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.

16. OCTAVIAN I

Octavian wished he had his knives.

It wouldn't do him any good. Terminus was very picky about weapons within the city limits — a joke if anyone asked him. Any and everything could be a weapon and every demigod in the New Roma were living weapons if they knew how to use their gifts correctly.

But well, it was too late to turn back now.

His eyes went skyward as a ship hull broke through the clouds. Octavian forced himself to calm down; his heart beating steadily in his chest. He had to protect himself from others listening in on his emotions. The fauns were notorious nosey and Lina had taken to being his friendly neighborhood emotional service guard wolf. He couldn't count how many times he had awakened in Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini to find that she had dragged him outside of the temple and curled around him in her lycanthrope form as wolves were not allowed in the actual temple.

And well... Jason was supposedly up there.

His heart almost skipped a beat thinking of his... friend. Gods above, friend couldn't even accurately describe what they were, but it was the only word to think of. They weren't anything more and if... if the chains of gold that haunted his every move had any say so, then they would never be anything more.

And there it was — that familiar shiver, as if he was held in the tender embrace of the Lares Familiares. He wanted to turn around, but he knew no one would be there just as every other time he looked. Well, no that would be a lie. He remembered the flashes of glacier blue eyes, a familiar twinkling laugh, and flowing wine-dark hair that soared through the air teasingly.

He let his eyes slip closed as he leaned against the crumble ruins of Percival's Pizzeria. He could almost picture it now even when he felt almost mad from just the thought of it. No amount of protection spells or rituals he cast could get rid of it. He had even broken down and begged di'Angelo to check to get rid of whatever was lingering around him, but he claimed that there was nothing left since his birthday when Rue dragged nearly his entire family lineage from the Afterworld to drag him back down with them.

It was the stuff of his nightmares, but this — this was different with the way that it haunted him in his dreams and teased at the edge of his awareness whenever he felt drowsy enough to sleep. Pranjal and Fletch both had already cut him off from anything else that could keep him awake and the potency of his Mother's old remedies had long worn away giving him nothing but a slight ten-minute buzz.

A hand landed on his arm.

Octavian opened his eyes, meeting Lina's mocha brown that was edged blood red as she gazed over him worriedly.

He shook his head lightly, brushing his fringe from his head as they moved to follow the crowd. He would be okay though, he wished that he could pray to his forefather for guidance, but that wasn't possible now.

Not after what happened on his birthday where he was used as a vessel for divine forces and got the worst birthday present of his entire life. Well, no, the second worst birthday present because the first one was his Family dying in that house fire only days after his eighth birthday.

The cold pressed closer. He paused because those achingly familiar giggles were heard once more. In front of him, a small body in a familiar blue shirt with an even more familiar sigil on it darted between legs. They glanced back, a glimpse of dark, malevolent eyes matched with a baleful smile.

And then he blinked, and nothing was there anymore.

He fixed his toga, jogging just a bit to catch up to Lina as other romans began to emerge from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended.

A nudge to his arm brought his attention to Pranjal who nodded his head towards the Flaming Skillet. Octavian grabbed hold of Lina and the three of them climbed atop of the building to stand on the balcony watching as almost half a platoon filled with demigods began to descend from the rope ladder.

His heart stuttered in his chest when he caught sight of those familiar blond strands dancing in the air as— as Jason began to fly down from the ship like he was Thor from the Avengers just without the magic hammer, but instead a gleaming imperial gold sword that he placed back onto the ship. His purple cloak swirled around him like just like the hero's cape distracting from that hideous high-lighter orange shirt... Octavian felt his mouth go dry, and his hands shake just a bit.

Jason. Jason. Jason. His name echoed within his mind like a repeating chorus.

He had to force himself to look away, breathing heavily as tears dotted his eyes. He realized pretty quickly why Pranjal got them out of sight since Octavian could disappear into the shadows of the building to regain the control that just seeing him stole away.

Below them, he could see the Legion make way for Reyna as she walked forward in full Roman armor with her matching praetor cape and the medals that decorated her armor. She was only missing her helmet allowing her dark hair to tumble across her shoulders.

Octavian wanted to hate her so badly, but he could not deny her skill and the aura she was presented. It was obvious in the way that she carried herself with such confidence that the legionnaires backed away and averted their gaze. He could only imagine the way her dark eyes looked across the fools that brought a warship to their beloved camp.

She stopped in front of the group, eyes moving towards the blonde girl who made something within Octavian thrum with a rage that was not his own. Jason landed beside her, and their companions fanned out on either side. Even from here, he could hear the way his fellow Romans murmured Jason's name, staring at him in awe.

Octavian could relate because try as he might, his vision tunneled onto him. The soft smile that graced his face — that one he always compared to a kind-hearted prince that was high-spirited, merciful to the citizens, and deserving of love. His eyes were as clear as the heavenly body of Caelum above them. His hair looked as if Lord Favonius had personally combed his fingers through it. He looked ruggedly handsome and in control—just like a son of Jupiter should.

Octavian found himself falling just a bit more in love even when he knew it would lead to nothing, but heartache. If he had thought that he was crazy about him before, then after this involuntary split between the two turned them a drop away from insanity. He knew that he loved him more than he did before and just as before, he belonged to the boy more than Jason could ever belong to him.

But with the curse and everything else—it was best to end it before it could grow any further even when Octavian wasn't sure that he could live with the heartbreak.

Lina jerked. Octavian turned to her with a raised brow to see that she was gazing down at the Achaean soldiers. "Leo? primo hermano, ¿Eres tú?"

Reyna straightened. With apparent reluctance, she turned toward Jason with a slight tension to her frame; no doubt feeling the intensity in which Octavian eyed her with.

"Jason Grace, my former colleague..." She spoke the word colleague like it was a dangerous thing. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends—"

The blonde girl from before surged forward at the same moment as Perseus. Octavian's hands gripped the balcony railing ready to throw himself forward to protect his sister's brother. The crowd tensed. Some reached for swords that weren't there.

Perseus threw his arms around her, enclosing themselves into a hug with no care for the world around them. Lina twitched beside him. "Oh, they're crying."

Perseus pulled away and studied her face. "Gods, I never thought—"

The girl grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement. The legionnaires cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted, "Hold! Stand down!"

She put her knee on Perseus' chest and pushed her forearm against his throat.

"If you ever leave us again," she said, her eyes stinging, "I swear to all the gods—"

Perseus laughed.

"Consider me warned," he said. "I missed you, too." The girl rose and helped him to his feet. Octavian's throat clogged, remembering similar moments when he was a small child and his sister returned from her summer visits to the sea.

From the small whine that Lina gave, he was sure that she remembered also.

Jason cleared his throat. "So, yeah...It's good to be back."

He went about introducing the people. And Octavian found himself tensing slightly as he remembered the strange asian female that had appeared in his dreams so long ago. Then there was the boy, Leo, who Lina was staring at if she wanted to bite him and never let him leave her side again. What did she call him before? Primo hermano? Her cousin, he believed it translated to. There was a Jake that was watching Perseus and the newly named Annabeth that normally doesn't judo-flip people with a soft smile. There was Yan and Will and Katie and Travis and Sherman and Piper and other names that he didn't care for especially with the fondness that dripped from Jason's mouth for every syllable that he pronounced.

Drew stepped forward, a dazzling smile on her face. "Please to meet you," she stated, and he knew without a doubt that she was a child of beauty. There was something otherworldly about her even outside of being a demigoddess.

Reyna clasped her hand firmly. "It seems we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!"

Octavian squeezed Lina's shoulder in reassurance before he and Pranjal jumped down to hustle forward with the others. He sensed rather than saw her landing soundlessly behind them. Though in front of them, Rue and Frank immediately flanked Perseus' side.

It would take a threat of death and probably not even that for him to admit that he was proud to see the younger auger making friends and coming into themselves. He knew that Pranjal and Esra stressed themselves over Rue and he could relate; they were adorable even if they were a menace that was fun to tease. They walked with their head held high now except it was more relaxed than the front they used to put on before.

He was proud and as long as they kept away their inner-Ghost whisperer, then he was fine.

Reyna was up ahead giving orders to the other officers. He sighed inwardly. For a child of war, she was much too trusting especially in regard to their mortal enemies. "...tell the legion to stand down. Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. And Octavian—"

"You're letting these intruders into the camp," he asked as he elbowed forward, muttering apologies to the centurions that got in his way. "Reyna, the security risks—"

"We're not taking them to the camp, Octavian." Reyna flashed him a stern look. "We'll eat here, in the forum."

"Oh, much better," Octavian grumbled, being careful to not look at the greeks—to not look at Jason. "You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship."

"These are our guests." Reyna clipped off every word. And he inwardly growled knowing that his own need for them to respect traditional hospitium. "We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."

"Good idea," Perseus put in. "Go burn your bears, Octavian."

Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile, a triumph look in her eyes as if it would do her any good. The vote for praetorship was delayed, not denied and well, Octavian had garnered a nifty amount of information about her. "You have my orders. Go."

The officers dispersed. Octavian's lips curled as he looked at Perseus and here, he almost talked himself into telling the boy about his sister. His eyes trailed over Annabeth suspiciously, a feeling of dreadful anger simmering in his gut before turning away.

His eyes darted towards that warship above them. Its massive bronze hull glittered in the sunlight casting shadows over the decorations around them.

Something was about to go terribly wrong and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Excellent," Reyna said from behind him. He chanced a glance back, noting how she turned to Jason and from that angle, he could see a hungry sort of gleam in her eyes. "Let's talk, and we can have a proper reunion."

