a monster that can't be caught?"

"Yes," Jason said. "Apparently Gaea set it loose last year," Jason said.

Percy scowled. "Typical," he muttered under his breath.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Percy," he prompted with a small, tired smile. "We should get going."

Percy's eyes flicked over to Nico, his mouth tightening slightly. His eyes darkened slightly, and he slowly nodded his head. "Right," he agreed, his voice low. "We've got a Roman Emperor to find and kill," he muttered, expression fierce and murderous.

Nico almost pitied the Roman Emperor in Camp Half-Blood whom was going to face Percy's wrath.

As the name suggests, this is the last calmer chapter for a while! I hope everyone is ready, because the next few chapters are going to be sheer chaos and it's going to be great!

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Thatgremlinbitch & Fandomgurl254 : As you two requested, the discord server has now been created: In join a server : 'stJvYshE9t'