He Was Never Yours (He Is a Child Of Rome)
NOTES: Hope you guys enjoy a retelling into Jason's memories. This has always bothered me, that Jason's memories weren't explored or even Camp Jupiter or his time at the camp. I wish Riordan would have done that but alas it will be reduced to fanfiction and it really irked me when Jason just (in my eyes, my opinion) just threw away his Roman friends for the Greeks. Not to say that it was bad but... it seemed pretty bad. So, I decided to fix it and make Jason Grace the true Roman that I see him be.
I do not own Lord Byron's poem Rome, which I found quite good nor the quotes from The Lost Hero, obviously. The only thing that I own is my OC's Sasha Leon and Lila Goode. Hints of Jason/Hazel if you squint. Hope you guys like the story, leave a comment down below! :3
OH, Rome! my country! city of the soul!
The orphans of the heart must turn to thee,
Lone mother of the dead empires! And control
In their shut breasts their petty misery.
What are our woes and sufferance? Come and see
The cypress, hear the owl and plod your way
O'er steps of broken thrones and temples, ye!
Whose agonies are evil of a day —
A world is at our feet as fragile as our clay
-Rome, Lord Byron
"So, Jason," he said, "would you mind telling me—ah—where you're from?"
"I wish I knew," Jason told him the whole story, from waking up on the bus to crash-landing at Camp Half-Blood. He didn't see any point in hiding the details, and Chiron was a good listener. He didn't react to the story, other than to nod encouragingly for more.
When Jason was done, the old man sipped his lemonade.
"I see," Chiron said. "And you must have questions for me."
"Only one," Jason admitted. "What did you mean when you said that I should be dead?"
Chiron studied him with concern as if he expected Jason to burst into flames. "My boy, do you know what those marks on your arm mean? The color of your shirt? Do you remember anything?"
Jason looked at the tattoo on his forearm: SPQR, the eagle, twelve straight lines.
He had no idea who he was. He knew that he was a demigod, a son of Zeus (no, Jupiter). He is a son of Jupiter, no matter how many times Annabeth or Chiron tried to correct him. Annabeth usually got frustrated with him, something he didn't care about. It sounded arrogant but he got defensive whenever someone tried to correct him. He knew that he was a son of Jupiter, that it sounded right to call him that. To call the gods by their Roman names it just sounded correct.
Chiron took pity on him, with looks of undeniable wariness and Jason had to wonder what was he to make this old centaur look at him like that. But before he got anything, he was sent on a quest with Piper and Leo, something about quests made it seem familiar like he's done it before.
He would have to search for what he was later if he survived the quest.
Jason Grace would never be part Greek. He was a child of Rome, her blood ran through his veins just like lightning stormed through it as well.
He was Roman, a son of the Rome. Lived and breathed as a Roman child. Fought like a Roman soldier and would die like a Roman till the end. That's what he found out on the quest, a champion for Juno. Raised by Lupa at 2 years old just like Romulus and Remus, he knew what he was, even though at times he detested being a son of Jupiter, never a son of Rome. He lived and breathed as a Roman soldier, bringing honor back to the Fifth Cohort.
Jason was still an outsider, as the people of Camp Jupiter and New Rome were ready to put him as their Praetor. He took it with pride along with Reyna. They got work done, he was the pride of the Fifth Cohort, something he always wanted for the Fifth since he was a kid. But never once did Jason reject Rome, even as Juno ripped his memories, he never let his loyalty to his home slip.
Flickers of memories of a past came back slowly for Jason during those months preparing to go to California. He remembered being raised by Lupa, his time with the fifth cohort, standing for Hazel Levesque, helping Reyna during a quest. He remembered Hazel the most, his best friend as his mind was telling him along with his instincts.
She called him "Steve Rogers" the memory making him smile. Hazel was an important person in his life, he knew it along with Bobby, Sasha, Dakota, Reyna, Lila, and Gwen.
It would swim by him in dreams, these memories being fleshed out before him. He recalled standing for a small twelve-year-old, at fourteen years old. She was a daughter of Victoria, terrified of where she was. All Jason remembered was greeting her, telling her "Welcome to the Fifth Cohort!" Trying to make sure she was cheered up and she was. She always seemed to follow him around which he didn't mind at all.
Memories would be sinking into his mind just as fast as they left. There was a lot to process in those but he managed to paint a picture with it at times. He saw Lila with a horrible braid he did to her hair. Singing songs with the members of the Fifth and sparring alongside some of them. But then some memories broke him, as he remembered what had happened to Lila on the battlefield on Mt. Tamalpais after the dust settled he found out that she jumped in front of Hazel, taking a lethal blow from an Empusa, her body ripped and no doubt that she wouldn't survive. Hazel after fighting the Empusa and defeating it held little Lila in her arms as she took her last breath. Later, Jason could not get out of his oldest friend what had happened. It was Bobby, with a broken nose and a bruised left arm told Jason what happened as Hazel just sobbed, Gwen holding her tight.