Octavian scoffed before continuing forwards.

---

There was no need to consult the auspices or the hostiae as the temple of Iovis was booming excitedly at the return of their prodigal prince. Lightning seemed to dance alongside the bolt of their King's statue, and he had to prune the feathers of Jason's pet geese — gifts from Iūnō when he became a praetor — to keep them from rushing off towards him. He found himself bent at the knee, desperately trying to hold himself together. He didn't know how he was supposed to go out there and face not only the love of his life, but also the personal enemies of not just Roma but of the Verus themselves.

A slight chill brushed against him like a comforting hand on his shoulder before it disappeared just as fast.

Octavian took a deep breath, sliced open one of the bears before him, reading the stuffing and pellets noting the pax deorum as the Dii Consentes celebrated the return of Jason especially since it was not only his birthday but also Kalends which was sacred to Kalendaris Iūnō. He could see the hesitant approval for the two opposing sides to come together as one. He let his eyes slip close, taking a deep breath before muttering the rest of his hymns and turning away to return to the others.

There were sets of couches and low tables already situated once he returned. He gave small smiles at the various people around them as they lounged around in groups of ten and twenty, talking and laughing while the aurae blew around, serving an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies. He smiled as Sir Percival personally plated a personal pizza for him, and his stomach growled at the smell of his homemade sauce — Sir Donatello stopped him to give him a box of pastries with another complaint that he was much too skinny. Octavian laughed lightly, continuing onwards while smiling pleasantly at seeing their people so carefree even under the shadow of that warship. Children of the Mneiae and Apollō had pulled out guitars and were singing alongside the children of Venus and the Gratiae.

The Lares Praestites and Lar Militaris drifted through the crowds all in various states of armor and togas. The fauns were playing up the image of being incompetent, beady eyes gleaming with knowledge as they trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. They were the best of spies for the right price. In the nearby fields, Hannibal frolicked with Perseus' pet hellhound reminding him of his sister's pets playing when they were younger. Children played tag around the statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.

Octavian took another deep breath before he took his seat next to Pranjal and Esra, casting a glance at Lina who was sitting directly behind him trying to duck away from her cousin for some reason. They were sitting with Reyna alongside Jason and his friends.

Reyna gave the toast to friendship alongside a brief explanation to their guests in regard to lectisternium. Octavian himself hid a smile seeing the lectus that was draped with fabric for Apollō and the sacred objects pertaining to the deity that were laid upon it. He could see some of the objects that he himself had crafted and pulled from the First Cohort surrounding it.

There were more introductions of more people that cemented themselves into Jason's life and a part of him wondered if there was even room left for him? He listened to their stories, taking mental notes of everything. Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory except for the brief flashes of Tav and Okto. When Octavian heard that, he had to put down his chalice lest he spilled it as he forced himself to maintain control. Esra grabbed his hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of it in comfort. Jason then explained the quest he went on with Drew and Leo to rescue Queen Hera from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.

"Impossible!" Octavian broke in. "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there—" Well, he knew something was going on with the Wolf House but not something that was worth investing in and now he wondered if the goddess was making sure of that.

"They would've destroyed her," Drew said. "And blamed it on the Greeks and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."

"Let's make one thing clear, daughter of doves," His eyes blazed a furious gold as he turned to her. He took joy in the way her brow furrowed in offense as his mother's necklace blocked the control. He had already noticed the way that she and Jason and maybe that Leo boy orbited around each other as if they were a couple. "Charmspeak me again and I swear to your Mother that I will rip out your vocal cord and use it as a plunger."

There was a slight tension in the air as they gaze at each other before Jason coughed awkwardly.

"So," he continued, "that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea, I mean Terra. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartara and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he said he was retreating to the ancient lands—Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by...what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."

Perseus nodded thoughtfully. "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."

Perseus recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name—Fred— which they had been informed that Lord Apollo used as an alias. Perseus went on to explain about traveling to Alaska with Frank and Rue —how they'd defeated the giant Alcyoneus, freed the death god Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants' army.

When Perseus had finished, Jason whistled appreciatively. "No wonder they made you praetor."

Octavian snorted. "Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"

"On the bright side," Perseus said, "both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So, we can both tell you to shut up."

Octavian raised a brow at that. He did realize that as pontifex maximus — unofficial since Reyna refused to abide by the rules and instate him since the negative political aspect of it —; neither of them outranked him. If anything, they were of the same rank.

"We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later," Reyna said. "Right now, we have more serious issues to deal with."

Octavian scoffed; the instability of Roma was a serious problem also. How could they lead effectively if the people saw them flouting the laws of Roma so carelessly.

"I'll step aside for Jason," Perseus said easily. "It's no biggie."

"No biggie?" Dodie choked and Octavian narrowed his eyes at him. The boy had been a pain in the ass for a few years now — and not the good kind. "The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?"

Perseus ignored him and turned to Jason. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."

"Yeah, I noticed," Jason said. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."

"Back at you," Perseus said.

"We should talk about the Great Prophecy," Drew cut in. "It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?"

"Latins," Octavian corrected pettily. "We are Latins. Some may call themselves Romani and others may claim Quirites." He, himself, identified under the latter term as he was a direct descendent of Romulus, the city's founder, who was deified the god Quirinus. He also identified as Trojan and Dardanidae who were the descendants of Dardanus who founded his city atop of Mount Ida, which became the capital of his kingdom.

She stared at him silently for a moment before correctly herself. "The Latins are aware of it also?"

Reyna nodded. "We call it the Prophecy of Seven. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?"

"Of course," he said. "But Reyna—"

"Recite it, please. In English, not Latin."

Octavian sighed. "Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"

"An oath to keep with a final breath," the girl, Annabeth, continued. "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

Everyone stared at her. Octavian bit down on the inside of his jaw, easily meeting those fair eyes and feeling rage claw at his throat and flames lick at his skin. Frank sat forward staring at her in fascination, admiring the abomination that she claimed to be. "Is it true you're a child of Min—I mean, Athena?"

"Yes," she said, defensive but lying. Well, halfway lying. He wondered if the goddess adopted her or took her on as her champion like how Iūnō did for Jason. "Why is that such a surprise?"

Octavian scoffed. "If you're truly a child of the wisdom goddess—"

"Enough," Reyna snapped. "Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides..." She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you." The undertones in Reyna's voice took Octavian a moment to decipher and he inwardly rolled his eyes. She was going to get enough for falling in love with every pretty boy that smiled at her. Take it from Octavian, they brought nothing but pain.

"Uh, thanks," she told Reyna. "At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death...that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors."

Octavian rolled his eyes once more at the incorrect naming of his people.

"My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors," Rue said.

"Wait," Drew said. "Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?" Rue nodded as if this were obvious. "Okay. You were saying?"

"He disappeared." Rue moistened their lips. "I'm afraid...I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him."

"We'll look for him," Perseus promised. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome—like, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?"

"Thanatos told you this?" Annabeth asked. "The death god?"

Perseus took a bite of his burger. "Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."

Piper, the other daughter of doves, twisted the feather in her hair. "Like water leaking through a dam," she suggested.

"Yeah." Perseus smiled. "We've got a dam hole."

"What?" Piper asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Inside joke. The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay defeated."

Reyna plucked an apple from a passing fruit tray. She turned it in her fingers, studying the dark red surface. "You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands—and the Mare Nostrum—are dangerous?"

"Mary who?" Leo asked.

"Mare Nostrum," Jason explained. "Our Sea. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean."

Reyna nodded. "The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants...and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse."

"You said Alaska would be bad," Perseus reminded her. "We survived that."

Reyna shook her head. Her fingernails cut little crescents into the apple as she turned it. "Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to latin demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."

"Then we're good!" Leo grinned over the top of his pinwheel. "Because we're all crazy, right? Besides, the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through."

"We'll have to hurry," Jason added. "I don't know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully."

Octavian shuddered. He'd had his own share of nightmares lately. A lot of visions also. He was almost running out of foundation to keep his eyebags from showing as the past, future, and present pulled at him.

"Seven half-bloods must answer the call," Drew said. "It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Jason, Leo, and me. That's three."

"And me," Perseus said. "Along with Rue and Frank. That's six."

"We still need to decide who is the seventh member," Jason commented. "They must be Latin as the others were chosen to be crew members and there isn't—"

"Percy!" Perseus' monstrous brother, Tyson, and pet hellhound bounded over to them. On the hellhound's back was his new pet harpy, Ella. The graecus spy choice for companions was almost as wild as the quest they were petitioning.

Tyson stopped by their couch and wrung his meaty hands. His big brown eye was full of concern. "Ella is scared," he said.

"N-n-no more boats," the harpy muttered to herself, picking furiously at her feathers. "Titanic, Lusitania, Pax...boats are not for harpies."

Leo squinted. He looked at Rue, who was seated next to him. "Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?"

"She's not a chicken." Rue stated, rolling their eyes. "Ella's a harpy. She's just a little...high-strung."

"Ella is pretty," Tyson said. "And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."

"No ships," Ella repeated. She looked straight at Octavian, and he only had a small moment to think aw, shit before she started talking. "Bad luck. There he is. East meets west. Bronze upon gold. Son of Troy walks alone—"

"Ella!" Frank stood suddenly. "Maybe it's not the best time—"

"The Curse of Athena burns through Rome," Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. Octavian flinched away. The screams of his Mother and Father in his ears as the flames licked at their skin. The gloating of the owls that surrounded the house, flying through the air like vultures. "Southward must the sun now trace its course, Through mazes dark to land of scorching death. Friend or foe risen from the sea you must face. Dislodge the beast that hast usurped thy place."

