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.

17. OCTAVIAN II

"Who is Aunt Rosa," Rue asked. "You all keep bringing her up."

"Pendeja," Lina spat, balling her fist together.

"Long story," Leo said, shooting a small smile to his cousin. "She abandoned me after my mom died, gave me to foster care and apparently has been giving the rest of the family hell since."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well... What about you? What Nemesis said about your brother?"

Rue shrugged. "We found each other in the Underworld. Two kids that didn't belong anywhere, forever stuck between life and death. We're the only people we have left. If Nemesis is right, and Nico's in danger...I have to help him."

"Sure," Leo said. "And what Nemesis said about your brother having five days to live, and Rome getting destroyed...any idea what she meant?"

"None," Rue admitted. "But I'm afraid..."

Whatever ast was thinking, they decided not to share it. They climbed one of the largest boulders to get a better view. The rest of them followed, Lina pulling her cousin up with pure strength and not having to brace herself to do so.

"When we were talking to Nemesis," Lina said uneasily, "your hands...I saw flames."

"Yeah," he said. "It's a Hephaestus power. Usually, I can keep it under control. Remember the picnic table?" Lina's eyes lit up in understanding while Rue put one hand protectively on their breast pocket before turning away.

Octavian gazed across the island. The opposite shore was only a few hundred yards away. Between here and there were dunes and clumps of boulders, but nothing that looked like a reflecting pool.

Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life, Nemesis had said. He wondered what that was about.

"Octavian?" Rue asked gently. "You can't take what Nemesis said to heart."

He frowned. "What?"

"She's the goddess of balance," Rue reminded him. "Maybe she's on our side, maybe not; but she exists to stir up resentment and punish people for their húbris."

"Calling me prideful, Harald," Octavian smirked wryly.

Rue smiled almost sadly at him. "I think your pride blinds you to the things around you."

Octavian froze before looking away. "We should keep going," he said. "I wonder what Nemesis meant about finishing before dark."

Leo glanced at the sun, which was just touching the horizon. "And who is the cursed boy she mentioned?"

Below them, a voice said, "Cursed boy she mentioned."

At first, Octavian saw no one. Then his eyes adjusted. There was a young woman, ten feet from the base of the boulder. No visible weapons, but that didn't mean much. Aunt Prudence had been able to conjure whips of light. This woman wore a Greek-style tunic the same color as the rocks. Her wispy hair was somewhere between brown and blond and gray, so it blended with the dry grass. She wasn't invisible, exactly, but she was almost perfectly camouflaged until she moved. She was nothing like the phantom that was standing beside her swinging her little fists as if it were a boxing match. Even then, Octavian had trouble focusing on her. Her face was pretty but not memorable. In fact, each time Octavian blinked, he couldn't remember what she looked like, and he had to concentrate to find her again.

"Hola," Lina said. "Mucho gusto."

"Who are you," Octavian demanded, stepping in front of the younger three.

"Who are you?" the girl answered. Her voice sounded weary, like she was tired of answering that question.

"Are you the cursed kid Nemesis mentioned?" Leo asked. "But you're a girl."

"You're a girl," said the girl.

"Excuse me?" Leo said.

"Excuse me," the girl said miserably.

"You're repeating..." Leo stopped. "Oh. Hold it. Rue, wasn't there some myth about a girl who repeated everything—?"

"Echo," Rue said.

"Ēkhō," the girl agreed. She shifted, her dress changing with the landscape.

Her eyes were the color of salt water. Octavian tried to home in on her features, but he couldn't.

"I don't remember the myth," Leo admitted. "You were cursed to repeat the last thing you heard?"

"You heard," Ēkhō said.

"Poor thing," Lina said. "If I remember right, a goddess did this?"

"A goddess did this," Ēkhō confirmed.

"Queen Iūnō did it," Octavian stated dryly. "She had gotten suspicious of Lord Iūpiter's continuous visits to earth and left their home to catch him. Iūpiter ordered Ēkhō to distract the Queen so she did by having extremely long conversations giving him enough to time to cheat and disappear. Queen Iūnō eventually caught on. Enraged and humiliated, she cursed Ēkhō to only repeat the most recently spoken words of another person."

"You're blaming her for him being a cheater," Rue asked scathingly.

"I'm not blaming her for anything," Octavian scoffed. "The curse saved her when Pan chased her secret voice across the mountains in his bid to rape her."

Leo scratched his head. "But wasn't that thousands of years...oh. You're one of the mortals who came back through the Doors of Death. I really wish we could stop running into dead people."

"Dead people," Ēkhō said sadly. Lina stomped harshly on his foot.

"Uh...sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean it that way."

"That way." Ēkhō pointed toward the far shore of the island.

"You want to show us something?" Rue asked. They climbed down the boulder, and the rest of them followed. Lina sniffed the air, doing a partial shift to have even better senses. Even up close, Ēkhō was hard to see. In fact, she seemed to get more invisible the longer they looked at her. Octavian mentally shrugged. Better her than Larunda, Mercurius' underworld consort who had her tongue ripped out by Iovis for excessive talking and telling Iūnō of his affair with Juturna.

"You sure you're real?" Leo asked. "I mean...flesh and blood?"

"Flesh and blood." She touched Leo's face and made him flinch.

"So...you have to repeat everything?" he asked.

"Everything."

Leo couldn't help smiling. "That could be fun."

"Fun," she said unhappily.

Lina elbowed her cousin, giving him a harsh glare.

"Leo," she pleaded, "don't tease her."

"Don't tease her," Ēkhō agreed.

"Okay, okay," Leo said. "So, what were you pointing at? Do you need our help?"

"Help," Ēkhō agreed emphatically. She gestured for them to follow and sprinted down the slope. It was hard to follow her since she was a life-sized chameleon, but Lina had no trouble at all. And then Octavian took note of the movement of the grass and the shimmer of her dress as it changed to match the rocks, but Lina was more fun to watch as she literally skipped ahead.

"We'd better hurry," Rue said. "Or we'll lose them both."

They found the problem—if you can call a mob of good-looking girls a problem. Well, in a way it was. Octavian saw how the daughters of Vulcanus had demolished that one son of Favonius for breaking their brother's heart. He had been in recovery for months after that.

Ēkhō led them down into a grassy meadow shaped like a blast crater, with a small pond in the middle. Gathered at the water's edge were several dozen nymphs. They were all crowded together in one spot, facing the pond and jostling for a better view. Several held up phone cameras, trying to get a shot over the heads of the others. He wondered if they were looking at a dead body. If so, why were they bouncing up and down and giggling so excitedly? Did they kill it? His sister always proudly told them of crooks that she helped defeat when she was training at sea.

"What are they looking at?" Leo wondered.

"Looking at," Ēkhō sighed.

"One way to find out." Rue marched forward and began nudging their way through the crowd. "Excuse us. Pardon me."

"Hey!" one nymph complained. "We were here first!"

"Yeah," another sniffed. "He won't be interested in you."

The second nymph had large red hearts painted on her cheeks. Over her dress, she wore a T-shirt that read: OMG, I 3 N!

"Uh, demigod business," Leo said, trying to sound official. "Make room. Thanks."

The nymphs grumbled, but they parted, and Octavian felt his face immediately flame with heat. Look, despite Jason being his standard for close-to-perfection and while Perseus was attractive, he looked much too like his sister for him to be comfortable lusting after him; but this? THIS! Gods above, he wished he had his uncle's eidetic memory. Long tresses of dark hair fell down in a curtain framing a heart shaped face that looked to have been crafted by the gods themselves. He was built like a dancer, no like an ice skater.

Octavian's eyes dropped downwards, and he bit back a whimper. His thighs... oh, gods. He could choke Octavian out with those, and he'd die happily. He had bow-shaped lips that glimmered with just a bit of gloss. He had perfect posture and air of regal calm. His face was cast in a warm glow as if the fading embers of the sun were holding his face gently in their embrace. His T-shirt looked like it was painted on. Octavian tilted his head to the side and swallowed thickly. His jeans cradled his ass perfectly.

There was a bow and quiver strapped to his back, clearly mere decoration since the arrows were covered in dust and a spider web at the top of the bow but Octavian could look past that. In fact, he already was. The guy looked to be between seventeen or twenty. Octavian had just turned nineteen on June Ninth; he was no longer a minor.

There was no need for the judgmental stares that he could feel coming from Lina and the ptsd hallucination of his sister (and he really needed to get that under control. He hadn't had an episode like this since he was what? Fourteen?)

Rue inhaled sharply. "He's gorgeous."

The nymphs squealed and clapped in agreement.

"I am," the young man murmured dreamily, his gaze still fixed on the water. "I am so gorgeous."

One of the nymphs showed her iPhone screen. "His latest YouTube video got a million hits in like, an hour. I think I was half of those!"

The other nymphs giggled.

"YouTube video?" Leo asked. "What does he do in the video, sing?"

"No, silly!" the nymph chided. "He used to be a prince, and a wonderful hunter and stuff. But that doesn't matter. Now he just...well, look!" She showed Leo the video. It was exactly what they were seeing in real life—the guy staring at himself in the pond.

"He is sooooo hot!" said another girl. Her T-shirt read: MRS. NARCISSUS.

"Narcissus?" Leo asked.

"Nárkissos," Ēkhō agreed sadly.

Octavian had forgotten Ēkhō was there. Apparently, none of the nymphs had noticed her either.

"Oh, not you again!" Mrs. Nárkissos tried to push Ēkhō away, but she misjudged where the camouflaged girl was and ended up shoving several other nymphs.

"You had your chance, Echo!" said the nymph with the iPhone. "He dumped you four thousand years ago! You are so not good enough for him."

"For him," Ēkhō said bitterly.

"Wait." Octavian clearly had trouble tearing his eyes away from the handsome guy, but he managed it. "What's going on here? Why did Ēkhō bring us here?"

One nymph rolled her eyes. She was holding an autograph pen and a crumpled poster of Nárkissos. "Echo was a nymph like us, a long time ago, but she was a total chatterbox! Gossiping, blah, blah, blah, all the time."

"I know!" another nymph shrieked. "Like, who could stand that? Just the other day, I told Cleopeia—you know she lives in the boulder next to me? —I said: Stop gossiping or you'll end up like Echo. Cleopeia is such a big mouth! Did you hear what she said about that cloud nymph and the satyr?"

"Coach Hedge," Leo murmured.

"Totally!" said the nymph with the poster. "So anyway, as punishment for blabbing, Hera cursed Echo so she could only repeat things, which was fine with us. But then Echo fell in love with our gorgeous guy, Narcissus—as if he would ever notice her."

"As if!" said half a dozen others.

"Now she's got some weird idea he needs saving," said Mrs. Nárkissos. "She should just go away."

"Go away," Ēkhō growled back.

