#but there was no way of him knowing what was going on octavian's mind | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

missadangel · 5 months ago

Text

The Heart of Rome (Marcus Acacius x OC)

All Chapters List

III. The Intention

"Veritas Odit Moras"

Truth Hates Delay.

"Septimia Aurelia, do you know how much I have searched for you, my lady?"

You regarded him with surprise and were rendered speechless.

The man carefully looked around and then grabbed your wrist to move you to a more secluded spot against the wall. "You've got a lot of attention, dressing like this, it's pretty clear who you are. When did you get here? You've read the letter? Have you told anyone about it? I hope you haven’t."

Your heart was racing, your ears were ringing, and the man's voice sounded distant.

"May I ask who you are, sir?"

How is it possible that you knew nothing while he knew so much more than you?

“I’m Macrinus, my lady. You might not remember me; you were too young. I’m the one who took you to Vicius.”

Vicius was your uncle's real name, the one your father had mentioned in the letter.

“I went to Egypt to find you as your father ordered. However, Vicius was reluctant; I’m not blaming him, but—” he glanced over your shoulder as if he was looking for something behind you."How did you return to Rome? Where is he now?"

You tried to understand what he said, but it was very difficult, too much for one day.

"He has passed away, and I was brought here as a captive," you said in a low voice, your eyes bright with tears as you recalled him once more—especially in this way—stung you anew.

He touched your shoulder. "It seems that your return was unfortunate. You must have opened the letter. You didn’t lose it, did you?"

You dabbed at your eyes with the tips of your fingers, wiping away the tears. "It doesn't matter now, sir. I was brought here as a slave."

“What slave? You are the daughter of a divine emperor. Who purchased you? Who is your master?”

You remained expressionless and refused to give him the General's name. You knew it might put him in a difficult position and you had no intention of trusting him."Sir, I am a slave, and I must live as one."

"You can't be serious, please. This is your birthright, and you must demand what you deserve."

"How?"

"I will present it to the Senate, and it is likely to receive their support. However, I must first weaken Geta," he stated firmly and decisively.

“But-."

"I have to go now before they get suspicious. I will help you. I’ve promised your father."

“Sir I-"

"I have a lot to tell you. Trust me and wait," he said, striding across the temple..

This man claimed to be a friend of your father's, but you were uncertain whether to trust him. The situation was a significant source of distress for you, both mentally and physically. You felt a sense of nausea, pressing your hand and then your arm against the wall in an attempt to regain your composure. You closed your eyes and pressed your forehead to your arm, attempting to gain control of your thoughts. At that moment, you heard a voice you recognized calling out to you.

"My Lady!" Octavius hurried over to your side, looking concerned.

When you opened your eyes, you saw his sandals first because you were glancing down to ground, you then lifted your head up.

“Are you well? Did someone hurt you?” He looked around angrily, ready to draw his sword. You put out your hand and stopped him.

“Calm down, sir. I'm fine."

Octavian pulled his hand away, taken aback by your touch. “I've been looking for you everywhere. The general sent me to find you, he was worried.”

You brushed a few strands of hair from your face with the back of your hand. "I'm sorry, I got a little nervous in the crowd and pulled away."

"Yes, it was unexpected for everyone. The emperors were in a hurry to get to the games, so they cut the ceremony short. I couldn't get you to the carriage in time. Forgive me."

"You still treat me like a lady, sir," you teased him.

He smiled. "If you don't mind, I'd like to keep it up. Shall we? The games are about to begin."

He gestured to the waiting carriage in the distance.

You were mesmerised by the splendour of this building, sitting in the part of the Colosseum intended for slaves and others. From your vantage point, you surveyed the area where the emperors and the General were seated, though they were not clearly visible from your distance. However, when they stood and advanced to deliver their opening speeches, you could see them more distinctly in their white shawls.

Caracalla and Geta raised their hands and greeted the crowd, while they chanted their names repeatedly loudly.

"People of Rome! Today, we gather to honor the glorious, greatest General Marcus Acacius.”

Applause and voices rose as Geta extended his hand to the General, you were filled with excitement. He took his hand, came forward and raised his hand. He looked up at the top bleachers and searched the crowd, his eyes determined to find you, but it was hard from such a distance.

Caracalla grasped the General's other hand. He was between them, the crowd now chanting all three of their names.

"Are you ready to see these magnificent, mind-blowing games to celebrate his extraordinary achievements?”

When the crowd responded enthusiastically in the affirmative, Geta and Caracalla shouted excitedly at the same time.

“Then let the games begiiiiiiiiiiiin!”

The thick iron gates of the arena rumbled open and two chariots thundered in, their arrival accompanied by the roar of trumpets and the beating of drums. They circled round the arena and stopped in front of the general and the emperors. While the emperors applauded them enthusiastically, the soldiers in charge ordered them to step aside and the chariots moved forward, their warriors saluting the crowd.

“Now, Gladiatoooooors!” Geta shouted and pointed to the other door. The crowd continued to cheer louder when they saw the iron-armored warriors coming out one by one. Every step was a sharp noise, echoing through the arena. The gladiators, seven in number, turned to the emperors and saluted them.

“Ave Imperatores, morituri te salutant!” Hail Emperors, those who are about to die salute you!

Caracalla looked at the General, smiling widely.

“Today, the speech is yours, General Acacius!” he shouted and clasped his hand, and sat on his throne.

"Spur them on, you're the expert, I want to see some blood,” Geta said to the general with a wink and sat on his throne, legs crossed, clapping. From a distance, you couldn't hear them or see his face clearly, but you were certain the General was not pleased. As the General raised his arms in the air, the crowd fell silent, and the shouting died down, allowing you to rest your ears a little.

“As a soldier, I can tell you this: When you engage in combat, it is important to maintain a positive mindset and avoid thoughts of defeat. You must only think about winning! However, winning is not easy, not just about killing your enemy or defeating him. Absolutely not. Winning is about being remembered with honor, like a hero, even if you die in the end! A true soldier most likely, is not afraid of death. Neither is a true gladiator! He embraces it, caresses it, and even defies it! Today, we want to see a real gladiator who can kill death itself! Prove you can achieve it and make your emperors proud! Fight with honor and win the crowd!”

The general's speech was a roaring success, prompting a rapturous response from the assembled crowd. The drums beat again, and the gladiators raised their swords in salute to the general and gathered together in a defensive position.

He was the real deal: a genuine commander and warrior. He made your heart beat fast and you admired him.

As the battle between gladiators and other warriors commenced, you began to feel a certain degree of apprehension. You had seen blood and wounded people before, of course, but this was not the point. The point was that these warriors, whose bodies were being ruthlessly cut and torn apart, were being watched with enthusiasm and laughter by the crowd. You were grateful for the top stand, thankful that you were watching from there. You knew you wouldn't have been able to bear to see such an atrocity up close.

The warriors in the chariot had lost all their horses, also torn apart mercilessly, they jumped down and attacked the gladiators with their spears, killing, and butchering a few in the process. Only two gladiators and three warriors remained. They all had cuts on exposed parts of their bodies and blood oozing from their injured areas, but they were completely focused on survival and didn't have time to care. The dusty floor of the Colosseum was stained red, and the smell of blood wafted around in clouds of dust, like the smell of red-hot iron. The gladiators roared their triumph as they slew the last of the warriors, and their voices echoed throughout the Colosseum. The sounds of drumbeats, applause, whistles, cheers, curses, and laughter filled the air.

The emperors rose to their feet and expressed their approval and support for the gladiators through applause and cheers. Once their orations had concluded, the gladiators proceeded through the reopened iron gates, whereupon the drumming ceased. The sole remaining auditory stimulus was the noise of the crowd. The general and emperors were no longer visible, so you decided to leave, as the noise was already causing a headache.

Your legs were aching as you descended the steps, but it was just as hard to get down as it was to get up. After all, you had watched from the top and it was quite high. You had never been up to such a high building before and you were certain that you would never go up again.

When you reached the ground floor, you looked around, but there was no one you recognized. Senators and other dignitaries were leaving the Coliseum one by one, talking among themselves about the evening banquet. You weren't sure that the General would take you there. He was nowhere to be seen, but you kept looking for him. When you took a few steps in the opposite direction to where the people were coming from, you were frightened that you might meet your brothers. When you saw a white shawl his wearing, you approached the General, who was talking to one of the senators. He turned his head and saw you. But you noticed the emperors were walking towards you from another direction. You reeled back in shock and turned on your heel. You were never prepared to see them so close. You strode through the exit and headed for the stairs. Since already climbed and descended quite a few stairs today your feet were no longer firmly planted on the ground. As you quickly went down, you suddenly lost your balance and found yourself on the ground. You shivered when you felt the cold stones against your skin and scowled at the women nearby who were laughing at you as you tried to figure out what had happened. You sat down on the marble stairs, heard his voice and footsteps hurrying down behind you, and soon felt the breeze from his shawl caress your back."Aya!" The General reached out, grasped your hand gently, and lifted you up.

"Are you alright?" He checked your feet and then your face, clearly concerned.

“Ah, as always, our General is a gentleman, isn't he, brother?”

Your heart nearly leaped out of your chest when you heard Caracalla's voice so close. They must have seen the General holding your hand so you immediately withdrew them from the General's and stepped back, bowing your head. However, they were already descending the stairs slowly, their gaze fixed on you.

“Indeed, aren’t you going to introduce us to this beautiful lady, General Acacius?” Geta asked curiously. From where he stood, he looked taller than the general.

“Is she your secret lover or something?” Caracalla chuckled, tilting his head to see your face clearly.

“My emperors, the carriage has arrived,” you could have sworn you'd heard that voice before. When you looked at her, the Empress Julia Domna stared at you raising her eyebrows and came a little closer. You averted your eyes, the feeling that you had seen this woman before took over your whole body and made you even more nervous than your brothers did.

“We just met the General's lover, Mother,” Caracalla laughed.

“Lover?” She sized you up and gave you a stunned look.

“My slave highness,” the General corrected him. You immediately bowed your head and greeted them formally.

“A slave? How fortunate you are, I have never seen such a beautiful slave,” Geta said, his eyes wide, and you felt him tense as the General's body moved slightly in front of yours. You felt grateful as you hid yourself behind his shawl.

“She reminded me of the Germans, remember?" he chuckled and covered his mouth.

Geta accompanied his laughter and punched him jokingly in the shoulder. Then he looked at you again. “Restrain yourself, brother, this is something completely different, you know what I mean?"

Caracalla huffed, “Tempting!"

You had no idea what they were talking about, and despite your best efforts to keep your eyes off Julia, she was always looking at you.

“Bring her to the banquet,” Caracalla said excitedly, clasping his hands together.

“But Highness, you know, women are not allowed there,” Julia said loudly.

“The Empress is right, only senators and patricians, just like any other banquets,” the General said with a sharp tone.

“How boring, I'd like her to serve me, pour me some wine, so I'd see a pretty face instead of those ugly blokes' faces all night.” Caracalla pursed his lips.

Geta sighed at his reaction and put his palm in his foreground. “You’re still a child brother, if you want a girl to get laid, I'll get you one after the banquet,” he turned his head to general. “Spending the night with another Roman's slave would be a bit of theft,” he said with a grin that showed all of his teeth at the General.

The General clenched his jaw and looked at him menacingly. You felt shivers run down your spine. Domna looked at them with concern and tried to ease the atmosphere by clapping her hands. “That's enough gentlemen, I'm famished, watching the games made me real hungry,” she took Geta's arm “Shall we?” She must have been pretty familiar with this kind of situation.

Geta turned to General one last time, ”We wanted to send you a new slave as a gift, tonight,” his eyes searching you up and down.

"That is very kind of you, but I must refuse,” the General said in a firm tone.

He inhaled deeply, "It's not hard to guess why," he smiled crookedly.

“Then I want it for myself, as you promised,” Caracalla whined, taking Geta's other arm.

“Share with me?”

“You just said it's a theft.”

“Cruel.”

They kept up their debate while they walked towards the waiting carriage. It seemed like the tension was slowly easing.

Once they were in their carriage and out of sight, the general turned to you with a look of frustrated annoyance on his face. Meeting your brothers for the first time was awkward, but it was clear that they had always been like that, and everyone, including their mother, accepted it as normal.

“Are they always like this?”

“Worse.”

“They're like spoiled little children,” you snapped.

He let out a little laugh, putting a hand to his mouth, which surprised you. You thought he'd scold you for criticizing the emperors in his presence. But he didn’t, also, his smile was so beautiful that you couldn't help but smile back.

“Have you seen the games? What do you think?” The General asked you curiously.

“Well a bit, bloody.”

He smirked. “But you're used to seeing blood,” he looked around as if he was waiting for something.

“Yes, but I don't like it when people cut each other mercilessly,” you said in a stubborn tone.

“It's called survival.”

“The game of survival,” you murmured. “I don't know, it doesn't feel right,” you said honestly.

“I'm a warrior too you know, I've fought there countless times,” he said with a proud smile on his face.

You looked at him in surprise, of course, you had expected it, but you shuddered when you imagined him there, fighting for his survival. Soon a carriage pulled up beside you both, he touched your shoulder.

"You'd better go to the villa now. They're expecting me at the banquet," he said.

“I want to say thank you, for bringing me here today,” you said softly as he helped you into the carriage.

“The pleasure is mine," he said gently, his eyes meeting yours made you smile undoubtedly.

He then gestured to the coachman and the horses began to move, pulling the carriage forward.

As the carriage carried you away from the General, you continued to observe him from beneath the curtain until his silhouette in white receded from your view.

The next morning, you opened your eyes and smiled when you heard the rooster crowing cheerfully. You sat up with a yawn, you saw that Norell was already up her mattress was empty, clearly started the day before you. You looked out the window while your mind returned to the events of the previous day. You thought about the ceremony, the games, the gladiators, the blood, your first sight of your arrogant and strange brothers, and that brown-skinned man, Macrinus. And of course, the General. When he stood with that golden crown on his head… You smiled to yourself, remembering him, and suddenly your cheeks flushed. You were surprised every time because you had never experienced such feelings in your body before. It was all so new to you.

On the other hand, you couldn't stop thinking about what Macrinus had said. You were sure he was planning something. It was hard to know if it would be right to tell the General everything, how he would react, who he would side with. Then you remembered the letter, and your body stiffened almost like a statue of Venus. It had completely slipped your mind that you had left it in his room. He didn't have a chance to touch his stuff yesterday because he arrived late at the villa, but he would definitely touch it eventually. You quickly tidied yourself and your hair and walked out of your room. As you stood there by the stairs leading up to the General's room, wondering what to do, Norell came up to you, carrying a tray with food on it.

“Are you taking this to the General?”

“Yes, he must be awake by now.”

“I'll take it to him,” you said and took the tray from her.

“Are you sure? The Master has warned us not to let you do too much work.”

“I'll talk to him, don't worry, I need to check his wound anyway,” you said smiling at her.

“Well, I was afraid of dropping the tray,” she gasped.

“What's wrong?” you put the tray on a nearby chair and went over to her, she was pressing her hand to her stomach.

“Well, it’s my moon,” she smiled at you, her freckled cheeks flushed.

“Oh, do you want me to give you an herbal mixture for the pain?”

“Would that help?”

“It works for me.”

You strode into the room and picked up your leather bag, looking through the few remaining bottles of medicine. You were running low on supplies. When you returned to her side, Norell was sitting in a chair, pressing her hands to her stomach.

You poured some of the medicine from the bottle into a bowl on the tray and crushed it, then poured a little wine into a cup, also from the tray, and diluted the mixture.

"That was the master's cup," Norell declared.

"I'll get a new one from the kitchen, drink this, and I'll be right back."

You had to cross to the other courtyard to get to the kitchen, where you had last entered the balneum. You felt your cheeks flush as you remembered the last time you were there with the General there. You returned to the main courtyard with a new cup, put it on the tray, and looked at Norell, who was grimacing as she drank the herbal concoction you had given her.

"This tastes awful," she complained.

"That's why you should drink it all, dear,” you smiled at her.

Then you picked up the tray and ascended the stairs, one by one. You stopped in front of the General's room, propped the tray up with one hand, and knocked on the door with the other. You opened the door and entered. He was sitting at his desk, looking at papers. He seemed busy. You saw the calamus pen and papers in his hand and knew you had to make a plan to get the letter before he found it.

When he looked up and saw you, he raised his eyebrows. "Have you decided to be my slave now?"

"Well, Norell is not feeling well. I'm helping her, at least for today." You put the tray down on the table and turned towards him, your gaze fixed on the wooden chest next to him.

"What's wrong? Is she alright?"

"It's a woman's issue that happens every month," you explained.

"Oh, I see," he murmured and returned to his papers.

“May I take a look at your wound? As your medicus, of course.”