Octavian's heart was pounding as he dropped the bear. Esra and Pranjal were at his side, trying to get him to breathe.

"The Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail. The serpent and prophet that wrought miracles back when. Life dissolves, leaving not a mark."

But he couldn't— there was so much smoke in the air. Arms wrapped around him tightly, keeping him from rushing in. His sisters... Liv... she was... and Lyn...she was only a baby. She was just a baby. Around them, the sounds of the feast continued, but muted and distant, as if their little cluster of couches had slipped into a quieter dimension.

"Apollo must fall, but Apollo must rise again."

"Breath, Tav," someone said in his ear. Blond hair appeared in his line of sight, nearly the same shade as his Father.

"Papa," he muttered, throat clogging. He couldn't breathe, choking as the smoke grew stronger. Liv was bleeding from her face. Lyn was covered in soot, charred in her playpen. There was a hand on his chest, forcing air—clean air— into his lungs. "Come on. Breathe with me."

"He's turning blue," another familiar voice stated at his side. "Get some of the people back. He needs some space. Jason, keep doing whatever you're doing."

It seemed like forever before Octavian to realize that he wasn't standing in front of the ruins of his childhood home. He wasn't shivering despite the heat that wrapped around him. He wasn't being held by his cousins as his aunt and uncle and grandparents picked through the remains alongside the firefighters.

The effect was like someone dropping a flash grenade on the table. Everyone stared at the harpy. No one spoke.

His eyes burned as he recalled the words the harpy had said. The Son of Troy. Very few people knew that in connection to him.

Seeing the dark look in Octavian's eyes that promised a slow and painful, tortuous death, Perseus was the first to recover. He stood and took Tyson's arm.

"I know!" he said with feigned enthusiasm. "How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary—"

"Hold on." Octavian gripped one of his teddy bears, strangling it with shaking hands. His eyes fixed on Ella. "What was that she said? It sounded like—"

"Ella reads a lot," Frank blurted out. "We found her at a library."

"Yes!" Rue said. "Probably just something she read in a book."

"Books," Ella muttered helpfully. "Ella likes books."

Now that she'd said her piece, the harpy seemed more relaxed. She sat cross legged on the hellhound's back, preening her wings.

"That was a prophecy," Octavian stated, dryly. Gold was creeping alongside the edge of his irises and the air began to turn warmer. "Trust me. I know what they sound like."

No one answered.

Drew laughed. "Really, Octavian? Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?"

Her words had the intended effect. The legionnaires laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, then looked at Octavian and snorted. The idea of a chicken lady issuing prophecies was apparently just as ridiculous to Romans as it was to Greeks.

But Octavian was done with this farce as he shrugged out of Jason's hold.

"No. We rip their skin off and carve it out of their bones." Octavian stated as he looked at her. Ella and Tyson yelped as the legionnaires shifted around them in stunned silence. Octavian was never so aggressive. The gold in his eyes spread further and the glow seemingly seeped from his skin. He pulled off his shirt, ignoring the wolf whistles behind him, brand marks wrapped around his torso were seen by all glowing that terrifying gold. "But she called me the Son of Troy. She quoted the Curse of Athena. Considering that I have those words branded into my skin, I know that was a prophecy."

"She's just spouting lines from some book," Annabeth argued futilely. Her eyes were tracing the words that Ella had just repeated in horror. They all were. They wrapped around his body like chains, centering around his chest where the gold darkened into a sickly green like poison. "Besides, we already have a real prophecy to worry about."

Annabeth turned to Tyson. "Percy's right. Why don't you take Ella and Mrs. O'Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while. Is Ella okay with that?"

"'Large dogs are good,'" Ella said. "Old Yeller, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg."

Octavian wasn't sure how to take that answer, but Perseus smiled like the problem was solved. The world tinted gold as his anger slowly became all-consuming. Decorum was the only reason that he allowed Pranjal and Esra to pull him back into his seat and not pluck the feathers out of the bird one by one with a pair of tweezers! His gaze settled onto the child of Aphrodite... she had witchcraft in her voice. If it weren't for the rules of hospitium, he would have pulled her vocal cords out with his teeth. Not even Terminus' pesky little rule of no weapons within the city limits would have stopped him. The gold filled Octavian's eyes, and they knew that decorum was the only reason he was still there.

"Great!" Percy said. "We'll Iris-message you guys when we're done and catch up with you later."

The others looked to Reyna, waiting for her ruling. Octavian hoped she made the right decision, or he would make sure that everything she held dear went up in smoke.

"Fine," the praetor said at last. And she damned herself if Octavian had anything to say about it. "Go."

"Yay!" Tyson went around the couches and gave everyone a big hug—cautiously stepping away when Octavian's eyes flashed. Then he climbed on the hellhound's back with Ella, and the beast bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.

"Well." Reyna set down her uneaten apple. "Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate's approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest—especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting. And figure out the last member of the prophecy."

"Isn't it obvious," Bobby stated as he looked between the groups and Octavian. "As much as you want to deny it — badly I might, that was a prophecy, and it was one for Octavian evident in the branding on his skin. Gods that look worse than our SPQR tattoos and those are deeply burnt into our arms from the heavens."

Octavian sneered, looking between Jason, Perseus, and Annabeth. "I'm not going anywhere with them." He ignored the flinch that Jason gave from where he crouched in front of him even as he felt Lina shakily tracing the letters alongside his back.

Rue frowned, "You know it's your prophecy."

"I'll rather go skinny dipping in the River of Phlegethon," he snapped. "And besides, this whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian grumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace! Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes."

"Come aboard, man," Leo offered as the Romans around them flinched and gave the greeks considering looks. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear."

Octavian's nostrils flared. "How dare you—"

"It's a good idea," Reyna said. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a senate meeting in one hour."

He took a moment to breathe deeply. "Fine," and it was like pulling teeth. "Lina, stay with Pranjal and Leila. I'll be back." He didn't look to see her agreement as he followed her cousin to the rope ladder. He paused, turning towards the fountain and for a moment, he swore he saw his sister standing there, smiling coldly with a cruel light in her eyes. He blinked, and the image was gone. Gods, this was just bringing memories that he didn't need alongside a horrible chill that settled over him.

---

Octavian hated the ship on principle, but he wouldn't deny that it was a work of art. He met the rest of the crew as they were milling about the ship and speaking with a few of the aurae who had brought them some food up. He could see plates from Donatello's Donuts, Pollux's Pizzeria, Percival's Pizzeria, and The Flaming Skillet.

The quarterdeck was a headache in a half. There was a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD. The ship's main weapons were two repeating crossbows that could apparently fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete. It has oars that can change into spears if needed and the masthead; Festus, his dragon friend that he lost on his quest, was able to breathe fire. Octavian didn't really know how the ship was able to fly, but flying it was, considering that it was hovering mid-air and apparently had a landing gear system so it can dock on dry land.

The ship's power came from the engine room on the second and lowest deck, which also house the sickbay, storage and farming area. There were hidden compartments where emergency boats were located just in case, they had side quests or had to abandon ship that came back together like lego blocks. Just about every room was personalized and Octavian could easily recognize Jason's from the designs on the paintings on the wall and an unnerving number of portraits of Octavian's own face.

The mess hall was styled like Camp Half Blood apparently, but the images that showed scenes were now showing scenes of Camp Jupiter that Octavian wanted to reach out and fix from the crumbled buildings. The lounge had cupboards lined with magic cups and plates from Camp Half-Blood, which filled up with whatever food or drink that they could want on command. There was also a magical ice chest with canned drinks, which are perfect for picnics ashore. The chairs have cushy recliners with thousand-finger massage, built-in headphones and sword and drink holders. Octavian realized quickly that the boy was trying to entice him into joining the quest evident in the way that passed Jason's shrine to him at least four more times.

The other campers had returned to the bottom levels as the two of them made their way back upwards. A few legionnaires were with them, and Octavian rolled his eyes when he noted Pranjal was bringing stuff for Octavian also. He thought he made it clear that he wasn't going on that stupid quest.

"Your images are wrong," Octavian muttered. "Damage aside, New Roma looks even better than any pictures could do justice. We have the best architects and builders in the world. Roma always did, in the ancient times. Many demigods stay on to live here after their time in the legion. They go to our universities. They settle down to raise families."

Octavian hummed as he saw the way that boy suppressed a wince. Ah, he had lost family too. He wondered how Lina was his cousin if that was the case. He could relate though. And besides, Octavian didn't need a family. His first one got killed.

"What's your problem with Annabeth," the boy asked, and Octavian blinked before scowling as he registered his words. "What do you mean?"

"The way you look at her, man," Leo said. "It's like she ripped your heart out and you want to return the favor."

Well, she didn't but if her parentage was actually as she claimed then it was close enough. But if there was one thing Octavian was good at; it was deflecting about his personal life because it was nobody's damn business but his own.

"In our camp," Octavian said, "Athena is Minerva. Are you familiar with how her Roman form is different?"

"I take it Minerva isn't...uh, quite as respected here?"

Octavian scoffed. "We respect Minerva just fine. She's the goddess of crafts and wisdom... look around you at New Roma. Take away the crumbling buildings and trashed ground and let it resemble the prestige that it was before and well... New Roma would be a living offering to both she and Vulcanus. And unlike her counterpart, Minerva is considered the wisest of the Latin deities in which she did not bow to Apollō in knowledge when the occasion called for it." He brushed his fingers alongside the frame of the ship, sensing the blessings already laid upon it. "But she's not our goddess of war. In fact, she did not become a goddess of war until she was Hellenized in the fourth and third centuries BCE. But more importantly, she's also a maiden goddess, like Dīāna...the one you call Artemis. You won't find any children of Minerva here. The idea that Minerva would have children—frankly, it's a little shocking to us."

