III

Word Prompt: Endless, Oath/ 571 words

The problems just kept on coming, didn't they? Octavian was just sick of it. Why did the Gods have against the new rising of Rome? Or was it the fates? Were the ancient deities too shrouded in their own thoughts of exaltation to support a people that rose from the ashes? Were the fates just sadistic little horrors that caused problems for their own twisted amusement?

Octavian was sick of this.

First there'd been the Titan war. At night, when he sat alone in the temple of Apollo with the glittering eyes of the stuffed toys around him, he could still see the legion fully armed. He could still see Mount Tam glaring down at them, and hear the silence just before the battle began.

Rome had nearly fallen.

And when his people were prepared to rise anew, the next problem had struck.

He frowned down on the marble floor, watching the spits of stuffing as he peered for any sort of sign of what was to come.

"What is Percy Jackson doing here?"

Nothing came to him but he could feel a chill in the air. Just a minute ago, it had been sweltering; the thick heat of the summer night pressing down on him like a shroud. He could see the Little Tiber snaking around the City from here; it glowed like winter constellations in the night.

There was something just not right about the boy. There was something about him that Reyna knew, that the praetor was keeping from him; something foreign, that seemed to fight against the very air of New Rome.

Or perhaps purple was just not Jackson's colour.

There and then, as the moon grinned down on him in spades of pale yellow, Octavian made a promise to himself, to the very earth of Rome.

There would be nothing to stop him from protecting his home; it would happen no matter the cost.

That was his oath.

-x-

Greek.

Gracceus.

The ancient race that preceded Rome, those from the old country that he thought were defeated. The ones who hated Rome; those who stared at them with revenge in their hollow eyes.

Could the Gods not let them have one day of peace?

Surely Percy Jackson was the first of many, and surely his intentions were not genuine?

Yes, he had saved Camp Jupiter from the giant; Octavian believed it was as much self-defence as anything- that particular beast was Neptune's nemesis after all- or perhaps just a part of Jackson's charade.

And now he was praetor?

The Greek, the enemy; this was Rome's new leader?

Who was casting the dice? Who was it that was so anxious to destroy his home?

Octavian glared at Percy from across the room.

He had made an oath, and if the Greek was to threaten this place in any way-

The problems were just endless, weren't they?

-x-

One Greek was not enough. More were approaching. Why did he seem to be the only one who saw the approaching tragedy that was to come?

He was the only one who knew that no good would come of letting strangers- old enemies with old grudges- walk on Roman soil.

Nothing good would come of this, he knew.

So he waited with the rest of his people as the obnoxious ship descended from the skies.

The problems that faced Rome may be endless but Octavian had made his oath.

This was his home and no one would take it from him.