Chapter Title: Octavian Gets Spooked
(A/N: Originally, I was going to have this be Percy's chapter. But since in the original story, he's the one whose POV is on display in this chapter, I decided to switch it up and write Frank's instead — if he was there for the whole scene where Percy meets Octavian. Except of course for this version, it's four guys meeting Octavian for the first time, and one of them just so happens to have virtually the same face as the tormenter in Octavian's nightmares. So this will get awkward.. and unfriendly really quickly. Just a fair warning here.)
To put it bluntly to be honest, the four demigods sent to camp with the blessing of Juno were in my own opinion, completely beyond anything or anyone I have ever seen before. Each one of them had some sort of quirk or mystery to them that made all of them completely unique from people here at Camp Jupiter.
Michael seemed to be one of those guys that although short, his lack of height has never held him back at all. He was definitely one of those guys who had a big attitude that more than made up for his lack of height, that was for sure. For a son of Apollo, his father's temper seems to have been the only thing he inherited from him since other than that, one would have never knew that he was a child of Apollo even if they looked at him.
He was a prickly little fellow, that much I could tell — due to you know what. But even so, the look in his eyes told you that he had seen some crazy stuff in the past couple of years. All of them did. What exactly those eyes could have been born witness to, I had no idea, although I had a gut feeling that I wouldn't like the answer to that question if I found out.
Luke definitely seemed to be a great deal more smarter for a son of Mercury his age to be honest, even more so than most of them here at camp. I mean, he wasn't really into pickpocketing or taking loot from the battlefield, it seemed.. so that was a plus. The way everyone else here at camp seemed to recognize him but couldn't remember was weird though. It wasn't like the good kind of "I can't remember" honestly. It was more like the bad kind of it, where they couldn't remember, but seemed to definitely feel like Luke had done some bad things in the past from the way their faces looked. Of course that could probably be just me, if I had to be honest here. I didn't know.
Percy basically dwarfed those two in comparison, even though even he was eclipsed in turn by the last guy among them. But more on Colton in a little bit, let's talk about Percy. He was the son of Neptune, who in terms of Roman hierarchies, basically came second to last when it came to the order of Gods — which to be honest, is why I felt really bad for Hazel. She was the daughter of Pluto, which put her beneath Percy on that hierarchy since gods of the underworld were dead last. It was weird — and pathetic, honestly.. but that was what we worked with at Camp Jupiter. There was a lot more crappy stuff with it that Hazel explained to them later, so I won't go into that now. But, Neptune was an omen since he hadn't had any children since the ancient times. Whether it was a good omen or a bad omen remained to be seen.
The one who dwarfed all three of them at the same time, however, was Colton. At first glance, he seemed the most unassuming out of all of them, but after getting though the tunnel, he had proved me wrong in more ways than one, that was for sure.
The second he had picked up that rifle, it was like he had just become a completely different person. It was remarkable to watch to be honest. Where my arrow had failed to kill even one of the two Gorgons, his bullet had done the job for both with just one shot. The thing about it was, he had just simply stood there in front of the tunnel — seemingly having lost the fear he had a few moments, loading the weapon like the old guys did back in the day as fast as he could. He had stood there with two Gorgons barreling through the tunnel like he was at a shooting gallery. Like, what in the world was up with this guy?
It was almost as if he was a former Roman soldier from the time of the empire that had been reincarnated twice, with one of those times being that he spent some time in the American Civil War era — had adapted his fighting style to said time, and had simply retained that knowledge when he was reincarnated the second time. I know reincarnation isn't a thing around these parts, but believe me.. I couldn't think of anything else that could explain that.
And then there was what Juno had said about him. It was.. rather odd honestly, that she had even devoted that extra moment of time to say that about him. What had she even meant about him being more than met the eye? What exactly did she mean by that? It was an absolute mystery to virtually everyone at camp at the moment. It was as if though all of these guys were basically enigmas to us at this point, Colton was the biggest one of them all.