"Oh."

"I understand that you Greeks don't see things the same way," Octavian continued. "But we take vows of maidenhood very seriously. The Vestal Virgins, for instance...if they broke their vows and fell in love with anyone, they would be buried alive. So, the idea that a maiden goddess would have children—"

"Got it. She's not supposed to exist. And even if your camp had children of Minerva—"

"They wouldn't be like her," Octavian sneered. "They might be craftsmen, artists, maybe advisers, but not warriors."

"Well," Leo starts. "She's more of the adopted child of Athena. Her godly parent is some dude called Diomedes? I don't know, but whoever he is really irritates Drew and Annabeth, all of their siblings, the kids of Ares and Apollo."

"Apóllōn," Octavian corrected absently. His mind was shifting the information around in his head like computer tabs that never froze. "And Diomedes was the ancient greek warrior that managed to wound both Lady Aphrodítē and Lord Árēs in a single day during the Trojan War with the help of Lady Athênê. He also attempted to stand against Lord Apóllōn before backing away as he remembered that he was a mere mortal attempting to stand against gods by his lonesome."

"The chicken lady, Ella... that prophecy..."

Octavian bit back a flinch, the memories of hands ghosting across his skin; different shades of blond ghosting appearing in his vision as if the Nymphs of the West placed the colors of the setting sun—red, yellow, or gold—into the strands. He remembers hands cradling his face, sagging skin like melting wax and charred skin where flames licked alongside the side. There was so much blood—it stained his skin. Different shades of blue eyes stared into his soul, blending in neatly with brown eyes that looked like molten lava as the fading sun shone within them. He could still feel the gauges in his skin that left no scar despite how deeply Pranjal claimed that they had been, but they left behind a nice birthday present that bound him to death that started to appear day by day.

"What about it," he said, voice strained.

"Annabeth's dad... Diomedes came to visit while we were building the boat. Do you know what it means?"

Octavian gave a small breath, feeling another chill wrap around him. He knew without looking that his pupils were trimmed in gold. "It means that I'm going to pluck the feathers out of that bird when I catch her." No one aired out his trauma and got away scotch free. His eyes turned to look over New Roma, gaze landing on Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini. "It means I've already looked Death in the eye and await its embrace."

The sacred geese of Iūnō Moneta began honking right as flames began to lick into his skin.

Octavian's scream was shrill as it sang in symphony alongside the geese. He fell to the ground, mind fighting against itself. In front of him, Leo walked right up to the amidships, firing upon Rome. In his head, he was pinned to the floor of the family room, flames licking at his skin and unable to move.

The Argo II launched a second volley. Its port ballista fired a massive spear wreathed in Greek fire.

You're not there. You're not there.

Octavian coughed, trying to fight past the smoke in his lungs that only existed in his mind. That chill was there again, neon green nails curled around his wrist attempting to tug him to his feet. Octavian froze, eyes following the appendage upwards.

His sister stood before him. Teeth as sharp as a killer whale glinted under the sun as she looked at him; arms wide in welcome, glistening as if she had just come from a swim in the lake. "Come on, Via," she cooed. "Let's play."

Octavian paled, shooting to his feet and stumbling away. The smell of burning flesh graced his nose, and he remembered the flames that licked at his skin. A wave of nausea almost made his knees buckle once more as he looked at his arms.

He rushed for the rope ladder, coughing again at the smoke that curled around his lungs.

Down in the forum, chaos was spreading. Crowds were pushing and shoving. Fistfights were breaking out. He tried to warn Reyna! He did. Damn them! Damn them all.

The legionnaires turned into an angry mob. Some threw plates, food, and rocks at the Argo II, which was pointless, as most of the stuff fell back into the crowd.

There were various warriors surrounding the two daughters of Aphrodite and Jason. The girls were keeping them back with their charmspeak while Jason was trying to plead with the ones that continued to join the group screaming and knocking the others from under the magic.

His forehead was bleeding, his cloak ripped to shreds. Octavian hated how his heart still skipped at the sight of him. Gods, Octavian missed the old him. Before he fell in love with the idiot, he used to have like four boyfriends and three girlfriends.

The ARGO II fired more flaming spears into New Roma. Octavian watched as his favored toga shop was blasted to rubble. Armed legionnaires were hurrying toward the forum. Two artillery crews had set up catapults just outside the Pomerian Line and were preparing to fire at the Argo II.

And in no time, another explosion rocked the forum. This time the flash of light was directly overhead. One of the Roman catapults had fired, and the Argo II groaned and tilted sideways, flames bubbling over its bronze-plated hull.

Livia was beside him, a bright smile on her face as she was falling through the sky. He remembered those games as they chased each other through the woods behind their home. One arm was stretched out as if she was going to sling a whip of water through the air.

He ignored the PTSD hallucination as he clung to the rope ladder and continued to climb down. Once he made it to the bottom, he carefully ignored the sight of Livia glaring at the back of Perseus' head as she swam within the fountain.

"Annabeth!" Perseus called. "What—?"

"I don't know!" she yelled.

"I'll tell you what!" His eyes were burning with hatred. His family was destroyed once because of greeks, and now his home was being destroyed once more because of them. "The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Roma!"

"You're lying," Annabeth said. "Leo would never—"

"I was just there!" Octavian shrieked. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

The Argo II returned fire. Legionnaires in the field scattered as one of their catapults was blasted to splinters.

"You see?" Octavian screamed. "Romans, kill the invaders!"

He whistled loudly. The hallucination of Livia sat straight up, eyes glinting as not even a second later, screams became higher in pitch as a large monster emerged from the belly of the lake.

"Octavian, what," Rue shrieked whereas Jason had finally gotten away from the mob of angry legionnaires as his little girlfriend and her sister were doing a better job of holding them back than he was. The younger blond crashed into Octavian as the rope snapped letting him fall.

"Let me go," Octavian yelled while the younger flew them into the air. "SEALLY! DESTROYTHAT BOAT!"

The giant phantom jelly let out a high-pitched screech before its limbs were bursting through the water and aiming for the ARGO II. Her other limbs were reaching out for the greek invaders, throwing them into the air.

"Why do you have a sea monster as a pet?" Perseus demanded.

"Seally belonged to my sister," he stated as he resorted to pinching Jason for freedom. "It was her fifth birthday gift. Blowtorch was her fourth and Guillotine was her sixth."

"Blowtorch? Guillotine?"

"SN-SN-SNAKEEEEEE."

"Do any of them have normal names," Rue grumbled.

A giant sea snake emerged from the lake beside Seally. It was almost the same size as the infamous Midgard Sea Serpent. "Blowgun and Guillotine. Blowtorch's a belcher's sea snake. She's been fed ambrosia and nectar since she was a snakelet. Now she's big enough to wrap around the planet three times with enough poison in one of her fangs to put the entire north american continent on the expressway to the Underworld!"

Guillotine was a vampire squid from hell. A fact that was cemented as he climbed from the lake looking like a great value version of Cthulhu.

Livia's hallucination ran for her pets as if she could wrap her arms around them for a hug.

At a particularly hard pinch, Octavian gave another whistle, and he was able to drop out of his arms, falling to the ground almost dramatically. As Jason came down to grab him, the younger blond had to bank as the ground erupted into flames. Once the fire cooled down, it was to see Octavian on the back of a horse that was breathing fire. The auger smiled sharply at the former praetor. "Jason, meet Fluttershy. Another one of my sister's companions."

"Why am I learning more about you now than in the years that I've known you," Jason demanded, dodging the food projectiles that were being thrown his way.

Octavian shrugged, turning as a whistle was heard behind him. He looked to see a blur of beige shoot across the forum. A majestic horse materialized next to the fountain. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob. Rue climbed on his back like ast'd been born to ride. Strapped to the horse's saddle was a Roman cavalry sword. "Send me an Iris-message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous," ast said. "Arion, ride!"

The horse zipped through the crowd with incredible speed, pushing back Romans and causing mass panic.

Octavian growled. "Fluttershy, let's go."

The Mare of Thrace reared and shot through the crowds. Octavian was aiming for outside of the city limits. He would tear that boat down board by board especially once he remembered that some of their own members were aboard it.

A roar echoed around them, one that was matched in intensity as a ferocious growl echoed all around them.

Octavian turned to look as the legionnaires screamed and scattered as a full-sized dragon charged through the forum—a beast even scarier than the bronze dragon figurehead on the Argo II. It had rough gray skin like a Komodo lizard's and leathery bat wings. Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off its hide as it lumbered toward Piper and Drew, grabbed them with its front claws, and vaulted into the air.

It was doing surprisingly well, keeping out of the hold of Guillotine and Blowtorch.

Octavian's eyes narrowed, turning Fluttershy in their direction once he saw those claws aim for Blowtorch's eyes. There were a lot of things that he could do with lizard skin. He then cursed as he saw Lina in her lycanthrope form launching herself into the sky. Seally grabbed her, giving her boost, throwing and catching her as she tried to attack the dragon while using its other limbs to knock arrows away from the werewolf. One throw had her flying above them to land threatening a top of the boat, snarling as she waited for the dragon.

Except with the distraction of the dragon, worry for Lina as she fell deeper into her canine state, and Rue's horse distracting their archers — and Livia's phantom form, holding onto the horse, shaking her tiny little fist at its face — he missed Jason swooping down to grab him from atop of Fluttershy.