"So you will appear to be both my slave and medicus today.” He put the pen on the desk, took the paper in his hand, folded it, stuffed it into the envelope, and sealed with pressing his own seal on the wax.

"I guess I am, for today," your eyes were still on the chest, wondering how to get the letter without him noticing.

His lips curled into a smile. "I feel blessed.”

Acacius stood, wearing a dark purple tunic with gold embroidery on the sleeves and collar. He walked over to his bed and sat on the edge of it, looking at you. You moved closer to him and had to bend down to check on his wound. Looking at him out of the corner of your eye, you put your bag on the bed, a bit away from him who had rolled up his tunic.

As you stood in front of him and leaned over him, he was surprised to feel the light breeze of your hair hit his face. He leaned back a little, but it gave him a better view of your breasts, he swallowed hard making him stunned. Then he turned his head away, even though it was so difficult for him, but he waited patiently. You were no different from him as you checked his wound, oblivious to everything, touching his skin made you tense every time.

The General's wound was almost healed but you noticed a rash around the cut.

“Do you have any itching or pain, sir?”

“Itching, yes, a little, pain, no.”

There’s pain, thought Acacius, but it's not where my wound is, deep in my chest.

He turned his head towards you again and looked into your beautiful eyes shining like a gem under your long eyelashes, he embraced his pain meanwhile. But it wasn't just it. The general was experiencing a whole range of sensations he hadn't felt in a long time, and it was unlike anything he'd ever fully experienced with a woman. You unintentionally revived memories of his naive and callow youth, but he appeared to find it amusing.

“I need to make an ointment for that-“

But just as you straightened up to reach for your bag, you felt pressure and pain in your neck. Looking down, you realize that the chains of the necklace you were wearing were caught in the trimmings on the collar of the general's tunic, stuck in its threads.

He was taken aback, but perhaps not as much as you were. The expression on your face, as you tried to pull your neck backward in utter shock, made him giggle. Unfortunately, you found it difficult to remain calm and the first thing that came to your mind was to unlock the necklace. So when you reached your hands back behind your neck, you lost your balance and fell on top of him. The General was a trained soldier, with well-developed arm and back muscles and a body that could easily carry such a light load in that position. All in all, he was a man so when you fell and your breasts hit his muscular chest, feeling them beneath the thin fabric, made him fall backward onto the bed.

You gasped as you found yourself in this awkward situation without even realizing how it had happened. With a quick move, you put one hand on the bed to sit up and realized that the other was on the general's chest, you withdrew it and looked at his face to check his reaction. The general looked back at you, his dark brown eyes locked on yours, but you were blinking your eyes in surprise. You frantically tried to stand up, but your necklace, as if mocking you, wouldn't let you. He grabbed your shoulders and stopped you as you struggled over his body. You were making it difficult for him to remain calm with your movements, and he was starting to lose his patience.

“Easy, would you?” He growled. His hands reached behind your neck and he murmured as he unlocked the necklace. "Stay still. I can't restrain myself if you keep moving like this.”

Your face flushed like a crimson hue as you realized what he was talking about, gasped as you felt between your legs, beneath the fabric, a part of his body pressing against your womanhood.

“You really don't know how to behave around a man, you are so careless,” he chastised you.

Once your neck was free from the damn necklace, you stood up quickly, feeling a slight soreness in your neck.

“I've spent more time around men than you think, sir,” you mumbled, rubbing the back of your neck with your hand.

As he removed your necklace from the collar of his tunic, a few threads of the fabric snapped with it. “But you were dressing like them, they didn't know you were a woman,” he corrected you. ‘You have to be careful from now on, especially when you're dressed like this.’

"Forgive me, sir," you said, feeling a little embarrassed to look him in the face.

"Your face is as red as wine," he chuckled, sitting up in bed.

You bit your lower lip and pursed your lips, then went over to your bag and picked it up to make the ointment. The medicine bottles rattled as they came out of the bag, and the general looked at them curiously. "You've been carrying these in your bag all this time?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," you replied, uncapping the green bottle, shaking it, and pouring a few drops into the empty bowl on the tray. As you stirred and softened the ointment with your index finger you murmured, “I made all this myself, but it’s almost ran out.’

“Impressive.”

Once the ointment was ready to be applied, you took the bowl in your other hand and approached the general.

“Sir, I need to apply this ointment to the wound.”

“Careful and don't throw yourself on me this time,” he giggled as he grabbed the hem of his tunic and pulled it up once more.

You swallowed and cleared your throat, trying to stay calm, dipped the tip of your finger into the bowl, took some and applied it to the wound.

"You're making the same mistake again," he teased.

You frowned, not quite understanding what he was saying. You were sure you applied the ointment well, but looks like this was not the issue. When you looked at him, you caught him staring at your breasts. He grabbed your wrist and pulled you to him, his eyes meeting yours. His brown eyes were warm and intense, making your heart melt.

"Never bend over another man like that," he whispers.

As his warm breath brushed against your cheek, your heartbeat quickened. "I-I won't," you stammered.

He released your wrist, and you stepped back and put the bowl on the desk. “It needs to be applied at night too, I think you can handle it,” you said with your back turned. You glanced at the wooden chest out of the corner of your eye. It seemed like you wouldn't have a chance to get the letter, at least not while he was still in his room.

“Yes, I'm grateful,” said the general, standing up and coming over to you taking the bowl and sniffing it.

"The aroma is pleasing; what is this?"

You smiled at him. “Asphodeloideae (aloe vera), sir, it does indeed have a pleasing aroma. It has been demonstrated to accelerate the healing of burns and itching wounds. But I'm afraid it's about to run out, so just use it until it's finished.”

Acacius perched himself on the edge of this desk, looking at you. “Carrying all these bottles in your bag might be a little difficult. Besides, you say you're out of supplies, I will be traveling to the city and subsequently to the barracks tomorrow, would you like to come with me?”

“To the barracks?”

“Absolutely not,” his voice was loud and sharp. “I meant to say, I shall convey you to the city in my carriage, and return for you when I have finished my business.”

Pleased by his offer, “Sir, that would be great, thank you.”

He smiled softly at you and walked over to the table to eat the food you had brought for him. As you grabbed your bag and headed for the door to leave the room, he stopped you by extending his hand.

“Won't you join me?”

You turned your head to him. He pointed to the chair opposite him with his hand. “Have a seat, I need to make sure my medicus has eaten something.”

You smiled, did as he said, putting your bag down. Acacius picked up the wine cup, you reached for the decanter before him.

“Allow me, please.”

He smiled gratefully as you poured the wine from the decanter into his cup.

“You are getting better and better at being a slave, you are willing to fulfill all my needs. Except one.”

You almost spilled all the wine when you met his piercing eyes. You slowly placed the decanter on the tray. While you were calculating what to say, he put his hand on yours which holds the handle of the decanter.

"Don't you have any feelings for me?” He was looking at you from under his eyebrows, eagerly waiting for your answer.

His gaze shifted from your lips to your eyes, you lingered looking into his eyes, even if you said what you felt now, it was very difficult to predict what would happen next. You wondered if he would love you for who you really were.

“It's all so new to me also very hard to say anything for sure. But…"

“But?”

You were trying to think rationally under the influence of his gaze, but you were failing.

“I feel happy when I'm with you, and… I miss you when you're not around,” you admitted, feeling your cheeks burning.

“At least there's a silver lining.” Acacius smiled widely, lifted your hand, and placed a kiss on it.

It was an ordinary day in the streets of Rome, blessed by clear sky and sunshine. The sounds of birdsong were interspersed with those of the rooster. Some people wandered the streets on foot, chatting to each other, while others mounted horses and rode along the stone paths at a pace that caused the hooves of the horses to clatter against the buildings with a distinct echoing sound. The sound of a nearby blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil could be heard in the distance, accompanied by the voices of merchants trying to attract customers to their businesses and draw attention to the goods they were offering for sale. Women often inspected the exhibits before making a purchase and then had their slaves carry them home. Since the clothing and accessories worn by each group reflected their status, it was relatively easy to distinguish between social classes.

You and Norell were walking around the streets in your slave clothes and cloaks to buy something just like other Romans. You still couldn't get used to these clothes. When men and women stared at you, wished you were invisible, as you used to be.

You entered the market street and noticed the large crowd gathered in front of the stalls. There were pots, vegetables, fruits, fabrics, fish, butchers, and plants. The plants, herbs, and flowers on the stalls were very varied and fresh. Once you had purchased what you needed and placed it in your bags, you walked down the street once more, recounting to Norell the events of the previous day and your observations at the Colosseum, as she had requested.

"You know he's in love with you, right?" Norell looked at you suggestively through her yellowish eyelashes.

"Are you talking about the General?

“Is there someone else?" she teased, then inhaled deeply. "I wouldn't be surprised, you're quite attractive."

“Oh, Norell, please," you whined.

“I know you love him too, why are you avoiding my question?"

You smiled shyly, “I’m not sure what I feel. How can you be so sure of his feelings anyway?”

You both waited for a carriage to pass in front of you before crossing the street.

“Because I've known him since I was young and I've never seen the General like this before. Even Tullia is worried, she's angry with you, you know.”

You looked at her with your hazel eyes wide open. “Why? But I didn't do anything wrong, I did everything the General asked.”

Once the carriage had passed, you crossed the street and continued walking along the avenue where the west front of the Colosseum was visible. Norell took your arm.

“I don't know how it was where you come from, but here slaves have to fulfill their master’s every need. So Tullia thinks you’re not obeying him.” You were offended by being treated as a slave, but you couldn't blame her for being unaware of the truth about you. You turned your head to her and kept your voice low. “He said he would not touch me against my will.”

“Oh, that's why he's so upset then.”

You stopped and looked at her. “Upset?”

Her brown eyes looked sad. “Every night before I go to bed, I see him looking deep in thought at his balcony. And during the day, he's there, watching whatever you're doing. It's not like him.”

Was he? Somewhere deep in your chest, you felt a sharp, intense pain.

“Other slaves, the beautiful ones, are raped, killed or sold. Even among the nobles, there are those who are forced into marriage and have to sleep with a man they don't love. I know you've never been touched by a man before and neither have I. But if I found someone who could love me the way he loves you, I would give myself to him.” She blinks at you.

You were absolutely certain of her sincerity, but your situation was quite different from that of other slaves, even from all other Roman women.

“I suppose I should confess my feelings to myself first,” you murmured.

“My Lady!”

You and Norell turned to see who was speaking. You were surprised to see Macrinus standing next to you in his cloak.

"I was hoping to meet you," he said, looking around, then came closer. "But, you are very careless," he said in a low voice. "You attract too much attention."

You couldn't understand what he was saying. "Sir, why do you seem to be hiding?”

"I'm lurking because I've been following you for some time, and luckily I found you without anyone noticing."

"Why did you follow me?"

"We need to talk, but not here. We are too exposed.”

“What's going on, Aya? Who is this man?” You forgot for a moment that Norell was looking at you both in confusion.

Macrinus looked at her and then at you then he turned his head to the street.

“Norell, I'll tell you everything later,” you said, touching her shoulder then turned to Macrinus. “Sir, I don't think it’s the right time-”

He grabbed your arm gently. “You don't realize how much danger you are in, Julia suspects something and it's only a matter of time before she finds you.”

“How do you mean?”

"I'll tell you everything, but right now we need to move." He gestured to you as he walked to the other side of the street, you nodded and pulled Norell's arm, you felt uncomfortable going without her.

"Are you going to tell me what is happening? Who is this man?"

"Trust me and wait, I'll tell you everything at once, I promise."

She wasn't convinced, but she nodded and remained silent.

You and Norell followed Macrinus for a few more streets, maintaining a safe distance from the people around you. It didn't take long for you to notice that the streets were getting quieter. There were fewer people around, and the streets were narrower and more secluded. After passing through a narrow, dead-end street, Macrinus stopped, threw back his hood, and turned to you. When you realized Norell was squeezing your arm, you looked at her. Seeing her looking at a structure at the end of the street, petrified. You turned your head to that direction to find out what was worrying her. It was a large but untidy two-story house. The curtains were blowing out of the windows in the wind, they were all red.

“Gods, it’s…whore house," Norell muttered.

You turned to Macrinus in disbelief. At that moment, two men approached you from down the street, surveyed you both, and continued on their way, laughing.

“I'm sorry, my lady, but this is the safest place to talk.”

"To talk? What are you planning? How could you think I would be in such a place?"

Your voice echoed through the cobbled streets as Macrinus approached you, his expression grave.

"I can't speak to you safely anywhere else, your appearance would draw attention if we were in a tavern or other. But this place is too remote for anyone to think of it, you know what I mean, and nothing will happen to you, the one who runs this place knows me and I trust her."

When Norell grabbed your arm, you moved a little away from Macrinus, closer to the wall.

“Look Aya, I don't know what's going on, but this is not good, if the General finds out about this-.”

"I know. He knows my real family, and I trust him.” You lied. “Don't worry, you go to the place where we'll meet with the carriage and wait for me. I don't want you to go there with me."

"I don't think you should go in there either."

You gave Macrinus a quick look, then turned to Norell. "I know, it won't take long, I promise."

Norell looked at you and Macrinus with concern.

"If you won't be there in time, I'll tell the General everything," she said, sounding more like she wanted Macrinus to hear him. You looked at him in panic, but he didn't look surprised. You knew that moment you had to talk to him, no matter what. You were almost certain that he was planning to threaten the General through you.

Once Norell turned the corner into another alley, you turned to Macrinus. He smiled at you, turned, and walked towards the house. He no longer seemed nervous, as if he comes here, and walks through here often. You, however, were tense, feeling abandoned by Norell's leaving and like you'd put yourself in great danger.

Macrinus lifted the iron knocker of the big wooden door and rapped twice. At that moment, you tensed even more as you heard voices coming from inside, your face flushing red with embarrassment. A short, poorly dressed man opened the door and looked at Macrinus, then at you. When his eyes met yours, you looked away.

"Tell Juturna I'm here."

The man gave you one last look and went inside. Macrinus gestured for you to come in as he moved quickly down the corridor. You swallowed and deliberately ignored the voices as you walked in.

“Did it really have to be here?”

“I'm sorry, I understand why you're uncomfortable, but it really is safer than you think.”

Macrinus smirks, but you grow more and more nervous, everyone here men, and women is almost naked even in the mural pictures dyed on the walls. The voices were getting louder and louder when a middle-aged woman came running towards you. She wore too much make-up and smiled broadly at Macrinus.

"Sire, how good to see you again."

"Private room now."

She tilted her head to look at you with wide eyes, you turned your head and wrapped your cloak tightly around your arms, covering your body. She pressed her hand to her chest, "Gods, it's been years since such a beauty drops in here.”

"Don't overstep your bounds, she's a lady!" Macrinus scolded him.

"Apologies, sire. Have your way to up the stairs and the boys will show you to your room," she said with a grin.

Following Macrinus into the hallway, seeing some young girls, half-naked, talking amongst themselves. As you passed them, they looked at you strangely. You felt sorry for them, but also a bit disgusted.

A young boy gestured to the room, and Macrinus invited you in after he had entered. You were almost startled when the door closed behind you. Looked around quickly to observe, red curtains, orange bedspread and pillows, overturned wine cups and fruits in a bowl on the table, and various colored fabrics on the chairs. And the smell... You couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in this room. It made you feel sick.

Macrinus saw your unease and pulled out the chair for you to sit down.

"Have a seat, my lady."

You gave him a look that said you weren't going to be pushed around and sat down on the chair, crossing your arms to avoid touching anything else. "Tell me what I need to know. I don't have much time."

Macrinus took another wine cup from the other table in the corner of the room, poured wine into, and handed it to you. You made a gesture with the back of your hand and shook your head no.

"Are you afraid of the General?" he asked as he sat down in the chair opposite you. "I know you're staying at his villa. How long has he known?”

"He doesn’t! I can assure you that the General has nothing to do with it.”

Macrinus crossed his legs and took a sip of his wine.

"Of course he does. He'll take you to Geta himself as soon as he finds out."

You thought about him. Would he really do that? You couldn't find the answer, and you hated it.

"The general is a man of honor. He will understand when I tell him."

"Are you saying you can lure him to our side?"

"Our side?" You leaned over the chair towards him, "What is your purpose?"

"It's simple. I'm going to present you to the Senate and get them to recognize you unanimously. You will be formally designated as the heiress to the imperial throne. I really wonder about the emperors’ face when they find out."

Macrinus laughed and took a quick sip of wine.

"How do I know you're not lying to me and you're actually on the emperors’ side at this moment?"