Lila was just shy away from turning twelve, a month after in September. Instead, she died defending her fellow soldier and all Jason wanted to do was destroy the mountain to the ground. He cursed out his father and al he got was the same mocking blue skies. Lila was buried with the rites of a soldier. To Jason, he hoped Pluto sent her to Elysium because, in the end, she died a hero, something always wanted to be. In the end, they did their service, as Romans did not for the gods but for their people, as Lupa taught Jason from an early age.
Chiron told him that to help jog his memory, to have Jason write it down whenever he remembered something. He did, writing during the chatter of the mess hall and when he woke up as the morning was still covered in darkness. He wrote about little memories of the war, the day he stood for Hazel and again for Reyna. How he helped a thirteen-year-old Hazel, the same age as him when she came to camp, about the 21st century. She told him about her past life in the 1930s before the war.
He remembers times with his friends, laughing with Bobby and Dakota, helping Gwen with something, training with Reyna and always with Hazel. Most, if not all of his camp memories were with Hazel. When Sasha Leon, a fourteen-year-old member of the fifth cohort stood for him when he was just two years old. She always had her hair cut into a bob or just above her shoulders, never letting her brown hair grow long. He remembered always staying by his side calling him by the nickname Lupa gave to him, 'Saving Grace' or with the nickname she gave him, 'Gracie'. He remembered that she was like an older sister, a daughter Nemesis and a legacy of Concordia. Great-granddaughter to be exact as Jason recalled later.
Sasha would always joke that he was her child which Jason didn't mind. One day he gifted her a mother's day card and every year after that as a tradition. She was a senior senator of New Rome and the Fifth Cohort. She practically raised Jason with the help of the older fifth cohort members. Teaching him how to wield a sword and making sure he was tough as the wolves that raised him. Sasha was deadly with both a dagger and spear, always finding a way to cut down those who would harm Rome. She was one of the many best swordsmen in the camp, never once cowering the jeers that the other cohorts made at the Fifth.
"The fifth," She would tell them, "Is your family, brothers, and sister in arms. Don't ever let anyone shame you into being proud of being a member of the Fifth Cohort. Because one day, the Fifth will come back to its former glory. We will come back with honor. Glory to the Fifth Cohort!" They were his family and when Sasha retired at twenty-two and he was eleven. He would visit her from time to time when she wasn't busy with homework at the university and him with training but she would always make time. Jason wondered if she was trying to search for him, making him feel guilty about making her worry.
He writes about other memories, ones that maybe someone had shown him before. They are mostly about his time with his sister and mom, how Thalia would cheer him up while Beryl went off to be drunk. He found out that he had a middle name, Paxton. A Latin name to appease an angry goddess, his first two names were a gift along with himself. But that's what gods did, as Lupa taught him.
He remembers when Chiron and he talked about the Olympian gods when Jason first arrived.
"Do you know where you are?" Chiron asked. "Do you understand what this place is, and who I am?"
"You're Chiron the centaur," Jason said. "I'm guessing you're the same one from the old stories, who used to train the Greek heroes like Heracles. This is a camp for demigods, children of the Olympian gods."
"So you believe those gods still exist?"
"Yes," Jason said immediately. "I mean, I don't think we should worship them or sacrifice chickens to them or anything, but they're still around because they're a powerful part of civilization. They move from country to country as the center of power shifts—like they moved from Ancient Greece to Rome."
"I couldn't have said it better." Something about Chiron's voice had changed. "So you already know the gods are real. You have already been claimed, haven't you?"
"Maybe," Jason answered. "I'm not really sure."
The Olympian gods were beings who were messy, never took care of the demigods and mortals that served them only if it benefited them. When they were done, they watched those who greatly served them be destroyed. Either by the hands of the gods or themselves.
Just look at Jason, he was living proof that cursing a god out mentally meant having his memories ripped from him and sent blissfully to a school with false ones.
"Never give yourself up to the gods my pup," Lupa told him once long ago. "They will break your heart and find someone else, someone much more loyal to do their work. That is why Roman demigods do not attach ourselves to the gods, especially parental ones because they will only break us to bits and won't bat an eye about it. The gods have always broken us, Jason, they will always break your heart."
He was called 'Saving Grace' a nickname that was passed down by Lupa and from the older soldiers in the cohorts. Gwen, the daughter of Mercury always loved to joke about his nickname. Telling him that during the war, Bobby joking that he was their Captain America and they were the Avengers waiting to assemble and save the world.
In some way, Jason thought at that moment and now with his memories swimming in and out, they were.
They were all heroes, both Roman and Greeks.
Some days, it was hard for him. With the memories coming back, there was also a sense of bitterness.
Bitterness at the way some of the children talked about their parents, gave food to them during dinner and how some have even met them on Olympus. It was this bitterness at the reminder of what had happened to Lila that made Jason isolate himself, especially when Thalia came.
But even looking at it now, it still felt somewhat bitter because even with all the Romans have given to the gods, the Greeks will always be the favorite children of the gods. Jason always knew that even with his memories slowly coming back, he could feel in the pit of his heart and soul. It didn't bother him before but now as he looked at the campers of Camp Half-blood, the Greek camp, Jason understood just why Lupa always told them to distance themselves from the gods.
