𝐖𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐂! percy jackson

viii. Fear The Roman Senate

━━ chapter eight
fear the roman senate

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━Fiona felt better the next day, but she still wasn't at her best. She was tried and felt like her feet were dragging through water and sand every time she walked. She wondered how she was supposed to go on a quest like this, light-headed, scared that when she'd close her eyes, she'd go back to being dead ... Fiona wants her Mom, which was something she doesn't wish for much. She knows her mother will tell her to put her chin up and make sure her crown does not fall down, but she wanted the hugs she used to give her when she was little ... before Fiona had to grow up.

She spent her night in New Rome back home. It was a request granted by her centurions and Reyna. And Fiona's mother hugged her and cried, happy her daughter was still alive━which was very out of character, but Fiona relaxed in her hold and sobbed, whimpering her fear and the task her father wants her to complete.

Fiona met up with the others outside the Senate. Seeing Hazel, Frank and Percy, she gave a weak smile that was unlike her. But she was tired, still feeling like she was light-headed, and well, had come back from the dead.

Hazel hurried over and gave her a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I rose from the dead," replied Fiona

"So good?" Percy cracked a joke, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Something was on his mind, she could tell━like usual, it would seem.

Pulling away from Hazel, Fiona arched a brow. "So, how was your first time meeting Terminus?"

Frank winced, "Percy offended him by saying he has no hands."

"But he doesn't."

Fiona nodded, "Okay, so that's the third god you've disrespected ... is that a thing with you, or?"

Percy knitted his brows, "I ... think so ...?"

(He's cute when he furrows his brows like that, said the annoying voice. Shut up, answered back Fiona's common sense). She resisted the upwards tugs of her lips, "Come on, Barnacle Boy, the Roman Senate awaits."

The interior of the Senate House was a large room of a semicrcle of tiered seats facing a dias with a podium and two chairs. The chairs were empty, but one had a small velvet package on the seat. Fiona, Percy, Hazel and Frank sat on the left side of the semicircle. The ten senators and Nico occupied the rest of the front row. The upper rows were filled with several dozen ghosts and a few older veterans from the city, all in formal togas. Octavian stood in front with a knife and a Beanie Baby lion, just in case anyone needed to consult his stupid ass.

Beside Fiona, Percy leaned over and whispered, "Do people just always consult the god of cutesy collectibles?"

She had to hide her bark of laughter, which turned into a strangled cough. Percy looked happy he made her laugh, considering she was usually stone-faced and scowling.

Reyna walked to the podium and raised her hand for attention. "Right, this is an emergency meeting," she said. "We won't stand on formalities."

"I love formalities!" a ghost complained.

Reyna shot him a glare. "First of all," she said, "we're not here to vote on the quest itself. The quest has been issued by Mars Ultor, patron of Rome. We will obey his wishes. Nor are we here to debate the choice of Frank Zhang's companions."

"All four from the Fifth Cohort?" called out Hank from the Third. "That's not fair."

"And not smart," said the boy next to him━Larry. "We know the Fifth will mess up. They should take somebody good."