New Roman Diplomacy

Personal side note for future reference, when trying to shadow travel, do it at night. Mrs. O'Leary nearly gave a poor satyr a heart attack as she bounded into the woods. Poor guy probably thought he was on the breakfast menu before she leapt into a tree and melted into the shadows.

Then we also have to take into account the limits shadow traveling has in terms of distance. A few hundred miles seems to be the limit. No small thing by any means, but when the journey was nearly three thousand miles, the amount of "jumps" started to tax our group.

Of course, there's all the general nastiness associated with shadow traveling. The cold. The screaming. The constant sensation that someone is trying to reach out and grab my shoulder from behind. Though… Now that I think about it, Khione may have factored into all of those as well.

"Are you okay?" I asked during one of our breaks.

Mrs. O'Leary was taking a twenty minute nap. Well deserved, given we'd nearly reached the halfway point in about an hour. Unfortunately, we were a bit far north for what we wanted, and wound up at Mount Rushmore. If anybody asks, we absolutely did not pop out of Abraham Lincoln's nose.

"This is nothing like how I traveled before," Khione said, swaying and hiccuping with her hands on her knees. "I'm fast… but not that fast. And the smell is… nauseating."

"Don't worry," Reyna said. "We won't be doing this enough to get used to it. However… is she going to be okay?" She gestured to Mrs. O'Leary. "When Nico took us around the world, he almost fell into what he called a 'shadow coma.' Something about his molecules falling apart until he's no longer tangible with the physical world."

"Not a problem for Mrs. O'Leary thankfully." I said. "I've talked to him about this as well. Since Nico is a demigod, stuck between both mythical and mortal, his body can't handle the same level of strain. But for a hellhound, the most she has to worry about is getting really tired and hungry."

Khione stepped away from her. "Um… She won't try to eat us… right?"

I snickered. "Nah. She likes beef, bison, elk… basically anything with a lot of meat to it. Just like a lion wouldn't bother eating a mouse, we aren't worth the effort."

"Comforting thought," Reyna said, rubbing Mrs. O'Leary's paw.

I rubbed Khione's back while she tried to keep from puking.

"This is long overdue, but how are you both holding up? Yesterday must have been a lot for you both."

"That's one way to put it," Reyna said, sitting down with her back pressed against Mrs. O'Leary's side. "Honestly, I felt useless. The whole island was swarmed in a matter of minutes. Sure, I took out a few monsters, but I didn't even finish donning my armor before I was taken out by a wooden beam."

"Happens to the best of us. How's the shoulder?"

"My shoulder and neck are fine now. More my pride that's wounded than anything else. Then everything happened with the Olympians and the camp… Are you Greeks always so chaotic?"

I scratched the back of my head with a chuckle. "Guilty as charged. Though that was definitely an odd case."

"Speak for yourself," Khione said, stumbling into my side. "Nothing happens where I'm from. The most excitement I had during most days was staring at my reflection. In a palace of ice, that's just about all you can do."

"Like you never had an opportunity to have fun bringing blizzards to the mortal world."

"Yes, with my father supervising me almost every step of the way. He's the north wind. I may bring the snow, but more often than not, he's the one who would bring the winter storms."

"Ah, so you already knew I was telling the truth."

She quirked her eyebrow at me. "About?"

"You were adamant that the world would forget you, so you brought about the worst of winter. But I said a gentle flurry could be just as powerful."

She lowered her head. "It does not change the fact that people would pray to keep me away. Children love the snow. Even adults are swept in awe as I bring the first flakes of winter. But that love is fleeting. For a day or two, they enjoy it, then they curse it. Their crops and livestock suffer, and they blame me for it, not even realizing Demeter is the one who is responsible."

After a certain point, she wasn't even talking to me. She was simply going on a tangent. Cold and bitter, she shivered as her frustrations welled up.

"Maybe I have some of my father's temper," she continued. "But I'm not cruel. I don't kidnap mortals, nymphs, and gods and have my way with them! All I want is for the people to love me!"

