A/N: I really wanted to write something like this for a long time. Gonna make this a short series of mini chapters about Jason growing up at Camp Jupiter. Enjoy!

Song: 'I Will Wait' – Mumford & Sons

Jason was tired. He was hungry. And most of all, he was scared. He'd been wandering up and down the highway tunnel for hours now, his tiny, three year old hand tracing the wall, looking for a door or lock or something that would reveal Camp Jupiter to him. He knew he was in the right place. When he'd left Lupa a week earlier, she'd given him specific directions to the entrance to the camp. He'd followed those directions, yet still couldn't find what was to be his new home. He was close to tears.

Jason flopped down on the ground, giving up on the brave little legionnaire that Lupa wanted him to be. He couldn't find the camp. Mommy wasn't there to help. Thalia wasn't either. Jason had spent so long with Lupa he'd begun to forget his mother and sister. His mother's face was lost to him now, but not Thalia's. He promised himself to not forget the sister who'd loved him.

He was miserable. He wanted to go home.

A door opened in the stone wall a metre to Jason's left. The tiny kid scrambled back, cutting his hands on broken glass and debris deposited by drivers through the highway tunnel. Two kids dressed head to foot in Roman armour stepped out of the door, which swung shut behind them. They each carried a pilum in their hands and wore purple T-shirts under their armour. They were both small, like kids.

"I hate sentry duty," one of them, a girl, grumbled.

"Me too," the other, a boy this time, muttered. "Especially at dinner."

The girl grunted. The boy took a flask from a little leather pouch on his hip and took a swig of it. He stumbled slightly on his feet, as if drunk, and fell towards where Jason hid in the darkness. Jason yelped and skittered back as the boy fell. The girl gripped her pilum and span to face Jason.

"Who's there?" she demanded. Now that Jason could see her face, she saw she was only around nine or ten, while the boy seemed to be around twelve. They both glared into the darkness, right at Jason.

His heart hammered against his chest. Feeling even more terrified than before, he stepped out of the shadows to face the two heavily armed kids. The two of them looked stunned when they saw Jason was just a kid. The girl crouched down on the ground, leaning on her pilum. Up close, Jason could see the freckles splattered across her nose, her hazel eyes and the locks of deep brown hair underneath her helmet. The boy had deep brown eyes and blonde hair, along with an acne patch on his left cheek.

"Kid, what are you doin out here?" the boy asked, picking himself up off the ground. He looked so tall and intimidating that Jason felt his fear and tears begin to build up again.

"I-I was s-sent by Lupa," he stammered, his tears falling down his cheeks and marking tracks through the dirt that had coated his face. The two kids glanced at each other.

"What's your name?" the girl asked in a much gentler tone than the boy.

"Jason Grace," he mumbled, wiping his running nose with the back of his hand.

"And who's your godly parent?"

"Huh?"

"Is your mom mortal?"

"Yes."

"So, who's your dad?"

"Jupiter?"

Again, the two kids glanced at each other worriedly, before the big boy sighed and crouched down next to the girl, a small smile on his face. "My name's Harry Grey, son of Bacchus, and this is Amy Waterworth, daughter of Ceres."

Jason wiped his nose again, snurched once and managed a small smile at Harry and Amy, his first smile in months. Ever since his mom had left him with Lupa, he'd had no reason to smile. Being abandoned by his own mom kind of ruined him.

"Welcome to Camp Jupiter, son of Jupiter," Amy smiled, pushing the door she and Harry had appeared out of. A stream of golden light fell across the tiny sidewalk of the highway. Harry lifted Jason up, holding the toddler against his chest. Jason was so tired he didn't even complain.

"Come one, kid," Harry grunted, following Amy through the doorway into the tunnel behind. "Let's go meet the rest of the camp."

The tunnel sloped and narrowed as Harry carried Jason. The gentle rocking motion almost sent the toddler to sleep, but he willed himself to stay awake. After all, he was about to meet the rest of the camp.

The tunnel opened up onto a large valley. Jason stared down at the camp awestruck. The camp was enormous. A river, the one that Lupa had called the Little Tiber, weaved around the camp into a large town a mile away from the camp. He could see the aqueduct, Temple Hill, the barracks, the baths, the coliseum and Mount Diablo rising up in the distance. Everything was so beautiful and unbelievable. Jason's mouth hung open as he stared down at the dark town.

