Bury the Hatchet

To say Khione turned affectionate would put things mildly. After another potentially hour long marathon of foreplay and sex, the goddess of snow all but melted. Granted, Aphrodite's influence may have been a factor. If what she told me was true, then Khione's brain was rewritten by this point. Another two loads left her drooling and giddy.

Another hour passed, and Khione refused to let go of me. She'd turned cuddly. Soft. And dare I say it, warm.

Not to say she was warm to the touch. Far from it, her cold body kept me from overheating in the steamy bathhouse, though she definitely needed the occasional recharge away from the heat. Not that I could complain. After spending so much time with the nymphs, I'd gained a taste for those with a cooler touch.

It was only after Khione started to doze off on top of me that we were interrupted.

"Ahem."

I glanced over to Reyna, who was dressed once more in her New Roman attire. Purple shirt, jeans, combat boots. A leather bracelet, one that looked suspiciously like something Thalia would wear, covered most of her legion tattoo.

"If you two are done christening the building, you might want to come outside. Lookouts are reporting a group of pegasi along the borders of the valley."

"Ready for a reunion?" I cracked a grin.

"It's only been a few hours." She rolled her eyes. "If anyone should be asked that, it would be her." She pointed a finger at Khione. "If the noises were anything to go by, she won't be moving around anytime soon. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about her new 'master' kink."

Coy smile adorning her lips, she turned smartly on her heel and made her way outside.

With much less grace than she did, I managed to throw on some clothes, found Khione's, dressed her, and rushed outside. Khione barely registered anything as I swaddled her in my arms.

It should come as no surprise that the others made it to the main road before I did.

Several of the others had already landed. Katie and Rose nearly trampled me with their pegasus as I poked my head out of the building. Both Thalia and Silena were struggling with Thalia's mount, but after a few words of encouragement from Silena, Thalia's pegasus dipped down and cantered onto the cobblestones. Cinder popped out from his hiding place in her jacket pocket, chirped, and leapt out onto the pegasus's back.

"Master!"

Palírroia struggled in her efforts to climb off of her pegasus. Bowlegged, she stumbled her way towards me and promptly collapsed after two steps.

"Easy there," Annabeth said, lifting her up from under her arms. "It takes some getting used to."

Annabeth guided her to me, and both hugged me once they were close enough. Not that I could hug them back with a sleeping snow goddess in my arms.

"Another one off the list?" Annabeth whispered.

I nodded.

She sighed in relief. "Good work. You're almost done."

With a peck to my cheek, she backed away and let the other overzealous harem members reunite with me. Plenty of one sided hugs and kisses were shared, none quite as enthusiastic as Calypso. Juniper stumbled about for a while, as did the rest of the nymphs, each one taking a moment or two to absorb the change of scenery. The more aloof members, namely the hunters, Sierra, and Drew, focused solely on the task at hand. Namely, asking directions to the barracks.

Granted, I couldn't be of much help to them. Piper took her turn reuniting with me, and she was milking every second of it.

"She seems happy," she said, barely breaking our kiss. "I hope you made it enjoyable."

"Have I ever not?" I chuckled.

"You brat!" she complained, though she didn't stop kissing me.

When she finally did, it was because a horn by the gate sounded.

"Returning patrol!" the lookout called. "All seven legionnaires appear to be accounted for!"

What better timing could we have asked for? Or worse, honestly. Frank and Dakota appeared from the principia to meet the rest of our group. Plenty of hugs and handshakes were exchanged, much to the praetor's discomfort.

"Where's Hazel?"

For a moment, no one spoke. Truth be told, none of us knew for certain where she was. Last I saw her, she was on Olympus, having a very evidently awkward conversation with her dad.

"You see—"

"I knew it!" Another voice called. "You owe me ten denarii!"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your tunic on."

The second legionnaire pulled off his helmet, revealing none other than Jason. By his side were the other six members of his scouting party. Save for Jason, none of them looked too pleased to see us. The son of Jupiter kept his expression painfully neutral.

"Didn't know we were having visitors," he finally said.

Dakota strode forward. "Yup. And don't get your toga in a bundle, we've cleared them. Anything to report on the situation downtown?"

