The Rogue Emperor (A Riordanverse Story)

Chapter 1: Frank Has Quest Problems

Frank should have known that he had a big problem on his hands weeks ago. He should have known that the situation was bad when he reached out to the Hunters of Diana for help and then never heard anything after they'd left. He should have known a long time ago that things were escalating, but it wasn't until Reyna, his former co-praetor, stood in front of him that it really set in that dangerous things were just around the corner.

After the whole issue with the Triumvirate, the Senate of New Rome decided it was best to check out if there were any other emperors that had been accidentally made into gods that could potentially stir up trouble on their way to world domination. Frank didn't think that there'd be any more out there, but then again, no one in New Rome knew of the existence of the emperors of the Triumvirate and they were Romans.

A prophecy had been issued thanks to the hard work that Tyson and Ella had done recreating the Sibylline books. It was decided that the team should be led by a praetor, so that they'd have the best chance at success. Frank had initially wanted to be the one to head the quest since he was the senior praetor between the two of them. Hazel had given him a lot of push back; she didn't seem to think that Frank's ability to transform into any animal that he could imagine was necessary in this situation.

Eventually, Frank had given in to Hazel's insistence that she be the one to go. She had always been more persuasive, even if she did sound like an old-timey movie from time to time. The fact that he'd burned Caligula to death also may not win him any points with the emperors that are still kicking and sympathetic to the Triumvirate's cause. For his safety, it was best that Hazel went in his place.

The problem was, Frank hadn't heard anything from Hazel in weeks. She, Leila, and Pranjal had left two months ago without much issue. The team had been able to hunt down and neutralize Domitian (1) in about a week. While they'd hit a fair share of dead ends, they always sounded positive as they continued, regularly sending Iris messages to let everyone in New Rome that they were safe.

That was until about five weeks ago.

No messages, no eagles, no contact from the quest members to anyone in New Rome. Naturally, Frank began to worry about three days after Hazel had missed her normal check in according to the schedule they had made. He immediately petitioned the Senate to take action, but they wanted to give them time.

"Maybe they have a bad connection."

"Maybe they're hot on a trail and don't have time to chat."

After two weeks on trying to contact them without any response, the Senate had finally taken action.

In an effort to not expend the Legion's dwindled numbers after the battle with the Triumvirate, the Hunters of Diana had been asked to aid in the search and rescue of their quest team. It was ideal as they were excellent trackers and they didn't need a formal quest to go out looking for the missing legionnaires. Perhaps they should have been sent initially if it were that easy for them.

Except it wasn't.

Armed with the last bit of knowledge New Rome had about the quest's whereabouts, Thalia Grace led a small team of Hunters to Palm Springs to hunt for clues and try to get a lead from the formal imperial children of Nero's household. The last they'd heard from the Hunters was pushing three weeks ago and Lu said they'd hadn't seen them since they left for Montana around that same time.

Reyna had arrived in New Rome alone, worried for her sisters. She told Frank that she'd been given a temporary leave, but given what they were hunting something big at the moment, no more Hunters could join until their mission was done. Diana couldn't sense her missing huntresses, though she had faith in her girls to persevere.