make love, not war

by kneeshee

Drew never wanted to be a hero. That's what got Silena killed and yet-here she was one of the seven of the prophecy. Rue never fit in anywhere. She was stuck between life and death and yet-the seven of prophecy made her belong. Octavian didn't need a family. His first one got killed and yet-that's what the seven of the prophecy became.

9. RUE I

ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS LATER

---

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

The Greek has arrived.

The graecus.

Thunder rumbled around Rue and Octavian as red lightning lit up the hill. That didn't look right. Were they reading the message wrong? He pulled out another teddy bear, eyes glowing as he muttered about.

Rue raised a brow as he started over. But ast paid little attention to that, but instead, focused on how many times that message appeared.

Nine.

The number of completion.

Octavian was going to be so angry with himself if he had to use another way to read the augries, but Rue was one step ahead, pulling out the tarot cards that he kept there.

Octavian raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.

A pretty impressive trick, considering he didn't look like much. But Rue knew that it was all an act. Octavian was the best fighter in the First Cohort that liked to pretend that he was the worst. Mike Kahale was in a body cast for half a year after the blond first joined the Legion.

Rue liked being around him even if the other boy seemingly despised everyone around him. Ast could remember it like it was yesterday. He had walked through the camp, eyes empty as he walked around the camp. It was almost like he wasn't there, a living shadow. Rue had watched as Lord Mors and Lady Mania cling to him like an old friend. Slowly, Octavian had been able to accept the deaths that nipped at his heels. Asters' Father's people went back home. He started to make friends within his cohort. He cuddled up to Jason, seeing him become a hero that healed the world. and then— Annia died. Then Augustus died.

Rue had been the one to find him. Days after being promoted to the full-time auger… he had been hiding on the cliff behind The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Mors and Mania were cradling him close in their arms, large red welts ran up his arms as he bled from the wounds on his body. They were ready to take him, hazy images fluttered around him. It took Rue a moment to realize that it was ghosts, clinging to him.

Rue didn't remember moving. Ast hadn't remembered ast powers activating out of ast control. That hadn't happened since ast was a child. Pranjal had fallen at their sides, cursing at ast before cursing at the world as he immediately worked to heal Octavian.

Octavian had been placed on watch. Jason refused to leave his side even as he settled in as the praetor.

(Death clung to him also. It made Rue uncomfortable.)

And Rue? Well, only Octavian and Pranjal liked being around ast. Rue was born from death, pulled from the ruins of Mother's womb. Ast was placed in a normal home with a normal family that died an abnormal death.

Rue turned to look at the sky, eyes darkening with fury. Chased down by those grey-eyed fools, ghosts ast later learned. Legacies of unnatural birth, born from thought. Furious with the circumstances of their death; greek and roman. They wanted Rue, attacked and clawed until ast was nothing more than a bloody mess. And then they attacked aster's family, delighting in the screams that came for them.

Twas the first time Rue ever used ast powers. Asphodel clawed its way deep from within the underworld to wrap around the spirits blooming as tall as skyscrapers. Rue's eyes had turned milky white as ast stood under the souls, ectoplasm dripping onto ast skin like blood. Ast had raged and screamed and cried, tearing into the souls like no other.

Ast was Rue, child of Pluton Necrodegmon. Rue was his child of the fertile earth. Child of the god of the most potent curses, those which invoked the fury of the Erinyes. His oracle of the dead that was borne from his essence. Ast burned brightly, fire as dark as the night and as green as the sea licked emerged from cracks within the ground, licking at ast's skin.

Rue had passed out quickly, not knowing ast fell into the embrace of aster Father. He had done it all over again. Year after year, family after family… they all came for Rue. Killing every family that ast was placed with. Rue clutched ast's head, remembering their screeching. Filthy roman. Glory to Greece. The greek will come.

And now—

The graecus has arrived.

It was May Ninth at the ninth hour and the moon was in Virgo.

The Hermit card stared up at Rue, the old man, standing on his mountain peak, carrying his staff in one hand and his lit Lamp of Truth, containing a six-pointed star in the other. The lantern was used to guide the unknowing, his patriarch's staff helps him navigate narrow paths as he seeks enlightenment, and his cloak is a form of discretion.

Octavian growled as bolts of red lightning struck around him. Nine bolts one after another, similar to how the Styx wrapped around the Underworld Nine times.

One.

(The River of Woe; Acheron.)

Two.

(The River of Hatred; Styx.)

Three.

(The River of Forgetfulness; Lethe.)

Four.

(The River of Fire; Phlegethon.)

Five.

(The River of Lamentation; Cocytus.)

Six.

(The River of Mystery; Eridanos.)

Seven.

(The Dungeon of the Damned; Tartara.)

Eight.

(The Realm of the Virtuous Dead; Eleusis.)

Nine.

(The Islands of the Blessed; Elysium.)

Rue wondered what this meant for a person that never belonged anywhere. Too dead to be alive and too alive to be dead.

Each river came together to settle within the Stygian Marsh just as all roads lead to Rome.

Rue turned, watching as Leila led the— Rue flinched, the chill of death wrapped around her like a noose. The graecus has arrived.

The person was tall, skin tanned as if Lord Apollo cradled him closely with love. Rich-haired he was with eyes as green as the fire that circled the Underworld… one… two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine.

"What's he doing?" the person murmured. Octavian turned, eyes flickering between blue and gold, a smile of mania gracing his face. Rue was shocked to see the minute flash of horror and anger and grief and love flash across his face so fast that ast thought ast hallucinated it. His eyes glanced at Rue for just a moment before focusing back on the newcomer with an unnerving intensity. In one hand he held a knife. In the other hand was one of his stuffed animals.

That didn't make him look any less crazy.

And yet, Rue could not forget those emotions that plagued him.

"Percy," Leila said, "this is Octavian and Rue."

"The graecus!" Octavian announced. "How interesting."

"Uh, hi," Percy said. "Are you killing small animals?"

Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. "No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts—chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these."

He tossed the fuzzy thing to Percy.

"Seriously?" Percy asked.

Octavian stepped off the dais. His eyes glittered with harsh curiosity, like he might gut Percy just as easily as a teddy bear if he thought he could learn something from it. As if there was history between them too.

Octavian narrowed his eyes. "You seem nervous."

"You remind me of someone," Percy said. "I can't remember who."

"Funny," Octavian said, lowly. His voice had deepened, grief and rage on his tongue. "I could say the same thing about you."

Percy had good instincts because even Rue could tell that if he pushed that line of thought then it would be his body that he read the will of the gods from.

"Why did you call me 'the Greek'?"

"I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar. "The message said: The Greek has arrived. Or possibly: The goose has cried. I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct. You seek to join the legion?"

Leila spoke for him. She told Octavian everything that had happened since they met at the tunnel—the gorgons, the fight at the river, the appearance of Juno, their conversation with Reyna. When she mentioned Juno, Octavian looked surprised.

"Juno," he mused. "We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats." He glanced at Percy, as if to say: like mysterious Greeks, for instance.

"Eh, threats?," Rue allowed a smile to grace aster's face. Rue cackled, eyes brightening as they glanced at Percy. "Did the goddess bring us as a new recruit..." The vines and metals around ast waist slithered around Rue's body until ast was holding two stygian staffs. "Or did she bring us an enemy to kill?"

"Reyna wondered the same," Leila said, eyes dark as she shared a smile with the two augers.

"I hear Lemuria is today and that the Feast of Fortuna will come up soon," Percy said. "The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion between now and then. Did you see that in your stuffing?"

"Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."

"Don't you have...I don't know," Percy said, "an oracle or something?"

"An oracle!" Octavian smiled as if that was not what he and Rue were. "What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended—"

"The Siba-what?" Percy asked.

"Books of prophecy," Leila said, "which Octavian is obsessed with. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell."

"Some people believe that" Octavian corrected. "Unfortunately, our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them, so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books," Octavian continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these."

He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor.

"That one." Percy pointed, translating as he read aloud: "Seven half- bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"

"Yes, yes." Octavian finished it without looking: "An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

"I—I know that one. "That's important."

Octavian arched an eyebrow. "Of course, it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Seven, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it...Well, Rue can tell you. Bad things happen."

Rue glared at him. "Just read the augury for Percy. Can he join the legion or not?"

Ast could almost see Octavian's mind working, calculating whether or not Percy would be useful. He held out his hand for Percy's backpack. "That's a beautiful specimen. May I?"