Reyna raised a brow and crossed her arms. "From what I've heard, you kept a penthouse full of frozen statues, all of whom were still living mortals, demigods, and legacies."

"That was never my idea! I never froze anyone unless my father told me to! Sure, I'd tease at the idea of keeping people when they sought an audience with him, but it was just a scare tactic! He loved intimidating people. It wasn't until Gaia came along that I was given an opportunity to change things."

"By 'change things,' you mean wipe out all of civilization and revert humanity back to the stone age?"

"Well… no? I don't know! I don't know all of what Gaia planned. All I know is she treated me better than my father, and said I would replace him if I helped her. All I had to do was take out a few demigods and sow some distrust in Olympus. Closing Olympus was easy; the gods are paranoid enough as it is. But we already know how the demigod endeavor ended."

She at least had it in her to look ashamed.

"Then why were you so adamant about freezing or killing Piper, Jason, and Leo?" Reyna pressed. "According to Piper, you had some sort of personal vendetta."

She crossed her arms and mumbled to herself.

"What?"

"I don't know! Maybe… maybe I had a little crush on Jason. Maybe I didn't like the fact that he and Piper were together. I never had the luxury of a love life, so I might get a little weird about that. It's not every day I see someone I'm interested in who is already taken by someone else. Do you know what that's like?"

Reyna's critical expression softened. "More than you might think. I was interested in Jason as well. When I saw him return to New Rome with Piper… I didn't know what to think. I definitely made some mistakes."

She stood and made her way to Khione. "But Jason aside, you've never been interested in anyone?"

"Of course I have. But it's not like people even want me around, much less reciprocate my feelings. And then there's my father. He kidnapped and raped my mother. I swore to myself I would never do something so cruel. I would never be like him. But I still lived in fear of him. Fates forbid I ever get pregnant. My child would be killed the moment it leaves my body."

"You don't know that," Reyna said, resting her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't I? Zethes loved frolicking with mortals. Thought he was the Fates' gift to women. Every woman he brought back to the palace was dead by the next morning. It took centuries for Zethes to realize they weren't simply passing from the cold."

"Centuries?!" I balked.

"He's… not exactly the sharpest icicle out there. Regardless, I've never been able to enjoy having someone to love. Someone to hol—"

Reyna hugged her. Without a word, she simply stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Khione. The ironically shivering goddess sniffled. Lip trembling, she leaned her head on Reyna's shoulder and returned the hug.

So of course, I decided to join in.

The three of us had a nice little group hug. Khione's shivering and soft sniffles came to an end. She even hummed in content before speaking up.

"This is nice, but I'm starting to get a little dizzy."

We let go.

"Are you okay?" Reyna asked.

"I'll be fine. But it's already a hot summer day, and I may or may not mix very well with the heat." She swayed slightly and balanced herself on a nearby tree.

"Right." Reyna frowned. "Still, you seemed like you needed a hug. Gods know I've gone too long without them."

"Oh, that was fine. Lovely even. I guess you could say I'm just a little heat sensitive."

"Either way," I said. "That was all in the past. You don't have to worry about your father controlling every aspect of your life anymore."

"Instead, I now have you to take on that role," she replied sarcastically.

Reyna snorted. "I think we can safely agree Percy won't control every aspect of your life. As long as we keep the nymph attacks to just that one time."

She hung her head. "I'm trying to make amends. It's not easy, but I'm trying."

"You're doing a pretty good job at that. Which reminds me, thank you for helping out during the island attack. I'm not sure how the girls would have fared if you hadn't sealed them in that room."

She turned away to hide her blush. "They… they hurt Silena. She was the first one to really reach out and accept me. When they struck her… I just about lost my mind." She returned her gaze to me with a sheepish smile. "I guess that was my father's temper showing itself again. Not that I could do much. My powers are still heavily restricted."

