Percy

I bolted straight up in my bed, sweat beading my brow.

It was dark around, and I could feel my head hammering. I looked around myself to see that I was in a regular hospital gurney.

Did nobody think of putting me in the water? I thought exasperatedly, as I inched myself slowly off the gurney, taking a minute to catch my breath as I searched my surroundings.

It was an individual room, for high ranking officials of the Legion.

Now if only I could find a…

Yes! I thought triumphantly as I spotted a sink along a counter on the far end of the admittedly small room.

I took in a deep breath as I prepared myself to hurl myself across the room, my strength not being enough to support my own weight unaided.

I grunted as my full weight was transported from my arms to my legs, which buckled as I stumbled towards the counter on the other side of the room.

I let out a small laugh in relief as I held myself up again by my arms as it shakily reached over to the faucet of the sink, turning it on as I put my hand under it.

I sighed in relief as the water flowed over me, repairing all of the injuries I had sustained as I willed the stream to cover all of my body.

Once I felt myself with strength, I willed my body through mist travel as I appeared at the willow tree overlooking New Rome.

I sighed with contentment as I slumped down against the coarse bark of the tree, the familiarity of the place calming me.

I allowed myself a moment of respite, one real, uninterrupted moment where I didn't have to worry about logistics, or any impending senate resolution, or quest.

I buried my face in my hands, letting out a groan borne of frustration.

How could I have been so stupid? Charging a giant I had been given an entire quest just to kill, putting my life at risk, Artemis's life at risk, the entire quest and by extension New Rome in jeopardy.

And for what?

An insecurity?

The more I thought about it the more ridiculous it started to sound.

But was I really that similar to Porphyrion?

At the end of the day, regardless of my actions, I could not as of yet ascertain the merit of them. This reality ate away at me. How could I justify being a competent leader even just to myself if I can't even deal with my own insecurities.

But even as I lay in turmoil, mulling over these thoughts, I knew this wasn't the real reason I had decided to escape the eventual confrontation I was to experience.

Reyna.

How would I even talk to her? She had practically condemned me.

Sure, Mars' prophecy had been less than stellar, but still.

Maybe she just didn't think to tell me? I tried to reason. Maybe she also didn't know.

But deep down, I knew exactly what her comment had meant, and what it had heralded.

I stared up at the night sky, taking in the inky canvas on which tiny dots of light had been scattered aimlessly by beings beyond my understanding. The moon seemed especially dim in contrast, and I felt my heart ache forlornly at the implications.

In the end, I decided to put my personal feelings aside. There were more important things I had to consider at the moment, the most immediately relevant being my dream.

Now, from personal experience, I knew that ignoring demigod dreams was about equivalent to shooting yourself with a shotgun.

Repeatedly.

But I also knew that they had a tendency to mislead.

Also from personal experience.

I reason however, heavy-heartedly, that it was difficult to misinterpret dream-Michael's words.

And with Reyna's recent betrayal still fresh in my mind…

I set my jaw, determined now more than ever to keep my guard up.

Reyna was now completely untrustworthy in my opinion, and had been for a while, despite my delaying thinking about it.

How would I even approach tomorrow? I would have to face Reyna at some point, but would calling her out for treason immediately be too harsh?

Woah. I huffed. So now I'm court-marshalling one of my oldest friends? Maybe I was suffering from some kind of concussion. I started to realise that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to disappear from the hospital without telling anybody.

Not really a great friend. I reason scathingly. Especially with a war, albeit a low-intensity one as of yet.

Revealing all my cards would probably not be prudent, and there's no need to create a political crisis that could potentially fracture New Rome and more importantly the Senate.

I groaned as I got up. I could barely see the moon anymore. Better get back before anybody realised I left.

I took a moment to take in the beauty of the view one more time, well aware that the next time I came back, nothing would be as it had been.

XIXI

Percy

I materialised in to a gladius pointed straight at my throat.

I instinctively stepped back, putting my hands up to try and defuse the situation.

Of course that plan went to hell when the gladius clattered to the floor and I was pulled into a massive bear hug by none other than Michael Kahale himself.

'By the gods Percy, I thought we'd lost you again.' He sobbed into my shoulder as I patted him awkwardly on the back.

He pulled away eventually, sniffing and wiping tears from his eyes, giving me a watery smile.

I tried for a smile, only finding a grimace in its place.

'Don't worry yourself about me. I've always been restless, you know that.' I said, trying to make light of this uncomfortably vulnerable version of my centurion.