He snatched the stuffed panda that was sticking out of the top of his pack. Octavian turned toward the altar and raised his knife.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

Octavian slashed open the panda's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the panda carcass aside, muttering a few words over the fluff, Rue stepped to his side, glaring as ast read the approval shifting within the strands. They turned as one, Rue looking blankly and Octavian smiling too wide to be genuine.

"Good news!" he said. "Percy may join the legion. We'll assign him a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that we approve."

Leila's shoulders relaxed, smiling almost friendly towards the boy. "Uh...great. Come on, Percy."

"Oh, and Leila," Octavian said. "I'm happy to welcome Percy into the legion. But when the election for praetor comes up, I hope you'll remember —"

"Jason isn't dead," Leila snapped, and well that was a lie. Their Jason was dead, and the person that he was now was not whom he left. It was better for them if he stayed away. "You're the augur. You're supposed to be looking for him!"

"Oh, I am!" Octavian pointed at the pile of gutted stuffed animals. Rue and Leila pretended that they couldn't see the flash of heartache in his eyes. "I consult the gods every day! Alas, after a year, I've found nothing. Of course, I'm still looking. But if Jason doesn't return by the Feast of Fortuna, we must act. We can't have a power vacuum any longer. I hope you'll support me for praetor. It would mean so much to me."

Leila shook her head. "I'll think about it."

"Excellent," Octavian said as he took off his toga, setting it and his knife on the altar. He turned to Rue. "By the way, your brother is here."

Rue stiffened. "My brother? Why?"

Octavian shrugged. "Why does your brother do anything? He's waiting for you at your father's shrine. Just...ah, don't invite him to stay too long. He has a disturbing effect on the others especially with today being what it is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep searching for our poor lost friend, Jason. Nice to meet you, Percy."

Rue got the feeling that it wasn't nice at all as ast sauntered out of the pavilion, Leila and Percy at aster heels.

---

"He won't really get elected praetor, will he?" Percy asked as they marched down the hill. Rue had gotten saddled with him as Leila had been called away by one of her cohort members.

"Octavian has a lot of friends. The rest of the campers are afraid of him," Rue shrugged. "Honestly speaking, there is no one else qualified."

"Afraid of that skinny little guy?"

"Don't underestimate him. Reyna's not so bad by herself, but if Octavian shares her power..." Rue hummed especially since Reyna would be elected out in the months following. "Let's go see my brother. He'll want to meet you."

Rue led Percy to a black crypt built into the side of the hill. Standing in front was a teenage boy in black jeans and an aviator jacket.

"Hey," Rue called. "I've brought a friend."

The boy turned, his silver skull ring flashing under the sunlight. He raised his brow as aster's staffs rewrapped around ast waist similar to how he, himself, wore chains as a belt. At his side hung a pure-black sword, the stygian calling out to ast.

For a microsecond when he saw Percy, he seemed shocked— panicked even, like he'd been caught in a searchlight.

"This is Percy Jackson," Rue said, taking note of the reaction. Mayhaps the graecus would be able to get ast information on their mysterious brother. "Percy, this is my brother, the son of Pluto."

The boy regained his composure and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Nico di'Angelo."

In a way, ast felt as if ast had introduced two nuclear bombs, waiting to see which would explode first.

Ast knew that Nico was a powerful demigod, probably one of the most powerful that ast had ever known. In fact, other than asterself, the only ones ast could think that would be strong enough to face him would be Jason or Octavian.

The others at Camp Jupiter saw him as a traveling oddball, about as harmless as the fauns. Rue knew better. Rue hadn't grown up with Nico, hadn't even known him very long, but ast knew that he was just as dangerous as the three of them.

Then Rue met Percy, and he was added to that list.

Rue roamed over him. He was beat up, dirty, and exhaustion clung to him like a cloak. But like Rue and Nico and Jason and Octavian, power radiated from him. He had the good looks of a Roman god, with sea-green eyes and wind-blown black hair.

Rue had never seen a person more beloved by the sun.

Not even the children of Apollo nor his legacies.

Percy and Nico shook hands. They studied each other warily, and Rue fought the urge to draw their staffs. If these two busted out the magic swords, things could get ugly.

It was almost exciting.

Nico didn't appear scary. He was skinny and sloppy in his rumpled black clothes. His hair, as always, looked like he'd just rolled out of bed.

Rue remembered the first time ast met him. Rue had been wandering around the Underworld, determined to find the girl that had been plaguing their nightmares. Nico had turned the corner of the pathway that Rue was walking on. They had both drawn their weapons quick enough, but Megaera had flown down quickly, shooing them back to the mortal plane.

Percy scowled. "I—I know you."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?" He looked at Rue for an explanation. Ast kept their face terribly blank, like a shade of the night. He was trying hard to act casual, but when he had first seen Percy, Rue had noticed his momentary look of panic. Nico already knew Percy. Ast was sure of it. Why was he pretending otherwise?

"Percy's lost his memory." Rue finally said, carefully detailing what Leila had informed them. "You travel all over in places that you're not supposed to be at. Maybe you can help him."

Nico's expression turned as dark as Tartarus. Rue didn't understand why, but ast got the message: Drop it. Triumph was surely showing in their eyes. Finally. Something tangible.

"This story about Gaea's army," Nico said. "You warned Reyna?"

Percy nodded. "Who is Gaea, anyway?"

Rue turned to him in disbelief. The amnesia wiped the most basic information of every demigod's life? That was… terrifying. Still, the name… it almost brought Rue to their knees. Rue remembered the nightmares. The curses. The soft sleepy voice, a glowing cave, and the golden eyes wide with fear.

"She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground as if it might be listening. "One of oldest goddess of all. She's in a deep sleep most of the time, but she hates the gods and their children."

"Mother Earth...is evil?" Percy asked.

"Very," Nico said gravely. "She convinced her son, the Titan Kronos— um, I mean, Saturn—to kill his dad, Uranus, and take over the world. The Titans ruled for a long time. Then the Titans' children, the Olympian gods, overthrew them."

"That story seems familiar," Percy sounded surprised, like an old memory had partially surfaced. "But I don't think I ever heard the part about Gaea."

Nico shrugged. "She got mad when the gods took over. She took a new husband—Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss—and gave birth to a race of giants. They tried to destroy Mount Olympus, but the gods finally beat them. At least...the first time."

"The first time?" Percy repeated.

Nico glanced at Rue. Ast was regretting telling him about those dreams if he was going to bring them up to everyone.

"Last summer," Nico continued, "Saturn tried to make a comeback. There was a second Titan war. The Romans at Camp Jupiter stormed his headquarters on Mount Othrys, across the bay, and destroyed his throne. Saturn disappeared—" He hesitated, watching Percy's face.

Oh? Now, this just got interesting.

"Um, anyway," Nico continued, "Saturn probably faded back to the abyss. We all thought the war was over. Now it looks like the Titans' defeat stirred up Gaea. She's starting to wake. I've heard reports of giants being reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by destroying the demigods..."

"You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.

"Of course." Nico's jaw tensed. "The Romans don't trust me. That's why I was hoping she'd listen to you. Children of Pluto...well, no offense, but they think we're even worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck."

"They let Rue stay here," Percy noted.

"That's different," Nico said.

"Why?"

Rue snorted, "I came by recommendation. You look at the King of the Underworld and his lieutenant, Death, himself that your child can't stay in your fancy schmacy camp." Of course, that had nothing more than to isolate Rue even more, but ast didn't care. It meant Rue didn't have to deal with fake people attempting to sweet talk ast into a smooth afterlife. Shaking their head, Rue said, "Look, Percy, the giants aren't the worst problem. Even … even Gaea isn't the worst problem for now. The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn't die, that's our biggest worry." Ast looked at Nico. She was getting dangerously close to her own secret now, but for some reason Rue trusted Percy. Maybe because he was also an outsider, maybe because ast was finally going insane. Still, if he was going to be around, he deserved to know what they were facing.

Octavian had known before Rue did and started carrying a pesticide from his Mother's collection around. Rue didn't know what it did exactly, but ast had told the lares to be careful to not piss him off. The power within that thing was almost like the Underworld itself.

"Nico and I," ast said carefully, "we think that what's happening is… Mors isn't—"

Before ast could finish, a shout came from down the hill.

Frank jogged toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons.

As it did every time ast saw Frank, the vines around Rue's waist shifted—which really irritated them. There was something about him that wasn't fully roman. Rue had gotten that same sense from the Verus family, but ast eventually learned that the Family line dated back to–ugh–Greece.

Frank was a good friend though—one of the few people at camp who didn't treat Rue as if ast had a contagious disease. But Rue didn't like him in that way.