"I'm so glad Narcissus is alive again," said another nymph in a gray dress. She had the words NARCISSUS + LAIEA written up and down her arms in black marker. "He's like the best! And he's in my territory."

"Oh, stop it, Laiea," her friend said. "I'm the pond nymph. You're just the rock nymph."

"Well, I'm the grass nymph," another protested.

"No, he obviously came here because he likes the wildflowers!" another said. "Those are mine!"

The whole mob began arguing while Nárkissos stared at the lake, ignoring them. And Octavian turned to stare at him, ignoring them also.

"Hold it!" Leo yelled. "Ladies, hold it! I need to ask Narcissus something."

Slowly the nymphs settled down and went back to taking pictures.

Leo knelt next to the handsome dude. "So, Narcissus. What's up?"

"Could you move?" Nárkissos asked distractedly. "You're ruining the view."

Octavian looked in the water. Oh, look at that. There was the metal that they needed. What it was doing in this pond, Octavian wasn't sure.

"Right, great view," Leo said. "Happy to move, but if you're not using it, could I just take that sheet of bronze?"

"No," Nárkissos said. "I love him. He's so gorgeous."

Octavian sighed. He is. That he is.

"Man," Leo said to Nárkissos. "You do realize that you're looking at yourself in the water, right?"

"I am so great," Nárkissos sighed. He stretched out a hand longingly to touch the water but held back. "No, I can't make ripples. That ruins the image. Wow...I am so great."

"Yeah," Leo muttered. "But if I took the bronze, you could still see yourself in the water. Or here..." He reached in his tool belt and pulled out a simple mirror the size of a monocle. "I'll trade you."

Nárkissos took the mirror, reluctantly, and admired himself. "Even you carry a picture of me? I don't blame you. I am gorgeous. Thank you." He set the mirror down and returned his attention to the pond. "But I already have a much better image. The color flatters me, don't you think?"

"Oh, gods, yes!" a nymph screamed. "Marry me, Narcissus!"

"No, me!" another cried. "Would you sign my poster?"

"No, sign my shirt!"

"No, sign my forehead!"

"No, sign my—"

Octavian turned, eyes flashing with a growl. "Fuck off. He's mine."

"Wait, no," Lina piped up. She moved closer to Octavian. "Octavian, snap out of it."

"Snap out of it," Ēkhō agreed. She was kneeling on the other side of Nárkissos, waving her hand in front of his face as if trying to break his concentration. Nárkissos didn't even blink.

The nymph fan club tried to shove Rue out of the way, but they drew both of their staffs and forced them back. "Snap out of it!" they yelled.

"He won't sign your sword," the poster nymph complained. Octavian wanted him to sign something else.

"He won't marry you," said the iPhone girl. "And you can't take his bronze mirror! That's what keeps him here!"

"You're all ridiculous," Rue said. "He's so full of himself! How can you possibly like him?"

"Like him," Ēkhō sighed, still waving her hand in front of his face.

Octavian and the others sighed along with her.

"I am so hot," Nárkissos said sympathetically.

"Narcissus, listen." Rue kept her staffs at the ready. "Echo brought us here to help you. Didn't you, Echo?"

"Ēkhō," said Ēkhō.

"Who?" Nárkissos said.

"The only girl who cares what happens to you, apparently," Rue said. "Do you remember dying?"

Nárkissos frowned. "I...no. That can't be right. I am much too important to die."

"You died staring at yourself," Rue insisted. "I remember the story now. Nemesis was the goddess who cursed you, because you broke so many hearts. Your punishment was to fall in love with your own reflection."

"I love me so, so much," Nárkissos agreed.

"You finally died," Rue continued. "I don't know which version of the story is true. You either drowned yourself or turned into a flower hanging over the water or—Echo, which is it?"

"Which is it?" she said hopelessly.

Leo stood. "It doesn't matter. The point is you're alive again, man. You have a second chance. That's what Nemesis was telling us. You can get up and get on with your life. Echo is trying to save you. Or you can stay here and stare at yourself until you die again."

"Stay here!" all the nymphs screamed.

"Marry me before you die!" another squeaked.

Nárkissos shook his head. "You just want my reflection. I don't blame you, but you can't have it. I belong to me."

Rue sighed in exasperation, then glanced at the sun, which was sinking fast. "Leo, Lina, could we talk for a minute? Octavian, stay there."

"Excuse us," Leo told Nárkissos. "Echo, want to come with?"

"Come with," Ēkhō confirmed.

The nymphs clustered around Nárkissos again and began recording new videos and taking more photos while Octavian began to mentally plan their wedding, ignoring the blue-eyed child that was waving her hand in his face.

Octavian was startled out of thinking about a mirror on the ceiling for their honeymoon when he heard shouting behind him. "Leo is the coolest!"

"Leo is the coolest!" Ēkhō shouted back.

"Yeah, baby, check me out!"

"Check me out!" Ēkhō said. The phantom version of his sister looked appalled. Octavian turned around.

"Make way for the king!"

"The king!"

"Narcissus is weak!"

"Weak!"

The crowd of nymphs scattered in surprise. Leo shooed them away as if they were bothering him. "No autographs, girls. I know you want some Leo time, but I'm way too cool. You better just hang around that ugly dweeb Narcissus. He's lame!"

"Lame!" Ēkhō said with enthusiasm.

The nymphs muttered angrily.

"What are you talking about?" one demanded.

"You're lame," said another.

Leo adjusted his goggles and smiled. He flexed his biceps, though he didn't have much to flex, and showed off his HOT STUFF tattoo. He had the nymphs' attention, if only because they were stunned. Octavian turned to look at his companions. Lina was giving her cousin a nervous and concerned look, shrugging when Octavian caught her eyes as if saying what can you do?

"You know how ugly Narcissus is?" Leo asked the crowd. "He's so ugly, when he was born his mama thought he was a backward centaur—with a horse butt for a face."

Some of the nymphs gasped. Nárkissos frowned, as though he was vaguely aware of a gnat buzzing around his head. Octavian furrowed his brow. The boy does know that Nárkissos' mother was Luna or, well, Selênê for him. The goddess of the moon. The goddess that didn't even back down when Typhôeus attempted to storm Olympos.

"You know why his bow has cobwebs?" Leo continued. "He uses it to hunt for dates, but he can't find one!"

One of the nymphs laughed. The others quickly elbowed her into silence.

Nárkissos turned and scowled at Leo. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Super-sized McShizzle, man!" Leo said. Lina face-palmed. "I'm Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme. And the ladies love a bad boy."

"Love a bad boy!" Ēkhō said, with a convincing squeal.

Leo took out a pen and autographed the arm of one of the nymphs. "Nárkissos is a loser! He's so weak, he can't bench-press a Kleenex. He's so lame, when you look up lame on Wikipedia, it's got a picture of Nárkissos—only the picture's so ugly, no one ever checks it out."

Nárkissos knit his handsome eyebrows. His face was turning from bronze to salmon pink. Octavian was distracted by that for a few moments before the hallucination pointed at the sinking metal. Oh, that's right. They were here on a side quest.

Well, this was embarrassing.

"What are you talking about?" Nárkissos demanded. "I am amazing. Everyone knows this."

"Amazing at pure suck," Leo said. "If I was as suck as you, I'd drown myself. Oh wait, you already did that."

Another nymph giggled. Then another. Nárkissos growled, which did make him look a little less handsome. Honestly, the only man that had ever been able to pull that off was Jason. Meanwhile Leo beamed and wiggled his eyebrows over his goggles and spread his hands, gesturing for applause.

"That's right!" he said. "Team Leo for the win!"

"Team Leo for the win!" Ēkhō shouted. She'd wriggled into the mob of nymphs, and because she was so hard to see, the nymphs apparently thought the voice came from one of their own.

"Oh my god, I am so awesome!" Leo bellowed.

"So awesome!" Ēkhō yelled back.

"He is funny," a nymph ventured.

"And cute, in a scrawny way," another said.

"Scrawny?" Leo asked. "Baby, I invented scrawny. Scrawny is the new sizzling hot. And I GOT the scrawny. Narcissus? He's such a loser even the Underworld didn't want him. He couldn't get the ghost girls to date him."

"Eww," said a nymph and Octavian could see Rue standing a bit far back snickering.

"Eww!" Ēkhō agreed.

"Stop!" Nárkissos got to his feet. "This is not right! This person is obviously not awesome, so he must be..." He struggled for the right words. It had probably been a long time since he'd talked about anything other than himself. "He must be tricking us."

"No, he isn't," Octavian piped up. He could at least make up for his previous flounder. "I mean have you seen Leinth? The son of Mercurius and Venus. I mean, he was so obviously awesome that Salmacis asked the gods to be united with forever." Octavian then smirked wickedly at the incredibly attractive zombie boy. "Maybe if you prayed to him, he'd turn this pond into the one that started it all. And they'll help one of you lucky nymphs get the man of your dreams."

Nárkissos looked at him in horror as the nymphs shrieked in excitement. After all, Venus and Nemesis had worked together to punish him and it was no secret that Leinth was favored by his parents; Venus, the goddess that punished him and Mercurius; the god that led souls into the afterlife from where he escaped.

"Ah that's right," Octavian mused. "You were a companion of the Amors. The same age as them. You dressed like them." Octavian tilted his head. "Maybe we should pray for their appearance. Hm, how did it go?"

"Do it," Lina cheered.

"Don't do it," Nárkissos snapped.

"Do it," Ēkhō countered.

"You are trying to trick me," the zombie said.

"Am I," Octavian smirked.

Apparently Nárkissos wasn't completely stupid. Realization dawned on his face. He turned back to the pond. "The bronze mirror is gone! My reflection! Give me back to me!"

"Team Leo!" one of the nymphs squeaked. But the others returned their attention to Nárkissos.

"I'm the beautiful one!" Nárkissos insisted. "He's stolen my mirror, and I'm going to leave unless we get it back!"

The girls gasped. One pointed. "There!"

"Get it back!" cried a nymph.

Probably against her will, Ēkhō muttered, "Get it back."

Rue was at the top of the crater, running away as fast as ast could while lugging a large sheet of bronze.

"Yes!" Nárkissos unslung his bow and grabbed an arrow from his dusty quiver. "The first one who gets that bronze, I will like you almost as much as I like me. I might even kiss you, right after I kiss my reflection!"

"No," Octavian snapped as Lina shifted on her haunches. Leo and Ēkhō were in the middle of the group continuing to cause confusion. Octavian's eyes began to glow once more, gleaming like the sun. "May I delight in the graces of Venusian Amors. Sweet-speaking Cupidines. Heavenly Mother Venus was joined in love with guide and guardian lord Mercurius, and bare to him effeminate, winged Leith of the Amoretti. Blessed we be with your presence, lord of the hermaphrodites and of effeminates."

For a moment there was silence as Nárkissos stood uneasily. Rue was getting further away. Nothing happened.