The horse reared and stopped her feet, angry because she couldn't shoot flames at them without hitting Octavian since he was being held in Jason's arms like a blond and male Lois Lane. They landed on the deck, and Jason only had a moment to spare before Lina was leaping at him, causing him to drop Octavian. Lina stood in front of him protectively, a large russet brown wall of furry muscle.

The gray dragon soared into view. It circled the ship once and landed at the bow, depositing Drew and Piper, who both collapsed though the former got back to her feet just as quickly once she realized the threat.

Drew stood with a silver arrow aimed at her while Leo was still over by the amidships, calmly reloading the ballista. Around them, the rigging was on fire. The foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard.

"Leo!" Jason screamed. "What are you doing?"

"Destroy them..." He faced the others. His eyes were glazed. His movements were like a robot's. "Destroy them all."

He turned back to the ballista, but Perseus tackled him. Leo's head hit the deck hard, and his eyes rolled up so that only the whites showed. Lina bristled and growled at the boy.

"Go!" Perseus yelled. "Get us out of here!"

Annabeth ran for the helm before Octavian could even attempt to stop her; she grabbed the aviation throttle and yanked it straight back. The ship groaned.

The bow tilted up at a horrifying angle. The mooring lines snapped, and the Argo II shot into the clouds taking Octavian with them.

---

Octavian was in a cell.

It wasn't his first time in one honestly.

(Strictly speaking, it may not even be his last.)

There was that mortal prison he got placed in that time he and Augustus snuck into a mortal bar and started a fight. The other time he had been placed in one for "trespassing" because a traitor of New Roma thought she was going to be able to escape justice. Unfortunately for her, there were quite a few legionnaires that worked in the local police station that were kind enough to waive his arrest. He had been captured during the Titan War and nothing had been better than watching Jason blast through four walls of steel to rescue him. There were a couple of other times that involved a bear skin rug and some white wine and a couple of rose petals and fur handcuffs.

Lina had stood guard in front of his cell. The legionnaires that had been kidnapped alongside him burst onto the deck while they were soaring through the air had protested it, but even they knew that they really couldn't guarantee that he would stay in the cell especially since Octavian wouldn't tell them if there were any more secret pets that they should know about. They weren't even allowed near his cell since Lina had taken extreme offense to Drew and Piper attempting to charmspeak her to let them pass. It would have worked too if Lina hadn't attacked the second Piper opened her mouth. The old faun — satyr — learned quickly that Lina had a fondness for goat meat.

Pranjal had been the one to soothe her because Octavian was quite content with watching her make dinner out of them. She had allowed the healer in so that he could go about treating the burns on his arms from where Leo had grabbed him in attack. Lina had felt so bad about that, whining as she cuddled against his side. He knew it unnerved the greeks that she wouldn't transform back, but in reality; she did. She only did it when she knew that they weren't going to be around, eating the food that they brought to Octavian because he was not going to eat anything from them without her checking it first. Malysia had caught on quickly to what she was doing so clothes were always one of the first things brought down to them so that she could have something to slip on when she changed back.

There had been fighting as they flew from what Malysia had reported until both sides were able to calm down and listen to each other. There was still some distrust between the two, but they were working through it and decided that they might as well complete the quest since they were already there. It was a little crazy since a few of them were only probatio but there was nothing that they could do. The others were waiting for Octavian's orders since he was technically the senior officer out of all the Romans since they had been kidnapped, Esra was retired, and Jason, Perseus, Frank, and Rue would be considered fugitives.

She knew that the orders were going to have to wait since Octavian wanted nothing to do with the quest and convincing the others to let him out meant surrendering to that. If anyone knew how inevitable it was to just go along with it, it was Octavian, but he was as stubborn as his Grandmother on bingo night and it would be on his terms before he got his ass out of that cage. He's broken out just as many cells that he had gotten thrown in.

Lina was beside him at that moment, in a semi-state of her lycanthrope form. She had the fangs, the eyes, and ears as Lilith told them that were landing so that the children of the forge could make repairs to the ship. The daughter of Venus had managed to snag some celestial bronze metal nail polish from her greek sister Drew that she swore was safe. Of course, Lilith had her own imperial gold nail polish, but she didn't think she was going to be on the quest, so her bottles were back at Camp Jupiter. They all strapped down for a very rough landing. The Argo II listed dangerously to starboard, then righted itself and rocked on the surface of the lake. Lina's ears twitched, no doubt hearing something that his little mortal ears couldn't.

Moments later, a bell rang throughout the ship and Lina twitched away from the sound. He carefully looked away when she quickly stripped herself of her clothes and a giant wolf was suddenly sitting beside him, glaring as Leo and Rue walked past them. She bared her teeth at them, but Octavian knew that she wanted to speak to her cousin. But they turned a corridor to where Octavian knew lead into the mess hall and Lina immediately assumed her half-state once more. She got dressed quickly, turning her attention in that way with a focused frown on their face.

"They are speaking," she said, ears twitching once more. "The prophecy that the chicken girl spoke was from the Sibylline Books. At some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome."

Octavian shuddered. If they had managed to get that bird...

"She is sensitive. She was a captive when she had been found. She and Tyson are supposed to go Camp Half-Blood," she sneered those last words. She shook her head. "They need to fix the ship. They need tar, celestial bronze, and lime."

Her head tilted to the side. "The child of Min — Athena says that she will try to understand your prophecy. She says that she heard some of the lines before but in a different context." Octavian sneered at that. Did she hope to understand him from a prophecy that spoke of his death — that spoke of the curse that her foster Mother placed upon him.

"There is a lake and celestial bronze west of here and tar in the city. They do not want to melt down the weapons that they have just yet for supplies. Rue says that a strike force will go after us — lots of them because they kidnapped Roman officers, especially their auger." She snorted. "Via's twin says that he didn't know that you were so important. Rue is telling him how you are the most important member of The College of Pontiffs. They say that without you and now them, the role fell to Dodie who hates you but will search for us with his auguries as it's a matter of honor."

Thank the gods that there were other augers.

"Annabeth says that the cold feeling that Leo mentioned was something that she felt too." Lina looked at him at that, remembering his own complaints of frequent bouts of cold. She also knew about the hallucination that was currently sitting in the corner kicking her feet in the air, but as long as Octavian kept his gaze away, then he could deal with not seeing the face of his long dead sister.

It didn't make it better that he would have more of a view of Jason as he tried to talk to him too. Thank the gods for Leila who was vicious about those she took under her protection though Octavian was confused how he was the one to be protected when she was a full head shorter than him and weighed as much as feather.

(Then he saw her plant children crawl out of the ground during the Titan War and started devouring the enemies like chlorophyll zombies and decided that he was fully supportive of the plan.)

"They are doing a buddy system. Some will be going to the lime and metal and others to the city. Some will stay behind to guard the ship while others will be going to restock on things that they would need for the journey. Your Seally did a number on the ship."

Obviously. She was just as vicious as her owner had been and Livia had sternly told her that everyone within the Verus Family was to be protected at all costs. Seally had taken that to mean that she would always come whenever they called for her.

"Someone wants to talk to you and see if they could convince you to join them," Lina snickered. "And oh... oh, Rue just told Leo about me that we are — " She abruptly shifted back to full form right as Leo tore through the corridor stopping to stare. Octavian raised a brow as he reached out to brush his fingers through her fur. The others came up behind him and Octavian carefully darted his eyes away from Jason to turn to his friend.

"I did not take you for a coward," he told her, and she huffed, standing up to turn away from all of them. He snorted. "Seriously. Please talk to him. He looks like he's a second away from burning the glass down to get you."

A rumbling growl came from her. "Lina," Octavian drawled.

"Alina? Prima hermana, ¿Eres tú?"

She didn't answer, scuttling forward to bury her head under her piles of clothes. "You said you wanted to talk to him," Octavian pointed out. She kept quiet and he only rolled his eyes, turning to look back at the plexiglass.

Leo turned to look at him, an accusation already in his eyes. "How do you know her? What did you do to her because the last time I checked; Lina was mortal."

"And now she's a werewolf," Octavian sniffed. "Do keep up." There was a slight wheezing sound and the wall of fur shuddered as if she was snickering. "The peanut gallery does not get to laugh if they're doing the bury their head in the sand method."

She pulled her head from under the lump of clothes to stare at him in judgment, tilting her head in the direction of the rest of the peanut gallery.

"Don't look at me like that," he grumbled. "That's different."

She rolled her eyes.

"So, I can tell him how we met then? Four years old and you moved to our town for two years?" He found himself getting lost in his memories. "The same age as Nia yet you were so small that we thought you were younger. Coming to visit our home and playing in the woods with us." He could almost imagine it all over again. They were all chasing after each other playing tag as they always did. They — him, Augustus, Livia, and Annia — were doing their best to try to stay in mortal framework even though they usually did it for endurance training. "Sticking to the same routes that Aunt Valorie laid out for us. You tripped over a rock and stumbled off the pathway, but it was okay because you knew we would find you. We knew those woods better than anyone." Livia had the nose of a bloodhound and her pet eagle that was a gift from Lord Iūpiter always watched over them — watched over him as he was the only one left. "A lycanthrope was in those woods that day. You screamed and we came for you, but you had already gotten bit. We killed the beast, dragged it back home and brought you with us. Mother did everything she could to stave the transformation and when that didn't work, she did what she could to make sure that you lived through it."