He had that strange combination of baby face and bulky wrestler's body. He looked like a cuddly koala bear with muscles. Also, he could barely hold a sword even if he was a terrifying force of nature with a bow and arrow. Not better than the Verus' kids or any child and legacy of Apollo, but he was definitely on even ground.

If only he was more confident in himself…

He reached the shrine. "Hey, Nico..."

"Frank." Nico smiled. He seemed to find Frank amusing, maybe because Frank was one of the few at camp who wasn't uneasy around the children of Pluto. Though, Rue knew that Nico terrified Frank in a sort of you're-only-alive-because-I-find-you-amusing kind of way.

It's the same reason why Bryce Lawrence was still alive even when Rue spent more of the time in class daydreaming about ripping his sternum from his body and using it as a cane.

"Reyna sent me to get Percy," Frank said. "Did Octavian and Rue accept you?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "He slaughtered my panda."

"He...Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you're in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster."

Rue realized the sun was getting low over the hills. How had the day gone so fast? Rue gritted ast teeth, feeling the wisps of power leaking from their control. "You're right," ast said. "We'd better—"

"Frank," Nico interrupted, "why don't you take Percy down? Rue and I will be along soon."

Rue turned with a raised brow. "Run along, boys. We'll catch up."

Percy looked at Nico one more time, as though he was still trying to place a memory. "I'd like to talk with you some more. I can't shake the feeling—"

"Sure," Nico agreed. "Later. I'll be staying overnight."

"You will?" Rue snickered. The campers were going to love that—the son of Neptune and the son of Pluto arriving on the same day. The day of the dead at that. Now all they needed was some black cats and broken mirrors.

The window to Minerva's temple cracked.

Shit.

"Go on, Percy," Nico said. "Settle in." He turned to Rue, and ast got the sense that the worst part of their day was yet to come. "My sibling and I need to talk."

---

"You know him," Rue immediately accused. They sat atop Pluto's shrine, which was covered in bones and diamonds. The bones had always been there. The diamonds started appearing during the Second Titan War as they prayed and made sacrifices for sanctuary within the realm and to ward off death. Several million dollars' worth of stones glittered on the roof, but fortunately the other campers wouldn't touch them. They knew better than to steal from temples—especially Pluto's—and the fauns never came up here.

There were a few Amanita phalloides and Ivory Funnel mushrooms up there that was also a nice detergent, but Rue had seen Pranjal and Octavian and Chelsea climb up there enough times with bags of offerings just to pick a few. What they did with them… Rue didn't know and was sort of scared to find out.

Nico swung his feet like a little kid. His Stygian iron sword lay by his side. He gazed across the valley, where construction crews were working in the Field of Mars, building fortifications for tonight's games.

"Percy Jackson." He said the name like an incantation. "Rue, I have to be careful what I say. Important things are at work here. Some secrets need to stay secret. I know you want to know the mystery surrounding me and now, Percy— but this is… this is something directly from Father."

Rue scowled. Ast hated the fact he worked so closely with Father, taking on the role of his King of Ghosts, and would probably be working for him long after he died. Meanwhile, Rue was still trying to find their niche aboveground with the plethora of gifts that they could barely control.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you more," Nico said. "I can't interfere. Percy has to find his own way at this camp."

"Is he dangerous?" ast asked.

Nico managed a dry smile. "Very. To his enemies. But he's not a threat to Camp Jupiter. You can trust him."

"Like I trust you," Rue said bitterly.

Nico twisted his skull ring. Around him, bones began to quiver as if they were trying to form a new skeleton. Whenever he got moody, Nico had that effect on the dead, kind of like Rue's main gift. Between them, they represented two of Pluto's spheres of control: death and fertile soil. Sometimes Rue thought Nico had gotten the better end of the deal. At least he could control his powers.

"Look, I know this is hard," Nico said. "But something is coming. You can make things right."

"Nothing about this is right," Rue said. "I had nothing to do with that!"

"His children never do," Nico muttered. "But we always get caught up in it. Still, they'll call a quest sooner or later. They have to. It's getting worse. You'll make me proud. Trust me, Bi—"

He caught himself, but Rue knew what he'd almost called ast: Bianca. Nico's real sister—the one he'd grown up with. Nico might care about Rue, but ast'd never be Bianca. Rue was simply the next best thing Nico could manage—a consolation prize from the Underworld.

Funny how he was the exact same to Rue.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Rue shrugged. They were close because of their Father; not because of any real affection. "Then it's true about Death? Is Alcyoneus to blame?"

"I think so," Nico said. "It's getting bad in the Underworld. Dad's going crazy trying to keep things under control. He and his retinue have been working overtime alongside the other Chthonian gods. From what Percy said about the gorgons, things are getting worse up here, too. But look, that's why you're up here. You belong at Camp Jupiter."

That sounded so ridiculous, Rue almost laughed. Ast didn't belong in this place. Rue never fit in anywhere. Ast was stuck between life and death. Rue's vitiligo affected ast so much that the few times that ast had been in the Underworld; Rue had been confused for a child of Melinoe.

The blackout hit Rue so suddenly, ast didn't even have time to say, Uh-oh.

Rue wasn't even asleep!

Another reason why Rue was sure that Nico had the better powers. At least, he could control when he went through the two-doored gate of dreams. Rue was lucky it never happened while they were in the middle of battle.

Rue shifted back in time. Not a dream or a vision. The memory washed over them with such perfect clarity, ast felt they were actually there.

It was always like Rue was living another life whenever ast fell into one of these. Rue remembered the one time ast blackout and went back into Ancient Rome back when Aeneas first found the land. Some of the Lares around the camp looked at Rue as if ast had placed the stars in the sky when ast started speaking all old and ancient like them.

This time though, Rue was quickly becoming used to what was the bane of ast existence. Rue found out quick enough the life that ast was masquerading as was a sibling of Rue. Hmp. Most people got money and cars for their birthdays, but February 13th, Parentalia–one of the days of the dead in Ancient Rome- Rue slipped into an entirely different life.

---

Back in the early forties, it was December. The body Rue was possessing was walking home alone from riding stables. The girl—Rue would learn— smelled just like it too. And despite that it was cold enough to see her breath, the girl was running warm. From her memories, Rue learned it was because some boy kissed on her cheek.

The rest of the girl's memories showed her dealing with people calling her slurs and derogatory names all day. Personally speaking, Rue wouldn't have accepted that, but times were different. If Rue had been called the n-word with a hard R, Rue would've made the little assholes swallow all 28 of their teeth for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a snack on the side.

Rue didn't know aster's own mother, so Rue couldn't comment about the woman being called a witch, but the girl–Hazel, Rue would learn—loved hers so they would have had to be dealt with about that too.

Rumors were spreading about Hazel's curse which Rue learned that the girl had powers that she couldn't control and made worse by whatever her Mother had done. The school was called St. Agnes Academy for Colored Children and Indians, but there wasn't anything saintly about it. The place masked a whole lot of cruelty under a thin veneer of kindness.

Hazel was confused about how other black kids were so mean and cruel. They bullied her a lot. They yelled at her and stole her lunch, always asking for those famous jewels: "Where's those cursed diamonds, girl? Gimme some or I'll hurt you!" They pushed her away at the water fountain and threw rocks at her if she tried to approach them on the playground.

Rue wasn't confused at all. People were shitty, and those that were in shitty situations tended to be even shittier. How Hazel kept her kill them with kindness attitude, Rue didn't know. Every asshole Rue had ever faced could kindly kiss their ass.

Despite how horrible they were, Hazel never gave them diamonds or gold. She didn't hate anyone that much. Besides, she had one friend— Sammy—and that was enough.

Though friend wouldn't be the word that Rue used. It was clear that Hazel had a crush on the boy. He wasn't big or strong, but he had a crazy smile and he made Hazel laugh which Rue supposed was good enough. Though Rue thought that Hazel was a little too young to be so in love with him, but a demigod's life was short.

That afternoon he'd taken her to the stables where he worked as a groom. It was a "whites only" riding club, of course, but it was closed on weekdays, and with the war on, there was talk that the club might have to shut down completely until the soldiers came back home. Sammy could usually sneak Hazel in to help take care of the horses. Once in a while they'd go riding.

Rue hated horses. Even the few times ast went to the Underworld, Rue hated going near Menoetes and their Father's cattle. But Hazel seemingly loved them.

That afternoon, she'd taken out a tan roan stallion with a gorgeous black mane. She galloped into the fields so swiftly, she left Sammy and Rue's stomach behind.

By the time he caught up, he and his horse were both winded and Rue was trying to wake up because they would be damned to the pit before they did that again.