While the two of them went over some mission details, I turned my attention back to Frank, who clenched his fists, but otherwise kept a calm demeanor while Annabeth explained Hazel's situation.

I half expected Piper to offer some input, but rather than calm down Frank, she appeared to need some calming of her own. Arms locked around herself, her eyes kept darting over to Jason. Not an ounce of longing or even disdain shone in her eyes. All that remained was anxiety.

"You okay?" I asked.

Before she could reply, Thalia lost her patience waiting for Jason and Dakota to exchange words. The daughter of Zeus marched right up to her brother and wrapped him up in a hug. Startled, Jason held back a laugh and hugged her back.

"I missed you to—"

CRACK!

The misty blue sky split. A streak of lightning arced down from nowhere and blasted Jason while Thalia held him in place. Neither of them were spared, but Jason most certainly took the worst of the hit. Cinder rushed to his friend's aid, triumphantly pecking at Jason's shoelace with his glowing red beak. Soot stained and grinning like a madwoman, Thalia let Jason go.

"That was for behaving a little too much like dad."

The surrounding legionnaires began to draw their weapons, but Dakota raised his hand to stop them.

"Hold it for a moment." He turned his attention to Jason. "This is your fight. We're not pulling in the whole legion for a personal issue."

"Yeah." Jason twitched, trying to dab out his smoking clothes. "I deserved that anyways."

Apparently, that's all it took to break Piper. Without a sound, she turned away and stiffly made her way to our reserved barracks.

With Khione still in my arms, I didn't reach the barracks until a little after Piper did. By that time, she planted herself firmly on a bunk and stared into the shimmering bronze blade of Katropis.

I laid Khione on the bed next to her, much to the snow goddess's dismay, and took a seat by Piper's side.

"Want to talk about it?"

The grimace on her lips tightened. "Not really." Her dagger trembled in her grip. "But I probably should."

"It's still bugging you. I can't know how that feels, but I doubt it'll stop anytime soon."

"I know." She sighed. "And it's not even that anymore. I'm over it. Just now, I…" She ran her fingers through her unkempt hair. "Look, I've been trying to hate him for what he did. I would make myself angry just by repeating what happened in my head over and over again."

She leaned against me, shoulders deflating. "But I'm tired. I can't keep it up anymore. Being so angry at him for so long, it's just ripping me apart. I've wanted to see him hurt almost since this whole thing started. But punching him off the pier, Thalia blasting him… Even jumping you to cuck him. None of it made me feel any better."

"All this to say you're done? Need your space and all? Because I can stay awa—"

"No! Fuck, no! That's not what I mean. It's just… Look, you've been my anchor since this whole thing started. Normally, I'd go to Annabeth for stuff like this, but that hasn't really been an option lately. But gods no, I need you to stay by me. I just need to get over this last hurdle."

Her hand slipped over mine and wrapped it in a vice. "What I'm trying to say is I want to move on. I may not ever forget what he did, but I can at least forgive him. Not for him, but for me. For my own peace of mind."

No sooner had she said that before a knock on the wall pulled our attention away. Standing at the entrance of the barracks, clad in her full legion armor, was none other than Gwen. The very same young woman who put on a show for us two weeks prior."Is it okay if I come in?"

Piper tensed for a moment, but relaxed her grip on me a moment later.

"What is it?"

Gwen let out a small breath and stepped in, removing her helmet. I hate to admit it, but I could see the appeal. While I'd argue Piper was by far more beautiful, Gwen was no slouch in the looks department either.

"I was hoping we could clear the air. Hopefully move past this. I guess you could call this just ripping off the band-aid."

"What's there to move past? It happened. It's done. Just a—"

"It's not just Jason's fault. Or… I guess fault is the wrong word. Responsibility, I think. He didn't do it to hurt you or anything. I came onto him, and I wasn't exactly delicate about it."

Piper tightened her grip on my hand, nails digging into my skin. "And?"

"It would probably help if you knew the whole picture. Jason and I were together… before all this started. We've been dating for a couple years, back when we were both centurions.

"I can't speak for what's happened between you since all this started. I don't know everything, and honestly, I don't want to. All I know is he had his memory of us stolen from him. So when all this fighting was over with, I went straight to him, tried explaining stuff. Tried helping him out with his memories of us."