So yeah, Colton Reynolds was especially a mystery. We all had many questions about him, and very few answers. The only thing I probably should have wished then for, in retrospect, was that the truth wasn't as shocking as it actually was when we all finally found out who he really was.
- — - — - — -
I know Reyna said I had stuff to do at the armory, but I'll be honest with you all here, I couldn't exactly shake off the feeling that there was really something to what Juno said about there being more to Colton than met the eye. Like, can you blame me at all? You probably can't though, since.. and apologies if I assume here, you all would probably be just as curious as me too.
Anyways, I was waiting outside the principia for a while before they came out. Hazel was absolutely surprised to see me. "Frank!" she said. "What are you still doing here? Didn't Reyna say you had to do stuff at the armory?"
"Curiosity gets the cat sometimes.." I muttered simply. "..and in this case, I am the cat. Mind if I join you all?"
"I hope you know I'm telling Reyna as soon as I get the chance.." she said back, and I winced.
"Fair enough.." I muttered. "..we all must suffer for being curious sometimes."
Percy, Luke, Michael, and Colton all stared at me like I had two heads now.
After that little conversation, on we went.
On the way out of camp, Hazel bought Percy an espresso drink and a cherry muffin from Bombilo, the two-headed coffee merchant. Luke, Michael, and Colton all seemed to be in a heated discussion about something, but they kept their voices low so I couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about.
We passed by the bath house, and Percy looked at it fondly for some reason. "Bath house.." Hazel muttered. "We'll get you all in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath."
"Are they that good?" Michael asked, curious about it. Hazel and I simply nodded. Yeah, they were that good. I couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces after they had one honestly.
Passing through the barracks, I noticed that Colton, Luke, and Michael were all staring at something. I followed their eyes and I winced in shame when I found out what exactly they were staring at.
Fifth Cohort's barracks.
Where me and Hazel are from here at camp.
"You guys are divided into different cabins?" Percy asked suddenly, drawing my attention away from the other three and back over to him and Hazel.
"Sort of.." Hazel replied, and me and her both had to duck as a kid on a giant eagle swooped past us overhead.
"Who ordered the super-sized bird?" Colton asked in amazement, as Hazel continued.
"We have five cohorts of about forty kids each.." she said, and I just nodded along. "Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten — like roommates, kind of."
Colton and Michael simply looked on, understanding the logic behind it, while Luke just looked a little bit confused for a moment.
"Wait.. so then there are two hundred kids at camp then?" Percy asked after he had done the math apparently.
"Roughly" Hazel replied.
"And all of them are children of the Gods?" Percy asked. "The gods have been busy."
Colton just sighed and facepalmed, while Michael did the same thing. Luke just rolled his eyes.
"No.. not quite.." I said, and then Hazel finished the explanation for me. "Not all of them are children of the major Gods. There are hundreds of minor Roman gods. Plus, a lot of the campers are legacies — second or third generation. Maybe their parents were demigods, or their grandparents." All four of them looked at her as if Hazel had just spoken something that they completely did not understand.
Percy blinked. "Children of demigods?"
"Yeah.." I said back.
"Why?" Hazel asked. "Does that surprise you?"
None of them seemingly had an answer for that, but after a while, they all seemingly accepted the logic behind it. Even so, they were also looking a bit curious now too. "So these legacies.." Percy started. "..do they all have powers like a demigod?"
Colton then spoke up. "Probably not in all cases, I'm assuming" he said, and Hazel nodded.
"Reyna was right.. you are very perceptive, Colton.." she said, causing him to look away a little bit flustered by the compliment before she continued. Michael and Luke both chuckled as he did so. "Anyways, yeah. Sometimes. Sometimes not. But they can be trained. All the best Roman generals and emperors — you know, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth."
Colton simply snorted at that last part. "Most of the time.." he mocked.
Hazel went on. "The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy.. descendant of Apollo. He's got the gift of prophecy."
