"The trouble is: you think you have to explain yourself. Don't, to anyone."
The words were still ringing in his ears as he looked out over the lake. That quote had really gotten to him, that sentence had clung to his persona and had no idea where he had heard it. This was life changing, and the source was an enigma.
He had been there for months, carefully avoiding everyone and keeping his head down. They respected him, with his list of achievements only an idiot would dare cross him. But he was self-conscience. They were missing their own hero, their own version of him. He knew they were watching him. They were waiting on him to mess up, to show he hated all of them.
But those words, the phrase. It really spoke volumes about how he felt. He was trying to tiptoe around them, when all he needed to do was be himself. He had not asked to be sent there. He had not wanted to leave his old life for this place. He was just a pawn in all of this.
But when he was with them, he knew they were waiting on something to happen. Romans and Greeks had never gotten along. And traditional the Romans started it.
Only three of them seemed to be okay. They spared him the looks, the spared him the stress of this horrible situation. They were his friends, or he hoped they were. Three people in a whole camp of demigods.
"Jason," Leo was walking out of the woods. He had paused the construction of his war ship to spend a few hours in the bunkers with his siblings. Actually some of the campers had forcefully removed the boy from the partially constructed Argo II to make him eat a decent meal and sleep in an actual bed.
Piper had tried, but all she had managed to do was get Leo to eat and extra bologna sandwich and take a nap on a cot he had found somewhere. Chiron, the activities director, had just barely convinced Leo to allow other campers to help build the ship. Leo was working too hard, and it showed.
"What are you doing man? We have a war ship to build!" Leo slapped Jason on the shoulder, a goofy grin plastered across his face.
Jason was one of the few people who had been invited to help build the ship from the beginning. Leo said his best friend had to help, and this friendship was based off of fake memories that only Leo possessed. Jason wanted to be Leo's friend, but "best" friend might have been an exaggeration. All Jason knew about Leo was what he had learned since waking up in the Wilderness School, not nearly enough to make the eccentric demigod his "best" friend.
"I was just thinking," Leo groaned rolling his head around on his shoulders.
"You think too much," Leo wrapped an arm around the taller boy and started leading him toward the partially construction ship. "The Argo II is almost ready. Soon we'll be sailing to that Roman camp to get this Percy guy Annabeth's looking for. And then we'll be off to Greece," Leo held his hand out, envisioning the voyage around the world.
Jason sighed looking out over the lake again. Soon they would be sailing to California to Camp Jupiter to find Percy, and he would have to explain where he went eight months before. Reyna would want answers, she would demand he tell her everything, and she would blame him for his disappearance. Roman Gods were far less involved than their Greek counterparts.
When he had arrived at Camp Half-Blood they had all been demanding answers from him. Answers he could not give, some he still could not give. Why him? Between him and Reyna, why had Hera/Juno chosen him to be traded between camps? He was accomplished, yes; but she was the better leader.
"Dude," Leo was waving a hand in Jason's face. "Quit thinking so much, you'll hurt yourself."
Jason smiled looking at the Greek demigod, his friend. "I've never hurt myself thinking," he responded lightly.
"Well I have," Leo continued in all seriousness. "And I'll tell you, it is not a pleasant experience." Jason laughed as they walked toward the Argo II.
Annabeth was standing on the deck looking at the control system Leo had designed for his ship. Jason could see her mane of blond hair sticking out around a bandana. She had been as dedicated to the construction of the ship as Leo, maybe even more so. But her siblings were more skilled at removing the fierce warrior from the building efforts than Leo's.
Most times the mere mention of Percy sent her into overdrive, but sometimes it stopped her, and Annabeth would leave to attend to something else. Jason had no idea what they were saying to her to any other time, but he could see her leaving the Poseidon Cabin several hours later. The other campers had explained the relationship between her and Percy, he could easily understand why she was so upset about his disappearance.
"Leo, these controls don't make any sense," Annabeth called when she saw the two of them. "I read the blue prints, and it made even less sense."
"You just have to feel it," Leo released Jason and climbed up next to Annabeth, talking about how everyone over thought everything and they were going to hurt themselves.
Jason stopped looking up at them. They both knew exactly who they were, and want they were doing on this quest. They never had to explain themselves to the others, it was just understood or people just accepted it. Jason felt the need to justify his actions. He was the odd man out. They were watching him, waiting on him to slip up.
The trouble is: you think you have to explain yourself. Don't, to anyone.
He had never wanted to leave New Rome. He had been content there, willing to live his life blissfully unaware of the Greek camp in New York. But he was there now. Now he knew there were others.
Had Hera/Juno heard this mysterious quote? Had she acted knowing she would never have to justify herself? Would she have done this to him if she had?
Could he live like that? Could he really do want he wanted and never care if it offended someone? Would he ever be that kind of person?
Looking up at Leo and Annabeth, arguing over the set up of the ship, he wished that could be the case. They were both able to live knowing all their actions would never be justified. The gods lived that way. Could he?
Standing the Greek camp, Jason really wished he could.

A/N This quote is very inspirational to me, only I have no idea where I read it. I stumbled across it on one of my social media sites, but when I originally posted it I had failed to quote it. So I don't know where it came from.