Macrinus narrowed his eyes and looked at you. "I am close to Caracalla. He trusts me." He extended his hand toward you, placing one of the red grapes from the table in it. "I have him right in the palm of my hand, right here, and when the time comes…" He closed his palm and squeezed the grape, the pinkish juice of the grape slowly flowed between his fingers and dripped on the floor. You looked at him in disgust as he ate smashed grapes and licked his own palm.

“And what do you want from me? What will you gain if the Senate recognizes me?”

“I promised your father I would restore peace to Rome, and after he sent you away, he asked me to find Vicius and make sure you were safe. So as I stated before, I went to Egypt to find you, Vicius managed to hide you, he didn't believe me, he was very good at covering his tracks. No wonder he kept you hidden all this time. On the way back, news reached me of your father's death in York, and by the time I got back to the capital, Caracalla and Geta had declared their empire.”

That was four years ago, and it was no coincidence that on that very day, your uncle took you from home to the Valetudinarium in Alexandria. But you still weren't sure whether he had done it to protect you from Macrinus or from your emperor brothers or Julia.

“You said Julia suspected something.”

Macrinus was a man of very calm demeanor; it was hard to tell from his expression what he was thinking. “If Julia finds out you're alive, she'll take your life without a second thought.”

You swallowed hard, you already disliked her when you met her on the day of the ceremony.

“But I'm a woman, I can't be a threat to the throne,” you said looking at him, Macrinus put his cup on the table and leaned forward.

“But if one day you give birth to a son, my lady, you will be the greatest threat of all. She is a woman who keeps the General and her sons in balance, do not underestimate her. She wants Acacius in the Senate, to gain power over me.” He reached for a bunch of grapes and plucked one. “But I have secured my position, and with you we can save Rome from them for good.” He popped a grape into his mouth and smiled at you as he chewed.

“What about the General, what will happen to him?”

He stopped chewing. “He has to choose. But before, he could be charged with treason for hiding you in his villa.”

“No, I told you, there’s nothing like that, he doesn't know about the letter. He doesn't know who I really am,” you yelled at him.

“Do you really think emperors would care about that?”

You knew the answer, your heart began beating in your throat. It wasn't fair that the General should face such an offense because of you.

"If you go to the Senate, there'll be a trial and a judgment, and we'll win. No doubt about it. I'll send the word tonight. The court will convene the day after tomorrow. I can hide you until then," he said, standing up and holding out his hand to you.

You regarded him with a determined expression. "I am grateful for your kindness, but I believe I will be safer with the General, I would like to leave now before he finds me here. Moreover, I am not yet ready to trust you fully."

Macrinus laughed. "My lady, I believe that attitude will serve you well in front of the Senate. It might be beneficial to adopt a similar stance.”

As you left the room, you felt a strong inclination to descend the stairs as quickly as possible, in order to avoid the rather pungent odours and sounds. As you passed the rooms one by one, you heard what seemed to be a cry. Out of the corner of your eye, you thought you saw a face you had seen before. You stopped, and when you wanted to look again to make sure, you turned your head, and lifted the torn red curtain blocking the entrance of the room to see her face. It was her, Decima, the girl you met on the ship and with whom you had the good fortune to become friends. You shared your secrets with her, and you had always assumed that she had been sold to a wealthy man. You hoped that she had been happy until now. You were so wrong. You felt your body trembling as your eyes began to well up with tears.

"Are you all right, my lady?" Macrinus asked, concern evident in his voice which came to you in a blur.

"Decima!" You ran into the room beside her, grabbing her shoulders. She was startled, then looked at you with a surprised look on her face and started to cry. You hugged her and pressed her head to your chest.

"Have you been here all this time?”

She was visibly distraught, and your heart ached for her. "I thought you had forgotten me," she sobbed.

"Never. I thought that nobleman had bought you. What happened?"

"No, he didn't," she mumbled, shaking her head.

Without a second thought you grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.

Macrinus stepped in front of you. “My lady, you can't do this, she belongs here now.”

"No way! I'm taking her with me!" You barked and pushed him aside, pulled Decima by the arm ran to the stairs, and kept walking while ignoring the murmuring, and shouting coming behind you.

“Hey! How you? She's my slave, I paid eight thousand sesterces for her!” Juturna, who owned the place got up from her seat and came over to you, she was angry. Two guards at the door came in, blocking your way with a threatening and mocking demeanor.

Macrinus came running behind. “My lady, please, let her go. Those are the rules here. I’m begging you.”

It never felt right, you didn't want to leave Decima there to her fate. Then, someone came running up to Macrinus and whispered something in his ear. He tensed, cursed angrily, and turned his head to you. “Acacius is here. I need to go. Please don't do anything dull,” he warned you. Then he made his way back down the corridor and stepped through the door that led to the rear entrance.

You swallowed hard when you heard the General’s name, you had to think fast, decide fast. Then you opted to follow your heart, rather than your mind. As you grabbed Decima's hand and headed for the door, it opened with a thud and the General stormed in. You both regarded each other with surprise, but his expression soon became one of anger.

“General Acacius, sir!” Juturna approached him.

He didn't hear her, didn't look around, he was as angry as you'd ever seen him, with a piercing gaze that took hold of yours. As he reached out and grabbed your arm, you pulled back with all your strength. But the second time he grabbed again and pulled roughly, you couldn't find the strength to pull back. But you didn't intend to let go of Decima's hand either.

“Sir, please tell her something, she's trying to take my slave.” The woman bowed her head in front of the general and squinted at you.

“She is my friend, please help me, sir,” you said pleadingly.

"I'm a Roman citizen, and this one belongs to me. You clearly don't know the laws. Give her to me now," she said, grabbing Decima's other arm and pulling her along.

“No!”

“Let her go, Aya!” the General roared, but you didn't listen to him. Before you could even think about reaching for Decima, he grabbed your arm again and pulled you to outside, but you struggled with all your strength. The General let out a low growl, and before you knew it, the ground gave way beneath your feet. He grabbed you and threw you over his shoulder. Your face hit the leather armor on his muscular back with a thump, leaving you gasping in surprise. You struggled to get free, but he held on tight, carrying you out.

“No! Let me down! Please!” No matter what you said, it didn't stop him, you tried to lift your head to look at Decima, but when you saw that the door was closed, you got angry.

You started punching his back, but it was like hitting a stone wall. He tightened his muscular arm around the back of your thighs, right near your butt. As he carried you, your loud voice echoed through the whole street. People in the street looked at you curiously as they saw the general had come with you over his shoulder to the carriage. You gave up struggling, and he set you down.

Your hair was a mess, but all you had on your mind was getting back to Decima. He saw you looking back, grabbed your arm, and put you and then himself into the carriage. He ordered the coachman to drive and then he started his horses. He sat you down next to him and never let go of your arm. When the carriage moved, he loosened his grip and turned his head towards you. But you were looking the other way. Norell sitting across from you, her lips tightly closed, so ashamed to look the general in the face, blaming herself. No one spoke the whole way, only the sound of the wheels rolling on the stony ground echoed inside the carriage.

Upon arrival at the villa, Norell regarded the General and you with a timid expression before exiting the carriage. You didn't move, your anger still raw. In the end, your stubbornness made him give up and he got out. "Come out now," he ordered.

He was waiting for you with his hand extended. You inhaled and stood up, but instead of taking his hand, you grabbed the side of the car as you stepped out. You walk briskly into the Villa's garden and leave him behind. As you came into the garden, you saw Tullia and Norell whispering to each other. You glanced at them, and they looked over at the general, who was walking quickly behind you. They seemed tense. As you were heading to your room, a strong hand grabbed your wrist. He pulled you to the stairs this time you didn’t resist. He led you to his room and closed the door.

He turned to you, first his brown eyes met yours and then he calculated what to say or tried to remain calm.

“You will never go there again, do you hear me?”

You glanced over at the balcony, and he stepped a little closer. “How could you go there? How could you put yourself in danger like that? What were you thinking?”

“She's my friend,” you murmured, looking at the setting sun on the horizon through the window.

“Even so, there's nothing you can do for her, the rules apply to everyone.”

“That could have been me,” you turned your head to him. “I could have been one of those poor girls if you-” you swallowed, your voice was trembling.

Acacius' expression softened as he moved closer to you. "I'm truly sorry about your friend, but you need to let it go. I need you to promise me you won't go there again." His brown eyes were bathed in the orangish sunlight streaming through the window. They were looking at you with intensity, delving deeply into your soul. You wondered how you could still be so stubborn, defying him like that. You closed your eyes and crossed your arms, realizing your disobedience, he grabbed your shoulders. "I may be a gentle master to you, but don't even think to test my patience.”

At that moment, the anger that was welling up inside you was trying to get out.

“I am not your slave! I never have been! I'm-”

You almost would tell him everything, but not feeling ready yet, not like this. He was far from being surprised, it’s like he knew you were going to say that.

“As for that, I couldn't find any proof that you were a Roman citizen,” Acacius pulled his hands back, “I recently sent a letter to the governor in Egypt regarding your uncle's funeral. I have received a reply from him today. It seems that he does not have any relatives, only his wife and himself. Interestingly, there is no record of the name Aya.”

It was rather unexpected. You were unprepared for how quickly he discovered the truth. As he approached, you instinctively braced yourself and took a step back. You winced when your back hit the stone wall. Acacius placed his palms on the wall, either side of your head. His brown eyes darkened as he leaned in, almost close enough to kiss you. You placed your hands against the wall behind you, feeling the coolness of the stone in your palms and on your skin, in an attempt to gather your strength. His eyes locked onto yours as if he were questioning you.

“Who are you?”

thank you everyone for all likes and comments <3

@myownwholewildworld @orcasoul @pedroslut4eva @immyowndefender @lailathepedritofan @screechingchildfury @shinymusicpanda

if anyone wants me to tag them please comment :) thank you all <3

534 notes · View notes

massiveladycat · 8 months ago

Text

i will never get over people laughing at octavian's death personally,,, he was SHOT INTO THE AIR!!! thats so painful. all the burns and the impact, plus being flung from a cannon and probably slamming into gaia (literal earth goddess) plus festus (gigantic metal dragon, i bet that HURT) and leo (pretty sure leo was burning)

he was a kid and he was annoying to some people and he was usually antagonized but he didnt deserve to die OR go out in that way. the gods are a thousand times worse than octavian, and apollo told him that he'd be a savior of new rome, but people still justify them. not to mind there are much worse people in the PJO universe (gabe, LUKE)

octavian ily they could never make me hate you EVER. idc what you say he could have been redeemed. did he do bad things? yes. but he was so deeply influenced and the day meeting with leo and the others, in which i remind you octavian literally was watching new rome get blown up (no wonder he was livid, his home was on FIRE).

like come on. octavian is a complex character and people aren't willing to admit that he could've been better and he was just a literal teenager in the sake of hating him because everyone else/pjo characters hate him.

he is such a tragic character imo because he grew up in new rome and all he wanted to do was protect it (and he was highly ambitious and aiming for praetor, i won't deny the fact that he was selfish but that is a quality that can be REDEEMED) and sure the way he went about it was messed up but most of his actions (except killing that one centurion) were justifiable

btw im not saying octavian's like an angel or anything im pretty sure i remember him "killing" a 5th cohort centurion once but then she was revived which . . . what was the point of that?? was it just to like make us hate him more?? huh??? and then was it even ever talked about again?? also yeah he blackmailed hazel thats not good also judging from the wikipedia it only said frank suspected octavian because.. he didn't have his spear?? what?? reminder that there is proof that a lot of pjo characters are unreliable narrators and for all we know octavian could've screwed up somehow and left his spear somewhere (just saying i'd do that too ngl)

also "I am the savior of Rome! I was promised!" i didnt know why but that quote DESTROYED me but now i know that it was because he genuinely believed he was doing the best for new rome and he'd finally have someone's praise and they'd praise him like they praised percy and reyna. pretty sure his mental state was not very good in that scene either and nico and will just let him shoot himself out of an onager on accident. also are we just going to gloss over the fact apollo told him that and encouraged him he was doing the right thing?? of COURSE octavian trusted apollo on that and believed it was the truth; apollo was his ancestor and someone he worshipped as an augur and trusted in for omens and prophecies and allat

yeah. octavian's an asshole. but he was a kid and he couldve been redeemed. then again i am a huge octavian apologist and im not saying you have to have the same opinions as i do also i will not be responding to any asks in my inbox im 2 tired to deal with that!! anyways dont go and insult people or me if you think the opposite thats fine !! i was just bored and found this in my drafts so whats the harm of posting it because im not going to get sent threats over this right,,, right??????

#percy jackon and the olympians #pjo hoo toa #hoo #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #octavian is a complex character #octavian is my anchor #octavian pjo #octavian hoo #octavian #percy pjo #percy series #percy and annabeth #annabeth #reyna #the last olympian #octavian apologists RISE

529 notes · View notes

everythingannoyingpjo · 5 months ago

Note

i really don't like how Riordan wrote Octavian in HOO. during SON, it really seemed like he had something planned for him, some backstory or reasoning for his actions, but when he saw the way fans hated on him he decided to just make him a laughingstock. he's supposed to be this powerful guy, Hazel even says so, and he's supposed to be able to talk the senate into almost anything, and yet we don't see any of this past SON. and the hypocrisy for him! with Luke, people forgave him even though he tried to literally destroy Camp Halfblood, gr00med children, and obviously did not care if his own allies got killed. his main reasoning was "I don't think my dad cares about me so I'm just gonna injure and/or off dozens of children!". Octavian does try to destroy Camp Halfblood (which I'm not gonna say is okay, bc it isn't) but he has an actual reasoning! his home had been attacked and the people who did it just ran away with no explanation. yes, Leo had been possessed, but nobody even told Octavian that! so his rage was absolutely reasonable. and he actually cares about his allies. he waits to attack several days to a week just so the onagers would arrive, that way there would be no casualties on his side. plus, it seems like people just ignore the fact that he was manipulated by Gaea and was obviously having a mental breakdown near the end. it's constantly brought up in arguments for Luke like "he was manipulated by Kronos!!" but when a similar thing happens to Octavian, nobody mentions it or seemingly cares.

Note: OP has a negative opinion of Luke and of some fans differing reactions to Luke and Octavian as antagonists. However this is not a fandom complaint or character complaint blog. It is a book complaint blog. This ask was sent before that point was clarified. Please try to limit complaints and discussions to what occurs in the source material only.

Yes, I agree. I tried to make a list of your points below for clarity.

during SON, it really seemed like he had something planned for him, some backstory or reasoning for his actions

It did seem that way. There are a lot of implications behind Octavian and not much fact.

It is implied he was raised in New Rome. This means he was raised in a culture that promoted suspicion of/aversion towards greek demigod culture. (You can see this aversion in the way people/the laeres react to Percy when he arrives at CJ.)

It is implied he has prophetic powers.

It is implied that he is unwell/unstable. It's implied he is being manipulated by Gaea.

It is implied that public opinion of him is favorable.

It is implied he wants to go to war, specifically against greek demigods should they exist, though he should have no proof of their existence.

It is implied that he killed Gwen.

It is implied (in TOA) that he has a connection to the triumverate.

None of this is ever explained/explored/given more detail. Why does he believe Apollo supports him? What is the extent of Gaea's influence on him? Why does he angle for war before the attack on Rome even happens? What does he know and how?

he's supposed to be this powerful guy, Hazel even says so, and he's supposed to be able to talk the senate into almost anything, and yet we don't see any of this past SON.

Given every implication above, he should be powerful, or competent, or at least have the backing of competent people. We never see that. We never know why he makes the decisions he does and how he accomplishes his goals is almost never shown or explored.

Octavian does try to destroy Camp Halfblood (which I'm not gonna say is okay, bc it isn't) but he has an actual reasoning! his home had been attacked and the people who did it just ran away with no explanation.

Octavian was pretty clearly angling for war even before the attack, but certainly that cemented the legitimacy of such an action in his mind. Yet from SoN onwards Rick treats Octavian as a complete joke. Which honestly, I do think Octavian is funny, but I also think the story would have been better if I believed Octavian was a legitimate threat. And I don't because he basically disappears from the narrative at this point except to exist as some sort of omnipresent boogieman. None of his actions, motivations, or reasoning is ever explored. Any shadow of substance he had in the previous books is flattened. He becomes completely two dimensional.

It's hard to even be mad at people for not seeing the legitimacy in his attack when it's the result of Rick completely ignoring his character. After SoN he basically only exists to create a sense of urgency in completing the quest.

and he actually cares about his allies. he waits to attack several days to a week just so the onagers would arrive, that way there would be no casualties on his side.

I mean, this is largely supposition. The narrative heavily implies the wait for the onagers is because he wants to win with overwhelming force. But you are right that his compatriots safety could be the reason he wants to win with overwhelming force! But we don't know, because again, he was never fleshed out!

plus, it seems like people just ignore the fact that he was manipulated by Gaea and was obviously having a mental breakdown near the end.

