Octavian watched as the monstrous Greek warship floated overhead. He hated those Greeks with a passion that could never be outnumbered, but what made it worse was that Jason Grace had joined them. Jason had even brought back a girl, the one pretty one with the choppy brown hair and rainbow eyes. She was beautiful, but he broke someone in the process to get to win her love; Reyna.
Jason had promised to give Reyna her, her first kiss before he disappeared. Octavian would know because he was there. He was about to tell Reyna about the terrible future he had seen in the augury's, but he couldn't. There's a reason he couldn't tell her and a reason he hates Jason Grace more than any other Roman at Camp Jupiter. He's just scared. He's scared of what the others will think of him when they find out, but overall he's afraid of getting rejected by her: Reyna. Octavian had truly loved her once and Jason Grace had once been the greatest friend that he'd ever had, but when the games started, to win Reyna's heart, things got out of hand and you can guess who won.
7 years earlier
"Octavian this is New Rome." Alberto, Octavian loving father, looked down at him and smiled. Octavian looked around the city in amazement. He'd never seen something so strange and bizarre. The buildings were built as if built by Roman architects. Chariots of fire driven by flying horses zoomed across the blue sky. Kids of all ages and size were dressed up in armor and fighting swords. For an eleven year old who was obsessed with comic books, video games, and Roman mythology, this was a dream come true. "Octavian hand daddy your things. I'll take them to the house and get things set up." Octavian handed his dad his blue backpack and pushed his giant glasses closer to his eyes. "While I'm gone you can go and check out the city, but I don't want you going past the Cities borders. I've already informed Terminus so he knows that you're here." Alberto sighed then laughed and gently kissed Octavian on the head and walked away. Octavian waved goodbye to his dad until he was out of sight and then he ran. He ran as fast as he could to cities borders. His father had told him stories on the way here about his time at Camp Jupiter.
Octavian ran to the top of the hill and the Camp came into view. It was huge. He'd never seen such a big camp. There was a lake, cabins, kids practicing with swords, bow and arrows and spears. They were all wearing the same purple shirt with the letters, S.P.Q.R, on the front.
Octavian sprinted down the hill, but along the way he ran into a wall, an invisible wall. It knocked him clean off his feet and sent him flying right into a marble statue.
"What do you think you're doing, boy? I don't see any tags or notifications of who you are. I can't let you into the camp. It is too dangerous for little toothpicks like you!"
Octavian looked behind him to see who was talking to him, but no was there. Where had that voice come from?
"Hey, chicken legs, I'm up here." Octavian, startled by the voice, looked up to see a marble sculpture of the torso of a muscular man looking down at him with an angry wide eyed expression. Octavian pushed his glasses closer to his face and tried to move as far away as he could from the talking statue. "Where are your tags…ID…nothing? Who are you? I've never seen such a scrawny demigod before." Terminus snarled.
"O…Oct…Octavian. My name is Octavian." Octavian croaked. Terminus narrowed his eyes and bent down closer trying to get a better look at Octavian.
"You can't be Octavius Eugene Walter Alexander Martini, the son of Alberto Augutus Octavius Martini, you're to scrawny and pathetic looking to be related to the most powerful and well respected praetor that New Rome has ever had." Octavian could see the gears or marbles turning in Terminus head.
"That's my daddy." Octavian squeaked standing back up on his feet and brushing the dirt off his clothes.
"Of course the powerful, handsome ones always give birth to the ugly ducklings. What was I thinking?" Terminus laughed at the thought.
"At least I have arms." Octavian mumbled, but unfortunately Terminus was still listening.
"How dare you insult the god of boundaries!" Terminus looked down at Octavian with wild eyes and snarled, "Do you feel that you little twerp? Do you feel my hands around your scrawny, pale neck?"
"I would if you had any." Octavian snickered.
"What did Alberto see in your mother when he married her because he never acted so rude and disrespectful?"
"Maybe it was her…ARMS!" Octavian fell down laughing.
"SILENCE!" Terminus bellowed. "I try to be nice _"
"I try to be nice_" Octavian tried his best to mimic Terminus' squeaky, obnoxious voice.
"Are you mimicking me? That is rude_"
"That is rude_"
"You little brat! If you ever become praetor of New Rome I'm getting a one trip ticket to Olympus!" Terminus snarled.
Octavian looked out at the camp. He still wanted to go down there. He wanted to meet the other kids like him. He wanted to see what they were like and how they grew up and maybe he could even make some friends, but with Terminus watching him it was going to be hard to get in. Octavian gasped and looked at Terminus and smiled innocently.
"Hey, Terminus, what was my dad like when he went to camp here?" Octavian smiled and waited for him to answer.
"Your father was a great man. He was one of the best centurions I had ever seen. I'd never seen someone more courageous than Alberto Martini." Terminus looked up at the sky dramatically. He wasn't even paying attention to Octavian anymore. Octavian took his chance and ran into camp.
The camp was so big and the grass was even greener. The clashing of swords and all the load noise reminded him of his books and video games. He felt so at home here. He'd never felt this way before. These kids were just as weird as he was…well maybe not as weird. Octavian looked at all the kids in armor with their swords and shields. They were all giving him strange looks, but Octavian was used to that. Octavian walked out into the middle and looked up at the blue sky and smiled.
"HEY, LOOK OUT!" 'BANG!' a large object carrying a little blonde boy rammed straight into Octavian. They both tumbled into the lake. Octavian's heart beat out of control. He was scared. He didn't know how to swim. He couldn't touch the bottom and the surface was just out of reach. He was going to die knowing that he'd disobeyed his papa and gone into the camp. When everything seemed hopeless and lost someone grabbed him and pulled him to the surface.
Water spudded out of Octavian's mouth. A blonde boy with electric blue eyes and tan skin looked down at him. "Luke?" Octavian croaked.
"Are you okay? I didn't mean to run into you. I've never driven my own chariot before." The blonde boy pulled Octavian back up on his feet.
"Are you boys alright?" A girl just a few years older than Octavian wrapped towels around the two boys. Octavian smiled and nodded his head. The blonde boy gave her a thumbs up and smiled. The girl shook her head and laughed and went back to what she was doing.
The blonde boy got back up on his feet and reached out his hand towards Octavian.
"I forgot to tell you, but I'm Jason Grace the son of Jupiter. What's your name?" Jason smiled waiting for Octavian to grab hold of his hand. Octavian looked at Jason's hand cautiously. Jason may have saved him, but he was a son of Jupiter. He's read many stories of children of Jupiter in his books and none of them ended well for them or for the people they associated with, but he seemed harmless right now. What could he do that could be so devastating?
Octavian grabbed Jason's hand Jason pulled him unto his feet. "My name's Octavian Martini. I'm a legacy of Apollo." Jason smiled and handed him a pair of large broken spectacles.
"Your glasses fell off when I hit you. I grabbed hold of them before we hit the water. They're a little scratched up but still usable."
"Thank you!" Octavian gasped grabbing his glasses and gently putting them back in his pale face. Jason's face became clear. In most cases when Octavian couldn't see someone because he didn't have his glasses on the person ended up being extremely ugly, but Jason was rather handsome and strong for his size. He was the perfect Roman unlike Octavian. "I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses on." Octavian laughed and pushed his glasses closer to his face.
"You're funny." Jason giggled. "Hey how about we head up to my cohort for a bit. I'll give you some dry clothes and then we can go and get some food." Jason smiled and slowly walked up the hill. Octavian ran after him and followed him to the smallest of the grey cabins.