The instant the word "prophecy" left Hazel's mouth, all four of them looked like you had just caught them by surprise before some of them got.. very concerning expressions on their faces. Colton looked incredibly pissed, Luke looked annoyed, and Michael just had a look on his face that simply said 'Not this again!' while Percy simply froze. It was absolutely weird, and I don't know why.
"Really?" Percy said finally.
"Well.. supposedly.." Hazel replied, making a sour face. I didn't blame her.. for Octavian wasn't.. exactly.. the most friendly.. person to say the least here. "You'll see."
Percy looked anxious at first, before getting lost in thought for a few moments. Colton and Michael just looked at each other with suspicious looks on their faces, and Luke — he was still looking annoyed, like the word "prophecy" was something that he hated.
"So the divisions.." Percy said. "..the cohorts — are you divided according to who your godly parent is?" At that, Colton simply walked over to Percy and smacked him in the back of the head, causing Percy to clutch his head in pain while Luke and Michael chuckled and Hazel and I were both staring at Percy like he was a crazy person.
"OW!" he yelped. "That's twice now. Why?"
Colton just groaned in frustration. "In case you haven't noticed, water boy.." he said, in a way that sounded almost as if he and Percy were rivals. "..they do things differently around here."
Hazel simply nodded. "What he said. So no, we don't do that here — that's a horrible idea. The officers decide where to assign recruits. If we were divided according to god, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be alone."
She was right. She was basically the only child of Pluto here, unless that other kid — Nico whatever his name was — decided to show up.
"Why? What's your ancestry?" Percy asked, only to again be smacked in the back of the head by Colton. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH ME?!"
"Don't press sore subjects, idiot.." Colton said to him, just as someone behind us shouted, "Wait!"
We all turned around, though the lare that was running up towards us was definitely familiar. With his peculiar belly and long toga, there was no mistaking that it was Vitellius. "This is them?" he panted as he reached us. "New recruits for the fifth, perhaps?"
"Vitellius.." Hazel said back. "..We're sort of in a hurry right now."
Vitellius simply scowled at the four newcomers and walked around them, inspecting them until Colton felt a little bit pissed off and muttered, "What the hell do you think I am dude? A statue?"
"I don't know.." Vitellius said back. "We only need the best for the cohort. Obviously, you would fit the bill, kind sir — despite the fact that you use a gun. As for the rest of them, do they have all their teeth? Can they fight? Do they clean stables?"
"We have all our teeth, we can fight, and no.. we do not clean stables.." Percy said back to Vitellius, with Luke and Michael nodding along in agreement. "Who are you?"
"Percy, Colton, Luke, and Michael, this is Vitellius.." Hazel said, with an expression on her face that simply said: just humor him. "He's one of our lares, and he just so happens to take an interest in new recruits."
"Pretty sure that was fairly obvious.." Colton muttered.
"Oh.." Percy said in response, still feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Well I can also walk on water, condense water, control water, and with my thermos.." Percy took out his thermos and showed it to him. "..I can summon a water blast out. And it's possible I can do other stuff. Not exactly sure what the other three are capable of, except Colton can use guns."
"Really.." Vitellius said back, looking him over. I felt bad for the newcomers, honestly. Percy felt all too similar to me when I was in this same situation. "Not much a Roman style.. but then again you are a son of Neptune, right?"
Other lares nearby snickered at that until Colton flashed them an angry glare that shut them up, as Vitellius paced back and forth around Percy, tripping over his toga and then hiking up his sword belt when he got back up.
"The fuck did he mean by that..?" I could barely hear Michael mutter to Luke. Luke just simply shrugged.
"Yes.." Percy simply replied, and Vitellius simply laughed at that.
"Listen here boy.." Vitellius said. "..back in Caesar's day — that's Julius Caesar, mind you — the Fifth Cohort was something. Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to." Hazel and I winced at those words — it was a real shame we had to be a part of the 5th.
Colton looked like he was deep in thought at the moment as Vitellius kept talking, while Luke once more looked annoyed and Michael looked like he was about ready to beat the shit out of Vitellius, if such a thing was possible. Percy didn't say anything for now.
