The Glory That Is Rome (a Percy Jackson AU)

A New Normal

    Frank still couldn't believe that he had been chosen to be emperor of Rome. Who would have thought that a clumsy, awkward man who used to be part of the Praetorian Guard would one day rule Rome? Frank's mother had once told him that he could be anything, but he doubted even she would have suspected this would come to pass.
   
    Frank wished that somehow she knew that he was doing well. Though she had died years ago, Frank still missed his mother. Sometimes he imagined what life would be like with her in it. She would surely smile as Hazel did when their children took their first steps and laugh when they ended up falling. Yet Sammy and Bianca were not ones to give up; after each fall, they got back up and tried until they could walk surely on their own two feet. To Frank, seeing this was more precious than the honor of being Caesar.

      Being emperor was hard and Frank was glad to have Hazel as his empress. She kept him in line when he needed it and he trusted her instincts. Hazel's brother, Nico, was one of Frank's most trusted advisors and Will was the official court physician. When Hazel came down with a fever that Frank thought would surely kill her, Will had been the one to bring her back from the brink. Frank was forever indebted to Will. He feared losing another soul that he loved. The gods had given him much, but Hazel and his children were his only family now and he couldn't let the gods take them away.

      Frank has inherited an empire in crisis. The people were not happy with his appointment at first. They wanted Zeus back, but Frank knew that no such thing was going to happen. Frank had to make decisions of what to do with the former empress. One of Luke's slaves, named Travis, suggested that Annabeth and Percy be sent to Greece. Frank had agreed; he freed Percy, organized a wedding for the two, and sent them off to Athens where they lived in a modestly sized house.

    Frank also has to decide how Hera should be treated. In the end, he gifted her a villa outside of Rome and she was sent to live the rest of her life in secluded peace. It was better that way because with her in Rome, unpleasant feelings were stirred.

      Hazel chose Piper to be her ornatrix. Piper asked Annabeth's former ornatrix, Thalia, for help before Annabeth was sent away and the two soon realized that Jason and Thalia were siblings. Frank ordered Thalia to be freed from slavery as he had done for Piper and the two siblings were reunited.

    Frank didn't want to be an emperor who holed himself up in his palace and was disconnected with the people. After Frank named Gleeson as the head of the newly reinstated Praetorian Guard, he practiced weekly with his soldiers and body guards so that if anything were to befall Rome, he would be ready. After all, an empire as glorious as Rome could not last forever.