"Still?" I tilted my head. "Sure, we're currently not on the island, so there's the whole permission issue, but once we let you out of the dungeon cell, shouldn't you have been fine?"

She raised her eyebrow as if I was an idiot, then pulled up her dress. Dangling on her ankle was a celestial bronze anklet, identical to the one Keto was stuck wearing, minus the chain.

"It's a power dampener," she said. "Telkhine made if I were to guess. I thought you already knew about this."

I shook my head. "No. I never realized you had that. Is there supposed to be a key or something for it?"

"I suppose so, though I can't imagine we could find it now."

"We'll make it a priority to remove it once we get to New Rome," Reyna said. "There are a few locksmiths there who could address this easily." She turned to me. "That is of course assuming you want this removed."

I straightened, taken aback. "Of course. If I'd known about this before, I would have tried to take it off already. Though… if it nullifies your powers, how did you fight back at all?"

Khione shook her head. "I said 'dampener,' not 'nullifier.' If they were trying to make me a mortal, that would require something much more extreme than a simple anklet, and I don't imagine they would waste it on the likes of me. I imagine this was intended to reduce me to a small percentage of my power. Make me more manageable. Hence why it took so long for me to actually harm someone. A small flurry is nothing for me, but the energy required to freeze a person is far greater."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said. "Either way, we'll get that anklet off in New Rome, but we have to get there first."

Mrs. O'Leary took a couple more minutes before stirring from her nap, and about five minutes more to go hunting for food. Whatever she ate, I don't want to know. Nor did I let her lick me when she came bounding back.

With everyone situated, Mrs. O'Leary rushed for the shadows of the treeline. Khione hugged me tightly from behind and whimpered. Before I could comment, we melted into the shadows and resumed our trip to New Rome.

If popping out of Mount Rushmore was bad, popping out of the shadows in San Francisco was worse. Given the distinct lack of shade during the morning, it should come as little surprise that we appeared in the middle of Caldecott Tunnel.

I don't know what the oncoming traffic saw through the Mist. Probably some crazy kids chasing after a Saint Bernard. Whatever the case may be, the first car swerved around us. The bus behind it wasn't nearly as mobile.

"Move. Now!"

WOOF!

Mrs. O'Leary bounded down the tunnel, missing the oncoming bus by only a foot or two. When the light at the end of the tunnel gave way to the open air of San Francisco, we knew we were in the right place.

"Hold it right there!"

We dove onto the meridian of the highway, avoiding the traffic on both sides. Right in the middle of the two tunnels was the service tunnel. Guarding it were two legionnaires, one of whom was pointing a crossbow at us. Definitely not standard issue equipment.

"Lavinia!" Reyna called. "Stand down! It's me."

The legionnaire, Lavinia, jumped back at the sound of Reyna's voice. Only then did she take her gaze off of the giant dog and turn it to those riding her.

"Reyna?! What are you—? You know what, never mind. I'm not even going to bother trying to figure this out." She lowered her crossbow. "You want in?"

"That would be appreciated, yes."

She turned to open the service door, much to the confusion of the other guard. Even I raised an eyebrow.

"That easy? It took a goddess riding my back in order to get me through the door."

"I'd argue not much has changed then," Khione said.

"Point taken."

Reyna sighed. "Lavinia isn't exactly a 'by the books' soldier. I've unfortunately had to reprimand her a number of times for disobedience or going AWOL. She gets along great with the nature spirits though."

We dismounted Mrs. O'Leary. After a small whisper, she howled with joy and rushed to the door, much to Lavinia's evident panic. While the guards ducked out of the way, Mrs. O'Leary dove into the tunnel and vanished into the shadows.

Reyna and I shared a laugh while the two guards collected themselves. Khione watched on in confusion.

"Very funny," Lavinia huffed. "She better not destroy anything."

"How did she even fit in there?" the other guard asked. "She's like five times the size of the tunnel!"

"Welcome to the world of shadow travel," I said. "She just needed the opening."

