He hated her. He despised her. There were other words for hate, but he decided that the word 'hate' wasn't the strongest word of dislike for Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare. So he hated her, he hated her for being better at solving prophecies and being able to speak them without an ounce of work. While he however, devoted his life to finding them by cutting up teddy bears and other useless stuffed animals, that usually never worked. So he hated her for it.
Octavian hated her for other reasons though. For being so likeable, charismatic and bubbly while he had to resort to being a tyrant to be granted any sort of power. Besides cutting up stuffed animals of course. He hated her with every fiber in him and yet for some strange unknown reason, (like most prophecies) he couldn't stop gazing into those bright green eyes of hers, which were tinted with brown. And it made him madder that he couldn't stop staring. At her freckles that seemed to dance along her cheeks, every time she smiled. At her frizzy, long red hair that had small wisps of spirals in them. At her paint splattered jeans, that made her absolutely ridiculously, but she didn't seem to care. Rachel Elizabeth Dare was like a prophecy herself, and he was very bad at solving prophecy's.
Octavian recalled the first time that they met, the 'Greek ship' had landed and she was the one who stood out, looking like a bright, red flame among the Greeks. Reyna and Percy Jackson (who he also hated), had gone out to talk to the Greeks. He was sure that there were other insults to call them, but Greek had been the worst insult that he had ever heard. So, while they went out to greet them, he lingered behind the crowd. He was anxious and all he wanted to do was creep back and cut some more teddy bears in privacy. After all the reunions which he tried to ignore, but couldn't contain his grin at Reyna's face as she saw the teenage girl, with brown hair and eyes that seemed to change color every time she blinked, holding hands with Jason Grace.
He had thought that Jason Grace was the person he disliked the most, but boy was he wrong. As Octavian was standing in the crowd, it began to spread apart as seven of them walked toward the conference building. Along with Reyna and that girl whose hair looked like a flame. Reyna said something to the girl and pointed to where I was? The girl began to walk towards me and my eyebrows raised.
"Hi!" She said to him, as if she didn't know that he was the most unlikeable person at Camp Jupiter. "I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare." She held out her hand, and he stared at it like it was the most repulsive creature in the entire world. Rachel Elizabeth Dare's smile faltered and her hand slowly recoiled back to her side. Her expression looked fazed but then she shook her head, and that big bubbly smile was back.
"Reyna said that I should hang out with you, while they talk about things." It was very obvious to Octavian, that Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare knew what those certain things were, but she didn't speak of them. That made him angry.
"So..." her voice trailed off as Octavian continued to stare at her, like she was an alien. "Are you a Half-Blood?"
"No," he replied coldly. She tilted her head in puzzlement and he resisted the urge to glare at the ignorant Greek. He sighed then replied, "I'm the Roman legacy of Apollo and the Augur of Camp Jupiter." I began to walk away, but she followed, matching my quick pace.
"What's an Augur?" She asked, hints of amusement in her voice. I turned toward her and this time I really did glare.
"Listen clearly, Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare, I really don't care what Reyna told you to do! Why don't you go away and scamper off to wherever you Greeks came from!" A flash of hot anger, crossed across her features. Her red face seemed to match her fiery red hair. Fear flickered in his eyes, because he didn't realize that hidden behind that bubbly personality of hers, there was a monster to be found. And little did he know how powerful this girl really was.
"No you listen," she poked him in the chest, her green eyes darkening. "I tried to be nice, I tried to make this situation work between Greeks and Romans. I tried my best to make this work out, without any bodies on our hands. And these Greeks, are my friends!" She looked flustered at the end and Octavian was really glad that most of the campers had dispatched to their activities because there sure would be a crowd forming.
She blew a piece of her red hair, that had fallen out of her bobby pins and stood there with her hands on her hips, her nose crinkled up.
"I-uh duh?" Octavian stuttered. No one had ever spoken to Octavian this way. Ever. Not if they had a death wish or wanted to be in the fifth cohort. Rachel Elizabeth Dare rolled those green eyes of hers and looked down at the grass.
