Rise of House Neptune

The Praetorian Guard

Chapter 19

To say the Senate took it quietly would be an interesting way of lying by omission. The first announcements were the rewards the Praetors were issuing to Percy, Bianca, and Jason for their roles in destroying the Sea Monster. This was met with applause, and cheers from members of the Senate. When the Praetors announced they would be swearing Percy in as Centurion Jackson there was some mumbling, but no open protests. Not many would have the courage to deny that Percy had earned his spot among the officers, and the fact that he was going to be leading his fathers gift, and creation to the legion was hardly going to lead to any public disputes.

When Percy announced that he wanted Reyna Ramirez-Arellano to be his optio silence greeted him. She had after all just been a probatio just a few days before, and she was only granted status as a legionnaire due to her bravery on the quest with Jason, but her being from the second cohort gathered a lot of support, and no one even attempted to veto. Bianca was shortly chosen to be Jason's new Optio, and suddenly some of the senators seemed to realize all of Percy's group of friends were now officers, or training to be one. There would be whispers about the plans of Percy and his friends later behind closed doors, but no one in the open challenged them.

Finally the announcement of the destruction of Neptune's old shrine with the immediate construction of a new Temple was met by much louder mumbles, but no open protests. The Augur himself seemed to shell shocked to protest. The only announcement that wasn't met with protests or mumbles was the party that would be held that evening in honor of Lord Neptune's new shrine, and the awards the three demigods have received.

After the oaths had been sworn, and the tattoos had been given the Senate was dismissed. Percy had been given thirty days to assemble his team, and present them to the senate as the Pegasi Corp. These assigned legionnaires would be pulled two days a week to train with Percy mastering the arts of the pegasi, and the other three days they would train with the legion as regular cohort members. It was easy to see this was quickly going to become a coveted position. Riding pegasi was certainly taxing, but compared to marching all day, and training with the legion it would be a much preferred form of military exercise.

The cousins had all discussed last night who was going to be Percy's Optio. His first pick was Bianca herself, but she wasn't that great on a pegasi, and admitted she didn't really care to ease a horse into her aura. As a daughter of Pluto she spooked most of the creatures, but Jason had told them that Reyna was a natural. She had bonded with one of the pegasi they had rescued with ease, and named him Scipio. Jason bonded with the girl, and vouched for her to Percy which was good enough for the son of Neptune.

This is what led to Percy sitting in his new office in the fifth cohort barracks. Apparently in the old days there were a lot more legionnaires. Each cohort had four centurions, and to this day the barracks were built up for this. This meant with just a little bit of dusting Percy had an office just like Jason's on the opposite side of the barracks. He was excited to make his office feel more homey, but it would have to do for his first meeting with his optio.

Reyna entered the fifth barracks, and eyes were following her immediately. It was very uncommon for other legionnaires to enter barracks that weren't their own, and even more uncommon for them to arrive in dresses. Her heels clicked as she marched over to her Centurions office, and shut the door to whispers behind her. Her black dress hugged her well, and she stood at attention, "Centurion Jackson."

Percy gave her a slight smile and motioned for her to take a seat. She had long tan legs, and Percy did his best not to look as she straightened her dress and took a seat across from him, "Should I expect you to come this dressed up to all our meetings?"