"Kill those demigods!" Nárkissos added, glaring very handsomely at Leo. "They are not as cool as me!"

Lina immediately shifted, snarling dangerously at every nymph present. She snagged her cousin by the back of his shirt, slinging him into the air and darting towards Octavian as the boy landed harshly on her back. They overtook Rue easily, stopping for just a moment to grab the fifty pound frisbee of celestial bronze. Octavian glanced back. Nárkissos was nocking an arrow, but it was so old and brittle, it broke into splinters.

"Ow!" he yelled very attractively. "My manicure!"

Normally nymphs were quick, but these were burdened with posters, T-shirts, and other NarcissusTM merchandise. The nymphs also weren't great at working as a team. They kept stumbling over one another, pushing and shoving. Ēkhō made things worse by running among them, tripping and tackling as many as she could.

Still, they were closing rapidly.

"Call Arion!" Leo gasped.

"Already did!" Rue said.

They ran for the beach. They made it to the edge of the water and could see the Argo II, but there was no way to get there. Lina bounded straight for it.

The mob was coming over the dunes, Nárkissos in the lead, holding his bow like a band major's baton. The nymphs had conjured assorted weapons. Some held rocks. Some had wooden clubs wreathed in flowers. A few of the water nymphs had squirt guns—which seemed not quite as terrifying—but the look in their eyes was still murderous.

"Oh, man," Leo muttered, summoning fire in his free hand. "Straight-up fighting isn't my thing."

"Dear me," a sweet voice rang out around them. "This is a mess."

Everyone and everything came to a stop.

"Tis not everyday that mortals call upon my name," the voice sounded closer. "Hmph. At least it's better than that horrid rumor about that R&B singer and dancer."

Octavian swallowed thickly, turning to see perfection lounging on top of the water. Seriously, if he had thought Nárkissos was hot then the zombie had nothing on this one. Blood was rushing through his veins in the wrong way. He was feeling a little lightheaded. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the nymphs dropping their various Nárkissos' merch. Heck, he could see Nárkissos dropping Nárkissos' merch. Like wisps of wind, mocha colored curls fell down their back framing their body and by the grace of the gods, it was covering every important area from view. Octavian was salivating. It should be illegal to look that good. He couldn't even put into words how good they look because honestly, his only thoughts were beep beep beep beep error error.

Those kaleidoscope eyes settled on him with an infuriatingly knowing and teasing smile. "Well, son of the sun, you called for me." They leaned forward, their hair shifting and Octavian could see a hint of breasts. Oh, gods the nipples were perked. "How can I be of service," they purred.

"Leinth Liege," he whimpered. The smile widen on the god who fluttered his lashes and winked at him. Was it hot out here or was it just him? Maybe he was coming down with a fever. "I—"

"Come join me for a swim," the god teased, beckoning him forward with one finger. "You're looking a little warm." They sat up straight, hair falling behind them and allowing them to see their unclothed body as wings the same shade as warm caramel stretched from their back. Octavian took a step forward, but a harsh kick to his knee stopped him. The phantom form of his sister shook her little fist at him. "Oi," the god called to him, eyes glinting under the sun. "Am I supposed to keep waiting?"

"Keep waiting," Ēkhō said almost hesitantly. The gods' eyes dropped to hers.

"Oh, you poor thing," Leinth pouted. "Come give me a hug, darling. That mean on Nárkissos still up his old tricks. Tt. No room for love in his heart." Their eyes turned just a shade darker. "No wonder Mother had Nemesis punish him." The curl on their tongue when they said "punish" had no business being that erotic. "So he loved—and never won his love," that god said ominously. They then shrugged. "Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life."

Their gaze finally moved over to the undead teen standing behind them, shaking as he tried to vainly hide behind his band of nymphs. Leinth only flew higher in the air, peering at him curiously. "Nárkissos, still so devilishly handsome, hm?"

"Leinth," Nárkissos said hesitantly.

"You don't write. You don't call," the god huffed. "How have you been, moonshine? You look surprisingly good for a dead guy." They tilted their head. "The others haven't heard from you either. You've been back for how long? If I didn't know better, I would think that you were avoiding us, or well me."

"No that's not..."

"Is it," Leinth hummed. "This child had to call me just for me to get a visit. And look at you! Back to your old games. Making people fall in love with you without any commitment on your part." They raised their hand to silence the boy when he opened his mouth to protest. "And to escape the Underworld! If Father wasn't so sick, he would have dragged back by that horrible manicure of yours. Seriously, look at your cuticles. And are those split ends?"

Nárkissos gasped in outrage. "I do not have split ends." He looked at his reflection so much that it made sense that he would know.

Leinth sneered, and it was unnerving how they could make such an expression look good. "How would you know? You only look at the front of your face. The back of your head looks like a weed eater hacked at it."

Nárkissos balled his fist. "What do you want," he demanded of the god.

"Hm," the god tilted their head. "Me? Oh, nothing. I was just stalling for him to get here." The god pointed his finger. Everyone turned just as a powerful hit laid Nárkissos out flat on the ground. Another god appeared; coral colored wings flapping gently in the air. Swinging idly in his head was a golden club as he peered down at the prone form of Nárkissos who was holding a hand to his jaw. "Hello, Aminth. Tis always good to see you." Aminth, the roman god of Requited Love and the Avenger of the Unrequited. The latin form of Antérōs.

"Hello, Leinth," the newest god stated. He then turned his gaze to the pitiful mess on the ground. "Tt, Nárkissos. Are you going to finally go through your junk mail or am I going to have to deal with another stack of unrequited love letters for the next millennia? Choose carefully or the next swing is going up your as—"

"Time out," Rue yelled. Ast arms were crossed in an X as they looked between everyone. All eyes flitted towards them and they blinked as if they weren't prepared for that. "As entertaining as this is, may we be excused? We're kind of pressed for time."

The gods raised a brow. "You think we do not know that," Aminth wondered. "Our siblings are on the abomination that you call a ship. Seriously, it couldn't have been a yacht? Hmph, the Al Said is a luxury yacht owned by the Sultan of Oman and it's the only thing worthy of the children of Aphrodítē that you have on that thing."

Lina, who at some point turned back mortal, placed a clawed hand over her cousin's mouth.

"Unfortunately, Rue Harald, we cannot send him back. Well, we could, but neither of us are in the mood to deal with that pesky purification for murder." Aminth then smiled sharply. "Though as the avenger god of the Unrequited, I can employ demigods on quests."

The gods flew to stand on either side of them.

"Rue Harald, I give you the order to kill Nárkissos."

"What, no," Rue yelped.

"No," Ēkhō repeated, flinging her hands out in front of the boy who Aminth knocked back to the ground with another swing of his club. The gods looked at the nymph.

"Why?" Leo asked as the gods shared looks. "You don't think you can still save Narcissus..."

"Save Nárkissos," she said confidently. And even though it was only an echo, Octavian could tell that she meant it. She'd been given a second chance at life, and she was determined to use it to save the guy she loved—even if he was a completely hopeless (though very handsome) moron. She smiled, and for the first time Octavian could clearly see her face. She really was pretty. Her eyes were bluer than he'd realized. How had he missed that?

"He doesn't need you to save him," the other nymphs yelled. They nymphs surged forward, but the sand in front of them exploded. Arion raced out of nowhere, circling the mob so quickly he created a sandstorm, showering the nymphs in white lime, spraying their eyes.

"I love this horse!" Leo said.

"Come with us," Aminth tells Ēkhō. "Talasius, the amoretti of the Wedding Ceremony and Song, would love to have you at his side. A lovely echo."

"Lovely Ēkhō?"

"Yes," Leinth smiled. "He is the son of Apollō and Tipoplṓ, Mneiae of Choral Song and Dancing or well, Mousae."

"Mousae," Ēkhō sang, tears in her eyes. Ah, that was right. Ēkhō spent her days dancing with the Nymphæ and singing with the Mousae who taught her all manner of musical instruments. The nymph turned to look at Nárkissos who looked at her in frustrated confusion. The other nymphs were starting to recover. They wiped the lime out of their eyes, which were now glowing green with anger. Ēkhō leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, then pushed him gently away. She turned back to the demigods and pressed a kiss to Leo's lips before walking over to the gods.

"If you will, Rue Harald," Aminth states. Rue furrowed their brows before raising their hand. The earth rumbled under their feet and Rue's skin took a ghastly shine like outlines of ghosts on television. Their eyes turned milky white as asphodel clawed its way deep from within the underworld to wrap around Nárkissos. The nymphs screamed in harmony with Nárkissos' very manly screaming. The branches wrapped around him like a mummy, squeezing and squeezing until there was no sound left and the grass turned brown and wilted at their feet, as if poison were seeping from the soles of Rue's shoes.

As the branches descended back to the Underworld, all that was left was an elegant white poplar flower that Leinth plucked from the ground. The god weaved it through Rue's hair where it stood out against her dark curls. "There," the god said. "And now he shall be with you forever to come whenever you call." Arion neighed, nudged the demigod with his snout as the nymphs came to terms with what Leinth was implying though Octavian was sure that they were all misinterpreting their words.

Lina shifted back into her lycanthrope form and Octavian climbed aboard helping Leo up.

"Son of Troy," Aminth called out. Octavian turned to him. "Think of this moment when it is time. Most heroes cannot escape their nature, but some can find new paths." He grabbed ahold of Ēkhō and flew off with his sibling into the unknown.

And the rest of them raced back towards the Argo II.

---

They launched onto the ship. Rue and Leo disappeared with the celestial bronze while Lina growled angrily at the nymphs that chased after them so that Nárkissos could be with them forever.

The staff that Rue had given him switched into a whip that he swung to keep them back but he didn't know how long that would last considering that the whip was slowly turning back into ast's waist beads.

From below, Leo's voice rang out: "Damian! Met your mom. She's mean and she really dislikes your mom, Chiara."

"That's a pretty flower, Rue," Leila called out.

"Thanks," Rue replied. "Yo Lavinia! I think you just got a new sister in law?"

"What," came the reply.

"Man I don't know."

"What's going on," came Jason's voice from behind them. And there was something about his voice, the inflection of his words that caught Octavian's attention. When he turned to look at him, it was like everything clicked into place. He was holding a red vial in his hands that he swallowed when Drew nudged him. But Octavian paid it no mind because Jason was Jason again. There was a light in his eyes, shining as blue as the heavenly aither above them. He stood casually in a parade rest though Octavian had seen plenty of times how that was nothing more than an illusion. His face showed the joy of a man richly endowed. Bit by bit, Octavian could pick out the feralness within him, showing the boy that had been raised by wolves. The way he stood on his feet like Lina did. The subtle twitches of his head that only someone who was used to staring at him would see. Every flare of his nostrils. The way his hands curled in reminiscence of claws. The small hint of fang that showed with his smile.

