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CHAPTER NINETEEN xix. you're going to be the death of us _______
For most of the legion, the Feast of Fortuna was a very joyous occasion. A celebration of the good luck they believed to have earned. A victory triumph.
But there was a person who was obviously not in the mood for celebrating. Sebastian Rais sat in his usual chair, watching the campers, Amazons and Lares eat, talk and laugh amongst each other. He had to admit, it was nice to see the solidarity but he couldn't bring himself to enjoy it like everyone else.
The battle had been exhausting but casualties had been light and Thanatos had not reclaimed certain souls, like Gwen. Lucia was the only one who had died and Sebastian was the only person who really knew her so he was the only one who mourned.
He only started properly paying attention once everyone had eaten and the plates stopped flying. Reyna made a short speech, formally welcoming the Amazons, thanking them for their help. Then she hugged her sister and everybody applauded.
Reyna raised her hands for quiet. "My sister and I haven't always seen eye to eye-"
Hylla laughed. "That's an understatement."
"She joined the Amazons," Reyna continued. "I joined Camp Jupiter. But looking around this room, I think we both made good choices. Strangely, our destinies were made possible by the hero you all just raised to praetor on the battlefield - Percy Jackson."
More cheering. The sisters raised their glasses to Percy and beckoned him forward.
Everybody asked for a speech, but Percy didn't seem to 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. Octavian shot him a dirty look, then turned to the crowd and smiled like this was all his idea. He ripped open a teddy bear and pronounced good omens for the coming year - Fortuna would bless them! He passed his hand over Percy's arm and shouted: "Percy Jackson, son of Neptune, first year of service!"
The Roman symbols burned onto Percy's arm: a trident, SPQR, and a single stripe.
Octavian embraced him and whispered, "I hope it hurt."
Then Reyna gave him an eagle medal and purple cloak, symbols of the praetor. "You earned these, Percy."
Queen Hylla pounded him on the back. "And I've decided not to kill you."
"Um, thanks," Percy said.
After dinner, the entire legion got the night off. Percy, Hazel and Frank had gone down to the city, which wasn't quite recovered from the battle, but the fires were out, most of the debris had been swept up, and the citizens were determined to celebrate. They'd invited Sebastian but he'd just wanted to go home.