'Regardless, that is not relevant as of your being conscious. There is to be a senate meeting in the morning, and your presence would be much appreciated. Although there would have to be a meeting between our staff to get up to speed on everything that's happened, and your brother has spoken about having important information on a crucial subject.' A new voice called out from behind where Michael was.

My eyes hardened as I lay my eyes on Reyna for the first time since I had left for my quest, although I made sure to keep my countenance neutral as I appraised her.

She seemed more collected than the last time I had seen her, I assume as a consequence of her taking control of New Rome's leadership during my absence, with her hair fixed, and her attire being suitably presentable. I nodded my understanding, not trusting my voice to not betray my feelings on the matter.

Reyna went to continue, before an irate voice cut her off.

'Enough!'

Reyna turned to see Howard briskly walk in, his doctor's coat billowing behind him as he promptly ignored both Reyna and Michael, going straight to check on me.

'Gods, I was saying it to your brother before, but that is one potent healing factor.' Howard muttered absentmindedly to me as he shined a light into my eyes, doing a number of other checks to make sure I was in good working order.

I waited patiently as Howard finished his checks, feeling Reyna's eyes bore into the side of my head.

I wasn't exactly scared of her. Reyna was a formidable fighter, but even without powers, she wasn't familiar with my style of fighting with a trident.

Eventually the doctor stepped back, evidently pleased with the checkup.

'When I retire, it's going to be to an atlantean hospital.' Howard said with a chuckle.

I nodded stiffly, aware of the eyes on me in the room.

Howard gestured towards us good-naturedly.

'Go on, I know for a fact you have better things to do.'

XIXI

Percy

I collapsed into the seat at the head of the conference table in the aptly-named conference room, trying my best not to give away just how much I needed that respite, despite the healing in the water giving me a boost in energy.

Gods, I've never felt so drained in my life.

Reyna sat down in the seat opposite of me at the other end of the table, while the rest of command took whichever place they wished around us.

Reyna cleared her throat, indicating the commencement of the meeting.

'Look everybody, I'll be honest, I know it's only been a day since the battle, and I really wouldn't ask this of you all, but we need to be informed for the senate meeting tomorrow.' She began.

There were multiple groans heard from around the table, but nobody openly debated anything Reyna said.

Reyna nodded quickly, taking this as a good sign to continue. 'Right. Well in that case, we have Praetor Jackson and Legionnaire Jackson to brief us on their respective quests.'

I glanced over to Theo, unsure who was to begin, when I noticed just how nervous Theo was. He glanced around nervously, discomfort obvious on his face, and a quick glance to his armrests saw him clenching them to the point that his knuckles turned white.

He has something to hide. I decided. There's no other reason he would be so nervous.

'I'm still quite disoriented, what with only waking up an hour ago. Is it alright if Jackson starts? That way I can have some time to gather my wits.' I proposed, faking discomfort.

This way I could put the pressure on Theo, and hopefully at least get closer to figuring out what he had to hide.

Theo froze, eyes wide.

In fairness to the kid, despite his naivety, he pulled himself together, if the set of his jaw was anything to go by.

'Uh, hi, everyone. I'm Theo. Jackson. Son of… Neptune.' The pause was miniscule, but I noticed. There was no doubt in my mind anymore that he was hiding something.

What, something to do with his parentage? I thought. Identity theft?

'So, a week ago, I, probatio Zhang and Legionnaire Levesque were given a quest by Mars Ultor, who was pretty angry about the state of the Legion. His words, not mine.' Theo explained, raising his hands placatingly at the glares and scoffs from centurions around the table. 'We were sent on a quest to recover a weapons caché in Seattle lost by the fifth during the Michael Varus expedition, along with the eagle of the Legion, to bolster Roman defences for the war.'

I took a deep breath before continuing, and I had to admire the determination.

'So, for the most part, things went to plan. We got to Seattle without any issues, but were ambushed by the amazons when we got there. They mentioned something about infringing on their territory? I'm not sure. Not that it really mattered, in fairness. Once we explained what we were here for, and who we represented, they helped us find the caché, and actually offered to help us with the war.' Theseus explained.

'Did they now? I didn't see them.' I piped up.

Theseus shrugged. 'They didn't really wait around at all. Don't know why. They left right after the battle finished as far as I know.'

I nodded pensively, mildly surprised Hylla had actually kept her promise to me.

'Anyways, we found the caché in an abandoned alley, and after the amazons made their preparations we marched to New Rome. Luckily, we arrived just in time for the battle.' Theo finished.

'I'm guessing there's something else.' I prompted.

Theo glanced over to me in surprise. 'How did you know?'