There's my wolf boy, Octavian couldn't help but to think. It was like watching an object covered in mud be washed off leaving stains behind as the effect of his times with the greeks peeked out from under everything that Jason actually was.

"Jay," he murmured. Jason looked at him, the blue hue of his eyes softened even more.

"Salve, Octavius," the boy replied, just as soft. Octavian could almost swoon at the way the letters rolled off his tongue with little growls.

On the other side, something went THUMP, as if a heavy creature had landed. They turned to look just as Frank was shifting back. Annabeth, Jake, and Perseus headed towards the engine room. Perseus was toting a steaming five- gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible. Annabeth had a patch of black sticky stuff in her hair. Perseus' shirt was covered in it. Frank had a big smear of the black sludge down his face. Jake's entire arm was covered in it.

Drew scrunched her nose, turning her head away.

"Roofing tar?" Piper guessed as she joined them.

"Ran into some tar monsters," Frank said. "Hey, Octavian, glad you're on our side now, I guess."

Well, that was a lie. Temporary allies at best.

"Where's Leo?"

Drew pointed down. "Engine room."

Suddenly, the entire ship listed to port. The demigods stumbled. Those nymphs had gotten close again. Jason and Lina both growled. The girl paused, gave Jason an once over before nodding her head, turning back towards the nymphs from hell. They were climbing over each other trying to climb abroad.

The ship rocked back and forth as Perseus rushed back above deck. This was giving him a headache, but Octavian couldn't find it to leave when all he wanted was to fall into Jason's arms. Waves crashed against the hull as angry voices sounded around him—Perseus shouting, Coach Hedge yelling at the lake. Festus, the figure-head, breathed fire several times. After what seemed like hours, the engine began to hum. The oars creaked and groaned, and Octavian felt the ship lift into the air.

The rocking and shaking stopped. The ship became quiet except for the drone of machinery. Finally, Leo emerged from the engine room. He was caked in sweat, lime dust, and tar. His T-shirt looked like it had been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds. The TEAM LEO on his chest now read: AM LEO. But he grinned like a madman and announced that they were safely under way.

"Meeting in the mess hall, one hour," he said. "Crazy day, huh?"

After everyone had cleaned up, Coach Hedge took the helm and the demigods gathered below for dinner. It was the first time they'd all sat down together—all forty-five of them with the main seven sitting at the table in the middle. Maybe their presence should've reassured Octavian, and it probably would have if they hadn't blown up his home and kidnapped him, but also... just seeing all of them in one place only reminded him that the Prophecy of Seven was unfolding at last. They were under way, with a bunch of angry Romans— as they should be, or Octavian was going to be very embarrassed— behind them and the ancient lands ahead — terrifying if he was honest. The giants would be waiting. Gaea was rising. And unless they succeeded in this quest, the world would be destroyed.

The others must've felt it too. The tension in the mess hall was like an electrical storm brewing, which was totally possible, considering Perseus' and Jason's powers. In an awkward moment, the two boys tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Sparks literally flew from Jason's hands. After a brief silent standoff, like they were both thinking, Seriously, dude?, they ceded the chair to Drew who took her seat if it were a throne. Literally. She appeared with a small tiara at the top of her head alongside a flowing ankle-length pastel pink cape over her shoulders. She was holding an arrow in her right hand as if it were a scepter.

She called it her princess-of-the-starry-heavens outfit because her Grandfather was Lord Ouranos and her adopted grandfather was Lord Zeus and Lady Hḗrē stated that Drew reminded her of herself so that gave her a claim thrice over. Well, it was four claims because her Mother's ex-husband was the son of the King and Queen and Árēs' was her Mother's consort now so clearly, she was a princess.

The group did the smart thing to not argue with her as they compared notes on what had happened in Salt Lake City, but even Leo's ridiculous story about how he tricked Nárkissos wasn't enough to cheer up the group even with the knowledge of the helping gods. If anything, that seemed to make Drew angrier—something about a horrible older brother that was a sadist and liked to pick on pretty little kids.

"So where to now?" Leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. "We did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic."

Perseus was eating a piece of pie, which for some reason was completely blue—filling, crust, even the whipped cream. "We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," he said. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

Octavian shrugged when they turned to him. "I'm only here under duress, not because I care for your cause. Quite frankly, if it weren't Lina meeting her cousin, I would have escaped already."

"Yeah, how?" the boy named Sherman asked.

Octavian shrugged once more. "Seally, Blowtorch, and Guillotine can appear in any body of water as long as I call for them and if they believe that I am in danger."

"Right, the sea monsters you have as pets," Perseus scowled. "Why do you have them?"

"I told you before that they belonged to my younger sister," Octavian sniffed disdainfully. "She was murdered when I was a kid and one of her last orders was that her pets... all of her pets were to protect me and my cousins until we died. It's only me now so..."

That didn't improve the mood around the table if anything, it caused a slight tension to settle upon the room. He rolled his eyes. "You say that it was not Leo's fault. I don't particularly care who's fault it is, but any of you going back is suicide especially since you kidnapped me, the head auger. Still Reyna might listen, but Dodie won't. The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions post hac."

"You're right," Drew decided. "We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry."

Rue nodded. "Nemesis said we have only five days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."

Annabeth frowned. "You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?"

"I think," Rue said. "But if so, that's not much time."

"Why five days?" Blaise wondered. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"

No one answered.

"There's more," Drew said. "I've been seeing some things in my knife."

Esra froze with a forkful of spaghetti halfway to her mouth. "Things such as... ?"

"They don't really make sense," Drew said, "just garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe twins. There was somebody falling and they were on fire."

"Guess we know what scorching death means in your pet bird's prophecy," Octavian said dryly. Lina's claws pricking his skin was the only reason that he wasn't losing himself to the flames that were licking at his periphery though it must not have been too good with the way Pranjal looked at him in concern.

"The Son of Troy walks alone," Jason said. "The Curse of Athena burns through Rome. You already know it's you, Tav." Yeah, he did. Those nifty little lines were irritating his skin even at that moment.

Annabeth took a long breath. "Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired on us. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors—something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."

Leo and Rue exchanged nervous looks.

"Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo said. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled—"

"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Rue recalled. "'An old wrong finally avenged.' and 'A family avenged.' "

Perseus drew a frowny face in his blue whipped cream. "I was only a praetor for a week. Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?"

"A few actually," Jason sighed softly. "There was one about the Athena Parthenos that was claimed to be stolen by Romans. It was debunked though."

Esra as former praetor also spoke up, "Well, Romans did steal it, but it was given back to the greek settlers that we had though history probably wouldn't say that. But there are others..."

"Like," Annabeth prompts with a little too much interest.

"Why do you care," Octavian questioned before he could stop himself. "This is my quest."

"Your quest about my mom," she countered.

Octavian rolled his eyes. "I already know what it's about and no, I'm not sharing. It honestly has nothing to do with any of you." This was between him and Athênê.

"Ariadnê of Urbs Aeterna doesn't seem to think so," Drew stated. Octavian tensed, turning to her, a ring of gold around his pupils. "How do you know that name?" No one should know that name. His ancestors had worked hard and long to scrub her name from history, killing anyone that had gotten close to even a glimpse of it.

"She spoke to me," the girl said. "Before our quest to save Queen Hera." She met Octavian's gaze easily. "She was worried about what happened to her family line. They were cursed because they stole away an important artifact that they claimed as their heritage."

"And it was!" Octavian snarled.

"My mother doesn't seem to think so," Annabeth shot back. "If not, then Rachel wouldn't have given me my own prophecy."

"What are you talking about," Perseus asked.

Annabeth hesitated for a moment, but her boyfriend, Jake, placed his hands on top of hers. "Wisdom's daughter walks alone, The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."

There was silence around them at that.

"Twins snuff out the angel's breath, " Piper repeated nervously. "Who holds the key to endless death."

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

"Giants' bane," Leo said. "Anything that's a giants' bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their schizophrenic act together, that's good."

Perseus nodded. "We can't kill the giants without the help of the gods."

Jason turned to Frank. "I thought you and Rue's sister guys killed that one giant in Alaska without a god's help, just the two of you."

"Alcyoneus was a special case," Frank said. "He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn—Alaska. But not in Canada. I wish I could kill all the giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska into Canada, but..." He shrugged. "Percy's right, we'll need the gods."

"And how does this connect to Octavian's quest," Drew wondered.

Octavian sneered at Annabeth, "It's quite obvious that her quest is to prevent me from completing mine. Evident in the way that my prophecy constantly mentions death." A little too much death. He cast his glance over to the phantom form of his sister that was miming punching Perseus in the face and his heart constricted. I'll be with you soon enough.

"No," Will argues. "I don't think so. You have two lines that are alike."

"Giants bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail," Rue repeated. "I think this has something to do with the Prophecy of the Seven more so than your two separate prophecies. Isn't the line And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death? You two would be considered foes in a way."

And that was the wrong thing to say as the gold exploded over his pupils. He would rather be damned to the pit than team up with her.

Sharp pain prickles his skin, and he turns to see Lina looking at him in worry. His gaze drops down to her hand on his arm, watching as she retracted her claws. He turned away.

"Um well, on that note..." Leo pushed his chair away from the table. "First things first, I guess. We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."

"Someplace close to a city," Jake suggested, "in case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"

"Well," Lina ventured, casting a glance at Octavian. He knew what she was going to say before the words left her mouth and yet he still wasn't fast enough to stop them, "how do you guys feel about Wyoming?"

---

Octavian wanted to scream. He didn't blame Lina for offering the Verus Estates, but none of that meant that he was ready to go back there and face the ghosts of Christmas Past. He locked himself in his room the second he heard Lina give vague directions towards there, hid behind the bed, and refused to come out when one of the children of Mercurius — Hermes unlocked the door to get in. A part of him couldn't believe that she still remembered how to get there while a larger part of him couldn't believe that he was returning before he died. He had stated explicitly in his will that he updated after every major battle. In fact, he had just submitted the newly revised version before the attack on the camp.

It wasn't long before they got there since they were just crossing the border and he knew he was home long before the bell sounded above them.

Lina opened the door and poked her head in.

"You're usually supposed to knock," Octavian muttered, eyes locked onto the ceiling.

"You wouldn't have answered," she replied instantly, moving closer until she straddled his body. "Are you going to be okay? You don't have to get off the ship."

Octavian shook his head. "The Estate defenses would tear this thing into shreds if he tried to land without the access codes."

Something that Leo's loud cursing stated as the ship lurched back into the air. He looked at her, taking in the way that her curls framed her face like a lion's mane, the soft look in her eyes as she gazed at him, brushing a thumb across his cheek. "Are you going to be okay," he asked. He wasn't the only one that had trauma attached to the place.

Lina shrugged. "I have more good memories here than just one bad." She then smiled sharply, fangs glinting under the lights. "Besides, I am a lot stronger than I was at five." It was a miracle that she had survived that transformation even with his Mother's help.

