It was a horrible day. The food was okay, but that was pretty much it.

The entire Camp had lined up in the Field of Mars. It was raining— not the heavy thunderstorms I'd often seen. This was more like the dull gray rain, that annoying type that just blurred out everything around me into a dull gray haze. Nothing really seemed to have any color at all.

Since there were close to four hundred of us in the field, and I wasn't really in the mood to talk, I tried to find out where Reyna was.

A couple of demigods waved as I passed, but most of them were talking to each other in hushed whispers. Some of them glanced at me as I passed, but I figured they were simply wondering why I'd been late to the summons (I'd stopped at an espresso stand on the way; I was on two hours of sleep and needed the caffeine. Then Terminus gave me a fifteen-minute lecture on etiquette before I could leave)

I finally spotted Reyna. She was standing one of the corners of the field, near a small hill that the praetors normally used as a dias to talk to us. Well, mostly Marcus. He used to do that. There was a small area around her where the other campers didn't go into. She already had this kind of aura of power that I could never have.

"Hey," I called out.

Reyna glanced towards me, and I heard her sigh in relief.

"Shouldn't you be with your cohort?"

"It's raining. There are, like three hundred other people there. I doubt I'd get caught for hanging out in the wrong cohort."

She huffed, her breath freezing the air around her.

"Yeah. Well, you're late anyway. Cassie already made the announcement and everyone's been dismissed."

I frowned.

"Oh. I didn't know. What'd she say?"

"That Marcus died on a mission, what else is there to say?"

"Fair enough."

We stood there for a few moments, just the two of us.

All around us, I could faintly see the shapes of demigods walking back to the barracks.

Grey storm clouds covered the sun, and the rain fell harder.

A fog settled over the field. I felt like the storm clouds above me.

Dark, angry and gray.

The wind picked up, and I could hear faint howls as it galloped over the field of Mars, toppling stands, carrying weapons up and dropping them on demigods at random like it had a life of its own. Or maybe it was a rogue Ventus, a wind spirit, playing a prank on us. Marcus—well, he used to call it raining spears and swords.

Eventually, Reyna and I were the only ones left on the field, other than a few children of Ceres who were experimenting with a new kind of plant that swallowed people and didn't let them go unless they dropped ten drachmas into it. It required a lot of water to grow, so they stayed out and collected as much of the rain water as they could.

"How's Cassie?"

Reyna shrugged.

"She's alright. I think she wants to apologize to you though."

"For what?"

"For shouting?"

"Oh," I muttered. "That's fine, I guess."

The rain poured harder, and Reyna and I stepped closer to each other. It was like we just had this inclination. That we'd find solace in each other. I knew she understood how I felt, without me even having to say anything.

Our hands clasped each others without knowing, and we sat down, back to back, in the wet earth.

The rain poured along Reyna's face, forming rivulets that dripped down along her jaw. Her hair stuck to her face, and her clothes were now clinging to her body. I tried not to stare.

"It sucks."

It was just a single phrase, but it pretty much covered everything I'd felt this entire day.

"You were in New Rome," Reyna stated, like it was a fact. She knew me too well.

"Yeah. I called my mom."

Her eyes softened and she rubbed the back of my hand.

"How did that go?"

"Well," I took in a deep breath. "I kinda vented at her. And then felt bad. I don't know. I have no idea what to feel now."

I felt a particulary strong gust of wind suddenly push against my chest, and I lost my balance, my torso falling backwards.

Onto Reyna's lap.

Even though the weather was cold, my face was as hot as one of the Camp Forges.

"Sorry—"

Reyna gave me a soft half smile. "I don't mind."

Her fingers hovered above my head, uncertainly. Like she wanted to touch my hair.

I quickly grabbed her hands and rest them against my head.

"I trust you. Don't worry," I said, closing my eyes as I felt Reyna play with my hair, her hands sweeping through them and reminding me of how my mom used to help me sleep back when I was younger and I wasn't used to the demigod nightmares.

