The Winds Of Heaven (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

45. Another Family

Y/N and Percy were drifting down to the city. They'd left Hazel and Frank by themselves a little earlier.

This place amazed Y/N. When he'd been there a few days ago, he hadn't stopped to think about it. There were demigods everywhere. Old demigods! Whole families of them, with some half-bloods there being only grandchildren or great-grandchildren to some god or goddess. He'd rather be at Camp Half-Blood than stay in that military camp on the other side of the valley, but the city was stunning.

Well, it wasn't quite recovered from the battle, but the fires were out, most of the debris had been swept up, and the people were determined to celebrate. They'd just had dinner, and all the Roman soldiers had been given leave for the night. Percy had been made praetor, and now he had a tattoo like Jason's on the forearm, with one stripe and the letters SPQR.

At the Pomerian Line, the statue Percy had used to smash Polybotes—Terminus, Y/N remembered—wore a paper party hat. "Welcome, praetor!" he said. "You need any giants' faces smashed while you're in town, just let me know."

"Thanks, Terminus," Percy said. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Yes, good. Your praetor's cape is an inch too low on the left. There—that's better. Where is my assistant? Julia!"

A little girl ran out from behind the pedestal. She was wearing a green dress, and her hair was in pigtails. When she smiled, Y/N saw that her front teeth were starting to come in. She held up a box full of party hats.

Percy tried to decline, but Julia gave them the big adoring eyes.

"Come on, Percy," Y/N said jokingly, "don't be cruel."

"Ah, sure," he said. "I'll take the blue crown."

She offered Y/N a gold pirate hat. "I'm gonna be Percy Jackson when I grow up," she told him solemnly.

Y/N smiled and ruffled her hair. "That's a good thing to be, Julia."

They put on their hats and continued to the forum, which was lit up with multicolored lanterns. The fountains glowed purple. The coffee shops were doing a brisk business, and street musicians filled the air with the sounds of guitar, lyre, panpipes, and armpit noises. (Y/N doubted it was an old Roman musical tradition.)

As they headed back to the military camp, he saw Mrs. O'Leary playing with Hannibal in the Field of Mars. Finally, she'd found a playmate she could roughhouse with. They frolicked around, slamming into each other, breaking fortifications, and generally having an excellent time.

At the fort gates, Y/N stopped and gazed across the valley, watching the eastern horizon.

Tomorrow, maybe the next day, his friends would arrive. Annabeth would be there. He didn't know how to feel about that. He'd done such terrible things, he felt so ashamed he wasn't sure he would be able to look her in the eye. But he would have to. He would make things right. Gaea and the giants weren't done causing trouble—not by a long shot—but he couldn't think solely about that. They would win, and that meant he also had to look at the future.

Reyna had given Percy the second praetor's house on the Via Principalis. It was nice, but it was also full of Jason's stuff.

"How is he?" Percy asked. "I mean, Jason."

Y/N scratched his chin. "Certainly better than I was in the past months," he said. "Don't worry, Percy. He won't be angry at you for taking his title. He knows he's been gone for too long. Actually, he thought that they'd already replaced him long ago. Better that you are praetor than someone else." He gave Percy a meaningful look and the both of them nodded. Better Percy than Octavian.