He would stay around Piper and Leo but even that got to him, from the way Piper looked at him with a mixture of love and yearning. He didn't feel the same way that she felt for him when his memories were blissfully gone. His heart belonged to someone else, Venus herself told him all those years ago when he went on that quest to retrieve Roman gold for weapons. He did tell her after they came back from the quest, Piper looking a bit heartbroken and wondered if he could salvage the friendship he had with her that they had during the quest.
Still, he hid far away, to the tree on top of the hill. It was where his sister was turned into a literal tree, making it the barrier for this camp. Jason liked sitting all the way on top of the tree, something he remembered doing a lot at Camp Jupiter, with him hanging upside down whenever someone found him, usually Hazel. She would sit on the floor, sketching something on a notebook while he read a comic book. He would cajole her into sitting with him up on the branches but she would decline, liking her feet planted on the ground.
"One day, I'm going to get you to sit on a branch with me. Then you'll be thanking me for a better view of the Bay!"
"We'll see about that Jason."
When they finally embarked to New Rome, Jason let out a breath of relief. He was going home, back to his rightful place. Thalia, who came back to Camp Half-blood with her hunters, wanted to come along. He knew that she and Annabeth were anxious to see Percy, who was transferred over to Camp Jupiter by Juno.
As they crossed over the foggy bridge of San Francisco, he could make out through the mist his home. His body tingled with electricity and joy. Before Leo could even stop the ship, the whole thing over the city of New Rome, Jason launched himself off the ship. There were cries of "Jason!" but he didn't hear them over the sea of people, his people, Roman people cheering at the sight of their Saving Grace coming home.
The others climbed down to greet their counterparts as Jason tried very hard to manage that they weren't a threat. Reyna, who ignored Octavian's outcries agreed and told the citizens that Rome will host the Greek campers while also celebrating his return. As Percy hugged Thalia and Annabeth, Jason searched for his comrades.
One of them flew into a hug, Gwen babbling in tears as she squeezed the air out of his lung. Bobby and Dakota managed to pry a tear-stained Gwen off him before hugging their dear friend. They introduced Frank Zhang, a son of Mars and member of the Fifth. Jason greeted him warmly before introducing the three of them to Piper and Leo. Fifteen-year-old Hazel Levesque charged right up to him, almost pushing people out of the way and jabbed a finger in his chest, eyes with unshed tears waiting to spill. She didn't know what to say, wanting to cry, yell or cheer, instead she reached out and hugged him. Jason hugged right back, grinning like an idiot at seeing Hazel again. It felt like a dream except he knew it wasn't a dream, she was here. They were all here.
"Jason Paxton Grace!" An angry shout was heard and he knew exactly who that was. Sasha Leon was the only member, probably one of the only people that knew his middle name in all of New Rome and Camp Jupiter. Thalia, Annabeth, and Percy all looked on as an angry twenty-seven-year-old woman marched right up to Jason and started going off. It was a combination of English, Latin, and Spanish with the girl hugging Jason fiercely as a sister would. Thalia could tell that even when she was gone, she was somewhat replaced by this Roman girl who got to see Jason grow up. She got to be the older sister that Thalia couldn't be, all because Juno took him away.
Jason was just smiling like an idiot as she cried and telling him that she was just glad he was home. "You gave me heart attack Gracie. Don't ever give me one again unless it's a good one." It made Jason laugh and all he could think about was that he was back. He was back home, in his rightful place among the Roman people.
Looking at Thalia, it made him wonder if they could be siblings, they could now but it would take time. He had his family and she had hers. They were different, with many things that divided them like the Greeks and Romans old the old times. Now, he and Percy would have to unite their camps together and fight for humanity.
Victoria aum mos, Jason remembered hearing. It meant victory or death, something Sasha drilled into him. Now at the start of a new war, it would begin. They would have to get victory or die trying and Jason would do that just like he did at the battle of Mt. Tamalpais.
They gathered around him, all the cohorts celebrating especially the fifth having its leader back, one of their own. Leo was chatting with Bobby, a legacy of Mercury about the ship while Percy whispered something to Annabeth. Piper was having a small talk with Reyna but kept looking at him once or twice. Hazel squeezed his hand to get his attention.
"You there Grace?" She asked. "Yeah, I'm here," Jason replied.
He was never the Greek's adopted child. Never would he think of leaving his people, he was loyal to his family, his brothers, and sisters, to Rome herself. Jason Paxton Grace is a child of Rome, like Romulus and Remus.
Jason served Rome and not the gods. He was loyal to Rome, something that would strike a nerve with some demigods especially the greek ones. Camp Jupiter was his home, one he loved since he was just a child along with New Rome. He could see the differences, especially when it came to the gods. He would have been loyal to the gods (and still is to a degree) but that ended when Lila died.
He was never your adopted child Greece, he was always a child of Rome.
Alas, the lofty city! and alas,
The trebly hundred triumphs! and the day
When Brutus made the dagger's edge surpass
The conqueror's sword in bearing fame away!
Alas for Tully's voice and Virgil's lay
And Livy's pictured page!
But these shall be Her resurrection; all beside—decay.
Alas for Earth, for never shall we see
That brightness in her eye she bore when Rome was free