Reyna hummed a tune to herself, and I listened to her while feeling the cold chill of raindrops hitting my face.

"Percy."

I sighed, and opened my eyes.

Reyna's eyes, dark and mysterious as the night, were gazing down at me. Her lips were upturned in a sort of half—smile, and she was still playing with my hair, threading it with her hands.

"Yeah?"

"Please be safe, okay?" She said, her voice choking with emotion. "I don't know what I'd do if—"

I grabbed her left hand and squeezed.

"Remember, partner. We're in it for the long run."

She blushed.

"You keep saying that. Why?"

I thought about it for a minute.

"Well, you're one of my first friends at Camp. And something tells me we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future," I said, looking up at her. She quickly looked down.

I inhaled the cool air to clear my head.

"I…wanted to ask you something, actually."

Reyna hummed noncommittally. "Fire away."

"It—"

I found it hard to get the words out.

"It wasn't my fault, right?"

Reyna's hands in my hair suddenly tightened, and I winced.

"That hurts!"

She stared at me, frowning.

"Don't you for a second take the blame for something the monsters did, okay? I know that feeling— and trust me, it only takes you down to the darkest depths."

"But, what if I could save him?"

I knew I couldn't. But somehow, I knew if Reyna told me it wasn't my fault, I'd believe her. Even if I didn't beleive in myself.

"It's not your fault, Percy. We did everything we could. You did more than anyone else. Okay?"

I sighed and nodded. Reyna's eyes softened.

"It gets easier with time."

I nodded, and relaxed once again, just enjoying her company. Sometimes, I felt the friendship— or whatever— we had was strained. There were times we would argue and not talk to each other for weeks. But other times, I felt like she was the closest I'd been to anyone.

Like she was my rock.

Reyna was the first person I was close to getting to understand pretty well. Of course, there were times I didn't get what she was doing. Most of those times involved meetings with Michael and the Senate, and other duties of the first cohort.

But she was an amazing person. She was the kindest, bravest, and strongest person I knew. Besides my mom, of course

She was also really cute. But she'd kill me if I said that.

"What are you thinking about?"

My ears burned.

"Uh," I sputtered. "How to beat up the monster camp."

"If you die, I'm going to kill you, Percy."

I stuck my tongue out. "It doesn't work that way."

"I'll make it work."

I quickly reached out and tickled her stomach. Reyna squealed, falling backwards and throwing me off her lap and onto the field.

"Percy!"

"What?"

"Now we're both covered in mud!"

I pulled myself up, so I was sitting again, and turned around, raising a brow.

"You were already covered in mud."

"Well yeah but now my shirt is too!"

"I didn't know you cared so much about shirts," I replied, chuckling. "Or is the itty bitty Reyna sad her shirt got dirty?"

She scowled at me, while trying to pat the mud off of her shirt.

"This is the only shirt I have with me that Hylla gave me."

"Oh."

I straightened up, trying to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry. What happened to the other four?"

Reyna flicked my forehead with her finger, before leaning back, resting on her back with her hands stretched behind her.

"Well, Scipio ate one thinking it was a large slice of candy. Another one was stolen by one of the Lares. The third I lost in the baths. And the fourth…well," she blushed.

"What about the fourth?" I pressed. "What happened to it?"

"We lost it that time we went to visit the Statue of Liberty."

Last summer, after a long couple of weeks of high school in New Rome, Reyna and I had decided to go check out the Statue of Liberty. We took all the necessary precautions : armpit—flavored deodorant (to throw monsters off of our scent), our weapons, several coils of rope, a couple board games and several packets of chips.

We'd made it to the Statue without any major issues. But on the way back there was this incident with a Nemean Lion and basically, Reyna lost her backpack trying to save my life. Her shirt was in that, and she had to borrow one of mine for the trip back. She hadn't given it back, but it wasn't like I was planning to ask her to. Even if it was my only Led Zeppelin shirt.