It's pretty clear he was being manipulated. I think one thing it's easy to forget is that all these characters are teenagers. Octavian is a child. He has been put in a position of responsibility that should be reserved for an adult. It's hard to think Octavian is 100% evil or that he 100% deserves to die. EXCEPT that Rick has prevented us from being allowed to see him as a real person. He has made him feel like a complete caricature of a human being. And even then, it still disgusts me that Rick made his death a complete joke, something to laugh at.

If Rick was trying to say that "people who think this way are a joke" he should have shown us more of Octavian's thoughts. He should have given us the oppurtunity to see the point he was making by laughing at him.

Instead we have the implication that there was more, and no answers. He never even gave Octavian a last name. I do not like Octavian as a character, but everything about how he was written is sort of fucked up.

#pjo hoo toa #pjo #hoo #toa #riordanverse #rrverse #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #octavian pjo #octavian hoo #pjo critical #hoo critical #everything annoying #initial response

159 notes · View notes

lolxdswag123 · 4 months ago

Text

Sleepless in Cabin 3

Percy Jackson x reader

Warnings: Blood of Olympus spoilers, mentions of insomnia, flashbacks, a makeout session, I think that’s it.

Authors note: This is my first time writing so let me know how I did :)

Summary: reader is having flashbacks to the battle against Gaia and hasn’t been sleeping. Goes to best friend Percy’s cabin for comfort.

Tossing and turning. That’s all I could do for the past 3 hours. Lights out was at 10 pm. It was now 1 o clock in the morning and I have not slept a wink. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the same things. Leo bursting into flames. Octavian being launched into the massive ball of fire in the air.

Now I didn’t care all that much for Octavian, but Leo was my best friend. I knew about his plan all along. He told me he was going to find Calypso, and he would be back. It was just so hard to believe after what I saw last week. I haven’t been able to sleep for days now.

After the battle I had collapsed in exhaustion, and I think that was the last time I really got any rest since then.

Camp was still being cleaned up and there was evidence of the battle everywhere. Reyna, who had become like my sister, left to go back to Camp Jupiter with Hazel and Frank. My whole life felt like it had been turned upside down in the matter of 7 days.

I was restless. Chiron had me meet up with some of the Apollo campers daily for “mental health reasons”, but it wasn’t helping in the way that he had hoped. The only thing that helped was being around my best friends, Percy and Annabeth.

They had been my best friends since I was 13. I first went on a quest with them to recover the Golden Fleece from a huge cyclops. Times have changed since then. The war against Kronos almost felt like child’s play compared to everything we’ve dealt with since then.

Percy’s disappearance alone was enough to send me into a crazed state for weeks. That was the first time I dealt with insomnia. He and I always had a special connection. One that nobody else understood. Percy could calm me down in a way that nobody else ever was capable of. If Annabeth wasn’t by my side in that time I think I really would’ve lost it.

Even when he and Annabeth fell into Tartarus I didn’t break down like this. I had Reyna and Leo to get me through it.

As I rolled over in my empty cabin for the millionth time, I had a flashback to that day that they fell into the pit of Tartarus.

If Percy hadn’t jumped in after her, I would’ve. He pushed me back before he jumped in. I stood there with my brother, Nico, looking down hopelessly and trying to figure out what to do.

The boy, who my brother and I both had adored, was begging us to meet him at the other side of Tartarus. He promised us that he would be there, that he would get out. I could feel my heart being ripped out as I looked at them, but Nico and I swore to it.

I so badly wanted to jump in after them, but I couldn’t do it. I knew that I had to help the others.

After that, I was in a crazed state. Completely and hopelessly hyperfixated on getting them out.

The thought alone made me nauseous, and I considered running to throw up in the bathroom.

It’s not like I would be bothering anyone. Every night after I fall asleep, or in this case, pretend to fall asleep, Nico sneaks off to go see his boyfriend, Will.

I’m not angry at him for it. I purposely pretend to sleep so that he doesn’t feel bad about going. I know he’s struggling as much as I am.

I take a deep breath, hoping that I can settle my mind. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work. I lay there for another fifteen minutes, staring at my ceiling, before I decide to take action.

I stood up, put on my slippers, and quietly escaped my cabin- trying my best not to wake any other campers- or the harpies.

I knew exactly where I was going, though I wasn’t sure what would happen.

I hadn’t gone to his cabin this late at night since my nightmares after we’d escaped the Labyrinth. He used to really help me get through my feelings- that is, until Rachel came along.

The next summer, I found out that Rachel and Percy had been kissing, and after that I backed off. I know that now there isn’t anything between them, but Percy is my best friend, and I knew that I needed to keep it that way.

I quietly approached his door, knocking softly. I hoped that he was awake, but I knew the odds were slim. After no answer, I knocked again, slightly more desperate.

If he doesn’t answer this time, I’ll go. I thought.

After a minute, there was still no response so I turned around to head back to my cabin and brave the night ahead.

The door creaked slowly behind me, and I whipped around. Percy was standing there, looking like I had just woken him up from the best dream of his life.

“Hey.” I whispered, approaching hesitantly.

Without another word, he nods his head, gesturing for me to come into his cabin. Tyson wasn’t there. He had temporarily gone back to Camp Jupiter with Ella.

We both enter his silent cabin, and he shuts the door quietly behind us. The seasalt smell immediately hits me and all of my senses relax.

He sits on his bed and looks up at me, standing awkwardly. The idea seemed great, but now that I was standing in his room I wasn’t really sure what my plan was.

“What’s going on?” Percy asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

I looked down, suddenly feeling bad for waking him up. “I haven’t been sleeping.” I whispered.

“What?” He asks.

I repeat myself, “I haven’t been-“

“You haven’t been sleeping?” He asks, sounding slightly upset. He rests his elbows on his knees and puts his head in his hands.

I shake my head, feeling a blush over my face. I could feel my delirious brain and heavy eyes a little bit more now.

“And you’re just telling me now?” He asks, looking disappointed.

“I didn’t want to stress anyone out.” I say, smiling bashfully.

He rolls his eyes, patting the spot next to him.

“Think Chiron will give us a free pass if he finds us both in here?” He asks, obviously trying to make light of the situation.

I chuckle, nodding, but knowing that Chiron would do just about anything to help the campers right now. The thought reminded me even more about the battle.

Percy turns to lay back under his blankets, leaving an open space for me. This is exactly how we used to do it when I was having my nightmares.

I laid down in my spot, trying to get comfortable. I stared at the ceiling, immediately feeling more drowsy than I did in my room.

We both lay there in silence for a few minutes, before l hear the blankets rustle and turn my head to see Percy facing me.

I turn to face him too.

He purses his lips and furrows his eyebrows, scanning my face, before asking, “Why did you ever stop coming in here?”

I look at him nervously, realizing that we were finally going to have this conversation. “You and Rachel…” I trail off, not knowing what else to say.

His eyes instantly widen, “me and Rachel?” He asks.

I nod. “I didn’t want to get in the way of anything if you guys…” I pause, choosing my words, “if you guys were like, together or anything.”

He scans my face, as if trying to determine if I’m joking. He lets out a small laugh, “Rachel and I were never together. I thought you knew that.”

I shake my head, eyes focusing on anything but his face.

He chuckles again, and I tuck my head into his chest, attempting to end the conversation there, but he decided to continue, “You know,” he paused, wrapping an arm around me to play with my hair, “when Beckendorf came to get me for our mission? Remember that?”

I nod, unsure of where this was going.

“Well, he saw Rachel kiss me.”

I tensed, uncomfortable with this conversation.

“Then after we left her, to go to the ship,” he continued, “do you know what he said to me?”

I shook my head.

“He said, ‘I’m assuming you don’t want me to tell Y/N about that, right?’” Percy said, continuing to play with my hair.

“Really?” I asked, confused, “Why?”

He was silent for long enough for me to wonder if he even heard me before he spoke up again. “Because I didn’t want you to know.”

I pulled away, looking up at his face. I scrunched my eyebrows together out of confusion. “Why not? We tell each other everything.”

He raises his eyebrows, shaking his head, “Really?”

“What?” I asked.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. His eyes scanned my face again before wrapping an arm around me and pulling me back into his chest.

I finally start to doze off, feeling my body relax. Before I am completely asleep I can feel a soft kiss being placed on the top of my head. Before I can even feel the butterflies that come from it, I fall sound asleep.

I wake up before the sun is up, unsurprisingly. I’m happy to have gotten even a few hours of sleep.

I turn on my side to see Percy snoring softly with a line of drool coming down from his mouth. I giggle quietly before moving away a little bit.

I debate going back to my cabin, so that I don’t get caught in here. The last thing any of us needed right now was to deal with rumors about us sleeping in the same cabin together.

I sit up, my eyes scanning for my slippers in the dark room. Just as I find them I hear stirring behind me.

“What are you doing?” Percy asks groggily.

I turn to see him rubbing his eyes again and suddenly feel guilty for waking him up two times now.

“I was just going to sneak out before I get caught in here.” I whisper, reaching down to put my slippers on.

“Stay,” he whispered, eyes closed.

I smiled, looking at how peaceful he looked in that moment.

I shake my head, but rest a hand on his arm. “I shouldn’t.” I whisper.

He groans, turning closer to me and opens his eyes. He looks up at me, slowly reaching up as he brushes a strand of my hair out of my face.

“I’ll cover for you in the morning.” He whispers softly, looking at me hopefully.

I smile but shake my head, “If anyone finds out I stayed here…” I whisper, “you know how they all talk.”

He looks at me for a moment, and then another moment, eyes scanning my face, before responding, “You know everyone already thinks we’re together, right?”

My eyes widen in shock, completely taken aback and unsure if I heard him right. “Us? Like- you and me? Together?”

He nods, looking straight into my eyes, eyebrows furrowed.

“Why?” I ask, incredibly confused. I had never heard this before and I had never told anyone how I really felt. Not even Annabeth.

He stared incredulously at me for another moment, before whispering, “Are you kidding? I really can’t tell.”

I shook my head and shrugged.

“Well… we’re together all the time. You used to sleep here. When I went missing and got amnesia you were the only person I could remember. I almost lost it when you got hurt in the battle in manhattan…” he searched my face for my reaction, “I can keep going if you want.”

I shook my head, understanding. “I guess that kind of makes sense.”

He nodded, looking at me as if he was waiting for me to say something else.

I stared at him for a moment, before my delirium allowed me to ask a rather bold question.

“What do you think about that?” I whispered, looking into his eyes.

His gaze felt heavy. He stared straight into my eyes, coughing, before saying, “Uhhh… what do you mean?”

I shook my head, “Nevermind.” I whispered.

He grabbed my hand, looking directly into my eyes, before saying, “About what everyone says? Or about us being together?”

“Both.” I whisper, staring straight back at him.

He pauses for a moment, looking down at our hands, then back into my eyes. “I think they have a point. And I think that they’re right. That we are basically together. Unless you’re thinking something different?”

I nodded slowly, thinking about all of the years that I’ve brushed off other boys because I didn’t have eyes for them like I do for him. I thought about all the time that we spent apart, and how it felt like a piece of me was missing. I thought about the battle of manhattan, when I saw him fighting and I had never felt such pride in my heart before. I knew it all along, I just didn’t know how to show it.

“It’s not that easy though, seaweed brain. We’re not basically together until you ask me out.” I chuckle, looking back down at him and realizing how intently he’s looking at me.

I slowly kick off my shoes and lay back down next to him. He still is looking at me intently and hasn’t said a word.

“What’s wrong?” I whisper, after another moment of silence.

He shakes his head, looking deeply into my eyes, and I see his gaze flicker to my lips for a millisecond.

Suddenly I can feel my heartbeat pick up. I’m now aware of every centimeter of my body that is close to his. It’s like all of my senses are dialed to 11.

Before I can even think twice I lean forward just slightly and he immediately grabs my face and his lips are on mine.

The kiss is soft, slow, and everything I could’ve ever imagined.

I can feel his hesitation, almost like he’s afraid I’ll pull away if he makes the wrong move.

I reach my hand around the back of his head and run my hand through his hair, bringing him closer to me. The kiss slowly becomes more passionate, my heart rate accelerating.

I don’t think either of us can hold back anymore. I tilt my head slightly, it’s like something inside me snaps. The kiss is intense, full of years of love and yearning toward one another. His hand moves slowly under the hem of my sleep shirt, shakey fingers trailing up my back, and I gasp into his mouth, enjoying the new sensation.

We had been close before, but never like this.

I hear Percy groan quietly, the sound beautiful but desperate, and my body is suddenly on fire. His other hand reaches to the back of my next to pull me even closer, deepening the kiss so that our tongues are dancing with each other. I can feel him breathing heavily as his hands explore my skin, fingers digging in in a way I never knew I needed.

My hands run through his hair, one leaving to clutch his shoulder, pulling him even closer to me. Percy’s mouth moves to my jaw, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down my neck, and I bite my lip to keep from making a sound, but it’s impossible. I let out a soft gasp, pressing even further into him.

“Gods,” Percy groans against my neck, continuing to bury his face into my neck and collarbone, definitely leaving marks that he knows he shouldn’t be. Especially not if I’m walking out of his cabin in the morning. His lips find mine again, but this time it feels more frantic, like we’re both on the verge of losing control. His hands are fully under my shirt now, his touch insistent, and I can’t help the small groan that escapes me.

I can’t stand it anymore as I tug at his shirt, pulling it up, desperate to feel more. He helps me, urgently pulling it over his head before desperately crashing his mouth back onto mine. His skin feels incredibly warm, his muscles tensing beneath my touch as I slowly run my nails down his chest. He groans into the kiss, kicking my legs with his own so that he can move to hover over me.

I can feel my back press into the mattress as Percy hovers over me, the weight of it making me shiver. His hands roam lower, gripping my hips roughly, and his mouth never stops—kissing, biting, trailing heat down my neck and back up again to capture my lips. Every move, every touch, is more desperate, more intense, and I can feel the years of pent-up tension between us boiling over.

We continue like this for longer than we should, desperately grabbing onto each others skin, mouths all over eachothers faces and necks, before we finally allow the kiss to slow down. The kiss fades to a soft, gentle one, and we slowly pull away.

I stare into his eyes, feeling a blush cover my face when I realize that this is real, and that just happened. He has the same look on his face as me, breathing heavy. His hair is all out of place and part of me wants to continue where we left off and mess up his hair a little more.

I bite my lip, holding back the smile that is trying to take over my face. He grins at me, his eyes sparkling.

“We’re definitely doing that again.” He smirks at me playfully.

“What took you so long?” I ask, nudging his arm and letting him lay back down beside me.

He shrugged, “Was never the right time. Can’t say I haven’t thought about it though. Maybe a little too much…” he trailed off.

I rolled my eyes, smacking his arm playfully before realizing how exhausted I had become.

“Can we go back to sleep?” I whisper, tucking my head into his chest again.

He nods, pressing a kiss on my head, and this time I feel the whole swarm of butterflies invade my stomach. I smile, and doze off.

#percy jackson #pjo hoo toa #pjo #percy jackson x reader #blood of olympus #percy jackon and the olympians #percy pjo #percy series #percy jackson imagine #hoo #rrverse #percy jackson masterlist

140 notes · View notes

dandelion-blues · 27 days ago

Text

Fiat Lux

For my best friend, @ilikesand

For my best friend, in which I never would have understood the gravity of the misunderstood without you. Would have never had Octavian become one of my favorite characters. I hope you like it!

Also, on Ao3

Summary (PJO One-Shot):

Octavian knew the signs. He knew the gods were displeased, and still, everyone wanted to disregard the rules. So Octavian was done with sacrificing stuffed animals - the gods would no longer answer to such inconsequential sacrifices.

Apollo takes notice of his dear descendant and grants him a true vision and a choice upon Octavian's sacrifice. Well, it's not like Octavian would take the alternative of sitting back and doing nothing, regardless of what others think. He's already used to people not liking him, and bullying him for things he can't control, so he might as well play the villain if it means saving the world - if it means saving his siblings, siblings who probably don't even remember him.

Octavian

The air was biting, cold and rigid. Octavian didn’t particularly mind though — no, what he minded was the festering storm and rolling thunder clouds on the horizon. As Augur, it was his duty to divine the message the gods have sent him. The glares and spits he got as he headed up to Jupitar’s temple from his fellow comrades notwithstanding.

Thunder boomed as he entered the temple and Octavian hurried along to the altar. He didn't think about the last time Jupiter was in such a mood. The quakes of power searing through his temples as visions of lightning strikes burned villages and people to dust. No, Octavian instead thought of the boisterous laughter of his siblings as a storm boomed around them. Of the times when it was as if the storm was playing along to their childish claps with a loud quake of thunder following them.