"Right…"

"Under normal circumstances, I'd escort you to the camp," Lavinia said. "But you already know the rules and how to get there. Just behave yourselves."

I smirked. "You're talking to two former praetors. I think we know how to behave."

"Yeah. Former. We might respect who you were and what you've accomplished, but people can change."

"It's been two weeks!"

"I've seen relationships last less than that. All the proof I need. Get going." She gestured down the tunnel.

I turned to the other two. Khione glanced back and forth between the guards like they were going to attack her. Reyna merely shrugged and shook her head.

"It's good to see you too, Lavinia. Thomas." She nodded to the other guard.

She entered the tunnel without another word. Not wanting to be left behind, I took Khione's hand and followed suit.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Come on, dead guy. Let the living speak for themselves."

We'd made it most of the way to the camp's fortifications. Our journey was near an end. Mrs. O'Leary bounded about, happily chasing flocks of ducks. All while Reyna and I were caught up in the nostalgia of the picturesque surroundings, out popped a Lar, screaming his head off about a Greek goddess entering their domain.

"This is unprecedented! Blasphemous! You dare to set foot in—!"

"Just let us talk to the people in charge," I snapped. "We're here to see Frank and Dakota, not you."

He merely scoffed and vanished with a last scowl directed towards Khione.

"Perhaps it's best if I stayed with the others."

"No." I tightened my grip on her hand. "Better to get this over with now. Besides, the Lares don't hold the ultimate authority here."

We continued our way to the camp, which had long since prepared for our arrival. A number of guards awaited us at the entrance. At their lead stood Dakota, who was grinning madly as he took a swig from his canteen.

"Look who decided to drop by!" he called. "To what do we owe this humble entourage?" He stooped into a sarcastic bow, eyes gleaming.

"Glad to see you haven't gotten sloppy since I've been gone," Reyna said.

He recoiled in mock surprise. "Reyna! I'm offended! You handed me this position yourself!"

She merely stepped forward and locked arms with him in greeting.

"It's nice to be back. We have a favor to ask you. A favor best discussed in private."

He raised an eyebrow and shot Khione and I a glance. His expression turned serious. "Of course. Let's take this to the principia."

With a flick of his purple cape, he spun on his heel and made his way to the middle of the camp.

"Back to your duties!"

The welcoming party fell in line and did as ordered.

Reyna gave me a cheeky smile, but said nothing as she followed him. With Khione in hand, I did the same.

"We have visitors," Dakota announced.

The three of us followed him into what I could only assume was Frank's new "house." Behind what was once Jason's desk sat Frank, scribbling down on an official looking document. At least until Dakota so brazenly gave way to our entry, which startled him out of his work.

"Who is it this—? Reyna?! Percy!"

He stumbled out of his seat, knocking over a stack of papers along with his half eaten breakfast of bacon and toast. But he didn't seem to care about that. Instead, he rushed over to us and practically crushed both Reyna and I in a massive hug.

"It's great to see you!" He pulled back and glanced over at Khione. "Um. What's with…?"

"That's partly why we're here." I stepped back and rested a hand on Khione's shoulder. "We've got a request. A big one."

Needless to say, we didn't share everything about our situation. We did get the main points across though. Fought gods, rescued nymphs, currently homeless. The stuff that was actually relevant and would help our case.

Both Frank and Dakota pondered over what we said, silently trading glances.

"All of this to say you need somewhere to bunker down?" Frank said.

"Basically," Reyna said. "We aren't expecting anything permanent. Not even long term. But even a couple days would help us greatly."

Frank wiped his brow and brushed his hand back through his short hair. Dakota was able to maintain a more steady state of calm, and jerked his head towards the back of the room. Frank nodded and followed while the rest of us waited.

The two of them began hurriedly exchanging words. There didn't seem to be any argument between them, but they were both clearly agitated. Still, we waited with bated breaths.

"I hope this works," Reyna muttered. "If not, the next step is the city, and our odds are even worse there."