Still, her words echoed around his head. He did have a lot more good memories at the Estate than bad ones, but that didn't soothe the ache in his heart just thinking of going back. Lina moved from on top of him and the two of them climbed back to the above deck where everyone else was standing around. Octavian sighed, walking closer to the helm. "Get back low," he told Leo who looked at him like he was crazy but one look from Lina had him doing just that. Octavian closed his eyes, not wanting to see the property as it was, but he could hear the lasers, flares, and electric dome firing up. "Authorization: Octavius Antonius Gaius Trajan Verus — Designation: VE0609. Password is RHATO25616IRONLYRE."

There was a flash of blue and gold before the weapons powdered down followed by the forcefield allowing an opening. He knew that there were six other entries around the forcefield that were now open to the public, but he wasn't worried about anyone getting onto the property. His bio schematics would keep anyone unwelcomed out. Lina steps closer to him while he hears Leo mutter something about his Family being a part of a mafia or wannabe vigilante family.

Yet he still says, "If anyone calls me anything other than Octavian, I will feed you to Fluttershy butt naked covered in yogurt and peanut butter."

His eyes open slowly as they descend and as his gaze was drawn to the house that stood hauntingly in the middle, blackened at the edges and overgrown with weeds and moss. His grandparents and aunts' homes were still in good condition, but that made sense. His cousins used to visit before their untimely death even if they refused to stay there. None of them had wanted to live with the ghosts of their families over their heads so they all reside within New Roma at the vacation homes that they had there.

The ship landed. The dome closed back up.

"Leave all of your weapons on board," Octavian ordered, then he turned towards the children and legacies of the Divine Trickster. "Anything comes up missing and you're going to be begging for Death." Octavian removed most of the weapons on him as a show of faith.

Rue placed a hand on his shoulder. "You said all of them." Octavian scowled, pulling out more weapons while the others stared. Sure maybe some of them were improbable locations, but Octavian was flexible and he was stubborn enough to make everything fit. He shrugged as the others looked at the pile that was in front of him. Rue gave him a pointed look and he sighed, pulling out a pistol and placing it on top of the pile.

"Well," he snapped when everyone else just continued to stare.

Leo turned immediately, handing out orders to the others. A loud caw sounded around them, everyone turning as Octavian raised his arm. A beautiful female booted eagle, with a wingspan of 132 cm, a light grey body with a darker head and flight feathers edged with gold. Arce was another of his sister's pets, one of the last before Father put his foot down on her pets lest they end up raising a zoo instead of children. The old bird was up in age yet Octavian knew of his sister's attempts to make her immortal, sneaking the bird nectar and ambrosia when their parents weren't looking. She landed on his arm, intelligence shining in the depths of her eyes. Images flashed through his mind. The Romans were on the move. The estate defenses would keep them shielded but it was better to move quickly before they came snooping around.

"Many thanks, my friend," he muttered. Arce cawed once more, flying upwards to sit atop his hair and bristling her wings towards those she deemed too suspicious, which was everyone if he was being honest.

He turned towards his Aunt Valorie's house, Lina skipping over to his side while simultaneously dragging Leo with her. And he knew without a doubt that the others were following behind them.

"Octavian," Pranjal asked hesitantly. "What is this place?"

He shrugged absently, entering the code to the keypad to unlock the doors and lower the defenses to the house. "Home." He swallowed thickly, pushing past the emotions that clogged within him. His gaze moved around them, thankful that they landed in the backyard. Aunt Prudence's archery field and sword-fighting circle was on one side. His breath started to come in heavy pants as he recognized the javelin that was sticking from the ground. The old swing set where his grandparents liked to sit to watch over them all. If he walked sideways and to the right, he'd be able to see Aunt Valorie's outdoor forge, but he wasn't coming for that.

"This is tía Valorie's," he heard Lina say behind him.

"The one that was going to adopt me," Leo questioned.

"Hm, yes," Lina replied. "I believed they suspected that you were a demigod and it would have also been a way for me to be close to them."

Octavian paused in the parlour, memories dancing in his mind of his childhood. His sister, Lina, and him chasing Annia and Augustus around the house, jumping over the couches and tables pretending that the floor was lava. When they were able to play and test the new weapons that Aunt Valorie forged by pretending to be Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. His sister would pretend to be Captain Hook and be a better pirate than anyone at sea. Aunt Valorie had made her a makeshift hook that Father had eventually confiscated after she tried to go after one of the boys that had been picking on Augustus with it. He remembered the reenactments of the Trojan War and man, wasn't that just a giant bout of irony.

There were a few pictures within the room. He moved absently to stare up at the one of his Mother and Aunts. Aunt Valorie was in the middle for this one since it was for her home and that she was the youngest. Aunt Prudence stood on her left and his Mother stood on her right. They were matching clothes with the shirts saying: THING 1, THING 2, THING 3 and their hair was dyed blue.

"I've seen them before," Drew murmured as she came to stand beside him. Octavian turned to look at her with a raised brow. "In a dream," she admitted. "Except they were all blondes."

"They dyed their hair for the photoshoot," he admitted. "There's another picture somewhere with me, my sister, and older cousin dressed as Alvin and the chipmunks."

"Is your... was your sister called Via?"

Octavian gave a full body flinch. "Livia," he said after a moment. She was kind enough to ignore the strain in his voice. "Her name was Livia."

"She wasn't blonde," the girl said.

Octavian snorted. "So? My cousin, Annia, had hair heterochromia."

"She looked like—"

"No one," Octavian snarled. "She looked like no one but herself."

"She's his sister too."

"She's my sister," he snapped.

Drew scoffed, "You're an asshole. It's like the bar for you is so low that it's in hell and yet here you are, limbo dancing with the devil."

"You would know huh," Octavian sneered. He adopted an almost innocent expression as he looked her up and down. "Did it hurt?"

She smirked, "Did what hurt?"

Octavian smiled charmingly at her, "When you broke through the earth's crust ascending from hell?"

"No, but it did itch a bit." The girl shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Jason walked over to them, shifting his gaze between the two. "It's like watching two of the smartest people I know who are like the voice of reason meet and turn into an unholy chaotic disaster with zero impulse control. This is so cursed. What was Mother thinking?"

The Travis boy snickered. "When gaslight gatekeep girlboss hooks up with the manipulate, mansplain, malewife."

Octavian and Drew both glared at him. "Do you want to die," the girl snapped as Octavian walked away from her towards Lina and Leo who were looking at a picture of Aunt Valorie standing by a cake in the shape of a chain saw. "Come along. You can see if any of the tools and wood in her forge would be of use."

Leo hesitated for a moment, looking at his siblings. "You don't mind us using it to fix the ship?"

"It was my sister's pet that wrecked it," Octavian pointed out. "And I'm not stepping a foot back on that flying monstrosity while it looks like it'd break if we even breathe wrong."

"Lay off my ship, man," the boy whined. Octavian rolled his eyes. "Watch your step," the auger stated.

"What do you mean," Lilith asked, moving towards the couches that honestly needed a good dusting. Leo caught her wrist. "Hold up." From his tool belt he pulled a folding yardstick. He extended it and poked the chair's seat cushion. A bear trap snapped shut, ripping through stuffing and fabric like an upholstery sharknado.

Everyone but Lina turned to gape at Octavian. "Are you kidding?"

He shrugged. "I warned you."

Leo pointed to one of the sofas. "There's a trip wire along the back of those cushions, too. Does that…Does that trigger a Bouncing Betty?"

Octavian furrowed his brow. "That sounds familiar, I think. A modified pressure activated S-mine?"

"Dude, if that went off, it would bounce three feet in the air, explode, and kill all of us with shrapnel."

Octavian shrugged and Leo glowered. He pulled some wire cutters from his belt, walked over to the sofa, and deactivated the mine. Octavian did not know what for. He was not letting any of them stay long enough to actually sleep there. He turned leading them through the house until they came across the Harry Potter stairs doing his best to ignore the muttering from people as they came across family photos.

"Dude, is this your dad," Terrel asked. Octavian turned his head to see that she was looking at his parents' wedding photo. She whistled. "Oh my gosh. He is such a DILF."

Octavian choked, quickening his steps to unlock the door. He stepped in, moving pieces of the frame around like a puzzle until it unlocked. The wall moved to show another set of stairs descending downwards.

"We have to go down there," Rue asked. Octavian shrugged, "All the important things are down here. The forges. The labs. The bunkers. The storages." He placed his hand on the wall, letting it scan and prick his fingers then one by one lights flashed on showing off the hallways. The children of forges placed their hands on the walls also.

"This place has a lot of protections woven in it," Blaise stated. "The locks are blood based."

"There's a magical component here too," Jake noted.

Lou Ellen and Terrel placed their hands on the wall also. "Whoa," Terrel breathed. "A lot of defense spells in here too."

"Strong ones also," Lou Ellen noted. "There are a few hidden within spells. This is familial lock meaning that no matter how good you are or strong, none of this would unlock without being a part of the family or specifically keyed in. In fact, it's a soul tie."

"A soul tie," Annabeth asked.

Octavian led them past the bunkers and towards the storages. "All of this will blow up when I die at the end of this quest."

"You're not dying," Lina and Jason growled. He knew without looking back that they were giving each other that look which basically meant that he was about to be tormented for good health by someone other than his family members and Pranjal.

("But Pranjal's a ray of sunshine, Octavian." Ha! They never saw what he could do with a scalpel and senbons.)

There were more pictures down here since it served as an underground bunker in case of the apocalypses whether it be from nukes or zombies or aliens. He pointedly ignored them, even the cooing sounds from Lina when she saw the few pictures that she was in. With a few more steps, they made it to the storages and Aunt Valorie's forge. "Here, whatever you need."

Though he was sure to pick up her utility belt which was not unlike Leo's tool belt though much stronger than what he had. Octavian had seen her pull a flamethrower from the pockets and he wanted it. Leo, Jake, and Blaise were practically salivating leading to Annabeth having to be the one to try to rein them in. Lina turned her eyes onto the children and legacies of the Divine Trickster, completing a partial shift to enhance her senses in case their twitchy little figures attempted to steal anything. And once the children of War (and yes, including Frank) peeked into the weapon's room in the next room over, exclamations of excitement came from there too.

"Anything outside of the forge comes with a price tag," he called out. "Lux aeterna is a family business and while production may have stopped for the last few years, that does not mean that I won't charge you!"