"But he did get his memories back. He's had his memories back for months! How do you think we found this place to begin with?"

"Most of his memories, yes. But not all of them. His memories about us specifically were buried. It took awhile, but once we really got a chance to bond again, it's like something just unlocked and opened up. He recalled a date we had in the city, and I jumped him right then and there. Though I guess you saw how that ended."

"Bullshit," she snapped. "Why would he have a lock on his memories?"

"Actually…" I started. "That might actually be true."

Piper leaned back from me, confusion written on her face.

"I haven't put too much thought into it, but… I can't remember too much about my time with Annabeth after we started dating. A trip to Paris mostly. But according to her, we've done a lot together. I can't remember any of it."

Piper paled. "And because of the quest, then the harem drama, you two haven't really had a chance to… bond properly."

Gwen hunched her shoulders. "That sounds like what we went through. Kind of a sick move for whoever did that."

Pinching her nose, Piper huffed. "No, it's… It's the logic there. I guarantee my mother was behind that. Or even Hera. I don't know, honestly. But imagine if they did get their memories back completely. Not only did I have fake memories of dating Jason, but we actually started after our first quest. Imagine if his memories came back sometime during that, and he just drops that little bomb on us. 'Oh, by the way, I just remembered that I have a girlfriend.'

"And Percy, from what I heard, you were quite the ladies' man during your time here. Reyna, Kinzie, even heard a little something about a cloud nymph who seemed to like you. Imagine your memories came back and you just dropped that one on them. From the gods' perspective, your cover would be blown."

I snorted. "It already was. Every Lar and god here knew I was Greek the moment I stepped foot in the camp. And I still remembered Annabeth. Not all of the details, sure, but at least enough to guess she was important to me. Important enough to… you know… not offer myself to any interested girls."

She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know then. Maybe you two just had a deeper bond." She glanced over to Gwen. "No offense. But it's hard to compete with a power couple who have basically been attached at the hip for years and saved the world together more times than should be necessary."

Gwen sulked. "None taken. But you see my point though. Jason messed up. We both did. We should have brought this to you right away. But in the moment, we were both so—"

"Okay. Okay. Look, if that's what happened, fine. Doesn't matter anymore anyways. You two are happy together, and I'm happily getting my back blown out by this loveable stud."

She playfully bumped her shoulder into mine.

"So… we're okay then?" Gwen tightened her grip on the kilt of her armor. "Because I know it might be too much to ask if we could be friends or anything, but—"

"We're okay. It sounds more and more like the gods are screwing with us. Maybe they had good intentions and everything just backfired." She leaned forward and buried her face in her hand. "Look, I've been through too much crap lately to be mad anymore. I'm tired. So let's just bury the hatchet and call it a day. Sound good to you?"

Gwen practically beamed. Not bothering to warn us, she squealed and jumped forward and wrapped Piper up in a very sisterly hug. Sorority sister that is.

"I promise I won't try to make things awkward," Gwen said, unironically crushing Piper in a bear hug.

"Right," she gasped. "But you can let go now. I promise I won't run away."

Of all times for her to use charmspeak, that was perhaps one of the most bizarre. Despite that, Gwen pulled back, beaming at Piper.

"Perhaps my timing is not the greatest," another voice said, "but perhaps we could share a similar decision?"

Khione stirred from her bunk. Frost crept over the sheets, which bunched tightly between her fidgeting fingers.

"I'll admit I don't know what hatchet you are burying," she continued. "However, if we could start anew, perhaps we both could rest our minds."

Piper leaned away from her. "I tortured you."

Shoulders hunched, Khione darted a glace away. "And I tried to kill you. Perhaps we can call this even?"

"I'm not… I don't think… Even if we…"

"Were we both free of our circumstances, I doubt this suggestion would ever occur. But as it stands, we must live with one another eternally. Better we prefer opening our legs for one another than opening the others' throat."

Piper blanched. "Are you saying we should… sleep together?"

The frost crawled to the edge of the bedsheet.

"Perhaps. Given our history, it would not surprise me if our master pressed the matter, and ensured we have no further ill will towards one another."

Now I won't lie to you; a part of me was tempted. The idea hadn't really crossed my mind too much before that, but the possibilities. Piper's warmth and passion. Khione's chill and delicacy. Who could resist that kind of offer?