"We'll figure something out." I hugged her to my side. She didn't even try to resist, and leaned her head against my shoulder. "If things go badly enough, we can always go to Atlantis."

She snorted. "I'll pack some snorkeling gear."

"Apologies beforehand if I freeze any of the residents," Khione added with a half smile.

"At the bottom of the ocean? It's probably cold enough for you to be comfortable already."

"I'll have to keep that in mind."

Frank and Dakota wrapped up their exchange. Neither looked upset as they approached, so I took that as a good sign.

"The fourth and fifth cohort took some of the worst casualties," Dakota said. "Octavian's doing of course. Threw them into the meat grinder before all the rest."

"And because we haven't had much time to actively recruit," Frank added, "they're small enough in number that we can have them share a barracks. We'll obviously have to see how good of reception this gets in the senate and the rest of the legion, but you should be able to at least get one day out of it if things turn south."

"Thank you." Reyna's shoulders relaxed. "I expect this isn't going to be a charity, so what do you want in return?"

"Pfft. What do we want?" Dakota snickered. "You all saved the world. Not to mention the fact that you granted me the most prestigious position in the legion."

"Consider this a gift," Frank said. "Maybe we'll have a favor sometime down the road to ask of you, but we'd probably ask regardless of whether or not we let you stay. No end to the messes we have to clean up."

"You don't need to convince me," Reyna said flatly.

"Either way," Frank continued, "the barracks for the fifth cohort should be ready for you. Everything was cleaned out when we first returned. Only beds and lockers at this point."

"That's all we need," I said. "Seriously, thank you guys."

"Don't worry about it," Frank said. "In fact, you guys should stop by for dinner. It'd be nice to have everyone back together. Well… mostly."

The mood soured slightly at the mention of Leo's demise, but Dakota swept in before we could dwell on it.

"As for your hellhound, Hannibal can always use a bunkmate. She's free to stay in his stables, so long as she doesn't try to eat him."

I snorted. "I doubt that'll be an issue, but I could always use some extra large steaks just to be safe."

"We'll see what we can do."

"In the meantime, you should get settled in. And try hitting up the bathhouse while the rest of the legion is on duty. You all look like you need it."

I couldn't deny it, the thought of trying that bathhouse again already had me swooning.

"We'll be sure to take you up on that offer."

"Wonderful," Frank said. "I don't think we need to show you where to go. And I'm buried up to my neck in paperwork, so I need to get back to that."

"Not my fault you're one of the only demigods in existence who can read English," Dakota said.

He rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, it's nice to see you again."

We said our farewells, relayed our thanks again, and took our leave.

To say reuniting Mrs. O'Leary and Hannibal was a rambunctious affair would put things mildly. The two of them sounded off with glee and rushed towards one another.

"What in the…?"

Bobby, Hannibal's caretaker, reeled back as the multi-ton pachyderm stampeded away. Only when he collided with Mrs. O'Leary in a bizarre mix of a headbutt and hug did his confusion clear up.

"Reyna! Percy! Nice to see you both again!"

"Bobby," Reyna greeted. "Always a pleasure. I hope you don't mind temporarily taking another under your care."

His eyes widened. "Um. I mean, I can, but how exactly am I going to feed her? She doesn't seem like the type to eat hay and fruit."

"She does her own hunting," I said. "I'll make sure she doesn't attack anything in the valley. She just needs a place to sleep." I glanced over the two oversized animals roughhousing by the shores of the Little Tiber. "And possibly a friend to keep her company."

"I don't think that'll be an issue. Um… You aren't expecting her to be groomed or anything, right?"

I snickered. "I doubt that would last very long even if you tried. Besides, shadow traveling seems to keep her nice and clean. Hard for any grime to hold on when traveling faster than the speed of sound. Or when jumping through different planes of existence."

"That's a relief." He wiped his brow. "Then that shouldn't be an issue. How long were you planning on sticking around?"