There was a whimper from the corner and Octavian remembered screams and the howls and the flickering pupils as red and brown battled out. "She set you up on medication that she handmade to minimize the call to go to Lycaon's side and help with the transformations. You moved back to Texas because your bisabuela died and then you stayed there because your tía Esperanza died not too long after. When Mother... when Mother died, Aunt Prue and Aunt Val started sending them and after them, it was Gus and Nina until it was just me." The cold chill pressed against him, and he knew that if he looked to the side then he might see that phantom image again. "I don't have any family left, Lina. It's just me now. You're getting a second chance. Take it, please."

Lina turned to look at him, eyes just as red as the blood that had poured from the bite mark that transformed her so long ago. "Please," he muttered. She looked between him and the glass separating them from her cousin before nudging him with her snout. "I'll be okay," he told her. "You deserve this." She shook her head and stomped her foot, somehow managing to give him a dry look. "It doesn't matter if I don't like him. He's your cousin." Her tongue brushed against his arm where the scar of his burning hand was starting to fade away after Pranjal applied one of his Mother's burn treatments. "Okay, yeah. He did hurt me, and I could have killed him, but I didn't! See. If I can let that go, you can talk to your cousin."

She was wavering, he could tell. Octavian sighed deeply. "You better love the people that the gods loaned you because they're going to want them back someday."

Her ears were pressed close to her head as she gazed at him. "Look, just talk to him. You don't even have to do more than that. I'll make you some brasato al barolo even though it's not winter time and sfogliatella using Grandmother's recipe." That did it. In no time, she was shifting back to her human form and he threw a blanket over her as she got dressed under it. Once she had some semblance of dignity, she turned to look at her cousin. "Hola, primo. ¡Cuánto tiempo sin vernos!"

"Prima, ¿Qué te sucedió?"

Her smile turned sharp, a hint of fangs glinting under the light. "Tía Rosa was right to call me La Loba." A ring of red surrounded her mocha eyes. "Looks like she was right about you too. What did she call you, eh? I believe it was un niño del Diablo." The latino flinched at her words and Lina's smile widened. "I'm very territorial and possessive of what's mine, Duende, and Via is mine now."

"Okay," Leo breathed, not even paying attention to her words. "Okay, you have a pet human, whatever. But give me one good reason why I shouldn't open this cell and give you a hug. You're my cousin."

Lina froze, eyes wide. "You are not mad?"

"About what? Oh, you mean how la familia turned their backs on me when mi madre died?" His mouth turned into a sneer. "Eh, how no one spoke up for Esperanza's only child? No, tía Rosa said I was el diablo and no one was thinking about how I was just a kid. Something was always wrong about Esperanza's child!"

Lina mimicked his expression, hands balling into fists as she shifted back onto her haunches. "You think you're the only one that had to deal with her shit? She's been after me just as long as you! ¡Hostia! She's probably been after me longer than you."

"She turned the family against me! I've been bounced around foster home to foster home since I was seven!"

"She gave me a fucking razor for my sixth birthday and tried to make me eat out a damn dog bowl and she didn't even know I was a werewolf!"

Octavian turned to look at her sharply at that. She had never mentioned that in her letters.

"Llueve sobre mojado! None of you ever cared about me! Ser la oveja negra as always!" Blood began to drip from Lina's fists at his words just as fire was flicking alongside Leo's hair. "I found a new family. Mi padre biológico loves me more than any of you ever could!" She flinched and Octavian was regretting convincing her to talk to him.

"Irse por las ramas! Otro gallo cantaría if you had them called abuela first. It's not my fault that they called tía Rosa so there's no need to go blaming me! And if you're so happy with your new family then why are you bothering me?"

"Because you're my cousin! My favorite cousin and... and, dios mío; Dar calabazas, Alina. I never thought I'd see any of you again."

Lina stepped forward slowly. "I was seven too, hermano." There were tears in her eyes. "There wasn't anything that I could do." They stood there silently for a moment before falling into each other's arms sobbing. "Te extraño como un pájaro extraña volar," she gasped, and Leo only held her tighter, ugly sobs falling from their lips as they clutched at each other.

A hand appeared in Octavian's face, and he traced it upwards to look at Rue who was giving him a soft smile. "We should give them some privacy." Of course, at those words, Lina immediately pulled away to shoot a watery glare at Rue. "No. He stays with me."

Octavian shrugged. "You heard the girl. I'd listen to her." Rue gave him an exasperated stare at that before looking back at the others.

"At least move out of the cell," Rue argued. "We know you won't do a runner now."

Octavian raised a brow at that, and Rue mimicked his expression. "Like you'd actually leave her here with us. You don't trust us and you wouldn't put her in a position to choose between you and Leo."

"And you promised me brasato al barolo and sfogliatella. Mamá Rosalia made it the best."

"You've only had her brasato al barolo like twice in your life."

"And? Her sfogliatella was something I had plenty of. She and abeulo Aquilo came to visit a little after tía Rosa had sent Leo away." She turned to look at her cousin. "Octavian's tía Valorie was going to adopt you, but you had run away from the foster home. And then..." She trailed off with a sad look at Octavian.

And then his family started dropping like flies one after the other.

Lina shook her head. "Don't you have quests to get to?"

"Drew has already taken some of them into the city," Jason piped up. "Percy, Annabeth, Jake, and Frank have left to get the tar."

"I was on the team for the bronze and lime," Rue said.

"Me and my siblings," Leo started and Octavian watched the way Lina bit back a flinch. "can do some quick repairs but we won't be able to do anything big. Octavian's great value Ursula and friends really did a number on the ship."

Octavian shrugged. He was just doing his duty in protecting Roma.

"We'll have to sit down to do a full report," Leo hummed. "But between us we can get everything back as good as new then."

"Fine," Rue decided. "I'm with you on the lime and bronze. The others will meet us back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it."

And then they were turning to him. "I doubt the two of them want to be separated right now and she's made it clear that the two of you aren't to be separated so come on."

Octavian grimaced. Nearly everyday, he does dumb shit for his closest friends like going on a quest across the world, even if he had been kidnapped against his will. He clearly loved them too much. They needed to break up. He lost one family already. He wasn't losing another.

---

Listen, Octavian had a license for just about any vehicle, knew how to at least operate the ones he didn't, and could bullshit his way with the best of them for ones he had never seen before (the children of Vulcanus and Mercurius were terrifying when teamed together).

And yet, riding on the back of Lina was the best thing that had happened to him in long while—almost better than Jason pulling him into his embrace, bloody hands and all after he had toppled the black throne and seeing the look on Reyna's face when she had moved by him hoping that she would have been the one to be kissed. Ha! Even if he and Jason had never made it to that stage, the entirety of New Roma knew that the two of them were off-limits. Jason was his and he was Jason's. Past tense because Octavian was sure that something was going on between Jason, Drew, and Leo — it was hard to be sure with the portfolio of portraits that Jason created, but it was there.

Still, LinaExpress was the best. She came with her own heating system because of her fur so the wind wasn't even biting the way it should. It was clear that she somehow had been training in this form as her speed was incredible. Of course, Arion was faster since he was the fastest horse alive; and wow, he could see where his sister had gotten her speed from since he was sure that she was turning into some kind of baby Flash. The training that her stepmother put her through didn't make it any better and she was already more skilled than any six-almost seven-year-old had any right to be. She had been the one to grab the lycanthrope that had turned Lina after all and hoist him above her head like some sort of kid bodybuilder.

Octavian could tell that Lina was enjoying the moment though way more than she did at Camp Jupiter. The ability to stretch her legs freely without having to account for any roads as the city of Houston would no doubt restrict her to. He knew that it must have been lonely for her. No regular wolves lived in Houston let alone werewolves even if she was partially glad to have her own territory without having to worry about Lycaon and his band of monsters. She stated that on some occasions Lupa used to come down to train with her since it was her territory that the wolf-goddess was encroaching whenever she needed to get demigods.

She couldn't necessarily keep up with Arion, but it was obvious that the horse was pacing himself so that she didn't lose sight; a fact that she took as a challenge to speed up inch by inch and one that he just knew the horse was noting in amusement.

Ahead of them lay an island—a line of sand so white, it might have been pure table salt. Behind that rose an expanse of grassy dunes and weathered boulders. Leo had his arms wrapped around Rue's waist, and Octavian was kind of surprised to note that he didn't try anything. At least ten people tried to touch on Rue all the time, especially with the way ast wore waist beads around their waist. They all regretted it in the end as the "beads" around ast waist were actually precious metals and vines that Rue didn't hesitate to turn on people that touched them without ast permission. There were only so many shredded hands people could take before they realized that maybe asking to touch Rue would yield better results.

Arion thundered onto the beach. He stomped his hooves and whinnied triumphantly, and Lina slowed to a stop beside him, a small howl on her tongue.

Rue and Leo dismounted. Arion pawed the sand. Octavian jumped down, throwing a sheet over Lina as she shifted back so that she could change into the clothes that she had tied to her leg. Once she was finished, she threw it off, curls in disarray and eyes wide in excitement.

"He needs to eat," Rue explained. "He likes gold, but—"

"Gold?" Leo asked.

"He'll settle for grass. Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you."

Just like that, the horse was gone—nothing left but a steaming trail across the lake.

"Fast horse," Leo said, "and expensive to feed."

"Not really," Rue said. "Gold is easy for me now."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy."

Rue shrugged. "My Father is the King of Riches. The god of mineral wealth since gems and precious metals came from underground, wherein lies the realm of the dead. It is not an easy power to control, in fact I just got good at sensing mineral wealth, but I can do it." Rue gave them all a sharp look as if to contradict their words, but Octavian believed them. He knew better than the other two after all at how horrible Rue had been at controlling their gifts and he could see how much settled that ast was in regard to them.