"Oh shit—I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

Reyna waved me off. "It's fine. But yeah— this is my last straw. The last shirt, whatever."

I nodded.

"Have you spoken to her after that?"

I knew Reyna hadn't seen her sister, Hylla, since the two of them had landed in America. Though she seemed to respect her sister a lot, I knew Reyna struggled to deal with the fact that her sister had just left her when she needed her the most.

Reyna shook her head.

"No," she said, her voice soft. "I don't know where she is. Or if—if she's even alive."

I reached out and gave her a quick hug. She didn't threaten to kill me or even judo—flip me in revenge. She just leaned into me, relaxing against my chest. That's how I knew she was actually feeling a lot worse than she was letting on.

It would probably be weird to see to demigods covered in mud and blood randomly hugging it out in the rain, but the Fields were empty by now. Even the Ceres kids had left, going back to the barracks. The ventus had gotten bored and was now juggling a couple of LED clubs that read : SIZE XXL (CYCLOPS KILLER EDITION).

The rain slowly subsided, settling into a gentle drizzle.

"Do you miss Marcus?" I splurted out the first question that came to mind. I slapped my hand over my mouth when my brain caught up. "Sorry— that was—"

"It's okay," Reyna replied, wiping her eyes. "Yeah. I do."

I knew Marcus helped out Reyna more than he did others around Camp. I'd often see them walking around Camp early in the morning or late at night, when the rest of Camp was asleep. They used to talk about a lot of things. But almost all of them were about things related to Camp. Common visions. Shared goals. They'd connected like two leaders talking battle strategy would. They loved to geek out over things like alternative retreat patterns and defensive formations.

"Marcus was pretty cool, right?"

She nodded. "He was kinda like the father—figure I never had, you know. Cause my dad…yeah."

I nodded sympathetically. Reyna's dad was a maniac that had tried to kill her and her sister, years ago when they were still in Puerto Rico. She had killed her dad in self-defense. She was badass like that.

"I used to see you and Marcus take those trips around New Rome all the time, talking about strategy and Rome and all that."

She furrowed her brows.

"That was after barrack bed time. Why were you out then?"

I raised my hands up in a calm down motion.

"We all have midnight pangs, right? I get hungry at times and there's nothing in the barracks I can eat, so…yeah. Did you know that Barack's Diner is open twenty—four hours?"

"Yeah," Reyna replied, looking upwards and smiling. "Marcus and I used to go there a lot. It was the only shop still open at midnight. Of course, no one questioned why I was out cause I was with him."

"What did y'all talk about?"

"Stuff. About Rome. And our Camp. You'd probably get bored if I told you."

That was Reyna's way of telling me it was a lot of technical battle strategy and Camp politics related things I wouldn't really understand or couldn't get myself to care.

Camp Jupiter had a lot of politics. I'd found out within the first few months. The Senate was pretty much a place where people would stab your back and eat your heart out while smiling at whole time.

I hated that.

Maybe it was the Greek part of me that was revolting. Maybe it was the fact that I felt it was unfair that a lot of decisions that decided whether demigods lived or died was taken without their knowledge and they couldn't do anything about it. I avoided observing the Senate meetings as much as I could, even though Cassie and Marcus had invited me more than once.

Reyna, on the other hand, thrived in those environments. She never missed any of the meetings, and she was really good at this whole Roman lies—and—secrecy thing. I wasn't.

"Didn't you and Marcus talk about anything else? Other than boring stuff?"

Reyna huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"The politics of New Rome is very important and interesting, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure."

She rolled her eyes, whacking me softly on the head.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know," I shrugged, before asking her the first question that popped in my head. Which is just proof that I don't know what's going on in there half the time.

"Why do you have a beef with Zoe?"

"Who?" Reyna asked, frowning.

"That hunter girl. Remember we met Lady Diana in the woods? Last year?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You and that Zoe girl looked like you wanted to kill each other. I thought there was a backstory or something."