A throat cleared behind them and all of them turned at once, drawing weapons from somewhere. It took Octavian only a moment to recognize the goddess that stood before them. Jet black hair that was draped with nets and crowned with seaweed; dressed in a sleeveless tunic and in her left hand was a spear toppled with a sharpened orca tooth. Salacia Regina of the Seas. She bypassed all of them, stopping to bop Lina on the nose, ruffle Jason's hair before pulling Octavian into a hug so tight that he could feel his ribs cracking. Arce flew from the top of his head to land on top of Lina. "Octavius, look at you, darling. You've grown so much," the goddess cooed, stepping back for just a moment to pinch his cheeks. "Oh, I remember when you barely came up to my knees and loudly declared that you were going to become a knight in the army of the sea so that you could protect my little seashell."

He felt his cheeks flame as she started to loudly speak about his childhood anecdotes that happened whenever she came by to pick Livia up or drop her off. She even threw in a few mentions of things that he knew he had only said in the presence of her children. Gods above, he could not believe that Turmś and Maris ratted him out like that.

"Um, Lady Salacia," he coughed politely. "How can I help you?"

"Hm, oh yes. I heard that you are on a quest for Iūnō," the goddess noted. "Since your Family line started with the child of my daughter, I worry for you all, especially you as the brother to my little seashell." Her eyes cut towards Perseus, catching sight of his SPQR tattoo. "Her more preferable brother anyhow."

"Lady Salacia," Jason bowed as he came to stand beside them. "How come you are not affected by the split between the gods?"

The goddess shrugged, loosening her hold on Octavian to brush his hair away from his face. "I was not well worshiped in Ancient Greece or Ancient Roma despite my position as the Queen of the Seas and thus I am unaffected by this chasm between the two. Instead, I can come here and prepare one of my grandsons for what awaits him."

"What do you mean?"

"Similar for Tritogeneia' brood, the curse of burns through Roma." She smiled a little sadly. "Only a child born from the line of Neptūnus will be able to guide you when you get there."

"Me," Perseus blurted.

Salacia's eyes flared with power before cooling as she turned away. "No, son of Poseidón. Not you."

"Then who," Octavian started before stopping. Maybe that hallucination wasn't actually a hallucination.

"Oh, Octavius, dear. Tell me that you haven't forgotten your sister." She waved her hand towards Perseus. The boy looked confused for a moment until he gave a high pitch scream as a small child jumped on his back and yanked his hair so that he fell to the ground. The ghastly form of Octavian's younger sister disappeared into wisps of smoke before reappearing in front of him, holding her arms up in the universal sign for UP!

"What," Octavian breathed as he dropped to his knees in front of her. "Via?" Lina fell at his side, one hand outstretched to reach for the child.

"Via," the child repeated, happily throwing her arms around him.

Salacia was smiling at them. "Imagine the Family's surprise when we returned back to Saliril to find her wrestling with Jörmungandr."

"The Midgard Serpent is real," someone asked from behind, but he didn't care to figure out who as long as he had his sister in his arms.

"Mm, not in the way that you think," Salacia stated. "One of the Belua Ponti had laid eggs. Cymatolege had gifted it to Tecum who, of course, decided that he was going to raise the famed creature."

"Tecum is nice," Livia said as she reached for Lina. Salacia turned her attention back to them. "She knows what role she is to play. She already knew that she would be the one to guide you."

"It's like hide and seek," the child smiled.

"Why doesn't she have a body," Leo asked and Octavian was reminded of his words to Ēkhō about being tired of dead people. Octavian tightened his hold on Livia only for his hands to go through her this time.

"She acts as a connection between your goal and those of the curse. We can only assume that before, the guide was to keep it from being found by leading the cursed one to its location to hide it once more."

"But that would mean that Livia would have to exist long before," Drew noted. Salacia shook her head. "No, I believe the guide is an embodiment of those with strong connections to the Son of Troy. It could have been anyone, parents or aunts or cousins. Octavian feels strongly for his sister, and it doesn't hurt that Perseus is also her twin."

"She's why you didn't like me," Perseus noted. "Because I got to grow up and she didn't."

"Also, because your mother," Salacia sneered in disgust. Oh, yes even if Perseus had a good relationship with Amphitrítē... Queen Salacia was not his stepmother. "Abandoned Livia just mere hours after her birth, choosing you to raise and love." Perseus flinched back, unable to believe that his Mother would do something like that, but Octavian knew it to be true.

Livia began pulling on his hand. "Come on, Okto. Surprise. Want to show you a surprise."

Salacia smiled gently. "You'll find that her mind tends to slip between ages. Sometimes she may speak as if she is as old as you or she will speak younger than she is. Though, there may be a chase that she doesn't speak at all and instead just communicates through gestures. If she really doesn't want to be bothered, she will fade away from view. It caused quite the panic." The goddess smiled wryly at the end before shaking her head. "Anyway, I must take my leave. There is much to be done since my Husband is away at Olympos." Her brow furrowed and a concern swam into her eyes. "Do be careful. The curse spared no reprieve for her psyche, and she may be more... aggressive than normal."

And she disappeared into a puddle of water on the ground before he could even think of asking what that meant.

Livia kept pulling on his hand. "Surprise! Surprise!"

Swallowing thickly with tears in his eyes, he looked at his younger sister. "Hold on for me, Liv. We have to fix the ship first."

"Ugly boat," she sneered. From the corner of his eye, he could see Leo's lip curl in offense. "Papa's better."

"Well, it makes sense that Lord Neptūnus' ship is better since he is the God-king of the Sea."

Her smile turned smug. "Best Papa."

Octavian thought about the missed birthday parties and missed holidays from the god, but he also took note of the surprise visits and random gifts that were sent to her. The diádēma that had been crafted for her and that she had refused to part with. The time she by herself climbed upon the stormy throne of Neptūnus and brandished waves in her little hand, lifted and carried the trident in her tender fingers. She was probably the only person next to Jason that had been raised by their godly family even if Jason was only looked after by his stepmother.

Livia then shrugged, turning to look at Lina. "Lina-beans!"

The latina laughed around a cry. "I forgot all about that nickname." A name that Livia had coined because Lina loved lima beans even though she had been allergic before the bite got rid of all her allergies. She also liked to press on the beams on Lina's paws whenever she stayed over for a "sleepover" during the full moon — the only time she shifted involuntarily. She wiped under her eyes. "te extrañé, Livia."

The child smiled, patting her cheek as if she could wipe away tears while the people behind them shuffled awkwardly in place or grabbed the supplies that Leo, Jake, and Blaise were noting that they would need.

"Livia," Octavian asked suddenly. "Is everyone else okay? Mama and Papa?"

Livia tilted her head to the side, thinking. She then shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. Sleep with fishies." She raised her hands to look like claws which Octavian translated to mean that she was "sleeping" with killer whales and sharks and that she doesn't remember being dead. He also understood what Salacia meant about her mind regressing because he distinctly remembered her talking like she was reading from a dictionary before she died. It made her a "proper princess" or something.

Livia turned to look at Perseus, stuck her tongue out at him before running through the wall and disappearing. Octavian stared after her for a long while.

"Tav," Jason eventually asked. Octavian looked up at him, noting the people around them staring at him somewhat in concern. He shook his head when he took note of just about everyone's arms filled with supplies. Clearing his throat, he walked into the weapons room to note all the money and diamonds sitting on a bench and the walls looking as if they had gotten raided. He smirked to himself, stepping out to grab a duffle bag to stuff all the money in before walking to the back wall. He knocked on it seven times, watching as the panel moved out of the way before putting his hand on the scanner and allowing it to prick his finger then entered the second code and allowed it to do a cheek swab.

This was where the real goodies were hidden, and he stepped through to place most of them into the pockets of the utility belt. Livia popped back up out of nowhere when he was pocketing the storm grenades and was able to catch one before it dropped and exploded. "Clumsy," she teased.

"You scared me," he told her as he picked up a certain dagger. It was sort of like katrapon with how far the history went back with this one. One of his ancestors, Livilla, he believed had forged this dagger herself, supposedly to ward off the advances of some emperor. It was made from a meteorite, opal, gold, and a wholly mammoth tooth. It also served as a purpose to show who was the current "head" of the family. He didn't care for those in classical times, but in the more modern timing... it belonged to his great-great-great grandmother who lived just long enough to pass it on to his grandmother — conveniently dying the day after she did so — who passed it on to Octavian's mother and now with him being the only one alive... it belonged to him.

"BOO!" she laughed. Octavian gave her a small smile and had to turn away because he was one second away from a mental breakdown and he did not know how he was going to cope with the ghost version of his sister and a ptsd hallucination at the same time. She followed him out and that time he walked into his Mother's labs, waving Pranjal forward since he knew the healer had been interested about it before. Octavian taught him a few things, but he figured it would be better to see it from the source. He gave the boy a few of his Mother's books alongside a very detailed warning of what would happen if the book came up missing and added him to the blood lock that was placed on it.

He had never seen Pranjal cry before, and he hurriedly turned away when the boy's eyes began to fill with tears of excitement.

"Well, I have everything," Octavian announced, pointedly ignoring the looks that were sent to Livia as she slipped her hand into his. "Let's go. If you stole anything, I'll kill you, cut you into pieces, and hand feed you to Cerberus myself." He gave them all a pretty smile and was not surprised in the slightest when things began to be pulled out pockets.

"Surprise now," Livia asked as they walked back upstairs. The light flickered off one by one the moment the last person passed them. The wall moved back into place when no one was left downstairs, and the picture frame scrambled around once more—differently and more complicated than before. He turned the light off in there and locked the door back. Turning to his sister, he gave her a soft smile wishing that was a solid body of flesh and blood so that he could hug her. He'd kill to hug his family again for real.

"Yes, we can see your surprise, Dory."

She cheered, rushing forward out of the house. She did a few cartwheels and backflips around the yard waiting for everyone to catch up. Arce flew around the phantom version of her, a little confused that she couldn't land on her head but a lot protective towards anyone that came near her. He could only imagine how bad it would be if any of her other pets actually got to see her. While the others moved towards the ship, Livia grabbed his hand and pulled them towards... towards where their home used to stand.

Octavian froze.

Livia looked back at him in confusion. "Home? Tav, go home. Surprise."

His throat clogged up.

"Okto?"

He couldn't go there.

"Via?"

He couldn't. He wasn't strong enough to go back there.

"Come home," Livia said, little hands pulling on his pants. "Gotta see surprise. Quest. Come home."

He shook his head, eyes slipping close, feeling tears prickle at his eyes.

"Octavian," Livia said, but there was something different about her voice. "You need to see this, brother. It changes everything. Open your eyes, please?"

She kept repeating the last part, but it wasn't until he heard a sharp gasp at his right side did, he follow her instructions. Livia stood before him except... it wasn't Livia. Not really. She had never lived to this age. This version had long and wavy jet-black hair that fell to the middle of her back, a split thigh halter dress made from sea silk and seaweed that wrapped around her body like second skin. There was a bracelet gleaming in gold and pearls on her wrist and necklace with the symbols of Venus, Mercurius, Apollō, Dīāna, Neptūnus, and Salacia that settled nicely on her throat with the Verus family ring sitting beside them.

