POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE LOST HERO - please do not read on if you haven't read The Lost Hero yet.

DISCLAIMER: I am sadly not Rick Riordan.

There will be some mild language in this but I think that's the only thing you should be aware of. If anything else comes up I'll let you know.

As much as I should not be starting another story with my current lack of time situation, I couldn't resist this little plot bunny, (well I say little…) I was very interested by the idea that the gods have the Greek version of themselves and the Roman version of themselves and can in effect switch between those two personalities. This sparked off this little fic (which I really hope you will enjoy).

This is set just after The Lost Hero. Zeus had reopened Olympus although he has banned any contact with demi-gods or mortals.

I skulked along the edges of the crowd, cursing my older brother. Apollo had gotten it into his head that he wanted to go to some music event at some college in Florida. This would have been fine but for reasons best known to himself he had decided that it was absolutely critical that I went with him. He told me that all I had been doing recently was sulking and that it would be good for me to get out. I denied this categorically - me, sulking? - and would have refused to go however he once again brought up the stupid cattle incident of my youth. After spending a full hour reminding me of how forgiving he had been I sullenly acquiesced, if only to shut him up.

So here I was, prowling morosely along the edges of the crowd wishing that the damn party would just be over with so I could go back to Olympus and sulk. I briefly contemplated starting a small fire so as to bring the party to an abrupt and welcome end. As I thought about the many merits of this idea Apollo came dancing over a ridiculously big grin on his face.

"Oh lighten up." he snapped when he saw my expression, "You know you're a lot more fun as Hermes." I sniffed disdainfully,

"Why don't you shout that a bit louder?" I replied crossly, "You may want to be sectioned but I don't."

"Relax! Most people here wouldn't understand the references and those who do are probably to drunk to think much of it." I shrugged. He was probably right but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Look we're not leaving until you've stopped sulking, so you may as well start enjoying yourself. So switch from Mercury to Hermes and cheer the hades up." I couldn't even be bothered to think up an even half-decent response and just stalked off. I looked back to see Apollo dancing with some anorexic blonde girl who was wearing too much make-up. I thought about just leaving - the pounding music was beginning to give me a headache - however I realised that I should probably stick around to make sure Apollo didn't do anything stupid such as shouting out the next weeks lottery numbers or telling people their destiny was to become a trash collector.

I sighed heavily, slumped against the wall and wondered exactly how serious Apollo had been about not leaving until I had fun. I toyed briefly with the idea of grabbing a drink and obeying Apollo's command to enjoy myself. The idea really didn't have much appeal. Nothing had had much appeal for a long time now.

I knew the other Olympians were getting fed up with me. They pointed out (rather viciously I thought) that sulking about my son's death wasn't exactly going to change anything and that he did die a hero. But for some reason the thought that he had died a hero didn't exactly cheer me up. He had still died. And he had died thinking I didn't care. I sighed again, letting myself sink lower into my self-loathing and misery. I have had many sons and daughters over the years who have despised me, yet none of them had gone to the extremes of joining forces with the titans to try and get back at me. None of them had hated me that much.

Luke had been my favourite. It's always dangerous to have favourites and this time was no exception. I wondered if he had known I would have changed his destiny in an instant if I could, would have done anything to make his path easier. I thought about the expression of intense hate in his eyes and surmised that no, he probably hadn't. A familiar knot began to twist in my stomach. I slid down the wall and sat on the floor, my arms resting on my knees and my head on my arms.

It hadn't been so bad immediately after Luke's death. I had been busy and so was able to brush my thoughts and feelings aside, filing them away with the vague promise to myself that I'd deal with them later. 'Later' came a little too quickly for my liking. Father dearest decided to shut down Olympus and I was left with a lot of time on my hands. At first the other Olympians thought I was sulking because was bored. And I was bored - but boredom was incredibly low down on my worries list. Since I had nothing to do, nothing with which to occupy my mind the guilt and the pain that Luke's death brought about was able to worm itself into my conscious mind. And I wasn't prepared for how much it hurt.

Before I could fall any lower into the pit of misery I had come to be all too familiar with I was knocked (literally) out of it by a red headed girl who flounced past, almost tripping over me. She yelled 'sorry' over her shoulder but she didn't look very sorry. There was something about her expression that interested me - it was an expression that I recognised, an expression that I myself had - on occasion, of course - worn. She was up to something. Without really thinking I got up and followed her.

I was interested to find out, when I was researching the personalities of the Greek gods' Roman counterparts, that my one of favourite gods Hermes was not the god of thieves in Roman Mythology but simply the god of messengers. I imagine Mercury as being much more serious (and - in my opinion - much more dull) than Hermes. This is why Apollo tells Mercury to switch to Hermes when he is trying to encourage Mercury/Hermes to have some fun.

Thank you so much for reading and I would really appreciate it if you could review to tell me if you liked it or if there's anything I could improve on.