It was too cold for a picnic, but they had one anyway, sitting under a magnolia tree with the horses tethered to a split-rail fence. Sammy had brought her a cupcake with a birthday candle, which had gotten smashed on the ride, but it was cute, so Rue held back their disapproval as they broke it in half and shared it.

Sammy talked about the war. He wished he were old enough to go which was stupid in Rue's opinion. The Underworld was clogged enough even with the new bridges and pathways in it. He asked Hazel if she would write him letters if he were a soldier going overseas.

"'Course, dummy," she said.

He grinned. Then, as if moved by a sudden impulse, he lurched forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Hazel."

It wasn't much. Just one kiss, and not even on the lips. But Hazel felt like she was floating. Rue, personally, thought it was because ast stomach hadn't even settled completely before they were back on those death-traps with legs.

Hazel made her way home with Rue piggybacking her body like a particularly stubborn parasite. (Rue imagined themselves like a knock off version of Venom. We are Rue.)

Hazel and her mother—Queen Marie, she liked to be called—which Rue didn't understand. The Queen of what? Dumbassery—lived in an old apartment above a jazz club. Despite the beginning of the war, there was a festive mood in the air. New recruits would roam the streets, laughing and talking about fighting the Japanese. They'd get tattoos in the parlors or propose to their sweethearts right on the sidewalk. Some would go upstairs to Hazel's mother to have their fortunes read or to buy charms from Marie Levesque, the famous grisgris queen.

"Did you hear?" one would say. "Two bits for this good-luck charm. I took it to a guy I know, and he says it's a real silver nugget. Worth twenty dollars! That voodoo woman is crazy!"

For a while, that kind of talk brought Marie a lot of business.

Hazel's curse had started out slowly, Rue would learn. A blessing in disguise. They appeared sparsely, allowing Marie to pay bills and eat steak and dress her daughter in new clothes.

Then stories started spreading. The locals began to realize how many horrible things happened to people who bought those good-luck charms or got paid with Marie's treasure.

A man lost his arm in a harvester while wearing a gold bracelet and another dropped dead after being paid with a ruby.

Folks started whispering about Hazel—how she could find cursed jewels just by walking down the street. These days only out-of-towners come to visit her mother, and not so many of them, either. Hazel's mom had become short-tempered. She gave Hazel resentful looks.

Rue sniffed disdainfully. Any good practitioner of any sort of magic knew to always cleanse their crystals before use or even selling them.

Rue shifted as a feeling of dread began to pull at ast. Rue had enough of these stupid dreams and suddenly, ast had a feeling they were starting to get worse. As Hazel got to the top of the stairs, Rue swore ast heard two voices. Hazel peeked into the parlor, Marie was sitting alone at the table she used for seances, her eyes closed, as if in a trance.

Hazel and Marie liked to pretend that they didn't believe in spirits despite the girl's parentage. Marie convinced her daughter that she was nothing more than a performer doing a show for money. Hazel had doubts considering that the girl was cursed.

But Rue serviced enough seances to know the real deal.

(Books were expensive even with the loan that ast got from the financial aid office.)

Marie just didn't want to think it was her fault—that somehow, she had made Hazel the way she was.

"It was your blasted father," Marie would grumble in her darker moods. "Coming here in his fancy silver-and black suit. The one time I actually summon a spirit, and what do I get? Fulfills my wish and ruins my life. I should've been a real queen. It's his fault you turned out this way."

She would never explain what she meant, and Hazel had learned not to ask about her father. It just made her mother angrier.

Rue had scoffed. Ast couldn't wait for the day people started to realize that they wouldn't be even half as worthy as the gods' spouses. Jupiter would never love any of them as he loved Juno. Neptune would sooner kill them than place another above Salacia. And Pluto cared about none in the same amount that he cared for Prosperina.

Marie muttered something to herself. Her face was calm and relaxed. In control as she should be lest the spirits took advantage, Rue noted with grudging approval.

The woman was beautiful so Rue could understand how Pluto fell for her. Beautiful, bountiful curls of 4b hair that been carefully detangle and fell to the middle of her cradled of a face of sun-kissed skin like milk chocolate. She wore a simple white dress, almost like a chiton. She had a regal air, sitting straight and dignified in her gilded chair as if she really were of noble birth.

"You'll be safe there," she murmured. "Far from the gods."

Hazel stifled a scream. The voice coming from her mother's mouth wasn't hers. It sounded like an older woman's. The tone was soft and soothing, but also commanding—like a hypnotist giving orders.

And it filled Rue with fear, remembering it from another nightmare.

("Your aunts and uncles will see you soon.")

Marie tensed. She grimaced in her trance, then spoke in her normal voice: "It's too far. Too cold. Too dangerous. He told me not to."

The other voice responded, the real Queen Mother: "What has he ever done for you? He gave you a poisoned child! But we can use her gift for good. We can strike back at the gods. You will be under my protection in the north, far from the gods' domain. I'll make my son your protector. You'll live like a queen at last."

Marie winced. "But what about Hazel..."

Then her face contorted in a sneer. Both voices spoke in unison, as if they'd found something to agree on: "A poisoned child."

Hazel fled down the stairs, her pulse racing.

At the bottom, she ran into a man in a dark suit. He gripped her shoulders with strong, cold fingers.

"Easy, child," the man said. Rue could recognize him from anywhere. Father. The silver skull ring on his finger that ast had vague memories of combing through aster hair. The shadows that made up his suit that pulled at Rue's soul as if it were trying to engulf Rue.

His tie was black with platinum stripes. His shirt was tombstone gray. Skin as pale as a victim of hypothermia as the chill of death lingered within his skin. Hair so dark that it was as if Nox had poured the night into his strands, but his eyes burned bright with raw power.

It was times like this that Rue felt small. It was probably blasphemous to even think about it. But her Father was the only god that could truly and so thoroughly humble her.

Hazel's mind was clouded with fear, ignorant thoughts of him looking similar to Hitler. Despicable. As if that mere mortal could ever resemble even half the god that Father was. If anything, the mortal's features may be showing through since he drew closer and closer to death.

(And at the end of the day, Father was handsome in a deadly way while Hitler walked around with a rat on his top lip.)

Hazel tried to pull away. Even when the man let go, she couldn't seem to move. His eyes froze her in place.

"Hazel Levesque," he said in a melancholy voice. "You've grown."

Hazel started to tremble. At the base of the stairs, the cement stoop cracked under the man's feet. A glittering stone popped up from the concrete like the earth had spit out a watermelon seed. The man looked at it, unsurprised. He bent down.

"Don't!" Hazel cried. "It's cursed!"

He picked up the stone—a perfectly formed emerald. "Yes, it is. But not to me. So beautiful...worth more than this building, I imagine." He slipped the emerald in his pocket. "I'm sorry for your fate, child. I imagine you hate me."

"You? You're my..."

He cupped his hand under her chin. "I am Pluto. Life is never easy for my children, but you have a special burden. Now that you're thirteen, we must make provisions—"

She pushed his hand away. Rue bristled.

"You did this to me?" she demanded. "You cursed me and my mother? You left us alone?"

Her eyes stung with tears. And Rue inwardly snarled. She thought that she was cursed? She wasn't wandering around like the Ghost of Christmas past in the lamest soap opera to exist.

"You're evil!" she shouted. "You ruined our lives!"

Rue was so tired of mere mortals, little demidivine pests that thought that they knew better than divine beings that had lived and loved and suffered loss greater than they could imagine. What did a mortal know about being a god? Rue wished that they all stopped trying to reduce these otherworldly beings to fit their primitive mortal mindsets.

Pluto's eyes narrowed. "What has your mother told you, Hazel? Has she never explained her wish? Or told you why you were born under a curse?"

"No..." He sighed when Hazel didn't answer. "I suppose she wouldn't. Much easier to blame me."

"What do you mean?"

Pluto sighed. "Poor child. You were born too soon. I cannot see your future clearly, but someday you will find your place. A descendant of Neptune will wash away your curse and give you peace. I fear, though, that is not for many years..."

If you live that long, Rue heard unspoken.

Before she could respond, Pluto held out his hand. A sketchpad and a box of colored pencils appeared in his palm.

"I understand you enjoy art and horseback riding," he said. "These are for your art. As for the horse..." His eyes gleamed. "That, you'll have to manage yourself. Now I must speak with your mother. Happy birthday, Hazel."

They stood there in silence as the door to the apartment opened. Father walked inside and not a moment later; the two began arguing.

Hazel peeked in.

Marie was throwing a tantrum while Pluto tried to reason with her.