'A premonition.' I responded drily.

'Well, as most of you know, when I first came to Camp Jupiter, I had some pretty severe amnesia, and I didn't really remember my origins, except for the clues I still had on me, like that t-shirt with the weird patterns and my sword.' He listed off.

My eyebrows raised in surprise at this.

'So, somewhere around the middle of our quest, when we were with the amazons, it all started to come back to me.' He said.

'I remember it all now, and some of it Is going to be a shock, to say the least.'

He took a deep breath, muttering… Something? I frowned, not recognising the language at all.

'So, I'm not new to this demigod thing, that much was clear from the start already, as I'm already sixteen. So, as it turns out, I spent the last five years of my life in a parallel camp across the country, in Manhattan. A Greek camp. For Greek demigods. Like me.'

The silence was so all-encompassing you could have heard a pin drop.

'So, you're Greek?' Gwen was the first to voice her thoughts.

Theo grimaced. 'I really hate to reveal it to you all like this, but I just found out two days ago myself.'

'So a Greek camp. Is it like ours.' I asked.

Theo shook his head. 'No, it's, well, more a summer camp, really. It's just somewhere we go to learn how to defend ourselves. If we live to be eighteen, we go off into the mortal world to live our own lives.' He explained.

Right. So not a threat, in that case. I decided.

'And uh, yeah. That's about everything from me.' Theo finished rather pathetically, managing to sink into his seat more than he already had.

Reyna massaged her temple. 'Alright, I suppose we should come up with an action plan to break the news to the senate, then?'

'Wait, we still didn't hear Percy's quest.' Larry interjected.

'I'd say this is a bit more pressing, Larry. It's fine. I'll present it properly at the senate. Long story short, Hunted down Porphyrion, killed him. Yippee.' I interjected.

'So, Greeks.'

XIXI

Percy

The senate was buzzing once again.

I smiled as I surveyed the seats, the many military members and senators in their distinctive togas milling around, discussing with each other about whatever mundane bills were either being passed or denied.

My own personal issues notwithstanding, the familiarity of the senate house brought me a small sense of comfort.

Here, I was in my element.

My mind went back to the conversation my military high-command and I had with Theo, where he explained to us his… Unique situation.

It was enlightening, to say the least.

I basked in the familiarity for a while longer until I was unceremoniously nudged by a person to my left. I turned to see Reyna pointedly not looking in my direction.

'You brother.' She said in a tight voice.

I looked around, eventually spotting my brother fidgeting nervously in a doorway, flanked by two other legionnaires.

I found myself distracted momentarily by the two legionnaires flanking my brother. With one being a massive man, around 6'5, maybe 6'6, with spiky black hair and an oriental complexion which clearly had yet to lose much of its baby fat, with a bow and quiver slung across his back. The other was a petite little girl with curly brown hair, with a massive spatha or cavalry sword at her hip, one which she currently rested a coffee-coloured hand.

I sighed, catching Reyna's meaning as I observed their nervous body-language.

Standing up from my seat beside Reyna in the section of the senate court reserved for military representatives, I made my way down the discreetly hidden stairs on the sides of the section down to the passages below, making my way over to the doorway where the three legionnaires stood awkwardly.

'Theo!' I called out, trying to sound as un-depressed as I could.

Theo and the two legionnaires flanking him turned to face me, with Theo's showing relief at finally recognising someone.

'Percy! Good to see you man, I've never seen so many old people in one place before.' He whispered the last bit conspiratorially.

I chuckled softly, although in reality I was much too tired to be in the mood.

'Follow me.' I said, turning while gesturing for Theo to follow me. 'You're going to be an important part of this meeting from what I hear from your centurion.'

I turned and made my way away from him, taking back my seat as praetor, making sure Theo was in the seat I had brought for him to my right.

I allowed for the general bustle to continue for a while longer. Senate meetings were incredibly important socially speaking as well as politically.

Eventually I stood up, garnering the attention of the entirety of the senate. A low hush descended over all attending, and I was struck for a second by the mix of fear and respect in the faces of all those assembled.

For a moment my mind went blank, and I forgot what I had planned to say, before quickly pulling myself together again.

'Senators, I call this meeting into session.' I began, keeping my voice level. 'Last week, New Rome and the Legion faced a threat unheard of since the old days of our vaunted history.'

XIXI

Percy

'Which brings us to my second to last point. Due to the serious nature of this war, and the size of our adversary and their ability to muster up forces, there will be new reforms to the legion being implemented in the near future, which will help us deal with this threat more effectively.' I finished.