She snorted.

"Nothing important. They'd tried to recruit Hylla and I once before. Said they were really good with weapons and all that rot. I challenged Zoe to a knife battle."

I sat up straight. I knew the Hunters were really skilled with weapons, but I had no idea how they would fare against demigods. Especially someone as good as Reyna.

"Did you win?"

"I think so. Zoe thinks she won. Lady Diana said it was a draw, so."

"Whoa," I breathed. "You drew with the lieutenant of the Hunt? That's amazing!"

Reyna blushed.

"It wasn't anything that great. I just, you know, did what I do best."

"Kick butt?"

She laughed.

"No Percy. Planned the right way and fought the right battles."

"Oh. What I said sounds cooler."

"Too bad you're not cool."

I rolled my eyes.

"And what? You're cooler than me?"

"Maybe."

"Well, if you're cooler than me, then I'm hotter than you!"

Reyna gave me a long suffering look.

"Okay, fine. Change of topics," I muttered. "I thought I saw someone familiar at the monster Camp."

She frowned. "Who?"

"I'm not sure. They had blond hair. Tanned skin. Kinda like Haniel."

"It probably was him."

I nearly fell onto the ground.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a distinctly uncomfortable feeling rising up from my stomach.

Haniel was a son of Notus, and one of my first friends at Camp. He'd come with me on my first quest, but had left at the end, without returning to Camp, looking for his father, who had allied with the Titans. I hadn't seen or heard from him since.

Reyna's expression was like she'd said something that she wasn't supposed to say. While I often said things without thinking, this was pretty rare for her.

"Forget I said—"

"You can't expect me to just forget that. What. Do. You. Mean?" I asked, clenching my jaw. "This isn't the first time you've got random info and I don't know where the hell you've got it from."

I heard her take in a deep breath, trying not to get angry.

"Percy. There is stuff in Camp that's always covered in debriefings. That the rest of Camp doesn't need to know."

"That doesn't make sense," I argued. "Don't the others deserve to know about what's going on outside Camp?"

Reyna shook her head stiffly.

"Haven't you paid attention to our classes? The Senate and Praetors decide what's good for Camp. They take the right actions."

I'd seen the Senate in work once. Granted, Reyna had told me it was a slow day, but who the hell takes two hours to decide the official colour of the Camp Tutor Badges?

"But what if we meet someone who we think is with us, but they're actually not, but we don't know cause no one tells us regular people anything?"

Reyna glared at me.

"I told you. The Senate decides how much information is good for the Camp to know. To keep morale."

"Oh yeah? What's good for Camp? Or what's good for them?" I bit back.

"Percy!" Reyna chided me, and I sighed. Maybe I was being a bit unfair, but I always felt like the way the Senate ruled Rome wasn't something I could agree with.

"So you're telling me that there's like a list of demigods who defected?"

Reyna rubbed her eyes, sighing. "Yes. You can't tell anyone that though. I wasn't even supposed to tell you—"

"How do you know?"

She flushed.

"Michael showed me. He's kinda mentoring me in Camp—related activities."

Sure, I thought. Camp—related activities.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "When are we telling the Camp about the Monster Army? Did you cover that in the debriefing?" I said, fighting to keep the spite from my voice.

Reyna shrugged.

"If we do tell them, it might be closer to the attack."

I frowned.

"What do you mean, if we do tell them? They're going to fight and probably die in a few days. How can you decide—"

"Percy!" Reyna snapped. "I don't make all the decisions! It's the Senate!"

I didn't mean to get angry, but whenever Reyna spoke about the Senate it was like she was talking about some type of god. Some powerful dude that was looking out for New Rome because the demigods living in Camp Jupiter didn't know any better. As if the Senate wasn't filled with demigods and praetors and old grandpaps with nothing better to do than discuss the pros and cons of purple colored clothes on student's attention spans.

"You don't seem to mind the Senate's decisions though," I argued. "Don't you think the others deserve to know?"