"Look at Hazel here.." Vitellius continued. "..using a spathe. Ridiculous weapon for a Roman legionnaire — that's for cavalry! And you, boy — you all claim to be decent fighters — and while at least one of you has proven that to be true, you all smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"
"Kinda hard to have a fucking bath when we've been chased by Gorgons three days straight.." Michael snapped, and that seemed to impress Vitellius.
"Fair enough.." he muttered. "I suppose so."
Hazel looked really annoyed. "Vitellius.. please.." she muttered. "We've got to get to their augury before they can join."
Vitellius looked embarrassed at that. "My apologies, Hazel.. my dearest apologies.. you all be on your way then.." he said, before turning around and leaving. Michael and Luke watched him go, while Colton still looked deep in thought, and Percy just kept blinking.
Hazel turned to them now. "Sorry guys.." she muttered. "Vitellius' eccentric, but he's one of the oldest lares. He's been around since the legion was founded."
"He called the legion.. Fulminata?" Percy asked, and Colton looked up from his deep in thought trance, also interested here as well. Same could be said for Michael and Luke too.
"Armed with Lightning.." Hazel said, and I nodded along. "That's our motto. The Twelfth Legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of the legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, and keep Rome going. We've been doing that ever since, moving around to whenever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America."
They all looked as if that story sounded familiar to them for some reason, and Percy looked like he was about to have a headache.
"So you both are in the Fifth Cohort then.." Percy said after apparently pushing whatever was about to give him a headache aside, causing both me and Hazel to wince. Hazel, in particular, scowled like being in the Fifth was exactly like the bad thing that it was. "Yeah. I joined up last September. Before Jason —.." She stopped herself before she could finish that sentence.
Luke and Michael both looked on in concern.
Colton, however, just chose that moment to talk. "I take it that the reason you both are displeased with being in the Fifth — and why Vitellius has such a problem with it — has something to do with the empty display case in the principia and why there's a barracks that looks different from all the rest here?" He asked simply, and me and Hazel could do nothing but nod. I had to admit, she wasn't kidding. Colton truly was a perceptive kind of person.
Before Colton could say anything further, Hazel shifted the conversation.
"Come on.." Hazel said, trying to lighten the mood. "I'll show you all my favorite view."
- — - — - — -
We all stopped outside of the main gates, and since the fort was situated on the highest point of the valley, we could pretty much see everything. Colton, Michael, Luke, and Percy all looked in both directions and while Michael and Percy were blown away by the view, Luke and Colton were both looking very much deep in thought.
"You got families here?" Percy asked after a while.
"In the city, absolutely.." Hazel said. "When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out if you want to. Most demigods go into the mortal world. But for some - well, it's pretty dangerous out there."
"I mean.. that's pretty obvious.." Colton said. Hazel simply continued despite the interruption.
"This valley is a sanctuary.." she went on. "..You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, retire when you get old.."
"Essentially Florida.." Michael muttered. I have no clue what he meant by that. (A/N: This is an unintentional joke.)
"It's the only safe place on earth for people like us.." Hazel continued, though Luke, Colton, and Michael all looked at her like she was crazy for some reason. "So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there under the protection of the legion."
Judging from the expressions on their faces, the idea of all of this seemed like a foreign concept to them, as if they came from a system that was more definitely worse than ours. "But if this valley is attacked?" Percy asked bluntly.
Hazel pursed her lips. "We have defenses, and the borders are magical. But our strength isn't what it used to be. Lately, the monster attacks have been increasing.." she said. "What you said about gorgons not dying.. we've noticed that too, with other monsters." I nodded along, since I had heard about that too.
"Do you know what's causing it?" Percy asked.
Hazel looked away, not saying anything. I was confused.
"It's - It's complicated.." she started. "My brother says Death isn't-.."
We were interrupted by an elephant, but the look on Colton's face out of part horror, part realization told me that he definitely was figuring it out.