"Livia?"

The girl smiled wryly. "Brother dearest, will you grant me the honor of being my escort into the ruins of our once grand home that stood high into the clouds and made the gods weep for its beauty outshone everything on the west coast."

He knew that sarcastic little shit tone anywhere even if it was weird to see it on a teenager almost as old as him. Though, it had been weird that a six almost seven-year-old spoke like she was from the 1800s also so what did he know? She looked... she looked a terrifying amount like Perseus which made sense since the only thing fraternal about them was that she was equipped with everything that came from those born with XX chromosomes and her blue eyes, but it was still strange. He had come to terms with looking at Perseus and knowing that he was how his sister would have looked if she had lived, but it was entirely different to see that for himself.

"You're beautiful," he told her, voice a little choked. Her eyes widened, a dash of red spreading across her nose and cheeks and up to her ears. Then she turned away abruptly, and Octavian remembered that even at six, she had a hard time accepting compliments.

"Are you coming," she called over her shoulders and he scrambled to follow her. He wasn't even surprised when Lina and Perseus popped up on his sides. He was surprised when he turned around to see everyone else behind them.

Livia led them right up to the background and Drew's voice made its way towards him. "It's like my dream," she murmured. Octavian ignored the implications of that (and she said he wasn't the man of her dreams, ha!).

Octavian stood at the patio doors for a moment before Lina slipped her hand into his and Jason came to grab his other hand. Arce cawed once more before flying to land on his head. There were hands on his back, and he chased a glance behind him to see Pranjal giving him an encouraging smile. Okay, Octavian could do this. He could face his trauma head on.

Livia turned to them, flickering down back to a six year old, tilting her head to the side. "Surprise," she said, pushing at the doors before disappearing.

And without a chance to convince himself to back away, he followed behind her.

It was not the sunroom.

It was nothing like the sunroom.

In fact, it was so far from a sunroom that he should probably stop saying sunroom.

It was like being in a war room straight from the ancient days.

A group of soldiers stood arguing with each other before an almost familiar voice sprung out at them. Octavian turned his attention to the war table, and his breath caught in his throat seeing his family and... was that him? Livia stood at the head of the table in her teenage form. She was wearing a sleeveless tunic with bands of gold around her fingers and forearms. Her beloved bracelet chimed alongside her wrist. Her neck was adorned with pearls and precious stones. She was crowned with seaweed alongside nets that draped against her hair and... and interwoven into the small braids of her hair was... were the beads like those of Camp Half-Blood wore. A map of said camp was laid over a map of what looked to be ancient Sparta or Argos?

"Enough," she ordered, eyes filled with frustration as she looked upon their Family. Her sais sat in front of her, and her trident was leaning against her seat. It had specks of blood trailing the side of it as if it had just seen fresh battle. "There lies no need for argument. Tis obvious what should happen to regain honor for the House of Verus. I will lead the charge."

She raised her hand as the others opened their mouths to protest. "I will lead the charge. Rosalyn will flank the guards. Augustus will lead our soldiers past the borders to take the whole camp at large." She turned to the only two unknown warriors at the table: one blond and the other brunet. Octavian, however, felt a little choke at seeing Lyn all grown up. Her blonde hair was slightly wavy and placed into two pigtails on top of her head. There were a few strands coming loose and framing her face. "Actius will shoot any ambush attacks. And Little Arcas will stay back."

"I will not," the brunet protested.

"We will need someone to defend the stronghold," Livia said as she turned away from him. He grumbled to himself. "Annia, secure our inheritance and protect her. " The younger girl nodded, her fingers twirling one of her arrows between her fingers.

"Okto," she said.

And then—

And then Livia turned to face him; not the one sitting beside her at the table, but him, the one that was viewing this unnerving scene.

Her voice was soft yet demanding; a certain fierceness one could only achieve as a veteran of war. Her eyes were as hard as unearthed sapphires. "Avenge your Family. Kill the children of the Athênê," she ordered, booking no argument.

The Octavian that sat beside her picked up his knife... oh, he picked up Katrapon. His reflection within showed what Octavian had seen before.

Someone that saw his fate and already accepted it.

The knife cracked down the middle, and they were thrown onto the floor of the sunroom.

"What... what was that " Frank asked nervously, but Octavian was paying him no mind. He was trying to get air into his body, feeling smoke curl around his lungs. He gripped his chest, eyes locked onto the area where his Father burned.

This was like something that existed only in his nightmares.

An eerie giggled bounced alongside the walls. Octavian only heard it in his memories. "A vision of what is to come, " the familiar voice of Livia stated. She was once more a toddler. From where they were sprawled, they could see her sitting at the top of the stairs. Her dolls sat beside her alongside a replica of a war room that Aunt Valorie had once made for her. It was scarily similar to the room they had just left. "It cannot be outrun," the toddler stated once more. She gave them a small shrug as she picked up the doll version of herself and twirled it through the air as if it were flying. "It can only be dealt with right here and now."

Octavian moved closer to her, and her gaze immediately shifted to him. Had her stare always been so piercing? Had her eyes always been so unnerving?

"I don't think you're ready," she told him calmly. Behind her, the shadows moved in five shades—they moved away. Livia stood to her feet, tilting her head as she stared at him before she turned and ran down the hallways. Octavian rushed after them and the halls seemed to extend like a never-ending scene from a horror movie. There were empty frames alongside the walls as they cleared the second floor where the two of them had lived.

"A mission to kill someone's son," Livia's voice echoed. One by one the images within the frames flickered like a corrupted television.

And Octavian recognized every image. The first one was of the lycanthrope they had killed in the woods behind their family home after it attacked Lina. Livia was shown holding the beast in the air despite being just a little older than a toddler; she had always been freakishly strong. Octavian was standing atop of tall rock, stabbing a familiar silver dagger through the monster's throat.

The next painting showed Octavian with glowing gold eyes choking Annia's ex-boyfriend, Nate, to death; his thumbs digging into the boy's eyes. Nate was spread across the table as if he was being crucified; swords piercing his hands and feet while Octavian straddled and strangled him in fury. "A foe who won't run," Livia whispered.

They were on the third floor where his parents had lived.

"Unlike any you have faced before," she snickered as the next few frames showed him killing traitors to Roma and using Fluttershy and Seally to burn and devour his enemies alive. Octavian ignored all of that even as he could hear the people behind him gasping as the paintings showed him viciously murdering and torturing people for the good of Roma... for the safety of his Family.

"Say no more," he called out. "I know that I'm ready." He did what he had to do, and he would do so again if it meant that his people were safe. He came to an abrupt stop as Livia stood waiting at the end of the hall. She stood in front of a single intact door with five others that looked as if they had been on fire. In her hand was a dagger dripping in blood with splatters that cut across the wide-unnerving smile she wore.

"I don't think you're ready," she repeated, disappearing inside of the room.

It was the nursery.

Faded designs of swans and doves decorated the wall in pale gold and blue.

In the middle of the room sat a bassinet, and even though he hadn't moved closer, Octavian could see the tiny feet kicking in the air. Livia stood beside it, a soft smile on her face as she looked at what could only be a baby.

His throat clogged, thinking he was about to see the burned image of his youngest sister.

"It's just an infant," Octavian muttered, horrified as he moved closer despite himself. The baby was presumed male, small tufts of blond hair sat atop his head. There was a sleepy sort of smile on his face.

Inwardly, he breathed. It wasn't Lyn.

"It's just a boy," Jason muttered from beside him. "What sort of threat is he supposed to be that Octavian can't avoid? "

Livia smiled, appearing the same age as her supposed twin. "This is the son of none other than Roma's very own caesarea Aelia." Octavian tensed, looking at the infant version of himself. Livia traced a finger down his chubby little cheeks. "Know that he will grow from a boy to an avenger."

She moved around the bassinet, shrinking back to her seven-year-old form, with blood trailing down her face and the white meat showing for them to all see. Beside the bassinet, a small playpen appeared where a baby girl, blonde just like her brother, laid asleep.

Octavian flinched.

"One fuelled with rage as you're consumed by age," Livia muttered. The three siblings' forms flickered as they stood side by side. The copy of Octavian was so bright and radiant and happy. He and Livia smiled adoringly at each other at one-two-three-four-five-six-seven. Lyn was just an infant as Octavian held her in his arms while Livia peeked at her beside him.

"If you don't end him now," Livia muttered as her skin began to redden and Lyn began to cry. Smoke filled the room as flames licked the walls. "You'll have no one left to save." Frank shrieked. Livia stepped closer to the elder Octavian who was staring blankly at his younger grieving counterpart that was drowning in anger and loss. "You can say goodbye to..."

"Livia," a younger Octavian shrieked playfully. The sound reached them from outside. He moved absently, catching sight of his younger self chasing after his sister who was making bubbles appear in the air.

"You can say goodbye to..."

"Rosalyn," the younger Octavian said slowly behind him, carefully enunciating his baby sister's name as he and Livia peeked into her bassinet.

The room changed around them once more, the air tasted of death and ash; soot and flames licked the walls of the house. Screams and shouts echoed around them. Octavian was dragged out of the room by Jason and Lina. Flames followed after them as they rushed back downstairs.

Three figures stood arguing in the dining room as they burst the doors.

"Father," Annabeth breathed. "Mother!"

"I could raise him as my own," Diomedes was saying to the siblings before him. The television flickered to life beside him showing Camp Half-Blood in flames as Octavian held Annabeth's cooling corpse in his hands, drenched in blood.

"He will burn your house and throne," Athênê told him.

From the windows, they could see silhouettes of three men standing to the edge as firefighters began to pick through the remains of the house. "Send him far away from home," the buffest one was saying dressed like a knock-off Hēraklēs with his lion pelt atop his head. Beside him, a puddle of water shimmered showing an image of Octavian dressed in black ops hunting gear holding onto a ticket to New York.

"He'll find me wherever I go," the shortest one admitted with his head tilted in the direction of Livia's deceased body was carried out of the house before being covered with a sheet. A shriek of grief came from the front of the crowd where the family stood.

"Make sure his past is never known," Diomedes suggested at the time as the last man in the trio with a fake sundial atop his head like a crown. The window that separated the groups frosted over until an image of Octavian coming across a painting of Aeneas fleeing Rome. The aforementioned demidivine hero appeared before him, placing two fingers to his forehead, returning his stolen memories.

"The gods will make it known," Apollō and the second man sneered at their companions.

Everything came to a stop and disappeared.

"This is the will of the gods," Livia sang from the doorway, her eyes dark with a hidden promise. Everyone looked at her in fear and wariness, but her brother—Octavian could only stare at her as if he was only seeing the body of a girl long dead. "The blood on your hands is something you won't lose." Her eyes were twinkling with cruel amusement, canines sharp under the streams of light. "All you can choose is whose."

