Percy

'Percy!' I heard someone call from behind me as I loaded supplies into a standard-issue new roman knapsack. I didn't really need supplies, I was plenty used to finding food in my surroundings, but you never know, I told myself as I loaded two canisters of unicorn draught into the shapeless bag.

I turned around to be greeted with the hulking figure of Michael Kahale, the now Primus Pilus of the first cohort.

We had a long history together, two of the most unexpected additions to the esteemed cohort. Always overshadowed by Jason who - bless him - seemed oblivious to everything around him. We bonded over these shared experiences, and when I became centurion, I made him my second in command before you could say 'Senatus Populusque Romanus'.

I grasped his forearm firmly with my hand as he mirrored my actions. 'Perce, what are you doing?' He began breathlessly without preamble.

I sighed. Not this again.

'Look Michael, let's be honest here, it wasn't really much of a choice, was it?' I began tiredly. 'It's Reyna or me. And Reyna isn't looking too hot right now, and even if she was up to scratch, I'm a child of the elder gods, I have powers that Reyna simply doesn't. It's better she stays here.'

Michael pulled me into a bone-crushing bear hug. 'I just don't want you to die too.' He said quietly.

I suspired softly. Michael had been through a lot, even before his induction into the legion. He had lost his family to monster attacks when he discovered he was a half-blood, and most of his friends and companions had perished in the second titan war.

I clapped him firmly on the shoulder. 'Trust me, you're not getting rid of me anytime soon, I have a lot of plans for this place.' I gestured vaguely in the direction of New Rome.

Michael's eyes darkened as he seemed to grow more cold. 'Right.' He said guardedly. 'I gotta ask Percy, do you have any plans, after the war is over?' I blinked at that. Whatever I had been expecting him to ask, it hadn't been that, and for a second it caught me off guard.

'To serve the people and the senate of Rome to the best of my ability.' I said after some deliberation.

Michael nodded grimly, becoming a lot more closed off. 'You know, there is life outside of servitude to Rome.' He seemed to hesitate before steeling himself and continuing. 'Especially when we get Jason back.'

I made a face at that. MIchael sighed. 'Look Perce, I know you've been waiting for the opportunity to lead for your entire life. But Jason is the son of Jupiter. It stings - I should know, I'm a son of Venus - but because of our parentage, people won't expect us to lead. To be able to lead.' He took in a deep breath. 'But that's the reality. And you can't let your pride get in the way of getting Jason back. It's not worth the scandal.'

Ouch. That hurt. Was I really that ruthless? Did he really think I would jeopardise any chance of getting Jason back just if it meant I keep my place as praetor?

You already have… A small voice in my subconscious whispered from the back of my mind.

I quickly stomped out any thoughts pertaining to that matter.

I turned back to Michael, the annoyance in my voice made crystal clear by my tone.

'The same Jason who by all accounts should have refused pratorship? Should have stepped down?' I jabbed a finger into his chest. 'And who gave you a chance as Primus Pilus? Was it Jason? No. Jason forgot you like he forgot everybody, taking command alongside Reyna, slowly stagnating Camp Jupiter and New Rome like all the praetors before them. Tell me Michael, who was the last praetor to introduce any sort of reform before me?'

Michael hung his head in shame.

'Because it was before your grandfather was even born.' I gestured wildly to the barracks around us. 'What is the point of being the successor to one of the most adaptable empires in history, which by the way is what made Rome so successful in the first place, if we insist on sticking to outdated tradition?'

Michael balled his fists, still stubbornly staring down at his shoes.

'Jason should have stepped down, Michael. That's the truth of the matter. But he didn't have the balls to face the backlash of this stupid traditionalist society he was enabling! It's a vicious cycle, and he was too much of a coward to break it! Men like me and you are left to pick up the pieces and make do.' I shook my head morosely, 'I can't afford such a glaring weakness to be left to its own devices.'

Michael seemed to have had enough of my explanation.

'Do you even hear yourself? What you're saying is on the verge of treason.' He stared at me disbelievingly. 'You sound as if you were planning a coup.'

I met his gaze with my own. 'If needs be.'

At that moment, you could hear a pin drop.

'It's like you said Perce, we serve the people and senate of Rome.' He gestured to the gleaming white city walls in the distance.

'Welcome to Rome.'

XIXI

Percy

I huffed as I went my way down the road which led to the Caldecott tunnel.

The entrance was flanked by two guards, two probies I didn't recognise. Between them stood a certain daughter of Ceres who didn't seem to be happy at being kept waiting.

Leila huffed and tapped her foot as I approached, raising an eyebrow as she saw me in full armour, my purple praetor's cloak billowing out behind me.

'Percy!' She called out happily once I was within range. I cringed internally at the parallels with the conversation I had had with Michael not two hours before.

'Hey Leila.' I responded, trying to keep the fatigue out of my voice.

There was an awkward moment where neither of us said anything. The guards stared ahead stoically, not saying anything. I cleared my throat, my mind racing as I thought of something to do.