Ah, it seems he's getting a bit too sentimental. No matter, Octavian has long since buried his heart under his duty to uphold the order and pride of Camp Jupitar. Much like his hands are stained red in the freshly dead animals offered to the gods, so too will the camp be if they don't appease the gods. Really, what did Praetor Reyna think when she sought to go to the old lands? They are forbidden for a reason.

The gods are angry. And Octavian is done playing with useless stuffed animals. He warned the senate that the old ways were there for a reason — that messing with tradition is treacherous, and yet, the council's soft palate won out. But if they won't get things done and rightfully appease the gods — Octavian will do it himself!

Thus, with a careful and quick slice, blood spilled from a young calf. The red seeped on the altar, as the animal thudded down, its heart beating its last. Octavian breathed in deeply and thanked the calf for its sacrifice on his exhale, for the spirits held in respiration — of the life taken and given. Octavian knew the gods would do much worse if they didn't get their dues.

Just as the patience began to seep away from him as the moments ticked away, the blood starting to dry, Octavian's received a vision with a searing clarity. The Earth claimed thousands of lives in her womb — the screaming and gasping as they were buried alive. The Greeks fighting the Romans in a bloody war as Terra Mater laughed.

Octavian gasped for breath, heaving and trying to calm his pounding heart.

“So, my descendant has finally decided to stop sacrificing useless pillow pets ?!” A silky voice whispered.

But even quiet the voice held power, as the once cold room became almost sweltering hot.

Octavian instantly knelt to the ground, knowing intimately who this was — his ancestor, the source of his bloodline — Apollo.

“My lord,” Octavian spoke reverently and respectfully, staring at the marble tile. Nothing more or less unless given permission.

Octavian heard the footsteps heading toward him, the steps like a tap-tap to a somber dance. The legacy didn't dare look up, even as he saw the golden sandals of the god before him.

The god knelt down a bit, reaching hand up gently but forcefully and grabbed Octavian's chin, making him stare right in the burning gaze of the god. The legacy couldn't formulate words in his mind for how beautiful and terrifying those golden eyes were. Much later all Octavian could think was that he was staring right into the might of the sun, and the god protected him from burning from such a sight.

“Yes, you will do, my favored descendant.” The god whispered in Octavian's ear, the words coiling around his mind like a snake.

And then the god whispered to his descendant a plan of power and glory, and a burning fiery aftermath or of the righteous storm that will save the world from destruction. That should the storm save the world; the son of Jupiter will pay the price of sacrifice. But should Octavian intervene and influence the path of fate… of the scorn and distrust should Octavian survive it. The legacy didn't dare utter a word about how it would hardly be different then things are now and how any price was worth it as long as he stays alive, but somehow, he felt the god knew what he was thinking. The power of the gods uneclipsed and true.

The god’s eyes impossibly softened, looking more akin to the burning embers of dusk than the blazing glory of day, “Yes, my descendant, the one who shines brightly with my gift. You have shown resolve and cunning even as others look down upon and mock you. You are the one who knew that Mors was chained and forced Mars to acknowledge it, even if others began to look at you callously. You knew that you could not spare troops to help the quest to free Death, lest Camp Jupiter would fall. Even if you had to be seen as evil in the process.”

“So, I ask of you, my dear Octavian, are you willing to do what needs to be done?” Apollo asks, his voice stern yet kind.

Octavian looks into his ancestor's eyes, those beautiful balls of flame, and says, “Yes, my lord.”

“Then rise my Pontifex Maximus.” The god commands, and Octavian does.

Even if nothing changes outwardly with the title. There is no crown or laurel Octavian now wears, he feels as if a great force is weighing him down, but still he rises.

Like always, Octavian will do what needs to be done, even if others hate and belittle him afterwards. Still, if it saves the world, if it saves his brother, then what does Octavian care that people will think him evil.

“You will save us all,” The god claims, and then the air swelters, the god burning brightly making the legacy close his eyes from the sheer light.

Then, the air grows cold as the god dreams his presence fit elsewhere, and a faint smell of laurels permeates in the temple. The sacrifice accepted and disappeared from view, even the stains of blood vaporizing before the legacy’s eyes.

All that's left is a paper floating down in the air. Octavian catches it, smudging the still wet blood from his offering on the paper. Both ends of the paper are charcoaled black and only one line can be read: to storm or fire the earth must fall.

Octavian straightens up and smiles grimly. He is the bridge between men and the gods, the Pontifex Maximus, and now has control of the Roman army. It's rather ironic that he now outranks all those that called him too weak and feminine to even wield a sword, but no matter, he knows his duty to camp and to the gods unlike them, who would rather sit by and watch the world burn. Ironic isn’t it, how the Morai twist and weave their tapestry?

Octavian may never be a good man, but he is at least a loyal one, and he will be damned to Hades if he didn’t do all he could to protect what little he has. He upheld the god's standards, even if others have faltered. He left his siblings to their father’s whims, because Lord Jupiter demanded it. Wanted them to prove themselves worthy of the king’s power and authority. Then, his big sister was mauled to the brink of death when she was twelve, and his little brother became more wolf than boy as Lady Juno demanded her prize.

But just this once, Octavian is able to uphold not just the god’s demands, but his personal one’s as well — one’s that he had to abandon so his brother grew up strong and capable. But now, with the future knowledge that Lord Apollo has granted him, Octavian won’t let the world fall to his storm if it’s the last thing he does. He will not damn his little brother to an early death, and so Octavian will brave the agony of burning alive — knowing his brother will be the one to survive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fire was the hearth and the home, safety and warmth, but it was also destruction and searing pain. Why did his kin, the son of Apollo, or anyone else for that matter not tell him he was attached to the onager — to the unstable bomb of Imperial Gold that he devised to kill Mater Terra? Octavian knew he was to be burned alive to enact Lord Apollo’s vision to save the world — to save his little brother. But Octavian didn’t know it would be like this. Didn’t know that he was to be treated like an evil monster that needed to be burned alive.

Octavian knew he acted like a madman in his plans — that no one really liked him prior to his ascension to power. But did no one, not one of his comrades that knew him for years, try and understand why?

Octavian would like to say that it didn’t hurt — that his heart was long dead to the sting of betrayal — but like an innocent “witch” set to be burned at the stake, he was unprepared for how much fire would burn.

But guess it doesn’t matter anymore. With his ancestor’s help things were put in the correct motion, and now he was hurtled through the sky.

The air whipped around him like razors, and two screams joined him.

Octavian saw a vision, like he was no longer in his body of a boy flying on a bronze dragon and the evil Earth Goddess hurtling up in the sky. He watched like the phantom he was about to become as a brilliant fire erupted in the sky — pure golden white, brighter than Apollo’s might — and everyone one down below became blinded from the light.

‘Fiat Lux,’ Octavian thought, let there be light.

But, even as the vision of the blinding light came to him, and Octavian knew he was about to face his imminent death, all he could focus on was finding his siblings in the crowd.

There! He saw them for not even a second, but it was enough for Octavian to accept his demise. They were alive!

Still, that didn’t prepare the legacy for how much his death would hurt.

The might of the inferno charcoaled his flesh and ignited his veins in its all-consuming heat. The screams that ripped out of his throat were soon gone as his voice box crumbled to ash. The ringing in his ears like a blaring siren, but left to the silence of death, just as his eyes melted and empty sockets only saw darkness.

Thump-Thump

The agony of living in a body that should have already been a corpse.

Thump

Why was he still alive? He just wanted this to be over.

…Thump

Octavian for once felt absolutely nothing. It was a kind of numbness that felt wrong, as if he was on the verge of Chaos, of the void of nothingness in which all life sprung from.

…

At last, he can rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scarred soul was taken up and examined like it was a partially interesting thing. Two pitch black eyes stared at the essence of the boy’s soul, looking down upon it from his long black beak.

“Yes, yes, you who have suffered and preserved.” The being spoke to himself, “Of the one who always kept learning, even as the wisdom of what was to come was horrid. Your ancestor has a kindness in his heart that leads to tragedy, but even then, he knew that yours was too much. Of a legacy that would be wrongly scorned, and a family that would be left aching at your seeming betrayal.”

“Well, Apollo was already to be punished he knew,” The being cackled, a trilling sound as his black and white feathers ruffled, and he examined a vial in his dark humanoid hand, “So why not have his son have two cures prepared.”

The being smiled with their beak, and the ashes of the dead was given the Asclepius’ cure for death. Nerves, organs, bones, muscles, ligaments, and flesh all brought back. The once horrifically burned and scarred flesh is now as soft as a newborn’s.

“Why hello,” the being spoke to newly opened golden eyes — eyes marked by divinity, “My little magician.”

“Who are you?” The now revived Octavian spoke, his words tumbling and unfamiliar as if this was his first time speaking.

“Why, my friend. I am Thoth.” The Egyptian God of the Moon, Magic, Writing, Learning, and Wisdom spoke.

“Why-” Octavian spoke softly, not able to bring words to his tumulus thoughts, of the memories of pain that were no longer felt as his heart beat strongly in his chest.

“-am I alive?” The god finished the legacy. “Well let’s just say Apollo had a bit of foresight, and didn’t want to lose his favorite descendant.”

The god stroked his neck feathers with his humanoid hand, “Your gods are quite possessive after all. And of course, how could I not help when he came to me speaking of a legacy of two pantheons. You are quite the commodity, practically nonexistent, so how could I resist?”

Octavian’s mind was whirling, but that’s when it clicked. No wonder he didn’t recognize the god’s name. The legacy remembered when he was very little and knew nothing of his father’s place in Camp Jupiter, when his mother was still alive and present in his life. When she brought her family to the movie’s she started in — of an ancient civilization that worshiped gods with animal heads and human bodies. A film about the Egyptian Gods that his father was none too thrilled to see, calling them ridiculous. Of the repercussions that followed as his parents started yelling and fighting and soon a little girl boy with blonde hair and electric blue eyes was born, who was not his father’s daughter son — and, thus, is Octavian’s half sister brother.

Turns out the youngest sibling born of adultery having the same electric blue eyes as the eldest sibling — a searing blue like a strike from the heavens — was too much for Father to stand.

Then, the rest is history. Father took Octavian away from his starlet mother, and his half siblings, and introduced him to camp Jupiter and all the gods they worship — and started training him for his future duty as Augur. Of the harsh words and punishments should Octavian not excel at what he was taught. Of the sparse news outlets that Octavian snuck out to watch — of his mother’s falling fame, and his older sister running away. Of the visions that started to eat away at him — of screams and suffering.

Then, the son of Jupitar came to camp — with all too familiar electric blue eyes, and Octavian knew, he knew that this boy that was more wolf pup than boy (because he was raised by Lupa, even given a new name by the Wolf Goddess than by their human mother) was his little brother. That those harsh words his father called his mother now made sense as Octavian looked into those familiar eyes, the echoes of childhood and innocence long gone. Understanding that their Father called Beryl whore for a reason, as she fell into the God King’s lust not just once but twice when she was a married woman. But the second time, Juno wouldn’t abide her husband’s transgressions and took the child as her champion — to mold him into a perfect soldier. Never having the chance to just be an innocent child, but to be a slave forced into servitude.

Octavian could do nothing but stay away as the wolf boy was turned into a perfect solider, as Jason was isolated from having a family or friends of his own! As his skin was branded at 3 years old!

But, of course, even if Jason, his little brother, was allowed to live — even if only for his potential to bring Juno glory, Thalia would not be spared, even if Juno seemed to turn a blind eye. The slight of Jupiter cheating not once but twice, was too much. And so, when Octavian was an angry ten-year-old, Thalia was just twelve, and Jason was six — his big sister was dead. And all Octavian had to show for it was the tears streaming down his face as he dreamt of his big sister being ripped apart by hellhound. No vision years later of her surviving erased the pain, knowing that he could do nothing by watching as her blood and bones became bark and sap.

“Are you alright, little magician?” Thoth spoke softly.

Octavian blinked, tasting a bit of salt on his tongue. He wiped at his face and oh, he was crying. He laughed a bit, the sound bitter and hoarse. His siblings probably didn’t even remember who he was, he was hardly in their lives after all, so what right does he have to cry over them?!

“Yes, I’m fine.” Octavian lied, his eyes red and stuffy.

The god thankfully didn’t call him out on his lie, “Well, in that case, I think it’s time I start to teach you about your other heritage. Of the pharaoh in which you and your father descended from.”

Octavian inclined his head, only a numb echo of surprise panting in his skull. He wanted to avoid his intrusive thoughts, so focusing on some hopefully strenuous tasks instead of recounting his broken family was very much welcomed.

“Well, you see, as a descendant of a pharaoh, and the deal Apollo made, you are now my host…” Thoth went on to explain Octavian’s heritage and his expectation as a host to Thoth.

Octavian took it all in clinically. Truthfully, it felt like a traded one cage for another, but at least this time Octavian’s wings weren’t clipped. In fact, he now had an avatar form that had wings, generously gifted to him from his new connection to Thoth — not that it helped with Octavian’s fear of flying when he remembered his death.

The god, his god, was surprisingly human in caring about and helping Octavian overcome this fear, but the legacy knew gods — they didn’t just help out of the kindness of their hearts. That’s just not how they work, it’s hardly even how humans work either. Octavian would know — he’s analyzed people’s behaviors constantly over the years to make sure he reacted appropriately — as people all too often liked to answer with their fists when he didn’t react the right way.

Really, Octavian did not understand why people ask how you are if they don’t actually want to know?!

That’s why Octavian liked the gods — they were true to themselves, to their essence. And Thoth, Octavian, was starting to learn was somehow a lot like him. He liked to read and learn everything he could. He was blunt and honest… and his family life was a mess.

Octavian really shouldn’t be relating in such a way to a god, but as Thoth's host he found himself learning more and more about the god. He found himself soaring through the skies and learning about the constellations with vigor, and laughing at the god’s misconceptions to modern technologies. He threw himself at his host duties, though he did avoid the other avatars that tried to contact him like the plague. And he found himself trying to forget of the siblings that thought him dead, trying to live a new life without any human interaction. Of course, like a prophecy, you can’t avoid the inevitable forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wind that tousled around Octavian felt like freedom, and he spread out his white ibis wings, soaring through the sky, while the light of Apollo gently warmed his skin. Octavian felt free, flying above the world — everything down below a spec to his eyes, and no one could reach him as he soared high above in the sky.

Well, Octavian should have known not to think in absolutes. No normal person could reach him, but well it’s not as if he was prepared for someone to literally crash into him as he flew in the cloudless sky.

One second Octavian was simply flying through the air, and the next he was hurtling towards the ground — someone screaming at him as they knocked him out of the sky.

Octavian’s heart thudded in his chest, panic beginning to take hold on in his veins, but then everything seemed to stop — the air seemed to solidify around him, and a silence took hold around the area. There was no wind, no nothing. Nothing but the labored breath of two individuals.

“Sorry, for flying into you. I didn’t expect there to be anyone else in the sky,” a voice, an all too familiar voice, spoke.

Octavian would never, could never forget that voice, even if the River Lethe took his memories, took everything that made him Octavian — his soul would recognize that voice. His little brother: Jason Grace.

Octavian spoke up trying to keep his voice from wavering as faced his little brother — facing those pure blue eyes, “It’s no problem. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be up here either.”

Then, his little brother smiled, pure and bright, and laughed, “Yeah, my boyfriend is never going to let me live this down. He said I needed to watch where I was flying, and I told him that there was literally nothing in the sky. Guess I was wrong.”

Boyfriend?! What, Jason is a baby — he’s only 16 why does he have a boyfriend?!

“Oh, sounds like your boyfriend cares a lot about you,” he better anyways, or Octavian will make sure that the body is never found.

Jason’s entire face lit up, an enormous grin on his lips and his eyes went fond as he spoke, “Yeah, Percy’s the best boyfriend I could ever ask for.”

“Perseus Jackson is your boyfriend?!” Octavian couldn’t help but shriek.

Jason's face instantly closed off, his body tensing, and he asked his tone growing harsher, “Who are you, and how do you know my boyfriend?”

“Anyone who knows a lick of the Greco-Roman Pantheon knows of Percy Jackson,” Octavian spoke, his voice wavering as Jason still glared at him with those blue eyes.

“That doesn’t answer my first question.” Jason said, his voice holding little emotion — the air seeming to tighten its hold around Octavian.

“It’s time,” Thoth’s voice echoes in Octavian’s head.

Octavian shutters, but he sighs in defeat. He knew that he couldn’t avoid this forever, but he thought, he thought he would have to to prepare for their reunion.

“Very well, but can we first land?” Octavian speaks up, and sees that Jason remains unwavering, and so he vows, “I swear on the River Styx that I mean you no harm and will tell you who I am once we land.”