"Marie, it's insanity," he said. "You'll be far beyond my power to protect you."

"Protect me?" Marie yelled. "When have you ever protected me?"

Pluto's dark suit shimmered, as if the souls trapped in the fabric were getting agitated.

"You have no idea," he said. "I've kept you alive, you and the child. My enemies are everywhere among gods and men. Now with the war on, it will only get worse. You must stay where I can—"

"The police think I'm a murderer!" Marie shouted. "My clients want to hang me as a witch! And Hazel—her curse is getting worse. Your protection is killing us."

Pluto spread his hands in a pleading gesture. "Marie, please—"

"No!" Marie turned to the closet, pulled out a leather valise, and threw it on the table. "We're leaving," she announced. "You can keep your protection. We're going north."

"Marie, it's a trap," Pluto warned. "Whoever's whispering in your ear, whoever's turning you against me—"

"You turned me against you!" She picked up a porcelain vase and threw it at him. It shattered on the floor, and precious stones spilled everywhere—emeralds, rubies, diamonds. Hazel's entire collection.

"You won't survive," Pluto said. "If you go north, you'll both die. I can foresee that clearly."

"Get out!" she said.

Hazel wished Pluto would stay and argue. Whatever her mother was talking about, Hazel didn't like it. But Father slashed his hand across the air and dissolved into shadows...like he really was a spirit.

Marie closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. Rue was afraid the strange voice might possess her again. But when she spoke, she was her regular unpleasant self.

"Hazel," she snapped, "come out from behind that door."

Trembling, Hazel obeyed. She clutched the sketchpad and colored pencils to her chest.

Her mother studied her like she was a bitter disappointment. A poisoned child, the voices had said.

"Pack a bag," she ordered. "We're moving."

"Wh-where?" Hazel asked.

"Alaska," Marie answered. "You're going to make yourself useful. We're going to start a new life."

The way her mother said that it sounded as if they were going to create a "new life" for someone else—or something else.

"What did Pluto mean?" Hazel asked. "Is he really my father? He said you made a wish—"

"Go to your room!" her mother shouted. "Pack!"

Hazel fled, and suddenly Rue was ripped out of the past.

---

Nico was shaking their shoulders. "You did it again."

Rue blinked. They were still sitting on the roof of Pluto's shrine. The sun was lower in the sky. More mushrooms had surfaced around them, and their eyes stung from crying.

"S-sorry," Rue murmured.

"Don't be," Nico said. "Where were you?"

"Her mother's apartment. The day they moved."

Nico nodded. He connected with Hazel much better than he connected with Rue. Ast wondered if he would prefer that sibling over Rue, wondered if he ever went looking for her down there. He'd been born only a few years after Hazel and had been locked away in a magic hotel for decades. But Hazel's past was much worse than Nico's. She'd caused so much damage and misery...

"You have to work on controlling those memories," Nico warned. "If a flashback like that happens when you're in combat—"

"I know," she said. "I'm trying."

Nico squeezed her hand. "It's okay. I think it's a side effect from...you know, the way you were born. Hopefully it'll get easier."

Rue wasn't so sure. After dealing with how out of sync aster's powers were, they seemed to be getting worse. The Titan war was a nightmare in a half, seeing a life that could have been with the eyes of someone that Jason and Octavian both seemingly cherished.

Rue hated it all, it was as if aster's soul was attempting to live in the realms of the dead and living at the same time. Coffin births weren't unheard of, but the last time a demigod had been born that way was Lord Asclepius from Ancient Greece. And he gained the power to bring people back from the dead and disrupt the natural order!

"I'm not going north," Rue declared. "I'm not stupid. I'm going to make her mistakes."

"You'll be fine," he said. "You'll have friends this time. Stop scowling, you do. Percy Jackson—he's got a role to play in this. You can sense that, can't you? He's a good person to have at your side."

"Where did he come from?" she asked. "Why do the ghosts call him the Greek?"

Before Nico could respond, horns blew across the river. The legionnaires were gathering for evening muster.

"We'd better get down there," Nico said. "I have a feeling the war games from now on are going to be interesting."

---

The day was the ninth of June.

June Ninth was dies religious to Lady Vesta.

The Athenian coup succeeded in forming a short-lived oligarchy.

Emperor Nero married Claudia Octavia and committed suicide fifteen years later, ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

And as Rue's powers would ensure, a day of hell for Octavian as he hid himself in the Temple of Jupiter while banishing Rue away from the day as their power couldn't help but to drag forth his ancestors.

It was not Rue's fault that he had such a potent bloodline which was not made better by his favor as the auger nor the fact that he stayed in such a sacred space so much that Pranjal forced hearing aids on him.

Still, it was a little unnerving to see a sea filled with blondes and brunettes appearing throughout the camp; though from Octavian's rants… it had never been whom he wanted to see the most.

Rue was—working on it, somewhat. It was hard. And it was not a nice birthday gift for the auger who had screamed so loudly that half the legion came running. Rue was appalled to see the boy just outside of the Temple Hill, falling to his knees.

There was—there was so much blood.

It was an almost familiar scene. There was no Lord Mors or Lady Mania surrounding him, but somehow death still cradled him like an old friend.

Percy had managed to catch him before he hit the ground, eyes wide with worry even though Octavian wasn't subtle about his dislike for the other boy.

And then his ghosts started screaming as hazy images fluttered around him. Rue fell to their knees, desperately trying to banish them all when it became obvious that those hazy spirits were clawing into his skin. Pranjal was cursing up a storm as he and the other medics worked overtime trying to heal his wounds while Percy held the seizing boy down as best as he could.

Octavian's eyes snapped open, one a familiar gleaming gold while the other was a striking grey. Mike Kahale held onto one of Octavian's hands, pouring as much soothing emotions that he could while Octavian fought an enemy only he could see.

"Death is inevitable," a voice that didn't belong to Octavian sounded from his mouth. Screams of shock echoed around them as some people stepped away. "It would be wise to yield."

"He is both a storm and a wildfire," another voice sang throughout Octavian. "He was born from my flames. His family has kept the hearth going within their souls as the cold chill of death followed them like an old friend. So long as the sun touches the sea, you will not have them. Tis as I speak it as tis I command."

Rue's screech of frustration echoed with the roar that escaped Octavian, as their hands disappeared in a cloud of mist. Flowers of asphodel clawed from the earth, wrapping around each spirit within the camp, pulling them deeper and deeper into the earth leaving nothing but abrupt silence in its place.

The legionnaires didn't know who to stare at; Octavian as his blood coated the earth or Rue who was falling into the sweet clutches of Somnus as the world tinted black.

---

Rue never really liked dreaming.

It was just another insistence that Nico had the better powers. Control of the dead, summoning and banishing a few ghosties, controlling shadows, and a bunch of other things that Rue knew he could do but couldn't bother using the mental power to remember.

But for the most part, the two-doored gate of dreams—one false, the other true—was located in Father's realm.

Nico could transverse it easily while Rue was punching at doors and hoping that they didn't end up in a coma for the rest of their life trying to find a way out. The kids and legacies of Somnus were no help since they were ignored anyone that ended in the dream realm that wasn't their Father or a god to begin with.

(Rue would probably find better help if ast didn't beat up every child and legacy on the next morn when they refuse to help Rue. A self-fulfilling duty so to speak.)

This time Rue was in a hall that was a horrifying mix of the Asphodel Fields in the Underworld, a cabin with what Rue thought was supposed to be Lord Jupiter—by the gods above and below, Rue hoped not! —, a pool filled with nearly half a dozen blondes, and a familiar mountain in Alaska.

Rue pointedly ignored that last one and the first one. Knowing what ast knew of the last made Rue wary of the first one, but how a child of Pluto ended in the Asphodel Fields instead of Elysium or the palace was beyond them. Though Rue supposed it was better than becoming a statue in Prosperina's garden.

Rue stepped towards the pool of water, but a tanned hand stopped them. Turning, Rue came face to face with a masculine appearing pers— no, this was a god. Rue recognized that aura anywhere. Bountiful curly, auburn blond hair that was so dark that it appeared black sat atop tanned skin with eyes that were black and twinkling before shifting between colors. The god looked familiar in the way that Rue swore that they had seen xe before, but could not pinpoint where.

"I would not do that if I were you," the god stated, casting an almost sad glance at the waters.

"Who," Rue breathed. "Who are you?"

The god smiled, "I am Aeneas, though I suppose you may call me, Indiges."

Rue swallowed thickly. The progenitor of the Roman people.