Reyna sighed.

The rain had stopped now, replaced by a dull fog. Her hair curled around her face, several strands dangling around her neck.

"The Senate is the head of New Rome, Percy. I stand by it."

I knew she'd say that. She always did.

An uncomfortable feeling that I'd gotten all—to—familiar with of late began to bubble up again. I knew it wouldn't go away. Because I had to face the truth : though we had our moments, Reyna and I hadn't been as close as we used to be. I thought it was because of the fact that as we spent more time in Camp, our duties and work loads increased and had brushed it off.

But now, it was clear it was more than that.

"You know," I sighed, looking up and taking in a breath of the fresh air after the rain. "I thought we'd be better than this."

"What do you mean?"

"All this," I waved my hands, "we never agree on this. Like, why can't we be like the Greeks?"

Reyna raised a brow.

"Walk around half naked and shout random things while fighting?"

I blushed. I'd played the role of Alexander the Great as he got annihilated by the Roman Empire once, in our Camp theatre. Of course, that never happened, but I wasn't the one that wrote the script. My job was to walk around in old Greek armor, half naked, wave around my sword and die dramatically while the crowd shouted cheers to Rome.

Reyna told me I'd gone overboard with my chants, but come on, what's more badass that shouting insults in ancient languages while fighting?

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" I grumbled.

She shook her head, without smiling. The tension between us was too obvious, and even though we were physically close it was like we were a thousand feet apart from each other.

"I mean, the Greeks are open. They share information. It's not all this politics and deals—behind—the—back and all that."

"Well, there's a reason they perished before Rome."

"The Greek half of Rome did outlive the Roman half though. If you think about it."

Reyna raised a brow, like I'd suddenly gained her respect.

"I didn't know you knew about that," she said, softly.

"See," I said, shifting so that I was sitting across her instead of facing her. "Rome fell because of the lack of trust. The Senate wasn't willing to spread information with the other citizens. There was this stupid discrimination and stuff set up."

"And your solution is?" she didn't even try to hide the sarcasm.

I threw my hands up. "Maybe try being open? Like I get it, Senate makes important decisions and all, yadda yadda. But do you really think it's right that they can just decide who lives and dies and when to announce war? That they're biased against the weaker people in Rome? And make life harder for them?"

Reyna's eyes hardened.

"See, Percy. I've come from shit. I know a good system when I see one."

"So you're saying you think Rome is a New C.C's Spa island for you?" I snapped.

I felt bad the moment I said that, seeing the hurt expression in Reyna's eyes.

"Order is always better than disorder," she huffed, before getting up. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. I'm done here."

"Hey!" I shouted, getting up and running after her. Reyna was speed walking over the Field of Mars. Once she got to the barracks I knew I wouldn't be able to follow her. She knew that too.

I ran up to her and grabbed her hand, and she turned around, her eyes burning with rage.

"Percy! I'm telling you—"

"Come on! Every time we have this discussion you always run away!"

She screamed into her mouth, stamping her foot in rage. It was the closest I'd seen to her throwing a tantrum, but it definitely wasn't the right time to point that out.

"Percy," she said, taking deep breaths and speaking slowly. "I'm telling you this for your own safety. Let. Me. Go."

"So we're just going to ignore what we said then?" I snapped, leaving her hand and glaring at her. She glared back.

"Yes. Maybe. I don't know. I just— I can't do this today, okay? Leave me alone!"

She turned and walked back towards the barracks, and I watched her walk away.

I felt an ugly feeling in my chest. Like a monster that reared up it's head every time I spoke about Rome with Reyna.

That was what was putting our friendship at strain. The one thing that had brought us together— was the reason we were drifting apart.

Rome.

Ever since I'd found out that I was actually a Greek demigod, while it wasn't like I didn't want to protect Camp Jupiter anymore, I finally knew why I didn't fit in here. And I'd stopped trying to.