An echoing boom instantly is heard, and Jason’s hold on the air snaps. The two fall through the air, and Octavian instinctively flaps his wings, but Jason is still falling.

“Jason!” Octavian yells and speeds off to his little brother as he hurtles through the sky.

Octavian catches his little brother before he goes splat, and Octavian yells, his voice worried, “Why did you not use your powers?!”

Jason breathed in deeply, his voice a bit panicked, “I was trying, but I couldn’t focus!”

Octavian sighed in relief, as he could feel his little brother once again command the air, and separated from him, “I’m glad that you’re alright.”

Jason gives Octavian an indiscernible look, and nods his head, “Yeah, let’s just land, alright.”

Octavian agrees, and soon enough the two land in some park, the autumn tree leaves falling gently around the two.

“So you wanted to know who I was,” Octavian spoke up, calling off his avatar form, the beginning of recognition and shock beginning to seep into his little brother’s form, “Well, I’m Octavian Grace …” Neither of his parents deserved to be parents, but at least with his mother’s last name he shared it with his siblings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Brother!” Jason cried, instantly slamming into the older’s body, wrapping him in a hug.

Octavian instinctively hugged back, his shock delaying his reaction — Jason knew, knew that they were brothers.

“How?” Octavian could only ask, still startled as Jason held him tightly crying on his shoulder. And oh how much Jason has grown to be able to reach his shoulder — he used to barely reach Octavian’s middle.

Jason looked up at Octavian, tears streaming down his face, and sobbed “T-thalia r-remebered y-you, and s-spoke at your f-funera-al.” Jason held onto Octavian tighter, as if he was going to drop dead any minute, “And then A-apollo t-told e-everyone h-how you s-saved us. How you s-sacrificed y-yourself.”

Octavian had no words, no words to describe the complete and utter shock he was in, so all he could do was gape and say, “What?”

Then, Jason gasped, “Thalia.” He grabbed Octavian’s hand, “You need to see her.”

Octavian felt completely overwhelmed, but at the same time he felt a smidgen of hope swell in his chest as Jason led him away. He was going to see his big sister again.

Apparently, Thalia and Jason must have been having a picnic, because there she was on a blanket surrounded by sandwiches and fruits laid out before her. Octavian ignored the other person — the aforementioned boyfriend that was sitting there as well.

She still looked so young, baby fat still clearly on her face, despite the fact that she’s 21, almost 22. She’s eternally 15, never able to grow up, to mature because she’s sworn an oath to Lady Diana.

“Who’s-,” Thalia muttered as she turned to look at Octavian being dragged by Jason, but then her eyes went wide with recognition.

Her eyes were alight, like lightning striking through a storm, as she hurtled herself at Octavian.

“Tavi!” She called out trapping Octavian in a tight embrace.

Octavian held his sister closely, the nickname making him reminisce when his big sister thought Octavian was an old man's name, and he needed a name fit for being her little brother. A time before his father took him away from her.

“You’re alive!” Thalia cried, relief awash in her face. “I never thought I’d see you again Tavi.”

“I’m here.” Octavian murmured and looked over to meet Jason’s eyes, and beckoned him over.

Jason didn’t hesitate and was embraced by his two older siblings, his face held in the crook of Octavian’s neck, as the middle sibling bent down to hold the two.

Everything felt right and whole again. His family was alive and well!

Of course, Octavian had to eventually address the elephant in the room.

“So…” Octavian began awkwardly as his siblings pulled back a bit, but never far away enough to not hold onto him — the memories of his death still too fresh, “Perseus Jackson, my little brother’s boyfriend?”

Jason's face went bright red, and he averted his eyes to look at Percy.

Percy hesitantly approached the trio of siblings, standing nearer Jason, and eloquently greeted, “Hello.”

Thalia's face palmed, and spoke, “This is little brother 2.0, also known as our future brother-in-law.”

Percy and Jason both sputtered but didn’t exactly refute her statement.

Octavian just simply observed, a small smirk growing on his face, “Well, nice to meet you brother-in-law.” It feels good to tease his younger brother, after sixteen years, and finally Octavian is free to just interact with him — to finally place his family before duty.

Percy’s face went as red as a tomato, but he smiled and held Jason’s hand tight in his.

“Stop teasing us,” Jason whined, pouting a little bit like a sad puppy.

Percy nodded his head, giving a look that reminded Octavian of a seal pup. These two.

“It’s only our right to tease little brothers,” Thalia smirked, “Tavi got a lot of catching up to do, after all.”

“Indeed.” Octavian agreed.

The two teens whined no’s, but their huge smiles gave them away.

Octavian thought, ‘This must be Elysium.’

It wasn’t perfect, too many distrusted the hero people lauded him to be when he returned to see Camp, and those that shifted their stances gave Octavian whiplash. But Octavian never did what he did for glory or claimed to be a hero — he did it for them, not the world after all. Still, Octavian will take this little piece of Elysium that he’s been granted with his siblings, and make sure every breath they take will never be their last.

Notes:

Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed my reading and the journey!

Through learning and re-reading about Octavian, he really is hated upon too much. Really, I view him as someone who doesn't like when other breaks the rules, as he views the rules are rigid, that they are there for a reason and meant to be upheld. Rick also describes everyone who meets him as instantly distrusting and not liking him, even as going as far as to say how is more effeminate traits are unappealing. Octavian was really just done dirty.

Anyways, Octavian's just a lil guy, who's also insanely tall, and as per my friend's head cannon, and is half-siblings with Thalia and Jason Grace. I honestly really love this, and my friend is such a good writer. I can't wait to read their Octavian fic!

First - Previous - Next PJO One-shot

16 notes · View notes

sforzesco · 1 year ago

Note

Very strange and random question, but would you mind directing me to your character design of Hermes? I'd also love to know if you have any tips on creating good character designs. If not, no worries!

Thank you for sharing your amazing art! The style is so good, and I always enjoy reading your comic strips. ❤️

I’ve drawn Hermes properly like, once before I think? in this comic! there’s another illustration of the same kind of scene with him, but I’m not a big fan of it and I’m thinking of redoing it sometime this year

ANYWAY character design advice! the Team Fortress 2 school of design will never steer you wrong (recognizable silhouettes), and one teacher I had personally liked the ‘opposites’ rule of character design, where you want some kind of noticeable ‘opposite’ of a character if you’re mostly doing pairs in a scene (so tall > short, that kind of thing). I personally adhere to whatever I think suits the narrative best/in a fun way. like, Crassus and Pompey are set up specifically for the story I have in mind

Pomepy is supposed to (eventually, it takes him a minute) be bulky enough that he could fold Crassus in half like laundry if he felt like it, and Crassus is supposed to look tall and thin, but he’s more lean muscle and could probably break your jaw if he hit you, and the subtextual narrative is about exploring all the ways they DON’T touch each other in the acts of violence that their bodies would be suited for, which is in total defiance of what comes before them, and also after (Antony and Octavian have a similar visual pairing, and it’s all physical violence there, baby)

in other news, I have a hard time figuring out a consistent character design until I figure out the story I want to tell lmao

there’s more about figuring out repeat draw ability vs complexity, balancing out overall design shape with accessories, clothes conveying personality and intent (character design work is a whole specialty tbh), but I tend to be a little more laid back about it because I’m more interested in prying open the story and then designing characters as the story comes together. like, sometimes I’ll shove a century of art history discourse into something, other times it’s Actor Hot, Show Rearranged The Circuits In My Brain, etc. but at the end of the day, I want it to work with the story, so I do these things side by side.

if you want more solid advice than this nebulous mess of thoughts, interviews with costume designers for movies or shows you enjoy is always always always a fantastic place to go to if you really want to understand how clothing and form convey intent and narrative to an audience: I keep a lot of that kind of theory in the back of my mind when I start seriously figuring out what I want a character to do, and by extension, how to look. interviews with animators and comic artists are good places to learn abt character design too!

#true detective s1 with the leather jacket scene was honestly life changing like oh this is how you tell a visual story with PUNCH #finger those holes Marty #ask tag #my big ‘look out’ advice is the tendency people have to over accessorize everything like if EVERYONE has ten million #cool things they are wearing then you have created visual sludge. nothing stands out. you’ve made a gacha game character #I say this with affection and disdain as a honkai star rail player #many of them look the same bc it’s the same level of over accessorizing. blah.

54 notes · View notes

pjoxreader · 2 years ago

Note

Leo/Frank/Reyna with an autistic reader?

Autistic Reader

((I unfortunately don't know much about Autism but I did my best! I did do some research so I hope it's alright!))

Leo Valdez

-Leo does his best to be supportive but he has a million things going through his brain. Unfortunately you like things to be done at their exact time and get anxious when they aren’t.

-”Leo, we’re already five minutes late!” you stress out pacing outside his room. Leo does make his way out, getting his jacket on. But when he goes out and sees you so stressed out he honestly feels bad. He just gets so absorbed in his own work that he forgets about time.

-However Leo decides right there and then that he never wanted to be the cause of your stress ever again. He makes multiple alarms for himself to block out his time. Just as you were about to go complain to Leo about being late, again, you hear him talk by the front door.

-“Come on love we don’t want to be late do we?” he gives that dorky grin that makes your heart flutter. He really was a dork but you do go over giving him a light kiss that makes him go bright red.

-He isn’t perfect though, he often messes up with realizing you take things very literally. Which he works his best on, but he was known for making jokes and such! He’d never mean it maliciously though!

-The worst scenario with that was when you were getting ready to join the ares cabin in sword training and Leo called “break a leg!” The stare you gave him really made him realize just how bad he messed up. He quickly starts to explain what the phrase means as he feels guilty right away.

Frank Zhang

-Frank knew anxiety could get bad, he had to deal with it a lot himself. You two had bonded over that when you were younger after all. And now Frank was trying to help you meet his new friends.

-Of course he knew it’d be a lot to meet six other people who all had their own unique personality… So he had warned the group ahead of time that you two might sneak off for a bit to help you relax, promising it wasn’t because of the group.

-Everyone was very understanding. Frank could see you were getting a bit overwhelmed and went to your side smiling softly “Did you want to take a break?” he asks, keeping his voice calm and you nod, taking a shaky breath as you look at the railing of the boat.

-Frank knew you were never one to make eye contact so he never bothered you about it. “Here, there’s a good spot over here.” He leads you over where the chatter dies out and you get to enjoy seeing the ocean.

-You take a few breaths helping yourself calm down as Frank waits, standing at the railing while he waits. He knows when to give you space and you couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend than him. After calming down a bit you feel guilty about running off from a party that was supposed to be about you making friends…

-”Hey, don’t feel guilty. They all understand.” he promises lightly sitting down beside you as if he read your mind. “Can I hold your hand?” he asks gently. You can’t help the soft smile forming on your face as you nod, holding your hand out for Frank to hold which he gladly takes. You can’t help but think how lucky you are.

Reyna Ramírez-Arellano

-Reyna is very observant, maybe it’s her combat skills but she just knows when something is wrong. She could tell the moment you don’t like something, the moment you’re stressed, or when you’re upset. She could really read you like a book.

-But what she did have problems with is telling your other emotions, which was unfortunate since you had a hard time explaining how you were feeling too. You were also very blunt and honest but she loved that.

-It was annoying having to deal with the other roman soldiers who would go around subjects to spare her or others feelings. She just wanted the truth and you would deliver. She was working on some paperwork and looked over to you.

-“What do you think of Octavian?” she asks curiously looking at you with a raised brow. You huff at that “I think he’s a jerk and I hate him for sacrificing my stuffed animal.” you say as if talking about the weather, making Reyna grin a bit at that she really did love how honest you were.

- She had to work out something to help you with your emotions, something that would help the both of you. She wanted to be a good girlfriend and be there to support you. But she knew that she couldn’t do it alone so she asked the other seven to help her come up with ideas.

-She should have just gone to Annabeth first as she printed out something called the emotion wheel. It was a wheel with different emotions on it that would then branch out to more detailed explanations like going from sad, to discourage. Something you could take one step at a time. It’d be perfect.

~Masterlist & Rules~

Like my writing? Please consider sending me a Ko-fi! ☕

#pjo #pjo x reader #hoo #hoo x reader #pjo fluff #leo valdez #leo valdez x reader #frank zhang x reader #frank zhang #reyna ramirez arellano #reyna x reader

143 notes · View notes

nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx · 2 months ago

Text

Helpless part 78, you deny there's anything you've got to hide or answer for

"Frank, could I please talk to you?"

"Yeah sure, what happened?" Reyna only used that tone when it was to do with preator stuff, for her to bring that up with the current Nico situation it couldn't be good.

"Hazel you can stay for this if you'd like though I can't imagine it'd be very entertaining. It's to do with certain parts of the rules in place at Camp Jupiter."

"I'll stay, sounds important." The daughter of Pluto didn't want to admit it was because she didn't want to move from her place in her boyfriends arms, it wasn't relevant either way. Reyna sat across from the two of them and placed a large purple book on the table, it had something etched in Latin on the cover but neither of them could make it out as of how worn away it looked. "What is that and why do you have it with you at any and all given times?"

"It's the rules in place at Camp Jupiter and the proper actions and punishments to be taken when any are broken; why wouldn't I have it with me? It's been very useful in the last couple of years."

"So what are we discussing exactly?" Frank asked, still confused about the situation.

"Well, until approximately a year ago being queer was a crime punishable by execution until Jason changed it."

"If you say one word about bringing back those regulations I will fight you and serve your dead body to your fucking dogs Reyna, do you fucking understand?" In any case she wouldn't have let it happen but especially after everything with Nico, he'd gone through enough, he didn't need to deal with this bullshit in Camp Jupiter, no one fucking did.

"Hazel, I'm sure she's going to say something reasonable." He attempted to glare at her but the daughter of Bellona still scared him.

"Well you see even with Jason's efforts he only managed to get rid of the execution part and it's still by all technicality considered a crime and could have punishments as high as letting the entire camp attempt to murder or torture you in any way they wish with no repercussions."

"Reyna, may I asked why this is still an acceptable form of punishment, for any crime?" The son of Mars mentally justified his fear of Reyna; he felt scared even asking the question.

"You do realise you're meant to know all of this as preator… right? It was added for the rapists."

"Fitting." Hazel added, still staring at Reyna, waiting for her exact words on the rule and how it was getting changed.

"I'm getting off topic, I'd like to propose that we remove it as a crime, make it legal. As preator do you have any objections before we take this for future analysis with the centurions? It'll of course need the approval of more than half to be officially removed so at least three full cohorts and six centurions but it can't even be considered without both preators approval." Reyna didn't even know if she wanted them to pass it or not, years of tradition thrown away. Still she couldn't shake the words of the Huntress and knew she'd have to make it back up to her. She knew everyone would vote for removing it as a crime, they all had last time. Well apart from Octavian, but he was thankfully dead now.

"No objections, why was this even a fucking thing?"

"Hey Reyna, just one question. Why did Jason struggle so much getting the rule passed? I have clear memories of him telling me most centurions agreed with him, considering you only need six we can discard Octavian and well almost everyone else wanted change. That only leaves you to object, would you like to fucking explain?" She connected the points in her mind, hoping this was completely baseless and she'd just made a mistake, still the look on Reyna's face didn't lie.

"Yes, refusal to change other parts of the rule was me, I regret that which is why I'm doing this, it should have been done years ago and it's my fault it wasn't."

"Bullshit. You didn't give a fuck then why would I believe you give a fuck now. What's the actual fucking reason Reyna? You didn't give a shit for so long and now suddenly have a change of heart? You knew this was part of the law and you just let it be, do you understand how many people you've hurt because of this bullshit rule?"

"Hazel, honey, breathe, what matters is that it's going to change now."

"No, Frank, she's right. I had so much time to make a change and I didn't take it, the only reason I'm doing anything now is for Thalia Grace and I guess Jason. I'm sorry, I'm trying to understand and I do truly want to make camp a safer place for people."

"Good, demigods go through enough without having to deal with this bullshit."

"If you have any suggestion on ways to make the camp more open and inclusive I'm open to any ideas."

"I'm not the right person to be asking. You could talk to Will maybe?"

"Okay, thank you Hazel. Frank can I just confirm, no objections?"

"None."

***

11 notes · View notes

f0xgl0v3 · 1 year ago

Text

Octavian!

Do I know what I am going to write in this? Vaguely. More headcanons because I want to take a break from that rendering of Octavian because I want to work and make something better than putting effort into something I won’t be proud of or whatever.

Also I just want to keep talking about him but whatever,

Octavian never been outside of Camp Jupiter/New Rome is canon in my mind. There have been very few times he has been outside the little bubble, which were,

The Wolf House: where he really just stayed close to the house (obvi. Course I’d love to talk more about the exacts but since we get no information about the wolf house though it’d be a pretty good way to start SoN and then seamlessly blend us into a timeskip of the Gorgon chase but whatever- we are given no information about the wolf house either and aaaaa-) but the Wolf House Octavian mentality was survive through with his wits and try to survive enough to run out of there as soon as possible when he has the training done.