"I see you recognize me," the god smiled seemed wider. "Surprisingly. I don't spare much around mortals. Unlike my siblings, I enjoy spending my time with Mother, so I have no need to come around your little camp."

"Why are you here now then," Rue questioned.

Almost impossibly, his smile stretched like the cheshire cat. "I am drawn to those that stand at pathways between two heritages. Those who lines cross between different worlds. You sense it around the Zhang boy and—and the Verus, right? There are others in your camp like my brother, Mike! — who also have different blood in them. His dreams had been very entertaining once he learned he was a demigod, comparing the stories of the old to those of his native land. He was terrified of the Lares thinking that they were Night Marchers when he first came. He thought the wrath of Pele followed him here when Mount Saint Helens erupted a few years back and he was on that quest with your praetors and auger. And that sea beast your praetor, Jason, fought last summer was an angered Mo'o coming for revenge."

The god sighed adoringly, "Tis inspiring how the various religions around the world share so many similarities. Who would have thought this would happen when I crossed the lands to Urbs Aeterna?" He shook his head, turning to look at the pool of water once more. "Unfortunately for you, you stand at a crossroad similar to mixed heritages. In fact, you have found yourself drawn to it nine times over."

Nine.

There was that number again.

The number of completion.

"How is that unfortunate?"

Lord Aeneas gave ast a look of disappointment as if he expected ast to figure it out. "Well, for one, you will never gain peace from the past until you have faced it. All roads lead to Rome, yes? But what of the journey that you there? What of the trials and tribulations that made the passage? What of the mysteries that lay in the shadows of the past that cast long shadows in Rome's glowing future?"

"Rome fell," Rue stated dryly.

"Ancient Rome," Aeneas countered. "You live in imperialistic America, yes? Your New Rome lives on, yes? You have Octavian, Augustus, and Livia, yes?"

"Livia?"

Aeneas waved away ast words. "You have Perseus and Jason. How interesting. Destruction. Healing. Heavenly. And then there is you. Rue. The regret that comes to all that forsake them. "

The hall shifted around them until Rue was looking at nothing but pathways to Alaska and the Underworld.

Lord Aeneas—No, Lord Indiges stared at them solemnly. "You exist between life and death, Rue Harald. Without your understanding, these upcoming times will lead to death, something you are intimately familiar with."

"What upcoming times? What mixed heritages?"

"I guess this journey shall show you how to cross boundaries to win." He laughed ironically, eyes glowing in cruel amusement. "I have held you here long enough. Tell my sister's son that a snow owl's heart will thicken the texture. Awaken now, child of riches."

And it was as if he were gifted with charmspeak as they yawned, eyes blinking open tiredly with the dreams hovering in wisps of smoke at the back of their mind.

"Finally," a familiar voice drawled at the edge of the room. Rue turned to see Pranjal leaning against the wall as Octavian stood at the healer's desk and mixed something into a bowl. "After two weeks, you're finally awake."

"WHAT?"

"Comas are not on the list of exemptions for war games," the medic continued, not blinking when the Octavian dropped something into the cauldron and it immediately started smoking. "So, you should get ready for that."

Rue had so many questions.

---

On the way to Via Praetoria, Rue tripped over a gold bar while pulling on their armour.

The gold bar popped out of the ground just in time for ast foot to hit it. Nico tried to catch ast, but ast took a spill and scraped aster hands. Normally, Rue wouldn't be caught running so fast outside of training, but there was a reason that the Third Cohort was the hardest to survive in.

Pranjal may have not been the centurion in the senator seat, but he was their head medic, and he was terrifying.

(And Rue had never forgiven Ezra for introducing the boy to Naruto who then decided to create his own scalpels out of sunlight.)

"You, okay?" Nico appeared from the shadows and knelt next to ast and reached for the bar of gold.

"Don't!" Rue warned. Another sign of unstable powers, Rue had Hazel's uncontrollable gift whenever ast felt unstable. Cleansing that stone was going to be a pain in podex!

Nico froze. "Right. Sorry. It's just...jeez. That thing is huge." He pulled a flask of nectar from his aviator jacket and poured a little on Rue's hands. Immediately the cuts started to heal. "Can you stand?"

He helped ast up. They both stared at the gold while ast made quick work of fixing their armour. It was the size of a bread loaf, stamped with a serial number and the words u.s. treasury.

Nico shook his head. "How in Tartarus—?"

"I don't know," Rue said bitterly. "Whatever's in the ground, anywhere close to me—it just pops up. And the more valuable it is—"

"The more dangerous it is." Nico frowned. Rue wished Hazel would have left an instruction manual on her stupid powers. "Should we cover it up? If the fauns find it..."

Rue thought about the fauns that had a hard time understanding the word No on the occasions they couldn't be found breaking into Libera's Public Library. Rue had already left a faun shaped indent in the training ground walls, but even ast wasn't cruel enough to let them pick up the cursed riches of the earth.

Ast huffed, reaching down to snatch the gold bar up and slip it into aster pocket. Rue would cleanse it later then take it to the treasury.

Nico gulped. "Um, Rue, are you sure...?"

Rue ignored him. The powers ast had were irritating, and Rue really didn't need to think about how much ast was lacking compared to the powers of a guy who could reanimate skeletons and bring people back from the dead.

Inside the camp, horns blew again. The cohorts would be starting roll call, and Rue had no desire to be sewn into a sack of weasels or filling and color coding the infirmary emergency supply bags over the entirety of New Rome and Camp Jupiter and all the other little hidey-holes that Pranjal had set up.

(That was without mentioning the children of Apollo insisting the lavender blue and periwinkle were so different in shading and making people start over from that one mistake because who knows what else you've ruined.)

"Hurry!" Rue told Nico. The boy reached out for Rue, and the two fell into shadows appearing next to the Third Cohort as if they had been there all along.

Rue smiled to themselves as they slunk into their place within the Third Cohort, nodding at Pranjal who smirked at them as he marked them present before continuing on with the roll call.

The first four cohorts, each forty kids strong–not counting the reserves–stood in rows in front of their barracks on either side of the Via Praetoria. The Fifth Cohort assembled at the very end, in front of the principia, since their barracks were tucked in the back corner of camp next to the stables and the latrines.

Rue would remember Jason standing proud on the other side, catching ast gaze before making heart eyes at Octavian.

Nico joined a couple of guards that were standing off to one side. Rue's gaze skittered across the assembled soldiers, catching sight of Percy Jackson standing with the Fifth Cohort. Even after he had been a part of the legion for a month now, he still looked uncomfortable.

Rue wanted to feel bad, really ast did, but he was a part of the Fifth Cohort and Rue knows one those little assholes put horse dung in aster's pillowcase literally the day after Percy officially joined.

(Though that was after Stefan had dug a grave and told Rue that it was going to be aster's new bed. Esra and Reyna didn't even see fit to punish Rue when ast pushed the idiot in and made it his grave. Of course, Rue eventually had to dig him back up before he died from lack of oxygen. Bastard.)

Cohort Rivalry was very strong and very real.

The First Cohort held all the prestige. A lot of famous demigods had come from there and those that sent their children and legacies to the camp got snatched up as soon as they crossed the border. Heck, even knowing Octavian's family history and how it had been culled to just him, his arrival at camp had been highly anticipated. The only family line that dated back to the Fall of Troy with paperwork and the gods themselves confirming the claim. Most of the people within the First Cohort usually went into legislation and politics though some like Marge and Daniele were looking into working for the secret service.

The Second Cohort was just behind them and were very bitter towards the others. Though that was mainly because they tended to catch the stragglers that the First Cohort thought were interesting, but weren't interested in. And that wasn't to even mention the ones that were kicked out of the First and thrown into the Second like a slightly used toy that the First no longer wanted to play with. The ones that came from the Second were more focused on being professors and officers.

Not to say that famous people didn't come from there either. Actually, there were some that came from every cohort.

The Second, however, turned their attention inwards. Reyna was probably the only exception to get out of the 1-2 Curse, something that the girl was trying to do for the rest of her cohort with minimal success.

(Rue, however, knew that it was because Octavian did not appreciate her flirting with Jason. Everyone knew that from the moment Octavian entered the camp that Jason was off limits. He belonged to Octavian just a little less than how much Octavian belonged to him.)

The Fifth Cohort was seemingly cursed. Rue knew curses, however, and knew that wasn't true. But after losing their eagle and now losing Jason, well… they weren't very well liked to begin with despite so many people attempting to kiss Jason's ass— now it seemed like people only saw them as punching bags.

(Or a pincushion in Stefan's case in Rue's mind.)