Reyna had seen that for the past year, and I knew she was finding it hard to accept the fact that I wasn't the perfect Son of Neptune everyone thought I was. The one that was the ideal Roman— powerful, ambitious, vicious and violent. Someone who'd do anything to get power. Crooked and crafty, like the storms at sea that floundered even the best of vessels and the hardiest of sailors.

Maybe, I wondered, that was the Percy she wanted to date. A powerful leader of Rome, who commanded his troops from his throne. She would be a queen at his side.

All the power.

It wasn't the first time I'd felt the urge. I knew it would be far from the last time.

I could easily imagine myself and her, as Praetors of New Rome. I called down storms and earthquakes, destroying our enemies and bringing peace, equality and justice to my new empire. No one would stand in my way. I would lead Rome to an even greater future.

I heard a voice in the back of my mind.

You know it's the right thing to do, Percy

It called to me.

Come, it said, you are a child of the Big Three. The most powerful demigod in Camp. You deserve to lead this Camp. You deserve to make everyone tremble with fear at your power.

I shook my head, trying to dry my hair, but then remembered I didn't get wet in the rain.

If Lupa had seen me refuse the calls to power I felt, I knew she'd slap me hard and tell me to go be a good roman.

If I just agreed with the system, and moved with it, I knew Reyna would accept me. I'd get along a lot better with everyone else at Camp, especially the Senate and the first cohort.

Most of all though,Reyna would be proud. She'd love that version of me.

That thought alone tempted me more than all the power in the world.

But I'd thought about it. A lot.

Almost as much as I thought about things like blue cookies and Reyna's smile.

In the end, I always came to the same conclusion : I couldn't do it.

It wasn't right, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I went behind the backs of all my friends here. People like Eleanor, Anahita, Akua— and even Haniel. I hoped against everything I'd heard that the news about him was false.

Lupa had warned me before. About how my loyalty to my friends would always prevent me from being the great Roman demigod I could be.

But you know what?

I was okay with that. There were other ways to be great. Other ways that didn't require me to sell my soul to some stupid idea of control.

Maybe I wasn't meant to be a great demigod. Maybe I was just meant to be an ordinary demigod doing the right thing.

You're just coping, I heard the voice again. You know that you will always be chosen no matter what the quest is, even if you refuse the power. And because of that you lie to yourself.

So what, I thought. Might as well be me rather than someone else.

One day, you will not be chosen for a quest. And she— the one that seeks power, she will be the one chosen. We will see how you feel on that day

The voice disappeared as quickly as it came, and my head exploded in pain.

I winced, grabbing my head and walking towards the showers. I was still covered in sweat, blood and dust, and the weight of the day finally caught up on me all of a sudden, like it'd finally realized I was still around.

I stumbled while walking back towards the barracks while I spotted a few demigods heading towards the dining hall for breakfast.

Power. Control. Order.

The principles of Rome were the biggest threat to the friendship Reyna and I shared. I'd chosen my side.

And it was pretty evident she'd chosen hers.

A/N : An author I look up to once told me, "Don't force two characters to be together if it's something they wouldn't do on their own. Don't force a chemistry that doesn't exist between two characters for the sole reason that you can make it so.

Percy and Reyna aren't the ideal couple. If they don't find a way to resolve the issue of Rome, they aren't going to date. Ever. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but don't worry, Percy will end up with someone he deserves.

The thing is this : Reyna puts New Rome above everyone. Even herself.

But to Percy, his friends mean the world.

Reyna is a practical lover. She wants stability, power. Someone who will be the ideal roman. A Percy who's so power-hungry he gives up his identity to get it all.

Percy needs a soulmate. Someone who gets him. Anyone else and he'd burn out.

Do you think Percy and Reyna can work this out? And perhaps become more than friends? Or will Rome come in-between them?

I've already plotted out how this would go and I'm not planning to change it, but I'd like to know your thoughts. Maybe I might even change the plot based off of it.