"That'll be your choice," I said. "I'm not going to force that on either of you."

Even Gwen had to do a few double takes. Not that I could blame her. This otherwise heartwarming time of forgiveness took a rather bizarre turn.

"Then perhaps we can make this work?" Khione dipped her head, locking her strangely innocent eyes with Piper's.

"I… I think… We should at least try. Maybe not sleeping together. Not yet at least. But maybe we can start over."

In an instant, the frost carpeting Khione's bunk vanished in a steamy display.

A small smile curled at my lip.

Maybe this little adventure will work out after all.

"This is definitely not going to work."

Thalia scanned the centurions' quarters, hands on her hips, and frowned.

All around us, most of the girls contented themselves with taking a bunk in the general area of the barracks. Annabeth, along with the rest of my mistresses, weren't too keen on the idea of going another night separated from me. Especially Calypso, who clung to my arm and pawed my chest.

"I don't care how small it is!" she pressed. "I'll sleep on top of him if I have to. Or he can sleep on top of me." She batted her eyes in my direction. "I certainly won't complain."

"That still leaves the rest of us out on our own." Annabeth said. "We can stuff another bed in here, but even if we push them all together, we could only fit three people in here."

"Look, I'll stay out here," Piper sighed. "As nice as it would be to get some time back after my night in cabin ten, I can at least tolerate the people here. And you won't hound me with questions."

Katie and Rachel snickered nearby, mulling over their lockers. Silena and Reyna offered an empathetic smile.

"If I may intrude," Zoë said, long since finished with setting up her bunk. "Thou sayeth only three can fit in either quarter, correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Perhaps we can let the handmaidens share the quarters. Six there are in total. Three to each room."

Annabeth pondered for a moment, then turned to me. "Your call. They're your handmaidens."

"And probably the most vulnerable people here," Thalia added. "The rooms would be an extra layer of security."

"Not to mention it would solve how all of us would sleep together," Piper said. "Just shove a couple bunks together out here, and we're golden."

"I have no problem with sharing you all." Calypso nuzzled my shoulder. "So long as the others don't grow envious."

Some of the others rolled their eyes, but most ignored the last comment.

"I think we're mostly past that phase," I said with a nervous chuckle. "But this is probably the best setup. Palírroia!"

The nymph in question practically skipped to me, bundled full of energy. "Yes, Master?"

"You and the others can have these rooms. Three each. You can decide among yourselves who gets which room."

She paused. "But should you not take a room for yourself?"

"No. This way, you all are safer." I brushed her hair behind her ear. "We can protect you more easily in case anyone tries to break in."

She leaned into my touch and gave me a short nod. "As you say, Master."

While she skipped away to tell the others, I turned to Zoë.

"Could you shift bunks? I'd rather have you as close to them as possible."

Her nod was sharp. Without a word, she left, gathered her belongings, and moved to the bunk nearest to the nymphs' rooms.

"So that's settled," Annabeth said cheerfully. She pulled out a sheet of paper, which seemed to list which bunk everyone had selected in the barracks. "Now to figure out which beds we can use."

"Oh, no!" Silena exclaimed from the far end of the barracks. "I may have forgiven you, but I won't forget about it that quickly. Last night we didn't have a choice, but I'm not sleeping by you again."

"It was just a pillow," Drew mumbled. "And there's nowhere else for me to sleep."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and Thalia shot me a sly smile.

"The work never ends."

Without another word, they marched over to the arguing sisters.

"I hope everything calms down when we find a home," Calypso mumbled into my chest. "The world is beautiful, but I could do without all of the fighting."

"Don't worry," Piper replied, ruffling Calypso's hair. "Not even Drew can find a way to piss everyone off forever. In the meantime, when's dinner? That trip didn't exactly come with an in-flight meal."

"Well, depending on whether they do war games or chariot races today, it could be in either an hour or three."

"Lovely," she sulked. "In that case… Rachel! Are you still up for some sightseeing?"

Ever wonder what sardines must feel like? Shoved into a cramped space, side by side? Honestly, that wasn't too far off from how dinner was.