I had never gotten through my reforms and suggestions so quickly before.

After the general rundown of the battle and further quests of both myself and Theo were discussed and dismissed, I went to try for a couple of reforms to New Roman law to facilitate metallurgy and the creation of weapons.

I grimaced slightly at the thought of my bold faced lie, telling the entirety of the senate that I had successfully defeated Porphyrion on my own. I didn't miss the incredulous looks from Reyna or Theo, and made a mental note in my head to an already rapidly expanding list of topics I was going to have to discuss with Reyna.

'And the last topic, praetor?' A seedy-looking senator to the right of me called out.

I nodded in acknowledgement of the man, addressing his question.

'I was getting there.' The senator at least had the competence to look embarrassed at calling me out. 'The last topic is by far the most important to be discussed in this meeting, as I believe it will completely shift the footing in which we wish to take this war.'

I stepped back, ready to finally sink back into my seat after hours of oration. 'This topic is directly tied to one of our newest legionnaires, Theseus Jackson, son of Poseidon.'

I thought better than to mention that Jason had been kidnapped by a Greek goddess and sent to a Greek camp across the country.

When it came to the senate, you celebrated the little things. It was like drip-feeding a baby.

The senate exploded in an uproar, although it settled down eventually..

'You mean to tell us that there is a graecus fighting among our ranks as if one of our own?' An older senator from one of the districts questioned disbelievingly.

I nodded to Theo, motioning for him to take centre-stage with my head.

Theseus nervously made his way to the podium where I had stood prior, and I saw him take in a deep breath before beginning.

'I am a greek. A son of Poseidon.' He began. I rolled my eyes. Not the strongest start I had ever beheld, truth be told.

But to his credit, Theo kept at it, continuing nonetheless. 'We have our own camp, similar to camp Jupiter. We have been doing the same thing as you guys. Fighting monsters, protecting the gods. Our gods.'

Theo seemed to be nervous, taking in the crowd before him. Understanding dawned on me at the sight of the dubious looks the crowd was giving him.

I cringed slightly. This was not where I had hoped Theo would bring this.

I quickly stood up and interfered before Theo could dig his grave any further.

'What Theo means to say is that there is another group of demigods just like us, fighting the same war we are. With the might of Rome and Greece we will crush Gaia and her spawn.' I attempted to rally the senators back on my side.

Some seemed to be conflicted, but the vast majority were angry, some even physically shaking in their seats.

'Foreign policy must be decided by the senate! This is a democracy, not a dictatorship!' A senator called out, with many crying the affirmation. Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Reyna finally stood up from her seat for the first time during the entire meeting.

'Romans!' She called out. 'Do we so easily forget the bravery that this graecus has shown on our behalf? When we needed volunteers for a quest to form an alliance with the amazons, who volunteered?' Many of the more rambunctious senators quietened down at this, akin to a little boy being scolded by his mother.

'When a giant threatened to destroy our home, who valiantly stood in the way of its path and impeded countless deaths?'

Once again, silence. Not a single senator seemed to have an argument against Reyna.

Or maybe they were just too scared to voice the dissent.

Reyna gestured towards Theo. 'This Greek has shown us that graeci can be trusted, that they are honourable. And don't sit there petulantly, sending your children to the war, telling me with a straight face that another camp of demigods wouldn't provide an immeasurable boon to us in this conflict.' Reyna ended, further fomenting the image of a stern mother scolding children.

'We are yet unsure of the stance of the gods on this matter, but I and my colleague agree that the Greeks are potential allies, and we should treat them as such. With respect. Until then, we will prepare for the war to come.'

Reyna spun on her heel, walking away briskly.

Even though nobody had ended the meeting, Reyna's exit triggered the feverish shuffling and mutterings of senators, and I sighed in defeat as I sat back down on my seat momentarily, massaging my forehead in an attempt to stave off the migraine threatening to overflow my weary brain.

AN:

You will not believe the drag it was to get this chapter out.

Jesus christ. I had a bunch of exams in the last two weeks, and I had practically no time to write, or motivation to for that matter.

I'm having a bunch of issues at home with my family, so frankly I have no clue when the next chapter will be out.

Reviews:

Sankarea396: So Theo is a son of Poseidon, he's basically the vanilla Percy of this timeline. Sorry to make you wait so long for the next chapter, but, life.

.upg: Thanks man, hope this chapter is up to scratch.

MasterTrident: I didn't know that, but I'm too lazy to change it. Also legionnaire sounds really badass, so I might be able to find an in-universe explanation maybe.

Slán, Murph