Of Greeks And Romans (Leo Valdez x Reader)

LXX

Percy

The feast of Fortuna had nothing to do with tuna, which was fine with Percy.

Campers, Amazons and Lares crowded the mess hall for a lavish dinner. Even the fauns were invited, since they'd helped out by bandaging the wounded after the battle. Wind nymphs zipped around the room, delivering orders of pizza, burgers, steaks, salads, Chinese food, and burritos, all flying at terminal velocity.

Despite the exhausting battle, everyone was in good spirits, except for the Amazons and Reyna. Reyna for grief over her lost sister, and the Amazons in worry of their new queen who was still passed out back in the medical tent. Casualties had been light, and the few campers who'd previously died and come back to life, like Gwen, hadn't been taken to the Underworld. Maybe Thanatos had turned a blind eye. Or maybe Pluto had given those folks a pass, like he had for Hazel and himself. Whatever the case, nobody complained.

As for the traitorous romans who fought against them in the battle, they were currently being held in the stables under watchful gaze until they could face their judgement. Percy was silently grateful Octavian wasn't here to be sulking. He always knew that guy was up to no good.

Colorful Amazon and Roman banners hung side-by-side from the rafters. The restored golden eagle stood proudly behind the praetor's table, and the walls were decorated with cornucopias—magical horns of plenty that spilled out recycling waterfalls of fruit, chocolate, and fresh-baked cookies.

The cohorts mingled freely with the Amazons, jumping from couch to couch as they pleased, and for once the soldiers of the Fifth were welcome everywhere. Percy changed seats so many times, he lost track of his dinner.

There was a lot of flirting and arm-wrestling—which seemed to be the same thing for the Amazons. At one point Percy was cornered by Kinzie, the Amazon who'd disarmed him in Seattle. He had to explain that he already had a girlfriend. Fortunately Kinzie took it well. She told him what had happened after they'd left Seattle—how Hylla had defeated her challenger Otrera in two consecutive duels to the death, but had lost her life herself in that last battle. So, as prophecies had been told for generations, Hylla gave elected a new queen, Y/n L/n.

"Otrera stayed dead the second time," Kinzie said, batting her eyes. "We have you to thank for that. If you ever need a new girlfriend...well, I think you'd look great in an iron collar and an orange jumpsuit."

Percy couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. He politely thanked her and changed seats.

Once everyone had eaten and the plates stopped flying, Reyna made a short speech. She formally welcomed the Amazons, thanking them for their help. Everybody applauded, even though she made a sad smile as she thought about her sister.

Reyna raised her hands for quiet. "I haven't always seen eye to eye with the Amazons. Especially not after my sister joined them. But they had an amazing queen that I'm sure will be cherished for generations. If it wasn't for her sacrifice, we wouldn't have won this battle with the Amazons at our side." Reyna lifted up a cup. "For Hylla."

The campers somberly raised their cups. "For Hylla," they repeated. Percy had met the queen briefly, but even he was sad to hear of her downfall. Once the silence dragged on for silent moments, she turned with a smile, trying to brighten to mood.

"Looking around this room, I think we both made good choices, regardless of where we ended up. Strangely, our destinies were made possible by the hero you all just raised to praetor on the battlefield—Percy Jackson."

More cheering. Reyna raised her glass to Percy and beckoned him forward.

Everybody asked for a speech, but Percy didn't know what to say. He protested that he really wasn't the best person for praetor, but the campers drowned him out with applause. Reyna took away his probatio neck plate. Dakota came up with a giant cup of Kool aid, his footsteps already stumbling. "Well, Octavian usually does this thing, but yada yada ya... Let's just skip to the good part."  He nodded at Percy, spilling a bit of his Kool aid on the ground as he grabbed Percy's arm and shouted: "Percy Jackson, son of Neptune, first year of service!"