I was prepared for the rigours of bureaucracy and military leadership, but social awkwardness?

Not a chance.

I found that I only really got along well with a very small sect of people, but anyways, my train of thought seemed to have been completely derailed, so I turned my mind back to the matter at hand.

'Mind if I join you?' Leila asks as I step into earshot. I nod tiredly as she falls into step beside me.

Leila nodded quickly and we both swiftly passed into the tunnel proper, and I suspired a deep sigh of relief at the newfound privacy.

'Soooo…' Leila let the unasked question hang for a little. After a couple of minutes she gave in. 'A little birdie told me that you had a little disagreement with Michael.'

I snorted derisively. 'Did that name start with "Mi" and end with "chael"?' I asked snappily.

Leila put her hands up in a sign of mock surrender. 'Relax, I'm not here to give you another pep-talk on the responsibilities of ruling.'

'Good.' I responded harshly. 'Anything else, Centurion?' I regretted it as soon as it left my mouth, but oh well. I had had a terrible day as of yet, and I still had a quest to fulfil.

Leila hung her head. 'Right.' She muttered quietly. She saluted, before slowly turning away. 'By your leave, praetor?' She entoned formally. I nodded absentmindedly.

'Good luck, fish-boy.' I heard her whisper as she walked away.

XIXI

Percy

It was peaceful. The days of preparation had been quite hectic, with the restructuring of power in New Rome taking place in the wake of my absence.

Yet another reason to get this quest over and done with as quickly as possible.

The Anthony Chabot regional park was beautiful, especially in May. I breathed in the fresh air as I trekked through the national park.

The peacefulness of the walk had been having a calming effect on me. I hadn't had an attack since my meeting with the moon goddess a couple of days ago.

It was exactly this actually that put me slightly on edge. I had rarely gone so long outside of New Rome and Camp Jupiter without being attacked even by the most insignificant of monsters.

The sun slid lethargically across the sky, Apollo's sky-horses slowly pulling it across the dark abyss of space.

I stopped by a small stream, using the water to regain my strength before setting off on my path again.

The nagging feeling that something was going to happen soon kept going in the back of my head, but no matter where I looked, I couldn't notice any disturbance or suspicious movement in my immediate surroundings.

Either way, I made sure to keep my guard up.

I continued for a couple more kilometres approximately before I started realising that something was seriously wrong.

I didn't even have to reach out my senses through the moisture in the air. I could feel the reverberations of what seemed like hundreds of heavy footfalls getting closer and closer to me.

Then the first one broke through the treeline.

XIXI

Percy

The umpteenth earthborn dissolved into a pile of dirt as I extracted my trident from its dusty remains.

I let the rain give me strength as I continued his trek towards San Francisco. Usually I wouldn't risk such a destructive power of mine to be unleashed, but I rather let out a storm in a forest than in a densely populated population centre like San Francisco.

Luckily, the sun had gone down, which meant there would likely not be anybody out.

I took a knee, panting heavily. Even with the rain to revitalise me, I was knackered. There had to have been at least fifty of the damn things after me-

Frankly, I needed this. After the irritating and confusing conversations I had had with two of my best friends, I felt like I was being kept in the dark, as if they knew something I didn't.

I hated being kept in the dark about anything, especially if it had to do with yours truly. I was happy to be able to take out some of my anger and frustration on the multitude of earthborn that had the misfortune to try and ambush me.

'Well well well, fancy finding you here.' I turned around to find myself face to face with the manticore, and his irritating french accent.

'Dr. Thorn.' I greeted tiredly. 'It's been a while. How's the tail holding up?' I jabbed.

The last time me and Dr. Thorn, his oh so clever alias when he couldn't openly proclaim he was the manticore, met I cut off his tail before Reyna decapitated him on a quest for Bellona.

The Manticore simply cackled. 'You seem a bit tired to me, sea-spawn.'

I huffed. I was hoping he wouldn't notice that.

The Manticore decided it had had enough pleasantries, as it promptly lashed out with its tail, sending out a salvo of thorns out towards me. I quickly mist travelled out of range, before manipulating the water in the air around me into ice spikes and sending them towards Dr. Thorn.

The Manticore easily batted them aside with his tail, before charging me. I swung my trident, but the Manticore simply rolled under it and head-butted me into a tree. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a bright silver flash.

XIXI

Percy

I woke up in a comfy bed. Inside a tent. Welp, looks like I missed something. I slowly stood up, wincing in discomfort as my head throbbed uncomfortably.

I had to wait for my eyes to adjust to the bright sun outside, shielding myself from the sun with my arm.

'About time you woke up. I was starting to think I might have to call my brother.' Oh gods. It's her. She was sitting down in front of a campfire, poking some of the embers.

'Hi.' I greeted awkwardly. 'The Manticore?'

'Dead.'

'I see.'

'So, care to explain to me why I was able to follow a trail of a hundred earthborns to you?' She looked at me expectantly.

I winced. 'A hundred?'