Leo shrugged, knelt, and cupped a handful of white sand. "Well...one problem solved, anyway. This is lime."

Lina frowned. "The whole beach?"

"Yeah. See? The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate." Leo pulled a Ziploc bag from his tool belt and dug his hand into the lime.

Suddenly he froze.

"Leo?" Lina asked. "¿Estás bien?"

He took a shaky breath.

"Sí," he said. "Sí, lo soy."

He started to fill the bag.

The other three knelt next to him to help even if Octavian was incredibly reluctant to help the boy that fired on his home and helped kidnap him. "We should've brought a pail and shovels," Lina noted. Octavian scoffed, amusement that only she knew how to read in his voice. "And make what? A sand castle?"

Lina snorted, "A lime castle."

Their companions laughed and Octavian gave a small huff that only few could recognize as a laugh in polite company. On the other hand, Rue and Leo locked eyes for a second too long apparently. Rue looked away. "You are so much like—"

"Sammy?" Leo guessed.

Rue fell backward. "You know?"

"I have no idea who Sammy is. But Frank asked me if I was sure that wasn't my name."

"And...it isn't?"

"No! Jeez."

"You don't have a twin brother or..." Rue stopped. "Is your family from New Orleans?"

"Nah. Houston. Why? Is Sammy a guy you used to know?"

"I...It's nothing. You just look like him."

"Wait, no." Lina tilted her head, slapping Leo's arm gently. "Remember biasbuelo, Leo? Abuelo is called Sammy Jr. Bisabuelo died when we were like two, I think."

"Oh! I remember now," Leo agreed. "Sammy's our bisabuelo. Our great grandfather."

"His family immigrated from Bismarck in Ascensión Municipality, Chihuahua, México," Lina explained. "He lived in New Orleans when he was a kid before moving to Houston, Texas. It's where the rest of the family still is. If we had the time, I'd drag Leónidas there. Mamá Carmela has been mad with tía Rosa for years for manipulating their grief to have them turn on Duende. By the time they tried to change their minds Leo was on the run from another foster family. And mi abuelo refused to give Raphael the family signet ring because of that. Abuelo says it's for Leo. He and abuelita have it in both their wills for it to go to him and if he had died before them, then they were to bury it with him or give it to me to give to my first son or grandson. Either way, no one from tía Rosa's line will be able to be the head of the family ever."

"Really," Leo's voice cracked.

Lina nodded. "It's made her even more annoying of course, but Papá has taken over the family records so that he can ensure that it happens." There was a glint in her eyes that let Octavian know if her Father somehow failed to achieve what he was trying to do, then she would make it sure that it did and a lot bloodier than any of them intended if the way her nails sharpened was any indication.

They finished filling the bag in silence and did another six bags just in case. Octavian saw some of the things that the children of Vulcanus got into when inside that forge and the number of explosions were worrying for things that they accidentally knocked over (and the tears because their things got destroyed and not because they almost blew up).

Leo stuffed it in his tool belt and the bag vanished. Funnily enough it reminded Octavian of his Aunt Valorie's toolbelt that was probably gathering dust back at the Verus Estates.

The boy stood and scanned the island—bleach-white dunes, blankets of grass, and boulders encrusted with salt like frosting. "Festus said there was Celestial bronze close by, but I'm not sure where—"

"That way." Rue pointed up the beach. "About five hundred yards."

"How do you—?"

"Precious metals," Rue reminded him.

"Handy talent. Lead the way, Miss Metal Detector."

"I don't particularly care for gender-based pronouns," Rue tilted their head. "I'm fine with any, but just for reference, I don't align with strictly feminine markers." And they turned around, the puffs on their hair shaking like stylized bushes in high wind.

The sun began to set. The sky turned a bizarre mix of purple and yellow. Octavian felt a shiver rush through him. He was a child of the sunlight and he always felt uncomfortable whenever it was gone. He long outgrew any discomfort that could be seen by others, but the edginess that he felt within never went away. Finally Rue turned inland.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Leo asked.

"We're close," Rue promised. "Come on."

Just over the dunes, they saw the woman.

She sat on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. A black-and-chrome motorcycle was parked nearby, but each of the wheels had a big pie slice removed from the spokes and rim, so that they resembled Pac-Men.

Curly black hair adorned the top of her head, and she was just as scrawny as Octavian himself though he wasn't stupid to assume that meant anything. Octavian had already been strong enough to keep up with his sister when she was alive and Jason and Rue since they joined the camp and Lina with her enhanced strength.

Again, Octavian wished he had his knives.

Her wardrobe though was something that he could see his sister or Annia growing into. Black leather biker pants, tall leather boots with an abundance of buckles, and blood red leather jacket that folded in a way that if she was bleeding then it would be easier to hide.

His sister's favorite superhero had been the Red Hood after all even if he was more so an antihero.

Around her feet, the ground was littered with what looked like broken shells. She was hunched over, pulling new ones out of a sack and cracking them open. Shucking oysters? Octavian was sure that it was shrimp in that lake and not oysters if his sister's rants were any indication.

Gods below, he missed his sister.

As they got closer, Octavian took note of their surroundings. Fifteen meters west there was a drop in the ground, probably good enough for temporary cover, enough to reload or catch a breath, but the enemy would be on you quicker than you could move and open expanse around it. Attached to the woman's belt was a curled whip. Her red-leather jacket had a subtle design to it—twisted branches of an apple tree populated with skeletal birds. The oysters she was shucking were actually fortune cookies.

A pile of broken cookies lay ankle-deep all around her. She kept pulling new ones from her sack, cracking them open, and reading the fortunes. Most she tossed aside. A few made her mutter unhappily. She would swipe her finger over the slip of paper like she was smudging it, then magically reseal the cookie and toss it into a nearby basket.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked.

The woman looked up. Octavian froze, fear locking him in place. Beside him, Lina gave a menacing growl.

"Aunt Rosa?" Leo asked and Lina growled once more.

Octavian shook. That—that didn't make sense. He had seen their aunt only once, but this woman looked nothing like her. This lady had blue eyes that were so pale that they looked to be a startling grey. If Octavian thought about it, he could feel those golden words slither around his skin and heart, tightening like a noose.

"Is that what you see?" the woman asked. "Interesting. And you, Rue, dear?"

"How did you—?" Rue stepped back in alarm. "You—you look like Mrs. Shane. My old social worker. I hated you."

The woman cackled. "Excellent. You resented her, eh? She judged you unfairly?"

"You—she handcuffed me every time I needed a new home," Rue said. "She called me a worthless bottom feeder and a cursed child every time something happened to my foster families. She said she understood why my mother died instead of living to raise me. She blamed me for everything I didn't do and— No. She has to be dead. Father said so. Who are you?"

The woman smiled and turned to look at Octavian. "And you, Son of Troy?"

Octavian inhaled sharply. "You... you look Athênê. The goddess of wisdom." At least what her statues looked like. "You look like the murderer of... of the Verus Family."

She hummed, and Lina shifted to brush her arm against him. "Who are you," Lina demanded, eyes narrowed in anger and pain, suspicion and resentment.

"Oh, Leo knows," the woman said. "How do you feel about Aunt Rosa, mijo?"

"Nemesis," he said. "You're the goddess of revenge."

"No," Octavian corrected even when he was filled to the brim with the need to have revenge on the one that took his family away from him. He still couldn't let that information go unchecked though. "Nemesis is the goddess of balance. She's the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved. Later, Nemesis came to suggest the resentment caused by any disturbance of this right proportion, the sense of justice that could not allow it to pass unpunished. She punished people for their húbris. Especially for those out of touch with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments, or capabilities. Like believing themselves to be equals to the gods."

He then turned towards the goddess, feeling himself calm as he realized that this was not the goddess that ruined his life. "But for Romans, she was named Invidia and with us, she is the goddess of revenge and jealousy and hatred. Nemesis works alongside the gods, but Invidia wants to see them destroyed."

The goddess smiled at Octavian. "It's a good thing that I am Nemesis now eh."

Nemesis cracked another cookie and wrinkled her nose. "You will have great fortune when you least expect it," she read. "That's exactly the sort of nonsense I hate. Someone opens a cookie, and suddenly they have a prophecy that they'll be rich! I blame that tramp Tykhê. Always dispensing good luck to people who don't deserve it!"

Leo looked at the mound of broken cookies. "Uh...you know those aren't real prophecies, right? They're just stuffed in the cookies at some factory—"

"Don't try to excuse it!" Nemesis snapped. "It's just like Tykhê to get people's hopes up. No, no. I must counter her." Nemesis flicked a finger over the slip of paper, and the letters changed to red. "You will die painfully when you most expect it. There! Much better."

"That's horrible!" Lina said. "You'd let someone read that in their fortune cookie, and it would come true?"

Nemesis sneered. "My dear Alina, haven't you ever wished horrible things on tía Rosa for the way she treated you?"

"That doesn't mean I'd want them to come true!"

"Bah." The goddess resealed the cookie and tossed it in her basket. "Tykhê would be Fortūna for you, I suppose, being so thoroughly connected to the Romans. Like the others, she's in a horrible way right now. Me? I'm not affected. I do not change, because revenge is universal and because I must maintain the balance between either side."

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "What are you doing here?"

Nemesis opened another cookie. "Lucky numbers. Ridiculous! That's not even a proper fortune!" She crushed the cookie and scattered the pieces around her feet.