"Welcome to your new home," Harry grinned. Amy laughed at the sight of Jason's face.

"Let's get in the gates," she said. "No one's on duty. Everyone's at dinner. Cato and Abelia are going to throw a fit. Normally, new members are my age, not toddlers."

"Abelia won't be so bad," Harry reassured Jason, who'd begun to panic. "She's a daughter of Ceres as well, so she's Amy's sister."

Jason nodded once before leaning his head against Harry's shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to have something to eat and go to sleep. He'd been through enough in the last week to care anymore.

Harry and Amy waded across the Little Tiber. The water lapped at Jason's filthy clothes and made them stick to his skin. Jason found himself chewing his lip where his little scar from trying to eat a stapler months ago was. From the what Amy and Harry were saying, he assumed he was in deep trouble. But, his dad seemed to be really important. He didn't understand everything about the gods. He just liked the stories. But his dad always seemed to be important in the stories, so maybe they'd be nice to him and let him stay.

"There's the mess hall," Amy said as they walked through the gates into the camp. The windows of the building Amy pointed to were golden and glowing with light, and a long stream of shouts and clangs of metal flowed out of the open doors. Amy led the way. Just before they reached the doors, Harry set Jason down with a grunt.

"Can you walk?" he asked. Jason nodded, feeling too scared to open his mouth at that moment in time. He clung to the hem of Harry's purple shirt as they walked into the mess hall.

The light was blinding and the sound was deafening for a few moments before Jason's eyes and ears adjusted. His mouth dropped open slightly. Over two hundred demigods loitered around on recliner couches, talking and shouting to each other and changing tables as they pleased. Food and drink flew through the air in mini hurricanes that caused general chaos. Helmets, spears and shields lined the walls beside the doors. Banners hung from the ceilings. At the front of the mess hall, thirteen demigods sat at a table separate from the others. Two of the demigods wore purple cloaks over golden armour. Jason recognised the cloaks immediately as the symbols of the praetors. He assumed that the other demigods were the centurions of the five cohorts.

The wind began to die down and demigods turned to stare as Harry, Amy and Jason walked up to the top table. A few pointed to Jason and whispers began to buzz in the toddlers ears. He resisted the urge to start sucking his thumb – a thing he'd found out he did when he was nervous or worried. At the top table, the centurions and praetors had stopped eating and were glaring in Harry and Amy's direction. The girl in the purple cloak didn't look as scary as the boy, who looked absolutely terrifying. The two praetors stood up, abandoning their table and walking down to meet the trio half-way to the table.

"What is this?" the boy near shouted, coming to a halt and standing with his hands on his hips. Jason noticed a tattoo burned into his arm: the letters S.P.Q.R, two crossed spears and six straight lines. Lupa had told Jason that the lines represented years of service at the camp and that the symbols represented whoever a demigod's mom or dad was. He didn't much like the idea of having them burned into his skin.

"We found him outside the tunnel," Harry said, pushing Jason forwards slightly so that the boy, who Jason took to be the Cato Amy mentioned earlier, could see him better. The girl Abelia's eyes softened at the sight of Jason, so small and scared. Whereas Cato radiated power, strength and fear, Abelia had a softer, kinder aura around her, more motherly and nurturing. Her eyes were a soft brown, like chocolate.

"He's a son of Jupiter," Amy said in a squeaky voice. The whole mess hall erupted into angry voices and shouting. Cato had to shout several times before it all died down. Jason almost started crying again when Cato turned his horrible glare onto him.

"What's your name?" Abelia asked, kneeling down in front of Jason.

"J-Jason Grace," he stammered, twisting his hands around the edge of his shirt nervously.

"Did Lupa send you?" Abelia asked gently, and Jason nodded once. The praetor looked back to her partner, whose face was quickly turning red.

"Praetor, how can a toddler join the legion?" one of the centurions at the top table shouted.

"We can't send him away!" another centurion, a black haired, blue eyed girl, shouted back. "He's a kid! He'd never survive out there on his own!"

"Let him join the Fifth then!" someone in the crowds yelled. "Geeks and Greeks."