'One hundred and seventeen actually, but who's counting?'

'You, it seems.'

'Still, didn't answer my question.'

'Well.' I sat down opposite of her. 'I'm on a quest.'

She furrowed her eyebrows. 'Whatever for?'

I shot her a look. 'I kinda have questions too you know, like the fact you're a Greek goddess?'

She looks up at me, surprised. 'What is there to discuss?'

I stared at her disbelievingly. I pointed to myself. 'Roman.' I pointed to her. 'Greek.'

She rolled her eyes. 'I figured that out on my own thank you, your armour doesn't really leave much to the imagination.'

'So you're aware that our pantheons do not get on then.'

'Even though they are similar, and at times even overlap?'

That made me pull up short. 'Overlap?'

'Naturally, or you think there are two Apollos?'

'I admit the thought didn't cross my mind.'

'Obviously.'

I huffed in annoyance. I wasn't really getting anywhere here. 'I have been given a quest to defeat the giant king Porphyrion.'

Artemis simply raised an eyebrow. 'Your gods sent you to kill a giant, alone?'

I frowned. 'Yeah?'

She sighed. 'Percy,' I suddenly realised she hadn't used my name until now, 'a giant can only be killed by both a demigod and a god combined.'

It took me a couple of moments to process the information. So simple. So simple I no one had even thought to mention it to me.

'You didn't know?' Artemis asked with more than a small modicum of incredulity.

'No!' I snapped at her. 'I didn't know. It's not the type of thing that comes up, Roman culture dictates that for a solo quest to be truly successful, we must achieve it all ourselves.' I explained forlornly.

So that's what Reyna meant when she sent me off.

I wasn't meant to return.

Artemis looked at me with what looked like pity. I hated that. Pity hadn't saved my mom, and certainly not me. I didn't need it then, and I certainly don't need it now.

I let out a humourless laugh. 'Beating me at my own game. Just send me off, stupid me, looking for honour and glory.'

Artemis continued staring at me, although her expression softened more. 'They sent me alone too.' She began softly. It made me pause, I hadn't heard her speak with such vulnerability before. 'I wanted my hunters, but the prophecy told me to go alone.'

I looked at her curiously. 'Prophecy?'

She looked at me in surprise. 'You don't have those?'

I shook my head. 'We used to, in these ancient tomes called the Sibylline books, but they were burned a long time ago. We don't really have any other way to record prophecies apart from our augur, and between you and me, he's an idiot who empties the bowels of stuffed toys.'

Artemis laughed. The musical sound made me relax slightly, some of the tension leaving my muscles.

I took a moment to remember something she had mentioned before. 'You were sent here because of a quest too?' I enquired.

She nodded. 'I am to hunt Porphyrion as well. Although my prophecy told me that I would meet one unlikely ally along the way.' She looked at me meaningfully.

I sighed tiredly. 'Well that makes sense, as a Roman I would be an unlikely ally.'

Artemis nodded sagely.

I took a deep breath. 'But why should I trust you?'

Artemis raised an eyebrow coolly. 'When have I given you reason to doubt me?'

'You are Greek.'

'And? You are Roman, I don't have any obligation to save your life, heal you, yet I have.'

'Because you expect something from me.'

'And what gave you that idea?'

'You just asked me to join you on your quest.'

'You have the same one, and you need a god to kill the giant, I don't see the issue.'

'For starters, you haven't even told me your prophecy.'

'Neither have you.'

'My quest was given by Mars. He literally told me to go west to kill the giant-king. That's it.'

'Then let us work together. We have the same enemy, and the same objective. I swear on the styx I mean no ill-will towards you.' Artemis said, staring at me, her face unreadable.

I scrunched up my face in slight confusion as I heard thunder boom over us, but I dismissed it, deciding I had more important things than questioning swearing yourself on the river Styx. 'Speaking of which, I sorta thought you would be more… I don't know, man-hating? It's just you're rather famous for it in New Rome.'

Artemis rolled her eyes irritatedly. 'I swear if I ever find Homer I will revive the blind codger just to kill him again.' She muttered, staring at a tree trunk intensely. 'I don't have anything against males, that is Diana, from your pantheon. I simply… forewent their company, for the most part. I haven't found any to be worthy of my time.'

I let out a genuine laugh. 'I appreciate that. I'm sure you're actually very nice under all that bluster.' I froze. Why did I have to say that? Me and my big fucking mouth.

Artemis stared at me, her impassive mask returning to her features. 'I will allow that discrepancy just this once.'

I grimaced and gave a small nod of recognition.

AN:

Yup… I'm messing with the structure of the fic.

Again.

I just felt the first chapter was a bit too long, and a bit too convoluted and rushed, I wanted to give a bit more breathing room and context between Artemis, Percy, meeting, quest, meeting Artemis again and then second chapter mistrust.

It just feels too rushed.

I just can't keep writing more of the story, (Because believe me I have almost the entire thing planned out apart from the ending), because if the start is rushed and just generally doesn't work, what's even the point?.