"Not sure actually. We need to run it by the senate and the rest of the legion first. Hopefully, we won't be here for too long."

"Fair enough. I'll leave you all to it. Need to prepare a bed for her."

He rushed off to the stables.

I continued watching Mrs. O'Leary and Hannibal play around. He plunged his trunk into the river and showered her with water. She in return played dead for a moment, rolling onto her back and flailing around. I cringed, praying the luggage wasn't too damaged.

"They seem to be getting along with one another," Khione said.

"Yes they are. It's been too long since Mrs. O'Leary had a playmate. And I can't exactly take her on routine trips to Cerberus."

"For as much fun as the two of them are having," Reyna said, twisting her silver ring , "it's clear she loves you more than just about anything. You seem to take great care of your pets, Percy. You ought to be proud of that."

"Is that a hint of bitterness I'm picking up?"

"What? No! I just meant that—"

ARF! ARF!

One might almost think Mrs. O'Leary was calling out to us, which is a fair assumption. However, the distinct hollow… "clang," if you will, to those barks were far too reminiscent of another dog.

Or dogs.

"Aurum! Argentum!"

The silver and gold greyhounds rushed to us from the direction of the stables, tongues flapping in the wind. Rather, they rushed to Reyna.

The two of them tackled Reyna in a bizarrely endearing embrace, knocking her to the ground and loving on her in their own ways. Sniffing her. Rubbing their heads on her. Licking her, which could not have worked very well with their metal tongues.

All the while, Reyna returned their affections. Rubbing their heads. Hugging them. Scratching their chins. Every second of it, she spent laughing with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Khione watched on with a flat expression. A strained one at that. Her lip twitched, and her hands fiddled with her dress. Either she was somehow uncomfortable with the affectionate display in front of her or she was holding back an urge to show affection for herself. Or… just perhaps, she wanted a pet of her own.

Whatever the case may be, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. She shivered, but leaned her head and hand on my chest.

I smiled at her cool touch, and simply enjoyed the moment. Reyna continued loving and reuniting with her dogs. Meanwhile, my own dog continued playing tug of war with Hannibal using a small tree.

All in all, the moment was rather peaceful. And as much as I hated to ruin it, we needed to get unpacked for the day.

"I'll be in the fifth cohort barracks," I whispered to Khione. "When she's ready to go, tell her. She'll know where to go."

"Of course," she said. "I imagine there is still much to do."

"Yep. And the day is still young. I'll get to it."

I took my leave and made my way over to Mrs. O'Leary. My shoulders were already heavy with the emotional weight of separating her from her friend so soon. Oh well, she could always play with him afterwards.

In the meantime, I had a barracks to prepare.

A/N: I know a lot of people were hoping to get this chapter before Christmas, but life has a funny way of dealing bad hands to us. Nevertheless, we have officially begun the New Roman arc of the story! So much happened so quickly. So many new faces and returning comrades! Khione and Reyna finally got some time back in the spotlight, and I'm sure nobody was disappointed to see Aurum and Argentum return.

This was more of an establishment chapter, hence why it's shorter, but trust me, the next couple chapters are going to dwarf this one. Hope you enjoy them when the time comes.

Speaking of which, there's... some information to relay. Going off of the aforementioned "bad hands" life has dealt, I've found myself struggling financially. Such desperate times have forced me to turn to alternative means of seeking income. All of this to say I have decided to begin writing my own original works. This was technically already going to happen, but I hadn't planned on doing so for at least another couple years. I won't have anything published in the immediate future, but when the time comes, I certainly hope anyone interested will be open to exploring my original works.

So that brings our next chapter to a close. When next we meet, the year will have passed, so I wish a Happy New Year to any who celebrate it. And to those who don't, may your day be good nonetheless.

Let me know your thoughts. Your feelings. Discord is always open if you want to reach out more directly. And P atreon is of course an option as well, if you'd like to lend your support. I look forward to hearing from you. This is Ronin signing off.