His quest: we get no information on it, but we know that he had to do a quest to become a Centurion (Can confirm this is a rule, check the Senate scene near the beginning, I believe it was Larry the legionnaire that yelled it) though we also, sadly, get no indication what this question was. But I’d like to introduce the idea that it was a duo quest with Michael and Octavian and they became Centurions together (I’ll probably re-read this and then add more on later) but I’d assume this Question also has them steeped pretty deep into the mythological side of the world and they didn’t get much down time. But what little of the mortal world Octavian saw he thought was pretty cool- though he still thinks New Rome looks better. (Because if anyone walks up to me and says the current era of architecture we’re in is better than anything that predates the freaking 1950’s is lying to me and trying to make me buy a house. We have fallen as a society when we started thinking ultra minimalist boring homes that are devoid of any depth or visual interest was the best route to go for our buildings. But that’s another rant from me for another day-)

Siege of Mt.Tam: they had to travel the smallest bit for this but again, didn’t interact with the mortal world much, they all stayed pretty self contained to the temporary camp and the mountain itself.

The cross country trip to go attack the Greeks: this is the one we’re shown in canon or whatever. But this was probably the most chaotic of the times that Octavian had been out of Camp. It was a lot to deal with, really overwhelming to be stuck with everyone with no where to move or anything. But this would be the most he would really interact with stuff like fast food chains, gas stations, all the stuff. And New York, that was a thing that happened. I believe they briefly passed through New York (we know that at some point they’re inside of New York from the Rachel scene if I remember properly) and that meant Hotels, it was similar enough to the barracks that it was fine. Though I think that the whiplash from New Rome to this made Octavian a lot more hesitant about stuff like these cities. He likes modern culture to some extent (insert another Build-a-bear joke. And if anyone asks, I believe he totally gets them delivered to calcedott tunnel instead of going out to a physical store. He has never had the experience and childlike splendor of making one that that needs to change.)

Anyway yeah. I would also like to say that Octavian is okay on a string instrument. However I would like to say that he put all his eggs into one figurative basket when he was a small child by learning one full song only. A 6 year old Octavian skipped over learning reading notes and whatever and just copying the motions until it sounded okay. He doesn’t really know how to read stuff like notes or whatever but has a pretty okay sense of Rhythm.

Don’t ask him to dance though. Octavian may look a little more elegant moving around or fighting but he is an actual newborn giraffe.

Okay that’s all I have for now. Have a rad time and I’ll get out the next couple passes of the CJ map.

#idk how to tag this #hehe :3 #pjo octavian #hoo octavian #okay bye #Octavian headcanon #seriously is it too much to ask to just get a little more information on Camp #the guidebook would’ve been a great opportunity to lay down anything that is actually informative but it’s just a short story #don’t get me wrong I think it’s great but like :[#also they name the Janus kid freaking JANICE and no I won’t get over it that’s terrible #whether or not that’s terrible in the good or bad way I don’t know yet but Janice is silly

27 notes · View notes

tildeathiwillwrite · 7 months ago

Text

The Elf Under the Ice, Part 3

Fandom: Original Work

WIP: The Hunter, the Myth and the Cure (Tales from Valaria)

<- Previous Part | Next Part ->

Words: 700

Tag List: @fourwingedsnake @whumperofworlds @pigeonwhumps @mr-orion @scaewolf

@the-ellia-west

CW: transformation, referenced death

A/N: last little bit of the chapter. Not much happens but of course Draven can't just take Octavian's word that he's a skinwalker.

----------

Making a snap decision, Draven rose to his feet, sliding one of his small knives from his sleeve. He held it out towards Octavian hilt-first. “Hey.”

The elf froze mid-step at his approach, eying the proffered knife. He still appeared half-crazed with an emotion Draven couldn’t place, but he exhaled slowly, and the emotion became neutral, almost calculating. “What are you doing?”

“I have a… proposition.”

Octavian raised an eyebrow.

“I assume you know your way around this part of the Fells. I propose a deal. You help me track down my mark and I split the payment. You get time to process… whatever the depths you seem to be processing and some funds. I get a hand in my job and… you answer some of my questions. You have no weapons, but I assume you prefer knives, so you can borrow one of mine.”

Octavian stared at him.

“Plus,” Draven added, shrugging, “you kinda owe me for saving your life.”

The elf regarded him and the knife, eyes darting to the mouth of the cave and his stuff near the fire, almost dry by now. He slowly reached out, slender fingers wrapping around the knife.

Draven didn’t let go. Not yet. “First question: what are you?”

“Are you sure you really want to know?” The answer was quiet, devoid of emotion, and yet somehow thick with it.

Draven hesitated, noting the look in the elf’s eyes. “Yes. I’ve met elves before.” Like two in passing. “You’re different. Somehow.”

“Perceptive.”

“I try.”

Octavian exhaled slowly, thinking. “How familiar are you with the myth of the skinwalkers?”

Draven shrugged. “Familiar enough. Not too different from lycanthropes, the way I understand it. Two forms, a humanoid and a creature of some sort. But they can change whenever they want.”

“Yes.”

“You’re one of them?”

“Yes.”

“Prove it.”

Octavian narrowed his eyes, but Draven let go of the knife’s blade and stepped back, so he slowly tucked it away into one of the empty sheathes and cocked his head, as if he were listening intently to a far-off sound. He frowned slightly, staring into space, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

The transformation was so swift Draven almost missed it. Octavian’s body seemed to melt and mold itself into an entirely different being, flesh twisting and bones breaking and reforming, fur appearing from nothing, his clothes disappearing into thin air. It was strangely graceful and grotesque, within seconds he had changed completely from an elf into a massive silver wolf.

It was as long as Octavian was tall, coming about to Draven’s waist at the shoulder. Its fur was the same color as the elf’s hair, and it watched him with eyes identical to its humanoid form, the same wariness and apprehension apparent.

He’d been correct in his initial estimation. It was similar to a lycanthrope’s transformation under the full moon. It was similar, but so different it was unfair to compare them at all. A lycanthrope changed unwillingly, their body and mind wracked with agony and terror throughout the process. No control, no choice, only pain and the beast. He’d watched it unfold many times, had been forced to kill the beasts who moments before were people he’d considered friends.

Octavian’s shift, however… it was something else entirely. He’d summoned it, brought the transformation on by his own choice, at Draven’s urging. And while it had been slightly sickening to witness, the change had caused him no suffering. Was the consciousness the same, too? Or would that have shifted too, compensating for the senses and instincts of a predator while still maintaining sentience?

“Wow…” Draven breathed.

The wolf regarded him for a long moment before standing on its hind legs and melting back into the form of Octavian, who wore an expression of mild self-satisfaction. “We call ourselves devar.” He hesitated before continuing, “this might sound strange to you, but I’ve never heard of these ‘lycanthropes’. They sound close, in concept, but we are not the same.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Draven agreed, “not anymore. But it still doesn’t explain how you ended up under the ice—?”

Octavian held up a hand and crossed the cave, kneeling and picking up his tunic. “First, we find your lycanthrope. Then I answer that.”

Draven sighed but turned away and began gathering up his own stuff. “Fair enough, elf. Fair enough.”

#high-key proud of how i describe the transformation from an outside perspective #most of the time it happens so quickly people miss it or its from octavian's pov and he really barely notices anymore #my writing #fantasy writing #creative writing #transformation #skinwalkers #octavian de silv #draven cozenson #gunblade duo

8 notes · View notes

twoidiotwriters1 · 1 year ago

Text

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: Love is real I invented it -Danny Words: 2,241 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'Crumbs' -by Belaganas

VIII: Somebody Sedate Me!

Ara is looking at her reflection in the mirror with tension. What was that outburst she had with Percy? It's like he and Lily pull a trigger in her that she's yet to find.

She wants them to be proud of what she's accomplished, so why can't they be glad for once? Having a child of Olympus on their side during the war with Kronos would've made all the difference, why are they so pressed about it now?

Learn the difference between concern and distrust, says Lily's voice in her head.

Though they're not that different from each other. Both come from the same thought: This prophecy is beyond Ara's skills.

She brushes her damp hair (she took a shower to cool off), and puts on a camp half-blood shirt, then she grabs her cosmetic set and stares at it, she wears makeup when she needs to feel better. Now is one of those days.

When she arrives at the meeting, she's the only one who made an effort to look more than just well-rested and that cheers her up, Generals should look neater than their army.

It's the first time the seven gather with no one else around, except Ara and Coach Hedge. She makes her way to the head of the table and pulls back a chair at the same time Percy reaches for it. She looks at him thinking Are you kidding me?, but a second later her brother mumbles an apology and sits next to Annabeth.

Ara looks at the group trying to gather her thoughts. They do seem intimidating, but Ara's interacted with them in such domestic settings that to her they just look like kids. "Anything we should know about the expeditions?"

"Well, maybe the part where we ran into Nemesis," Hazel suggests.

Ara's got so many things in her mind she'd forgotten about Nemesis, but now that Hazel brought it up, she can feel the piece of paper the goddess handed to her burning through her pocket.

Leo and Hazel share their adventure, and Ara uttered no word. What she got out of that encounter is of no use to the others—and then Annabeth, Frank, and Percy talk about their quest, but nothing worth remembering comes out of it.

"So where to now?" Leo takes a bite of his pizza. "Ara and I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic."

"We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," Percy replies. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

"I don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans?" Piper offers. "Maybe—maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak."

"That won't cut it," Ara replies, perhaps too harshly. "For charmspeak to work, they have to find you appealing. I don't think they feel like cuddling us at the moment."

Jason tries to lift his girlfriend's spirits. "It wasn't your fault, Pipes. Or Leo's. Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

"Maybe if we could explain that, though—"

"With no proof?" Annabeth raises a brow. "And no idea what really happened? I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide."

"She's right," Hazel speaks hoarsely. She's having the worst seasick case ever but tries hard to keep it together. "Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't. The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions post-hac."

Ara plays with the last pieces of veggies on her plate. "Then we stick to our original plan, and we look for Nico."

Hazel's anxiety causes precious stones to gather around her plate. "Nemesis said we have only six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."

"You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?" Jason asks.

"I think, but if so, that's not much time."

"Why six days?" Percy questions. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"

"July first," Ara comments like it's obvious.

"What?" Her brother stares at her blankly.

Ara rolls her eyes. "All the stuff that's happened, Gaea's done them on important dates of our calendars. The winter solstice, the feast of fortune... the Kalends of July is a special occasion because," she pushes a piece of broccoli forward. "In Rome, that day's dedicated to Juno. Which is weird, 'cause I feel like that should be during the Kalends of June, but whatever—"

"How do you know all this?" Percy frowns.

Ara eats the piece of broccoli and points at Jason with her fork. "He's been teaching me Roman history for the past six months."

"Okay... so that connects to Nico... in what way?"

"We are six days away from July first," she frowns. "Nico's literal deadline lands on a big day for annoying people—the Romans—and Gaea likes to taint our big celebrations, so maybe she's using him as bait."

"I've been seeing some things in my knife," Piper blurts out of nowhere.

Frank gulps down his food with difficulty. "Things such as..?"

"They don't really make sense, just garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe twins."

"Twins, like in Ella's prophecy," Annabeth points out. "If we could figure out those lines, it might help."

"Wisdom's daughter walks alone," Percy recites. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Annabeth, that's got to mean you. Juno told me... well, she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She said she doubted you could do it. But I know she's wrong."

"Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired on us. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors—something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."

"Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo says. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled—"

"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Hazel quotes. "'An old wrong finally avenged.'"

"I was only a praetor for about two hours," Percy sighs, playing with his food like Ara does. "Jason, you ever heard a legend like that?"

"I... uh, I'm not sure," he says. "I'll give it some thought."

Percy and Ara both look at him with the same scowl. "You're not sure?" Percy repeats.

Ara could've pressured Jason into talking, but before she can, Hazel intervenes. "What about the other lines? Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death."

"Giants' bane stands gold and pale," Frank continues, "Won through pain from a woven jail."

"Giants' bane," Leo hums. "Anything that's a giants' bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their schizophrenic act together, that's good."

"We can't kill the giants without the help of the gods," Percy muses.

"I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without a god's help, just the two of you," Jason points to Frank and Hazel.

"Alcyoneus was a special case. He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn—Alaska. But not in Canada. I wish I could kill all the giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska into Canada, but..." Frank sighs. "Percy's right, we'll need the gods."

"Oh!" Ara snaps her fingers, putting two and two together. "They took him!"

Frank frowns. "Come again?"

"Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death," Ara recites again, looking at her sister. "In your vision, were the twins guarding something?"

Piper tries to remember. "I think they were... pulling up a large vase from a pit?"

"Was it large enough to fit a thin person in it?"

"You're not saying..." Hazel starts fearfully.

Ara's gaze darkens. "Your brother was looking for the doors of death, maybe he found them and knows how to close them, but they caught him before he could tell us."

"Di Angelo," Percy groans in realization, running a hand over his face. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath..."

Ara nods. "If Nico's been captured because he found the doors, rescuing him has to be our priority."

"Which is going to take us straight to those twins," Annabeth points out.

"Whom we can't defeat unless we get the giant's bane beforehand," Percy adds. "Whatever that is."

"And we must get all that before the Kalends of July, or everything will go wrong," Ara concludes with a sigh. "I'm not loving the tight scheduling..."

They stay quiet for a moment, trying to think of a different meaning to those lines, but nothing comes to them. In any case, going to Rome is what they were supposed to do since the start.

"So..." Leo drags his chair back once he finishes his food. "First things first, I guess. We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."

"Someplace close to a city," Annabeth says, "in case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"

"Well," Piper leans on the table. "How do you guys feel about Kansas?"

"Lights out! Settle down! Try to sneak out, and I'll smack you back to Long Island!"

Ara opens her cabin door angrily. "Coach! If you don't stop yelling you'll finish the quest as a potted plant!"

"Who're you calling a potted plant, Jackson? I'm a carnivorous one!"

"Those can be potted too, you jacka—"

"Someone needs a nap!" Leo comes out of his room, which is right in front of Ara's—definitely on purpose—and stops her before she kills the satyr. "It's alright, Coach, we're all tucked in, stop yelling."

"I don't see you tucked in, Valdez."

"Hedge, I swear," Ara says through gritted teeth, but Leo stands between them.

"I'm wearing my finest PJs, man, c'mon, knock it out," he guides the satyr towards his cabin.

Hedge gives in, though he gives out warnings as he goes. He stops before entering his room and points at them squinting. "You two—straight to bed."

"Unbelievable," Ara mutters, re-entering her room and leaving her door open.

As expected, when Coach Hedge leaves, Leo goes to his door and closes it loudly from the outside, then slips into Ara's room as quietly as possible. Ara crawls under the covers of her bed and Leo sits at the foot of it, his right leg hanging from the side.

He's got his crooked smirk that unsettles adults on his face, but he won't do anything unless Ara lets him, and right now all she wants is sleep. She curls up and buries one hand under her pillow.

"Not bad for our first day, huh?" He says.

Ara chuckles. "Not what I had in mind, to be honest."

Leo squeezes her calf over the covers. "You handled it well. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," she yawns. "You were great too."

"If those lines in Annabeth's prophecy are about Di Angelo..." he starts carefully. "Isn't it a bad idea to play along?"

Ara frowns. "You think we shouldn't save Nico?"

"We don't know for sure he's been taken—"

"Exactly," she interrupts him. "We're going to Kansas first, we could find something there that proves my theory wrong."

Leo nods, he doesn't want to upset her, so he changes the subject. "Well... I don't know about you, but I'm not sleepy yet."

Ara laughs and quickly tries to cover the noise even though it isn't loud. She sits up to face him properly. "Just ask, Leo."

"Can I stay?" He scoots closer. "I'll behave, obviously, I don't want your brother to gut me..."

Ara presses a palm against his chest, and his heart races at her touch. She should tell him about the curse since it concerns him too, but his heartbeat is so fast and he glows golden so brightly... she doesn't want to ruin his happiness, at least not tonight.

"You know, I think I understand Echo," she whispers.

"Hm?" Leo struggles to focus on her words, even though his eyes are on her lips.

"You can love yourself a lot," Ara explains, "but if you're genuinely in love with someone, you'll stay beside them, even if they give you sorrows. Echo sees something worth saving in Narcissus because she loves him, and you can't listen to reason when that happens."

Leo leans his forehead on hers. "But he already died once and it did nothing to make him reconsider."