"To answer your question, Leo Valdez, the gods are in terrible shape. It always happens when a civil war is brewing between you Romans and Greeks. The Olympians are torn between their two natures, called on by both sides. They become quite schizophrenic, I'm afraid. Splitting headaches. Disorientation."

"But we're not at war," Leo insisted.

"Um, Leo..." Rue winced as Octavian scowled. "Except for the fact that you recently blew up large sections of New Rome."

Leo stared at ast. "Not on purpose!"

"I know..." Rue said, "but the Romans don't realize that. And they'll be pursuing us in retaliation."

Nemesis cackled. "Leo, listen to the child. War is coming. Gaea has seen to it, with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?"

"Me," Leo said, horror on his tongue.

The goddess snorted. "Well, don't you have a high opinion of yourself. You're just a pawn on the chessboard, Leo Valdez. I was referring to the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion, bringing the Greeks and Romans together. The gods blame Hḗrē—or Iūnō, if you prefer! The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron!"

Octavian had mixed feelings about Iūnō; most of it stemming from his worry for Jason as her champion. She'd meddled in his life since he was a baby, molding him to serve her purpose as repayment for his birth, but Octavian knew that she cared about the boy as if he were her own child. And then there was the fact that it was she who brought Perseus Jackson into Octavian's life with a face so much like his long-deceased sister that it was as if he were Octavian's own hell on earth and a ghost that wouldn't leave.

"So why are you here?" Octavian asked, a strain in his voice. Anything to get away from those thoughts because those thoughts led to another, and he was nowhere near prepared to deal with that kind of breakdown.

"Why, to offer my help!" Nemesis smiled wickedly.

"Your help," Leo said.

"Of course!" said the goddess. "I enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there are none who deserve tearing down like Gaea and her giants. Still, I must warn you that I will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Octavian snarled. "My entire family is dead. The only connection that I have to my past is the girl beside me that wants to run away from her own. The ghost of my baby sister is haunting my every step and I'm supposed to go on a quest with the daughter of the person who killed my family! Isn't that enough sacrifice for you! "

His voice thundered at the end of his words, rage clawing at his psyche because he was so done with this. Sacrifice? Octavian's entire life had been one sacrifice after the other ensuring that New Roma prospered even if it meant getting his hands dirty. Even if it meant letting creepy adults that were old enough to be his grandparents rub on his body and parade him around their equally creepy friends if it meant their support for his endeavors or have their support in raising hell to keep mortal eyes away from New Roma or hell, just their support to fund projects to keep Camp Jupiter running. Nobody at that fucking camp sacrificed more than Octavian! Learning when to shut the fuck up and just take it if it meant that Verus Estates stayed under his name. Learning how to stop moving and not choke if it meant that the street kids continued to have access to health care without throwing them into the pedophilic system. Learning to lay back and just enjoy the ride to stay out of the system.

Octavian made the sacrifices.

He wasn't making anymore.

"Right now," Leo said, breathing deeply himself, "all I want is some Celestial bronze."

"Oh, that's easy," Nemesis said. "It's just over the rise. You'll find it with the sweethearts."

"Wait," Rue said. "What sweethearts?"

Nemesis popped a cookie in her mouth and swallowed it, fortune and all.

"You'll see. Perhaps they will teach you a lesson, Octavian Verus. Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life." She smiled, before turning to look at Rue. "And speaking of your brother Nico, you don't have much time. Let's see...it's July 1st? Yes, after today, five more days. Then he dies, along with the entire city of Rome or he does that nifty little ritual that gives you a couple more months who knows."

Rue's eyes widened. "How...what—?"

"And as for you, child of fire." She turned to Leo. "Your worst hardships are yet to come. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you...for a price."

Octavian smelled smoke. And he found himself stumbling away, terror clinging to him. It was happening again. The same way. The same way. Lina's clawed hand clamped down on his hand, and he turned to her then turned to Leo when she inclined her head towards him. He had shoved his hand in his pocket to extinguish the flames. "I like to solve my own problems."

"Very well." Nemesis brushed cookie dust off her jacket.

"But, um, what sort of price are we talking about?"

The goddess shrugged. "One of my children recently traded an eye for the ability to make a real difference in the world."

Leo's voice sound faint. "You...want an eye?"

"In your case, perhaps another sacrifice would do. But something just as painful. Here." She handed him an unbroken fortune cookie. "If you need an answer, break this. It will solve your problem."

Leo's hand trembled as he held the fortune cookie. "What problem?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

"No, thanks," Leo said firmly. But his hand, as though it had a will of its own, slipped the cookie into his tool belt.

Nemesis picked another cookie from her bag and cracked it open. "You will have cause to reconsider your choices soon. Oh, I like that one. No changes needed here."

She resealed the cookie and tossed it into the basket. "Very few gods will be able to help you on the quest. Most are already incapacitated, and their confusion will only grow worse. One thing might bring unity to Olympos again—an old wrong finally avenged." She turned to look directly at Octavian who looked back at her with lifeless eyes before cutting her eyes to the ghost that he was painstakingly ignoring. "A family avenged. Ah, that would be sweet indeed, the scales finally balanced! But it will not happen unless you accept my help."

"I suppose you won't tell us what you're talking about," Rue muttered. "Or why my brother Nico has only five days to live. Or why Rome is going to be destroyed."

Nemesis chuckled. She rose and slung her sack of cookies over her shoulder.

"Oh, it's all tied together, Rue Harald. As for my offer, Leo Valdez, give it some thought. You're a good child. A hard worker. We could do business. But I have detained you too long. You should visit the reflecting pool before the light fades. My poor cursed boy gets quite...agitated when the darkness comes."

Octavian didn't like the sound of that, but the goddess climbed on her motorcycle.

Apparently, it was drivable, despite those Pac-Man–shaped wheels, because Nemesis revved her engine and disappeared in a mushroom cloud of black smoke. Rue bent down. All the broken cookies and fortunes had disappeared except for one crumpled slip of paper. Rue picked it up and read, "You will see yourself reflected, and you will have reason to despair."

"Fantastic," Leo grumbled. "Let's go see what that means."

---

WORD COUNT: 16, 985

The Prophecy

East meets west. Bronze upon gold.

Son of Troy walks alone, The Curse of Athena burns through Rome

Southward must the sun now trace its course,

Through mazes dark to land of scorching death.

Friend or foe risen from the sea you must face.

Dislodge the beast that hast usurped thy place.

The Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail.

The serpent and prophet that wrought miracles back when.

Life dissolves, leaving not a mark

Apollo must fall, but Apollo must rise again

Yes, the is a combination of the Mark of Athena and the various prophecies from ToA.

---

WORDS TO KNOW:

1) Dii Consentes - the Council of the Divine Roman Counterpart to the Olympians

2) Kalendaris Iūnō - Iūnō, the First. she is worshipped on the first of EVERY month.

3) Iūnō Moneta - Iūnō, the Warner

4) Lar Militaris - military lares

5) Lares Praestites - lares of the city, guardians

6) pax deorum - peace of the gods

7) The College of Pontiffs - The highest-ranking priests of the state religion

---

THINGS TO KNOW:

1) Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes is a line from Virgil's Aeneid where the Trojan priest Laocoön refers to the Trojan Horse used by the Greeks during the Trojan War. It means: "I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts." No, doubt that Octavian considers Jason a gift, hehe.

2) La Loba - Wolf Woman. In Mexican Folklore, she is a wild woman that collects the bones of animals and brings them back to life.

3) brasato al barolo - a traditional italian cuisine. beef braised in red wine.

4) sfogliatella - a shell-shaped filled italian pastry.

5) lectisternium - A ceremony, consisting of a meal offered to gods and goddesses.

6) hostiae - A divination method where an haruspex inspects the entrails of divination of sacrificed animals in this case, teddy bears.

7) auspices - a divination method where augers interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds; Rick incorrectly names this as the method that Octavian uses.

---

TRANSLATIONS (a girl with spanish ancestry walks into a bar with barely any knowledge of spanish and 9wks worth of knowledge of french):

1) primo hermano, ¿Eres tú? - first cousin, is that you?

2) Prima hermana, ¿Eres tú?" - first cousin, is that you? .. Lina and Leo are first cousins.

3) ¡Cuánto tiempo sin vernos - long time, no see (simplified)

4) bisabuela - great grandmother

5) ¿Qué te sucedió? - what happened to you

6) un niño del Diablo - a child of the devil

7) Duende - elf. golblin, leprechaun

8) ¡Hostia! - my god depending on the context

9) Ser la oveja negra as always - always the black sheep

10) Mi padre biológico - my biological father

11) Llueve sobre mojado! - it rains, it pours. (Basically, stating that she never changes which is ironic because they havent seen each other in years)

12) Irse por las ramas - beat around the bush

13) Otro gallo cantaría - it would be a different (simplified)

14) Dar calabazas - to shoot down.

15) dios mío - oh, my god

16) Te extraño como un pájaro extraña volar - I miss you like a bird miss flying.

17) ¿Estás bien? - are you okay

---

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

1) In the Mark of Athena, Annabeth says: "Octavian had acted like Annabeth's very existence was an insult." and I took that personally.

2) In the Mark of Athena, Annabeth says: "It was Octavian, his robes steaming and his face black with soot." and I took that personally.

3) Leo and Lina casually flexing their bilingualism which is no doubt inaccurate because i dont speak spanish.

4) Fair warning, these chapters are longer than the ones in Rue and Drew arcs.

---

The Roman Gods Named:

1) Caelum - Ouranos

2) Favonius - Zephyrus

3) Mneiae - Mousai