Despite the rather spacious mess hall, everyone jammed themselves around two tables. Paranoia ran deep within the minds of the other girls. After our experiences over the past couple days, I couldn't blame them. Doesn't mean that getting sandwiched between two girls was enjoyable. Well…. It was… Just not in that way.

At least the seat was comfortable. And the food! I've been dying to have some high quality real barbecue! The girls around me all seemed to at least agree on that. If only we had some elbow room.

"This isn't what I had in mind when I said we should stick together," Annabeth sighed.

"Personally, I find this rather cozy," Calypso replied, leaning her head on my shoulder as best as she could. "What is that by the way? It looks sort of like a gyro."

"My burrito?" Thalia asked. "Why don't you give it a try?"

Her eyes flicked away. "Yes, please."

While the girls traded food, stories, and space, the rest of the twelfth legion eyed us warily. Some watched in awe. Others with bitter envy. Perhaps the occasional flicker of disgust.

So we sat for about ten minutes, eating our fill while the legionnaires lounged around in their armor. Some laughing. Some belching. Some talking in hushed whispers.

At about the fifteen minute mark, both Frank and Dakota marched to the front of the mess hall to address their troops and go over the basic nightly routine.

"Tonight is chariot races, so make sure you've made your selections and readied your horses. Also, no more gambling on victors. This is a training exercise, not a spectator sport."

A collective groan was let out by the legion. More and more reports were made, including Jason's public announcement about the current monsters roaming around San Francisco. But when the elephant in the room was to be addressed, I almost couldn't watch.

"So I'm sure you've all noticed our current guests." Dakota gestured to us. "Some of the greatest heroes and warriors alive today."

"And they'll be staying with us for a short while," Frank added. "There are certain tasks they've been assigned that require them to settle down here."

"Why not stay in the city?" a legionnaire asked.

"Because we don't let debaucherous sex fiends desecrate our streets!" a Lar shouted.

"Settle down," Frank commanded, but the room began to get louder than him.

"This isn't some mission! A mission requires maybe a handful of people. Not to mention they have a bunch of nymphs with them! What are they going to do?"

"So we're taking in refugees now? This is a military camp, not a charity!"

Frank continued trying to calm down the legion as they grew more and more agitated. Most didn't say much. Some just went back to eating their food. But the dissenters got louder and louder. Dakota, agitated as ever, downed the last of his flask of sugary kool-aid.

That's when Frank snapped.

In a blink, his body swelled. Golden scales pierced his skin. Shimmering wings sprouted from his back.

ROAR!

The legion went silent.

Frank shrunk back down from his draconic state and huffed.

"These people saved the world and this is how you treat them? They are where they are because of the Olympians. Most of you witnessed this yourselves! If you have an issue with this, you are more than welcome to complain to the gods who put them here."

No one said a word.

"That's what I thought. This isn't permanent. And for all of this, you've just earned yourselves an hour of drill after the races. Hope you don't mind losing out on your leisure time."

Once more, not a word. Though there were quite a few scowls from those who didn't do anything wrong.

The remainder of the meal died down to some muted chatter. Despite the less than warm environment, the rest of the girls in the harem relaxed by a bit. Though there were still quite a few on guard.

When dinner came to a close and the legionnaires filed out for the chariot races. Likewise, with the sudden vacancy, the majority of the girls rushed over to the bathhouse. Several, including the nymphs and Calypso, were dragged along by some overenthusiastic individuals. Namely Piper, Thalia, and Katie.

"Let's go!" Thalia pulled along a bewildered Calypso. "We all smell like horse and I don't want to deal with that all night."

That left Annabeth and myself behind the rest. I attempted to enjoy the moment to ourselves, but Frank approached us with a grimace.

"That could have gone better," he said.

"It's not your fault. We're in a bad situation. Still, thanks for trying, big guy." I clapped his shoulder.

"Right. None of the legionnaires should do anything. If they do, they're answering to me. Still… for the sake of keeping the peace…"

"Say no more," Annabeth said. "We figured this wouldn't last long anyways."

"So we're back to square one," I said. "You want to try Atlantis?"

"Not yet." She tried putting on a smile for Frank. "How long would you say we could stay?"