Jason had been trying to get them into more things within New Rome instead of just doing grunt work. But Octavian had a lot of power and could hold a grudge. The Second and Fifth had not been spared from his worry and anger though most of it had been focused on Reyna since she was the last person to see him alive.

The Lares were the last ones to fall in. Their purple forms flickered as they jockeyed for places. They had an annoying habit of standing halfway inside living people, so that the ranks looked like a blurry photograph, but finally the centurions got them sorted out.

Octavian shouted, "Colors!"

The standard-bearers stepped forward. They wore lion-skincapes and held poles decorated with each cohort's emblems. The last to present his standard was Jacob, the legion's eagle bearer. He held a long pole with absolutely nothing on top. The job was supposed to be a big honor, but Jacob obviously hated it. Even though Reyna insisted on following tradition, every time the eagleless pole was raised, the embarrassment could be felt rippling through the legion.

Reyna brought her pegasus to a halt.

"Centurions," Reyna said, "you and your troops have one hour for dinner. Then we will meet on the Field of Mars. The First and Second Cohorts will defend. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth will attack. Good fortune!"

A bigger cheer went up—for the war games and for dinner. The cohorts broke ranks and ran for the mess hall.

Rue inclined ast head Percy, who made his way through the crowd with Nico at his side. She casually ignored Frank's attempts to capture aster attention. He could speak to Rue plainly or don't bother at all.

"I'm glad you're awake, Rue," Percy said. Ast gave him a nod before continuing on to the mess hall. Pranjal and Esra were waiting for Rue at the door. Ast gave Nico and Percy and Frank a small smile before continuing on to aster's friends.

At least the camp food was good. The aurae blew plates and cups around quickly, making the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane.

Rue got beef stew—ast favorite comfort food. It was the only —and only—meal Prosperina had ever made Rue after working the demigoddess to exhaustion in a foolhardy attempt to control ast's power.

The mess hall seemed especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed off the walls. War banners rustled from cedar ceiling beams as aurae blew back and forth, keeping everyone's plates full. The campers dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Kids were constantly getting up and trading places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.

Rue smirked as ast watched Octavian work the people and sway them to his side. From the depression on Reyna's face, the girl clearly realized that Octavian could and would easily become praetor whether she liked it or not.

And as usual, the Fifth Cohort took the place of least honor. Their tables were at the back of the dining hall next to the kitchen. The table was always the least crowded though in the past month it had been gathering interest every time Percy's contributions won the games. Tonight, it was him and Frank, and Nico and their centurion Dakota.

Dakota reclined glumly on his couch, mixing sugar into his drink and chugging it. He was a beefy guy with curly black hair and eyes that didn't quite line up straight, but Rue had looked into his eyes one day and swore that they felt something break within their mind. It had taken months before Rue stopped jumping at every shadow with laughter that ast could only hear in aster's head.

Rue found themselves heaving a sigh as the quartet made their way over to the corner that Rue claimed for asterself. The tarot cards that Rue kept hidden in alcove felt heavy in their hands, and ast would gut them if they made ast lose any money for the night.

Rue was usually in competition with Octavian and every other kid whose parent, patron, or matron had a hand in divination. Octavian was Rue's real competition, but Lilith and Medea from the Fourth Cohort were also good, though Trent—Medea's traitorous elder brother—had been better than them all.

The four boys sat around Rue and ast took delight in the way Dakota flinched as Pranjal appeared at his side to swipe away his goblet and force feed him nectar to clear away the poisonous amount of sugar in his veins.

Rue raised a brow at the way Percy studied ast. Those sea-green eyes made Rue unsettled. It was the intensity in which they gaze at Rue, something ast had only felt meeting Jason. (Rue wondered how similar Percy was to their elusive cousin as Rue clearly remembered the injury that Octavian had sustained on Mount Othrys that nearly severed his arm and the way that lightning seemed to spark from Jason's eyes, leaving lichtenberg figures around the socket as he called down the full might of Jupiter's power atop of Crius's head with a loud roar that almost toppled the mountain.)

"Did you and Nico grow up together?" he asked suddenly.

"No," Nico answered for ast. "I found out that Rue was my sibling only recently."

"Found him while visiting Father. We almost got into a fight before we were sent back to surface in get-along shirts," Rue shrugged with a wry grin.

"There aren't many of us," Nico said, "so we have to stick together. When I found Rue—"

"You have other sisters?" Percy asked, almost as if he knew the answer. Rue wondered again when he and Nico had met, and what ast brother was hiding.

"One," Nico admitted. "But she died. I saw her spirit a few times in the Underworld, except that the last time I went down there..."

To bring her back, Rue thought, though Nico didn't say that.

"She was gone." Nico's voice turned hoarse. "She used to be in Elysium—like, the Underworld paradise—but she chose to be reborn into a new life. Now I'll never see her again. I was just lucky to find Rue."

From across the room, Don the faun yelled, "Rue!"

Rue stared blankly, trying to recall when the faun had imprinted on ast and why. He wasn't allowed in camp considering the faun were notorious for stealing important documents and critiquing them—Meerholz had once bodily picked up one of them and threw him out of the camp with one hand for marking over some documents in a red ink— but of course he always managed to get in.

He was working his way toward their table, grinning at everybody, sneaking food off plates, and pointing at campers: "Hey! Call me!" A flying pizza smacked him in the head, and he disappeared behind a couch. Then he popped up, still grinning, and made his way over.

"My favorite girl!" He smelled like a wet goat wrapped in old cheese.

"I will flay you alive and wear your skin as a winter jacket," Rue stated immediately.

He leaned over their couches and checked out their food. "Say, new kid, you going to eat that?"

Percy frowned. "Aren't fauns vegetarian?"

"Not the cheeseburger, man! The plate!" He sniffed Percy's hair. "Hey...what's that smell?"

"Don!" Pranjal said. "Don't be rude."

"No, man, I just—"

The house god of the Fifth Cohort, Vitellius, shimmered into existence, standing half embedded in Frank's couch. "Fauns in the dining hall! What are we coming to? Centurion Dakota, Centurion Pranjal, do your duty!"

"I am," Dakota grumbled into his goblet. "I'm having dinner!"

Don was still sniffing around Percy. "Man, you've got an empathy link with a faun!"

Percy leaned away from him. "A what?"

"An empathy link! It's real faint, like somebody's suppressed it, but—"

"I know what!" Nico stood suddenly. "Rue, how about we give you and Frank time to get Percy oriented? Dakota, Pranjal, and I can visit the praetor's table. Don and Vitellius, you come too. We can discuss strategies for the war games."

"Strategies for losing?" Dakota muttered.

"Death Boy is right!" Vitellius said. "This legion fights worse than we did in Judea, and that was the first time we lost our eagle. Why, if I were in charge—"

"Could I just eat the silverware first?" Don asked.

"Let's go!" Nico stood and grabbed Don and Vitellius by the ears.

Nobody but Nico could actually touch the Lares. Vitellius spluttered with outrage as he was dragged off to the praetor's table while Rue seethed in jealousy. Oh, how ast wished for that kind of control.

"Ow!" Don protested. "Man, watch the 'fro!"

"Come on, Dakota! Pranjal!" Nico called over his shoulder.

The centurions got up reluctantly. Pranjal rolling his eyes as if he weren't exempt from games due to being the head medic. Dakota just wiped his mouth—uselessly, since it was permanently stained red. "Back soon." He shook all over, like a dog trying to get dry. Then he staggered away, his newly refilled goblet sloshing.

"What was that about?" Percy asked. "And what's wrong with Dakota?"

Frank sighed. "He's okay. He's a son of Bacchus, the wine god. He's got a drinking problem."

Percy's eyes widened. "You let him drink wine?"

"Gods, no!" Rue said. "Well, we should. It's probably healthier than what he does already. See, he's addicted to red Kool-Aid. Drinks it with three times the normal sugar, and he's already ADHD—you know, attention deficit/hyperactive. One of these days, his head is going to explode."

Rue looked over at the praetor's table. Most of the senior officers were in deep conversation with Reyna. Nico and his two captives, Don and Vitellius, stood on the periphery. Dakota was running back and forth along a line of stacked shields, banging his goblet on them like they were a xylophone.

"ADHD," Percy said. "You don't say."

Rue tried not to laugh. "Well...most demigods are. Or dyslexic. Just being a demigod means that our brains are wired differently. Like you—you said you had trouble reading."

"Are you guys that way too?" Percy asked.

Rue shrugged. "English is horrible for me, but I can read latin as if I was there when it was created. It's considered a dead language and well, my Father is the god of the dead."