"He's been cursed," Ara's voice quivers. "He can't change his fate alone. You're right, Echo's very strong and brave for staying by his side, considering she has no powers, no..." she chokes a little. "No answers."

Leo moves to look at her. "You okay?"

Ara wraps her arms around Leo and buries her face on his neck. "I lied. I got scared when you attacked me—and my ribs still hurt, and I don't like Hazel, and Percy's mad at me..."

Leo's guts twist with guilt, and Ara feels it right away. "Crap, I'm so sorry—I should've—"

She pulls the emotion out of him with her empath touch. "I was scared for you, Leo, not me," the girl assures him. "I'm telling you this... because you said we could lean on each other. Please, don't forget it."

"I won't," Leo tilts his head, staring at her with soft, loving eyes. "Wanna lean on me first?"

Her soul-light brightens and she buries her face in his neck again. "Yes."

"Alright," Leo grins and kisses the top of her head. "You know... I wouldn't mind living through a thousand shitty days like this one if it meant I'd hold you like this every night."

Her heart squeezes with unease. "I know."

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @asnyox-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled

#twoidiots writing #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #leo valdez x oc #leo valdez fanfic #doo

16 notes · View notes

anticomedygarden · 1 year ago

Text

solangelo marching band au part 2

i'm not typing out the whole title

part 1 | ao3

this is drastically shorter than the first AND last chapter, but it wouldn't make sense plot wise to not break it up like this, so sorry about that. the next chapter will probably be much longer, and it was almost done, but for some godforsaken reason i decided to add a few scenes so that probably won't be up for a little bit. again, i'm sorry.

here you go

Four hours, 5 minutes since

The bus took off out of the highway rest stop the same way all buses do: jerkily, and with little regard for the safety of the students it contained. It was exactly how Nico felt as he held back tears.

He couldn't believe that he'd let Will get so close so fast that he'd actually considered telling him about Bianca. How fucking stupid.

He was just about to take his phone out of his pocket to ask his stepmom to pick him up so that he didn't have to deal with his friends when a shadow fell across his seat.

"Hey," Will said. "What the hell?"

Nico didn't even look up at him. "Go away."

"No, not until you tell me what's going on," Will said.

If he thought that would make Nico talk, he was sorely mistaken.

After a minute of silence, Will threw his hands up in the air. "Okay, what the hell! One minute we're having a good time, bonding and whatever, and the next, what, you hate me? What happened?"

Nico could have laughed at that. Who was Will to yell at Nico when the golden boy was only in it for a bet? Already, he'd had enough. "Is that what we were doing? Bonding?"

Will raised his hands in a yeah gesture. "I thought so."

"Then tell that to Octavian. Keep your position. I don't care." He turned back around to the window and stared unseeing at the dark trees whooshing by.

"What are you talking about?" Will said with enough consternation that Nico began to believe he didn't know what Nico was talking about.

"The bet you made with Octavian," he explained. "I know he bet you for section leader that you couldn't talk to me."

"What?" Will's mouth was gaping now, true confusion lining his face. "That definitely never happened."

At this point, Nico's head was really filling with uncertainty. "In the bathroom, two guys came in and said it."

Will looked down, brows furrowed. "I never..." He trailed off and muttered incoherently. "Wait." He looked up, realization dawning on his face. "The guys who went in after you-"

Jostling the entire seat, he shifted to his knees without finishing and turned toward the back of the bus. "Bryce!"

Nico immediately slunk down in his seat. This was exactly the kind of social situation he liked to avoid.

"Solace! How's the bet going?"

Nico felt more than saw Will's entire body tense up. "There is no bet! I would never associate with Octavian."

That was fair, though Nico thought the personal insult to himself was the greater offense here.

Or the fact that the section leader position couldn't just be traded away because of a student bet, not without Chiron or Mr. D signing off on it, yet both Nico and Bryce had been so quick to believe it. Was he really so self-destructive?

Yes, apparently.

"But I heard-"

"From who?"

Bryce didn't answer that time.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. And, hey, if you're so close with Octavian, you can tell him I said to go fu-"

"Hey!"

Nico was pretty sure that was Mrs. Knowles from the front of the bus because a second later, she said, "Actually, I don't care. Just don't start fighting."

"It's fine," Will responded, swiveling back around until his ass touched the seat once more. "I'm done."

As soon as he was down, he turned to Nico. "I'm so sorry, I would never-"

"I believe you." He said it with such certainty and vehemence that Will's mouth snapped shut. He even surprised himself a little bit, though he knew the words to be true (and he didn't want Will to start yelling again). There was no shred of doubt in his mind anymore that Will was telling the truth.

Will blinked. "Well, I'm still sorry that you had to hear it."

"I don't need pity," Nico snapped, practically on instinct. That's all people ever seemed to have for him, anyway. Pity and irritation. Even if the stuff about the bet wasn't true, this still was. Not even Will was exempt.

That wasn't fair. The other boy had been nothing but kind, even empathetic when Nico told him about his dad rather than pitying. Maybe he really did feel guilty. The thought was enough to make Nico a little guilty himself. "I'm sorry for believing it."

Will smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. I know you haven't had the best day."

Nico bristled, then narrowed his eyes at Will. Were his social skills really so bad that Will thought that, even when he was actually having a good time? "What?"

Will looked at him, seemingly confused. "You got up at 3:30 a.m. to sit on a bus for three hours, then got stranded at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, and you barely even got to see your friends all day."

Through special effort, Nico kept his mouth from dropping open in surprise at Will's perceptiveness. Everything he said was true, almost more so now. The rumors and emotional morning had run him ragged despite how much better the afternoon with Will had left him. Even so, he didn't like being so easy to read. With anybody else in his life, he wouldn't have this problem. It was something he prided himself on, his consolation prize for all the nights sitting alone in his bedroom.

"Plus, I don't know what happened, but I know something did because you've been avoiding your phone all day."

Nico's mouth really did drop open at that, though he refused to give Will the satisfaction. "Maybe I just didn't want it to die."

Will cocked his head, then shook it. "Is that why you told Percy to keep your friends from calling you and turned on 'do not disturb'?"

Nico really did start to get annoyed then because this was ridiculous, not least of all because Will was absolutely right. Something had happened, and it sucked, but that was none of Will's business.

Probably sensing Nico's uneasiness, Will held his hands up. "Hey, I'm not asking what it was, I'm just saying it's okay to be upset."

"I know that," Nico said hotly. He'd had a damn lifetime of being upset. The problem was that he didn't want to be anymore. "It's stupid."

"I doubt that."

He said it with such certainty, such abject belief, that Nico ripped his phone out of his pocket, opened his messaging app and clicked Jason's text chain, scrolled through the last 40 or so texts, and thrust his phone out to Will. "Here."

1 minute before

59 minutes into their three hour ride home, Nico's eyes were held open only by the feeling of the stiff, bumpy old leather seat of the school bus rattling under his sore ass. He'd tried playing on his phone to distract himself, but, like an idiot, he'd forgotten his earbuds. For now, he could watch the orange and yellow trees race by the cold, hard window.

A sign passed by, too fast for Nico to focus on. For all he knew, they were in Albany.

He rested his head in the corner where the window met the back of the seat. It made his temple hurt, but it was better than trying to stay awake.

His phone vibrated in his hand with a text from Jason. Without thinking, he clicked on it.

Jason

Hey, I know you hate this stuff, so I'll keep this short

You did great today, and I'm really proud of you for going for section leader. I'm gonna miss you a lot. Love you

That was it, just 35 words of kindness. It was too much, and for a moment, Nico just sat there, paralyzed. He couldn't think past the roaring in his ears.

I'm gonna miss you.

Because Jason was about to graduate. Because almost all of his remaining friends were about to graduate and leave him behind.

This felt too much like a goodbye.

Suddenly, the bus stopped, and Nico realized they'd pulled into a rest stop, forcing him to drag his attention to the front of the bus. Oh-no.

Thrusting his phone in his pocket, he sat up to see Mrs. Knowles standing by the driver. She turned. "Everybody out of the bus!"

Hushed murmurs grew into panicked chatter as all three dozen juniors filed through the narrow bus hallway and out the door, all the while Nico followed behind, not quite processing what was going on.

When he stepped out onto the pavement and saw the smoke coming up from the engine, his only thought was, It's cold.

4 hours, 11 minutes since

Nico watched nervously as Will read Jason's text, resisting the urge to rip the phone out of his hand.

Finally, he finished and handed the metal object back, and Nico waited for Will to tell him was being stupid and overreacting. Instead, he said, "Damn, that's a lot."

If literally anything else had come out of the blond's mouth right then, belittling, condescending, or an apology and asking if he was okay like Jason's last 40 texts and Nico probably would have exploded, jittery energy escaping his body like gunfire. As it was, laughter bubbled out of his mouth, surprise holding back nervous tears. He tried to form words, but the lump in his throat stopped him, and he just kept laughing.

Will made an odd noise. "What's so funny?"

Nico's fingers splayed on the seat and he clutched his stomach, laughter drying up. "I-" He stopped, then tried again. "That's been haunting me all day, and you just-" He gulped, unable to continue.

"I just what?" He sounded so confused, Nico laughed again. Alarmed, Will said, "What did I do?"

Damn, that's a lot, like this whole shitty situation could be summarized like that, like Nico hadn't been overwhelmed with what he was supposed to do with his life now that his friends were leaving all day long, like his problems could be sorted through if he let himself feel instead of avoiding everything and hiding like normal.

What did I do?

You did what you've been doing all day, Nico thought. You made it easier.

He scrubbed his wet eyes and looked back at Will. "You don't suck."

"Uh..." Will paused, blushing. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome."

After a moment, Will cleared his throat awkwardly. "You can talk to me, you know, about what's really going on."

Nico actually considered it but ended up shaking his head. He'd thought about it enough today. Instead, he asked something else that had been on his mind since they crashed at the rest stop. "Why me?"

"What?"

"Why did you hang out with me all day?"

"Oh, uh." Will's ears turned beet red, and he looked down. "I kind of, um, like you."

Nico almost choked. There was no way he heard that right. "Um. What?"

"Yeah, I've liked you pretty much since I first saw you," Will said, oblivious to Nico's growing panic. "But you're always with your friends, or it was a bad time, or something else, so finally today, I said I was just gonna do it, but then you were so upset, and then there was the whole thing with the bet, and I'm making a huge fool out of myself, aren't I? Oh my god, you think I'm insane. I'm gonna go. Yeah, I'm gonna go."

He started to rise, but in a move surprising himself most of all, Nico pulled him back down. "No! You should stay."

When Will continued to look embarrassed and vaguely shellshocked, Nico made a noise of panic. "What I mean to say is," he started, then stopped for a minute, thinking. "Do you remember the first time we saw each other?" Nico asked.

Will shook his head no.

"It was the day I moved to Olympus. Percy was showing me around, and we got into the band room, and I heard this horrifying squeaking noise. It was you. You must've still been learning the piccolo because it really sounded horrible." Will made a face, but Nico kept going. "I remember seeing you and thinking, 'Wow, he's gorgeous. I better not get attached or he'll just be another person to let me down.'" Nico hugged his knees closer to his chest. "So I spent the next two years talking to know one except my cousins and their friends even though I knew they would all leave before me and even though Hazel had her own circle and didn't need me. Because I wasn't ready for anything else. I wasn't ready for anybody to need me or expect things from me." He took a deep breath, thinking about Bianca. He'd spent so long wishing she were still here, obsessing over her death and thinking about how different he would be if he still had her, wondering if she would accept him. It never mattered, in the end. She was still gone, and he was alone, practically of his own volition. But he didn't have to be.

Slowly, he uncurled, sitting up and resting one foot on the floor with the other still folded beneath him. "I'm ready now."

In front of him, Will's blue eyes flashed in surprise, but he didn't resist when Nico leaned forward and pressed their lips together.

It tasted like chicken nuggets.

Six hours since

When they finally touched down in the band room around 7:30, it was dark outside. The temperature had dropped even further, too, and Nico pulled the sleeves of his under shirt over his hands to keep his fingers from freezing.

After he kissed Will over an hour and a half ago now, they'd pulled away quickly, hyper aware of being two boys on a high school bus.

They hadn't done nothing though. Afterwards, Will had given Nico a small smile and whispered, later, then pulled out his phone, handed Nico an earbud, and turned on Shrek.

Now, stepping into the band room, he took a deep breath. He wouldn't go as far as to say that it felt like coming home, but it felt pretty damn good.

The familiar blue carpet and red walls greeted him alongside the smell of sweat lingering in the air, even two hours after everyone had gone. Chiron could be seen in the office looking the same as he had the last time Nico saw him, though with a few more bruises under his eyes.

Then, of course, there was the tall blond with glasses barreling towards him, still wearing his bright orange band t-shirt and grey joggers.

"Nico!" Jason said, barely stopping within two inches. "Are you okay?"

Nico blinked. "You're still here?"

Jason frowned. "Of course I am. I'm your ride."

"Oh." He looked around to see if everyone else was still there. “Have you been here the whole time?”

Jason shook his head. “No, I took Piper, Leo, and Hazel home, then came back about a half hour ago. Why did you tell Percy to tell us not to call you?”

Maybe he really should've texted his cousins back because this was going to get awkward fast.

Will had already gone off to the instrument closet to put his piccolo away, leaving Nico to break the news to Jason that he was going home with Will (and probably spending the night, but that was besides the point).

Of course, at that very second, Will walked up behind them and said, "You ready to go?"

Jason raised an eyebrow, probably attempting to draw his own conclusions. "Is there something you wanna tell me?"

Nico didn't answer, but Will's face went suddenly blank. "Oh. Hey, Jason."

"Hi." The senior narrowed his eyes. "Are you taking Nico home?"

"Actually, we-"

"Yes! He is taking me home. We are going home." Before anyone could process his obvious lie, he took off towards the instrument closet, Will following behind, leaving Jason staring confused after them.

"Hey, just so we're on the same track, does that mean we're not telling people yet?" Will asked.

Nico paused to look at him, suddenly afraid he did something wrong. "I just kinda assumed."

Will nodded. "That's fine. We should probably talk, anyway, before anything else."

Thankfully, he didn't see Nico gulping because Jason came up behind them. "Hey, can I talk to Nico for a second?"

Will's face went pale again, and Nico realized he was actually nervous which was kinda ridiculous. Of all Nico's friends, Jason was not the one to be afraid of. "Yeah, I'll just...go put our uniforms away."

With one last nervous glance between Nico and Jason, he took Nico's uniform bag and walked away, leaving Nico alone with his cousin and what was sure to be a very unpleasant conversation.

"I feel like I freaked you out earlier, with the text," he said bluntly. Cutting right to the chase.

Nico didn't say anything. It didn't seem like Jason's words required a response, obvious as they were.

He was still holding his trombone, though, so he continued on to the instrument closet, and Jason kept pace with him.

"I hope you know that it's all true, and I wasn't trying to make you feel bad or anything." He was starting to sound rambl-y now, like he wanted to make Nico say something, but he wasn't sure how. He really should know by now that there was no point.

Anyway, Jason must've realized that, because the next thing he said was, "Please say something."

They reached the instrument closet, a square room the size of a small classroom lined with cubbies of different sizes. Nico's was on the far end in the back corner. He walked towards it. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, just..." He shrugged. "How do you feel about all this?"

Nico almost laughed. If Jason asked him that this morning, he certainly would have spiraled, caught up in his horrible feelings and catastrophizing about spending a year alone, but now? He didn't really feel anything. The idea of his friends graduating still scared him, yeah, but it didn't feel the same as it had just a few hours earlier. "I feel fine."

Jason gave him a disbelieving look, making Nico roll his eyes. "Really?"

The black haired boy threw his trombone in his cubby, and they walked back into the band room where Nico immediately found Will waiting by the door, still looking nervous. It made him smile, and he realized why he suddenly felt okay. Everything going on stopped feeling like an ending, but a beginning.

That thought in mind, he turned to Jason. "Look, I know you're all worried about me, but seriously, I'll be fine. It had to happen at some point. It's okay."

Jason still looked unsure but nodded anyway.

"Now go home. You've been up since like 3 this morning."

Jason studied him again but finally took his keys out of his pocket. "Fine. Are you going home?" He knew better than to assume Nico would actually go to bed, but it was a nice thought.

And he looked forward to blowing Jason's mind. "I think I'm going to Will's actually."

Jason's mouth dropped. "For real?"

Nico nodded. "Yes, now you can stop worrying about me."

"That's nice, but I'll never not be worried about you." He dodged Nico's punch and scurried to the door. "See ya!"

Shaking his head, Nico walked up next to Will. "You ready to go?"

Relief shone in Will's pretty eyes. "Yes."

Nico grabbed his hand, and together, they left the band room behind.

29 notes · View notes