"You definitely have the barracks for tonight. There's no questioning that." He slice his hand through the air, as if cutting through any remaining doubt. "So long as you guys don't decide to have an orgy or something, tomorrow should be fine as well. I'll give you guys the time you need to get something sorted out. Just don't take too long."

I snorted. "Rushing into bad ideas is our strong suit. We'll probably be out of here before dinner tomorrow."

"Woah, woah. Hey. At least think it through a little bit." He wrapped his arm around me. "Besides, it's the least I can do." He hesitated. "So… I wanted to thank you. About Hazel. You know… giving her the time she needed. You may have just saved her from an eternity of slavery."

His brain caught up to his words, if his eyes widening were anything to go by. "Not to say you're acting like a slaver." He paled and turned to Annabeth. "Or that you're his… Ugh, I'm terrible at this."

Annabeth snickered. "Don't worry. You're not the first one to get tongue tied over this. Should have seen Percy the first few days. He spent the whole time saying 'I didn't want this! I didn't want this!'"

I leaned away from her. "I mean… I didn't. Still don't really. I'm just willing to accept the situation as it is now."

Smiling, she rolled her eyes. "Either way, don't worry. Hazel should be fine."

"Yeah," he said. "She is."

Both of us frowned.

"Um…"

"I tried one of those Iris messages. Reached out to her. Apparently her dad was keeping her sheltered in the Underworld for a bit. Helping her cope with everything that happened. She said she'd be back by tomorrow."

"That's great!" Annabeth exclaimed. "So are you two getting back together? You were so cute."

He scratched the back of his head. "I'm… not sure, to be honest. It didn't really come up. If she rejoins the legion, we really wouldn't be able to. Rank imbalances and all that. The only reason Jason and Gwen are actually together is because I made him a centurion of the fourth cohort. We kinda had a vacancy."

Awkward.

"Right… And if she doesn't rejoin?"

"Then I don't know. We haven't had much of a chance to discuss it. Maybe we could try again, but I'd like to think we'll still remain good friends at the very least."

The poor guy was getting depressed quickly. So we needed a fast change of topic.

"So I know you like to transform into animals you know well. And I've been meaning to ask about this. Where did this dragon transformation come from?"

He cracked a smile and began to regale me with the tale. During that time, we made our way back to the barracks, where he bid us farewell and rushed over to the hippodrome.

"It looks like we have some time to ourselves before the girls come back from the baths," Annabeth said. "What should we do with this time?"

"You don't want a bath? I already took one… or a few."

She curled her lips into a devious smirk. "What's one more? I scrub your back, you scrub mine?"

"Just your back?"

She shrugged. "Who's to say we don't slip at some point?"

I returned her smirk. Then I let out a soft breath. "Tempting. But honestly, I think we should talk. Something came up earlier today."

Her expression grew concerned. "About what?"

"My memory. It may not have all come back."

Eyes wide, she practically squawked. "What?! How?! What could have…? What don't you remember?"

"Honestly? Save for maybe our date in Paris, I don't remember much of any of our time together after we started dating. There's bits and pieces, but nothing I can put together."

"So… You don't remember when we… slept together for the first time?"

I shook my head.

She slumped, her eyes softening. "You know what, we can bathe later. The barracks are empty now, so I'll tell you all about it. Anything you want to know. Maybe we can try to recreate it."

Hand in hand, she pulled me to the barracks. Her steps were slow. Deliberate. Whatever she had planned, I was all for it. Though I doubted we'd recreate much of anything that night. More than anything else, I just wanted to remember.

A/N - Well, isn't this a sweet chapter? Forgiveness all around. Pfft. Right. All joking aside, there's still plenty to learn. Piper is officially past the breakup. Annabeth and Percy shall finally have some time to reconcile. And of course, the Romans are a bit split on accepting everyone.

Ya boy has found himself in some trying times, so please forgive any delays that may result from my irl struggles. I'll strive to keep on trekking along as I always have.

You could certainly help turn the day around by leaving your thoughts in the reviews or even the Discord server. P atreon is of course always an option as well, and is readily accessible through the server. Positive or negative, I read through everything you have to say.

I've got work in a bit, so I'll keep this short. Thank you all for your willingness to stick with me so far. I certainly hope you'll keep on doing so. This is Ronin signing off.