Frank spoke up: "I wish I was ADHD or dyslexic. All I got is lactose intolerance."

Percy grinned. "Seriously?"

Frank's shoulders slumped. "And I love ice cream, too..."

Percy laughed. Rue smirked, shuffling the cards in ast's hands as ast glance around the mess hall.

"Okay, so tell me," Percy said, "why is it bad to be in the Fifth Cohort? I've been trying to figure that out since I've been here. You're like the best, Frank."

"It's...complicated," Rue shrugged.

"Archery," Frank muttered. "Romans don't really like it, unless you're a child of Apollo. Then you've got an excuse. I hope my dad is Apollo, but I don't know. I can't do poetry very well. And I'm not sure I want to be related to Octavian."

Considering that the only family members Octavian cared about died, that was a good enough reason but still— "Jealousy is unbecoming. The best Romans got their positions by being well liked within the Legion and Empire. Octavian is only living up to his ancestry and he has a very extensive one."

"Can't blame you," Percy whispered towards Frank when the other winced remembering the times that Octavian used his pull to help places that were suffering and the Senate didn't see the need to worry over. "But you're excellent with the bow—the way you pegged those gorgons? Forget what other people think."

Rue raised a glass to that.

Frank's face turned as red as Dakota's Kool-Aid. "Wish I could. They all think I should be a sword fighter because I'm big and bulky." He looked down at his body, like he couldn't quite believe it was his. "They say I'm too stocky for an archer. Maybe if my dad would ever claim me..."

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"You asked about the Fifth," Rue said at last. Clearly, Rue wasn't going to get any work done with them around. "Why it's the worst cohort. That actually started way before this gen."

Rue pointed to the back wall, where the legion's standards were on display. "See the empty pole in the middle?"

"The eagle," Percy said.

Rue blinked. "How'd you know?"

Percy shrugged. "Vitellius was talking about how the legion lost its eagle a long time ago—the first time, he said. He acted like it was a huge disgrace. I'm guessing that's what's missing. And from the way Leila and Reyna were talking last month, I'm guessing your eagle got lost a second time, more recently, and it had something to do with the Fifth Cohort."

Rue smirked as ast looked him over. He wasn't something to underestimate, which ast had already known with everything that pertained to his arrival. But Rue could admit that ast'd thought he was a little goofy from the questions he'd asked—about the Feast of Tuna and all—but clearly, he was smarter than he let on.

If Octavian wasn't half-way in love with Jason, Rue was sure he would be trying to jump Percy's bones if he knew how manipulative— no, that wasn't the word?— he was.

"You're right," ast said. "That's exactly what happened."

"So, what is this eagle, anyway? Why is it a big deal?"

Frank looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "It's the symbol of the whole camp—a big eagle made of gold. It's supposed to protect us in battle and make our enemies afraid. Each legion's eagle gave it all sorts of power, and ours came from Jupiter himself. Supposedly Julius Caesar nicknamed our legion 'Fulminata'—armed with lightning— because of what the eagle could do."

"I don't like lightning," Percy said.

"Yeah, well, me either," Rue said. Ast remembered the first time Jason used lightning against them in training… it was not a pleasant feeling, but ast learned to deal with it. "It didn't make us invincible. The Twelfth lost its eagle the first-time way back in ancient days, during the Jewish Rebellion."

"I think I saw a movie like that," Percy said.

Rue shrugged. "Could be. There have been lots of books and movies about legions losing their eagles. Unfortunately, it happened quite a few times. The eagle was so important...well, archaeologists have never recovered a single eagle from ancient Rome. Each legion guarded theirs to the last man, because it was charged with power from the gods. They'd rather hide it or melt it down than surrender it to an enemy. The Twelfth was lucky the first time. We got our eagle back. But the second time..."

"You guys were there?" Percy asked.

They both shook their heads.

"I'm almost as new as you." Frank tapped his probatio plate. "Got here the month before you. But everyone's heard the story. It's bad luck to even talk about this. There was this huge expedition to Alaska back in the eighties..."

"That prophecy you noticed in the temple," Rue continued, "the one about the seven demigods and the Doors of Death? Our senior praetor at the time was Michael Varus, from the Fifth Cohort. Back then the Fifth was the best in camp. He thought it would bring glory to the legion if he could figure out the prophecy and make it come true—save the world from storm and fire and all that. He talked to the augur, and the augur said the answer was in Alaska. But he warned Michael it wasn't time yet. The prophecy wasn't for him."

"But he went anyway," Percy guessed. "What happened?"

Frank lowered his voice. "Long, gruesome story. Almost the entire Fifth Cohort was wiped out. Most of legion's Imperial gold weapons were lost, along with the eagle. The survivors went crazy or refused to talk about what had attacked them."

I know, Rue thought solemnly. But ast kept silent, taking a sip from their drink.

"Since the eagle was lost," Frank continued, "the camp has been getting weaker. Quests are more dangerous. Monsters attack the borders more often. Morale is lower. The last month or so, things have been getting much worse, much faster."

"And the Fifth Cohort took the blame," Percy guessed. "So now everyone thinks we're cursed."

"They've been the outcasts of the legion since...well, since the Alaska disaster. Their reputation got better when Jason became praetor—"

"The kid who's missing?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Frank said. "I never met him. Before my time. But I hear he was a good leader. He practically grew up in the Fifth Cohort. He didn't care what people thought about us. He started to rebuild our reputation. Then he disappeared."

"Which put them back at square one," Rue said. "Made them look cursed all over again. Octavian hadn't forgiven them or Reyna for it either. I'm sorry, Percy. Now you know what you've gotten yourself into."

Percy sipped his blue soda and gazed thoughtfully across the dining hall. "I don't even know where I come from...but I've got a feeling this isn't the first time I've been an underdog." He focused on Rue and managed a smile when he looked to Frank. "Besides, joining the legion is better than being chased through the wilderness by monsters. I've got myself some new friends. Maybe together we can turn things around for the Fifth Cohort, huh?"

A horn blew at the end of the hall. The officers at the praetor's table got to their feet—even Dakota, his mouth vampire-red from Kool-Aid.

"The games begin!" Reyna announced. The campers cheered and rushed to collect their equipment from the stacks along the walls. Rue sat up with a sharp grin, the vines and metals around ast waist slithered around Rue's body teasingly.

---

Word Count: 14,349

WORDS TO KNOW

Pluton Necrodegmon - Pluton, Receiver of the Dead

dies religious - religious day

COMMENTS from the Author

1) Rue is genderfluid. Accepts he/she/they but personally prefers neopronous: Ast/asters/asterself.

2) Rue is also natural! Rue has 3C hair.

3) Prosperina and Pluton are technically not the roman equivalents of Haidês and Persephonê, but they're the most commonly known name.

4) Fun Fact: Dīs Pater (Dītis Patris), otherwise known as Rex Infernus or Pluto. Ploutōn is actually another Greek name for Haidês just as Orcus is another name for Dīs Pater.

5) Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Lībera who is the daughter of Ceres and twin sister of Līber/Bacchus. A funny coincidence to the Orphic myths that lay claim to Dionysos being the son of Persephonê/Dêmêtêr.

6) Moʻo are shapeshifting lizard spirits in Hawaiian mythology. Moʻo often take the forms of monstrous reptiles, tiny geckos, and humans.

7) Rue has vitiligo. Actually, Rue has a very unique case of vitiligo. They were born with it and it could be seen even as a toddler, but when the attack happened as a child, ectoplasm dripped onto Rue's body, staining the skin. Now whenever Rue uses any of their powers, their skins glows just a bit. Its scary and cool.

8) Octavian is very powerful in this just like he was in canon because even in canon, all his predictions came true - just not in the way he wanted them to. Anyway, in this he is very much the equivalent to Rachel and just way better trained in the art of both prophecy and fighting. He's training Rue to take over as the head auger on the chance that something happens to him.

9) I find it funny how much people hate Octavian for "blackmailing" Hazel in canon when he was just doing what all politicians do because that's literally what he is. A politician.

10) Traditionally, praetors only serve one year. In this verse, Meerholz and Augustus were the praetors during the TLO, Augustus died, and Ezra was promoted to praetor. Then Meerholz stepped down and Jason became praetor. Jason went missing. At the six-month mark, Reyna was raised to praetor. Ezra has since stepped down and there is a vacancy that Octavian is aiming for. Jason is missing in action and presumed dead. He'd come back with the choice to either step down or finish out his praetorship.

11) me writing Aeneas part: "there are otters in your camp like my brother."
me: livia, giiiirl, please. let me breathe. you're in entirely different story.