"Wait," Octavian said, tracing her words back. "You're not a Greek?" She scowled once more and crossed her arms together tightly.
"No." Her words were bitter and sour.
"Then what are you doing here?"
She stared at him exasperated, then gave a curt reply, "I'm the Oracle of Delphi, but these Greeks as you call them are so amazing, I would rather be one of them." And with those words, she stormed off leaving a dumbfounded Octavian to stare.
He absolutely hated Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
(Line Break)
She didn't acknowledge Octavian's existence until Reyna had assigned them to work together on deciphering the next mini prophecy (as Rachel called them, because they weren't the great prophecy). So they both sat there awkwardly, as Rachel fantasized of strangling him to death.
Rachel hated him. She never knew anyone who could be so spiteful and so starving of power, that it slightly scared her. She thought that they could be friends at first, after all they both did the same things. Well, he cut up teddy-bears, while Rachel made green mist come out of her. But she thought that they could get along. But he clearly showed her that he wanted nothing to do with Rachel, and her friends.
She remembered Percy's words when Rachel told him that they would be working together. "Don't trust him, he's a blackmailing little traitor. Watch your back, Rach." And then the seven demigods had left, with some hugs and 'good lucks'.
Sure, she wanted to help. But Rachel figured she could help better by doing this. Even if she despised the person who was sitting next to her.
"You're doing it wrong," he snapped in accusation, snatching the stuffed teddy bear away from her. Confusion and frustration formed across her expression.
"What do you mean I'm doing it wrong? How can you cut open a teddy bear wrong?" He rolled his pale, blue eyes then slowly made small incisions along the side of its stomach. White, puffy cotton fell from it and Rachel stared at it distastefully. Octavian noticed her gaze. "Just be glad that were not cutting up real animals, like they used to." Rachel made a face, then handed him the ceremonial knife.
"Here your majesty if I'm doing it wrong, I'll just look through the scrolls."
"Majesty... hmmm... I like the sound of that."
"Teddy bear murderer!" Rachel retorted back.
"Green mist sprayer!"
"Dumb blonde!" Rachel was glad Annabeth wasn't here for that insult.
"Greek ally!" She knew it wasn't really an insult, but to Octavian it obviously was.
"Roman!"
"Ghost girl!" She narrowed her eyes at him, just because had the spirit of Delphi within here, didn't make her a ghost. Right?
"Slayer of the stuffed!" Okay not that creative, but it seemed to work just as well as the others come-backs.
"Apolllo's fancy lady!" Rachel's jaw dropped open, then shut, like a fish. Did he just call her a hooker? She wondered in disbelief. Then slowly she put down a scroll, and stared back at Octavian who was breathing heavily. There was a look of regret in his eyes.
"What did you just call me?"
"I didn't stutter." Then very slowly Rachel began to laugh, then giggle, then snort. She sank down next to Jupiter's statue, holding her sides. "Oh gods! Oh Zeus! It hurts!"Confusion lit up in his blue eyes and he stood there, dumbfounded.
"It wasn't meant- I- uh- it wasn't funny!" She continued to snicker, and he glared at her.
"You called me a fancy lady!" She said, her breath short. "A fancy lady! Man, that's gold!"
"Stop laughing at me!" Octavian yelled, anger flickering through him. "No one laughs at me." Rachel held her sides and slowly attempted to stand up.
"Okay, okay, I'm done." They both looked worn out. Octavian from yelling and Rachel from laughing.
"It wasn't meant to be humorous." He stated, once again. Rachel sent him one of her signature grins. "Come on Octo, it was pretty funny. I mean, fancy lady? Do you honestly know how old-fashioned that term is?"
"You're not supposed to be laughing! You're supposed to be yelling at me, that's what happens in war!" Rachel Elizabeth Dare grabbed her jacket from the floor of the Temple of Jupiter, then headed for the door.
She froze mid-way then turned back to face him. "All's fair in love and war," she winked at him, then disappeared from the pathway that led up here.
"That arrogant little oracle!" He snarled, gathering up his scrolls. He then froze from what he was doing and replayed Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare's words in his head. All's fair in love and war.
Wait, did she say love?