The girl at the top table exchanged a tense glance with a red headed boy sat next to her. They both started to talk to each other in quick, almost unintelligible Latin.

"He has to go somewhere," Abelia said calmly, straightening up again.

"The Fifth can take him," the girl said. The boy nodded earnestly beside her.

"Are you sure?" Cato asked. He seemed to be deflating, the red in his cheeks and forehead slowly fading back to a more normal pastel colour that seemed healthy.

"We're sure."

"You will be responsible for him, though. Anything goes wrong with him, it's your fault."

"W-We understan'," the boy stammered. He had a strong Texan accent.

"Wait, what about the auguries?" one of the kids at the top table shouted. He was a tall, thin kid with blue eyes and messy blonde hair. From his belt hung a short silver knife and three blue Care Bears. He looked sort of mad.

Abelia glanced back at the boy, then looked at Jason with concern. The two centurions who said they would take Jason in glanced at each other worriedly. Cato glared down at Jason, who resisted the urge to run away and hide.

"Fine," Cato grumbled. "Read his auguries. And, if they come up positive, the Fifth can take him in and be responsible for him. Harry, Amelia, back to your cohorts. Centurions Smithy and Alexis, accompany Grace to Temple Hill."

The two centurions nodded and scrambled to their feet. The boy with the Care Bears led the way out of the mess hall, Jason jogging to try and keep up with his brisk steps. The kid led the two centurions and Jason out of the camp and down a mile long road. The pavestones were uneven and made Jason stumble every few steps, until he went crashing down and scraped both his palms and his cheek on the rough floor.

"Slow down, Octavian," the girl, Alexis, growled.

"Why are ya in such a rush anyway?" Smithy asked, kneeling down and helping Jason to his feet.

"I don't want to miss the war games," Octavian snarled, pointing to what looked like a fort in the middle of a mile wide field. Water cannons and wooden towers were set up along the wall and there were numerous stone buildings behind the walls. Around thirty or so demigods ran around, carrying stones and wooden planks, trying to add the finishing touches to the walls and the towers.

"Because war games are more importan' than a son o' Jupiter," Smithy growled, picking Jason up the same way that Harry had. Octavian narrowed his eyes but decided to say nothing. He just turned tail and carried on towards the hill beside the small town. He led them straight to the largest temple. It was situated on the top of the hill, and was completely open, with a golden statue of a man holding a lightning bolt and wrapped in a purple cape stood on a large dais.

"Temple o' Jupiter Optimus Maximus," Smithy said to Jason. "Your dad's temple, in other words."

Octavian headed straight for the statue and bowed to it once, before he retrieved something sort and silver from the statue's foot.

"You wouldn't happen to have a teddy bear with you?" he asked Jason, addressing the toddler properly for the first time. Jason stared at him blankly until Octavian sighed and pulled one of the Care Bears, a blue one, from his belt and turned back to the statue. He raised the silver thing, and Jason noticed that it was a knife. Octavian gutted the teddy bear (much to Jason's horror), pulled out some of the stuffing and muttered a kind of incantation into the fluff before turning around again with a horribly pained smile.

"The auguries say Jupiter's brat can join the legion," Octavian said. Even his cheerful tone sounded strained.

"That's great!" Alexis grinned, ruffled Jason's hair as Smithy let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Yes, yes, hooray and all that," Octavian growled, shaking his hands free of fluff. "But, remember this Alexis…" Octavian stood over the centurion. Smithy growled. His hands tightened on Jason's tattered shirt and his skin underneath painfully. Jason whimpered slightly. "He steps out of line; both you and Smithy will join in with his punishment, which, as I'm sure you know, is death. Good luck!"

Octavian disappeared down the hill, leaving Alexis breathing heavily, Jason quivering and Smithy muttering angrily.

"Well," Alexis gasped, her face red, "That could've gone worse."

A/N: Twice in one chapter! /gasp.

Most of these characters are made up. Octavian is not from the original HoO books. This Octavian is the HoO Octavian's dad. In my headcanon, 'Octavian' is the family surname.

Anyways, review, follow, favourite, do your thing! Next chapter shall be up soon, along with the next chapter of 'Surf, Sun and Sky'!