And like the cheshire cat, she faded away from view; her wrathful smile disappearing last.

It wasn't surprising that they all rushed back to the ship following that and under the children of forges' careful eye, they got the ship fixed in no time.

---

It was hard for Octavian to sleep that night.

It may have had something to do with the faun—wait, no. His name was Hedge, some sort of Kung-Fu panda goat coach faun. Coach Hedge spent the first hour after curfew doing his nightly duty, walking up and down the passageway yelling, "Lights out! Settle down! Try to sneak out, and I'll smack you back to Long Island!"

He banged his baseball bat against a cabin door whenever he heard a noise, shouting at everyone to go to sleep, which made it impossible for anyone to go to sleep. Lina had already growled loudly at him, pointedly reminding him of her sensitive ears. The panic attack that he had also didn't help matters with Livia staring at him with wide eyes before Lina was tearing the lock out of his door to get to him. Pranjal had made her apologize to Leo and his siblings while they worked to fix the lock and the medic helped Octavian out of the attack.

Livia then decided to make herself scarce disappearing to who knows where probably because she made the other occupants unnerved after the creepy vision surprise that she gave them. Well fuck them! His little sister was adorable and as soon as the flashbacks of watching his home sink into itself as flames tore it apart were locked into the back of his mind once more, he was not letting her leave his side ever again. Hell, he might even put a stop to this whole quest if it meant that she never went away again.

It seemed like only a few seconds had passed by the time he managed to fall asleep before that gods-awful breakfast bell that sounded more like a cow horn awakened him.

"Okto," Livia's voice cheered as she appeared in the room. "Landing."

"Landing?"

"Topeka," Livia repeated. "Drew-drop said Topeka!"

Octavian vaguely recalled something about that when they made it back to the ship.

From above, Coach Hedge yelled, "Thar she blows! Kansas, ahoy!"

Livia grimaced. "Bad goat pirate."

Octavian laughed and Livia gave him a small smile before fading away from view. A few moments later, he could hear the goat squeal, so he figured that she was okay for the moment. He took the moment to shower, change clothes, and eat the kelp jerky that Pranjal had somehow snuck onto the ship. When? Octavian didn't know, but he loved the stuff. He could hear the ship's landing gear extending. He climbed on deck and joined the others as the Argo II settled in the middle of a field of sunflowers. The oars retracted. The gangplank lowered itself. Arce moved from a top of Lina's head onto his own and Livia appeared at his elbow.

The morning air smelled of irrigation, warm plants, and fertilized earth. Not a bad smell. It reminded him of his Mother's herb garden and the woods beside their estate as they darted through the trees.

Perseus was the first to notice him. He smiled in greeting, which for some reason surprised Octavian. After all, the elder played a big part in keeping his—their shared sister a secret though could he really blame Octavian? He never thought that Livia was going to come back to life, actual flesh and blood notwithstanding. He was wearing faded jeans and a fresh orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt—it was just as bad as Camp Jupiter if he was honest—, as if he'd never been away from the Greek side. The new clothes had probably helped his mood.

"So!" Annabeth plucked the bagel out of Jake's hand and took a bite, but that didn't bother Jake. The boy just looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Here we are. What's the plan?"

"I want to check out the highway," Drew said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."

Leo spun his Wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves. "We shouldn't be far," he said. "Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

Drew explained what she'd seen in the knife—the man in purple with a goblet. Octavian had the feeling that she was keeping secrets, but well, Octavian was too so who was he to judge, and he could always use his gifts to see whatever she was hiding.

"Purple shirt?" Jason asked. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Līber."

"Līber?" The Pollox boy asked.

"The actual latin name for Bacchus or well Dionysos," Dakota explained. "Bacchus was the name that was chosen, but further research shows that he was identified with Līber first and the mythos around Līber sort of lines up with Dionysos moreso."

"What do you mean?"

"Līber was the son of Ceres, the latin form of Demeter and Iovis," Rue explained. "He was the twin of Lībera, the origin name for Proserpina whom you know as Persephone."

"Līber's associations with wine, inebriation, uninhibited freedom and the subversion of the powerful made him a close equivalent to Dionysos, who was Romanised as Bacchus," Malysia picked up. "Bacchus was considered another name for Dionysos in Ancient Greece and in Ancient Rome, they just decided to keep it as his Roman name and now modern-day scholars know him as Bacchus. It's like how Apóllōn was called Phoibos so much that Roman writers usually just referred to him by that epithet."

"Dionysos," Perseus muttered. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D—"

"Līber isn't so bad," Jason said. "I don't like his followers much. But the god himself is okay. I did him a favor once up in the wine country."

Perseus looked appalled. "Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"

Frank grunted. The big guy was wearing a blue tracksuit this morning, like he was ready to go for a jog in the sunflowers. Octavian was sure that he saw a closet down there somewhere that was the size of a storefront.

"The gods haven't been very good at following that order," he noted. "Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like Rue said—"

"And Leo said," added Leo.

Frank scowled at him. "Then who knows what's going on with the Olympians? Could be some pretty bad stuff out there."

"Sounds dangerous!" Leo agreed cheerfully. "Well...you guys have fun. I need to do another scan to make sure that repairs are holding and see how we can incorporate some of these things that Octavian's super cool aunt use for her blasters. This is some serious sci-fi crap. Jake said he wanted to do something with upgrading the crossbows with Tetrodotoxin and I was giving Blaise a run down on the ship."

The probatio nodded his head, stepping closer to Leo.

"That's fine," Dakota nodded, turning to look at Esra. "I can go down and talk to Dad."

"I want to meet this version of him," Pollox stated.

Drew hummed. "Well, we should have a few scouts out. I know I'm going anyhow."

Frank slid his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail. "I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."

"Why a crow?" Leo asked. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? That's the coolest."

Frank's face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice. "That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."

"Oh." Leo nodded. "I wouldn't know. I don't lift weights."

"Yeah. Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr.—"

Rue stepped between them.

"I'll help you, Frank," ast said, shooting them both looks. Octavian recognize that look in their face. He seen it plenty of times in the mirror when people were fighting over him as if he was actually interested in them in any shape or form. "I can summon Arion and scout around below."

"Sure," Frank said, still glaring at Leo. "Yeah, thanks."

Octavian would have thought that Frank had gotten over his crush by now, but he wasn't above giving him a nice little talk to back off. Rue was more than capable of doing so on their own, but some people didn't respect the get-the-fuck-away-from-me vibes that ast gave off. And one word to Lina will have Leo in check. He had no doubt that she was incredibly intimidating.

Rue turned to Perseus. "Just be careful when you go out there. Lots of fields, lots of crops. Could be karpoi on the loose."

"Karpoi?" Piper asked.

"Grain spirits," Rue said. "You don't want to meet them."

Octavian didn't see how a grain spirit could be so bad, but Rue's tone convinced him not to ask and the way that the various children of the Agrarian Gods were nodding he understood that was the right choice.

"I'm staying back," Octavian stated. He shot a quick look at Pranjal who smiled charmingly back at him. "Someone insisted on it. And besides, Livia is my guide to breaking the curse." And he wanted to talk to her about non-curse related things.

"In terms of the official quest members, that leaves three of us to check on the mile marker," Perseus said. "Me, Jason, Drew. I'm not psyched about seeing Mr. D again. That guy is a pain. But, Jason, if you're on better terms with him—"

"Yeah," Jason said. "If we find him, I'll talk to him. Drew, it's your vision. You should take the lead."

"Of course," she said, flipping her hair and giving Jason a small smile. Octavian glared at her. "Let's find the highway."

He turned away deciding to go down to the med bay to get a head start on the checkup that Pranjal wanted. The boy had been infuriated that Octavian was walking around with an infected branding centered around his heart.

He could tell him that it was better than watching Jason love another.

---

Word Count: 17, 074

Translation:

1) Mucho gusto - nice to meet you

2) te extrañé - i missed you

Words to Know:

1) Amors/Cupidines/Amoretti - Erotes

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Comments from the Author:

1) For anyone wondering since Romans did have many names, Livia's full name (in this verse) is Livia Julia Atia Lycaea Jackson Verus. Octavian's full name is Octavius Antonius Gaius Trajan Verus. For simplicity and the fact that I had no desire to try to remember all of that, he simply goes by Octavian Antonius Verus.

2) The Verus Estates is similar to the Cullens' Home in Twilight with the long ride through the woods until you get to their driveway. The main house is for Octavian's parents, a few yards away on the left is for Augustus' parents and a few yards away on the right is for their Aunt Valorie. Between Valorie and Aelia's home a few yards back is for Octavian's grandparents. In between it is various things like the outside forge, a little archery field etc etc. Thus, the Verus Estates. Behind it all is the woods. There is a worn pathway for the kids to stay on, but from Aelia and her sisters down to Octavian's generation, much of it has been explored and marked so it's hard for them to get lost.

3) Sally does fall from the pedestal that Percy placed her on after this, but not by much. He understands that she made the best decision that she could but that doesn't mean that the decision didn't hurt.

4) Sally learned that Livia was dead when Percy turned 12. Sort of like a punishment for her choices. She thinks that Livia died at twelve and that she sacrificed one child for the other. It's actually not really like that, but that's a storyline for over pressure (the rewrite of Surface Pressure)

5) Lina lived in Wyoming for two years. She moved there at four, got bit at five, and moved back to Texas a little after she turned six.

6) Livia died two months before her [Livia] seventh birthday and only a few days after Octavian turned eight. June 16th.

7) Octavian's authorization code is the first two letters of his last name and his birthday. The password, however, consists of my favorite things. RHATO#25 for Jason Todd because I hate it and love it in equal breath. 616 is for Marvel and the only Marvel universe I care for now. Fuck the MCU. IronLyre is because of my two favorites. Iron Man and Apóllōn. There are scenes from ToA in there.

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Things to Know:

1) Ariadnê of Urbs Aeterna - Ariadnê of the Eternal City

2) Lux aeterna - eternal light. it's basically the Verus Family motto.

3) Salacia Regina - Queen Salacia

4) Belua Ponti - sea monster

5) caesarea - princess ... the Roman Empire did not have designations for princesses. They had princeps, but Caesar and Caesarea were considered formal titles. You may see principissa in your own research, but that's not the designation from the Roman Empire.

6) The Twin Giants were actually defeated by Artemis. They stacked mountains to reach Olympos where they planned to kidnap Hḗrē and Artemis after they had previously kidnapped Árēs. During their ascent to Olympos, Artemis changed into the form of a deer and ran between them causing them to kill each other.

7) Doves la Mancha - Grilled Doves

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Roman Gods:

1) Juturna - No Greek equivalent.

2) Leinth - Hermaphroditos

3) Aminth - Antérōs

4) Talasius - Hymenaios

5) Tipoplṓ - Terpsikhorê

6) Cymatolege - Kymopoleia

7) Tecum - Makar