Someone behind us shouted, "Make way!"
I dragged Colton and Michael out of the way while Hazel did the same for Percy and Luke as another member of the legion rode by on an armored war elephant. It headed north towards the Field of Mars.
Percy and Luke spit dust out of their mouths. "What the -..?" Percy muttered.
"Elephant.." Hazel replied.
"Pretty sure that was obvious.." Luke added. "Mind explaining why you all have an elephant in armor?"
"That's Hannibal.." Hazel said back. "..and it's because of war games tonight. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."
"Fair enough.." Michael said. "..I mean, if I was left out of something I really wanted to be a part of, I'd be upset too."
"Indeed. I guess we can't have that, then.." Percy joked, and Hazel laughed. Colton, meanwhile, just looked at her as if he was slowly but surely figuring her out. It was remarkable to see really. For a son of Mars, he sure was way different than any child of Mars I have ever seen here. I mean, he definitely was a cool one to be sure.
Soon enough though, Hazel stopped laughing and pointed south across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill, and red flashes of lightning washed over the monuments in blood colored light. "Octavian is busy.." she said. "We'd better get over there."
"So we shall.." Colton said, before starting down the road towards Temple Hill. "Come on, you lazy bums! Move yourselves now!"
Michael and Luke just laughed at that. I didn't really understand their humor at all, to be honest. I just found it weird.
On the way there, we all passed some fauns that were hanging out on the side of the road. The guys all just stared as them as if they seemed familiar to them. Yeah, it was absolutely weird how so many things here at Camp Jupiter seemed familiar to these guys. I can't explain it at all.
"Hazel!" one of them cried, and I knew exactly who it was. Don.
He trotted over with a big grin on his face, wearing a faded Hawaiian shirt and nothing for pants except thick brown goat fur as usual. His massive — and I mean massive — afro jiggled, while his eyes were hidden behind little round rainbow-tinted glasses. He was holding a cardboard sign at the moment that read: "WILL WORK SING TALK go away for denarii."
Needless to say, he was rather interesting to the newcomers, from the way they looked at him, to be honest.
"Hi, Don," Hazel said. "Sorry, we don't have time—"
"Oh, that's cool! That's cool!" Don trotted along with them. "Hey, this guy's new!" He grinned at Percy. "Do you have three denarii for the bus? Because I left my wallet at home, and I've got to get to work, and—"
Colton just looked on in amusement now, Don clearly paying no attention to the fact that there was literally a dude holding a gun with us.
"Don," Hazel chided. "Fauns don't have wallets. Or jobs. Or homes. And we don't have buses."
"Right," he said cheerfully, "but do you have denarii?"
"What the fuck even is a denarii?" Michael asked, confused. I walked over to him and whispered in his ear, "Ancient Roman currency that we use here at Camp Jupiter. It was used during the time of the empire too."
Michael simply turned to look at me and just muttered simply "oh" in understanding. "That makes a lot more sense.." he added a couple moments later. Colton was as usual, looking like he was just jotting down notes in his head.
"Your name is Don the Faun?" Percy asked. He seemed a bit surprised and confused to be honest. But then again, the other three were much the same.
"Yeah. So?"
"Nothing." Percy tried to keep a straight face from what it looked like to me. "Why don't fauns have jobs? Shouldn't they work for the camp?"
Normally, he probably would have been reprimanded if he was taken to Octavian by anyone else other than someone from the Fifth Cohort or the Fourth Cohort, but then again, it was him and the others' first day at camp so we just let it slide for one more reason than normal.
Don bleated. "Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"
"Fauns are, um, free spirits," Hazel explained. "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but—"
"Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are like, 'Go away, Don.' But she's like, 'Please go away, Don.' I love her!"
The faun seemed harmless, but Percy looked like he still found Don unsettling. Something about this, to him, just seemed off, and to the rest of them — the story on their faces read much the same honestly.
Don suddenly looked at the ground in front of us and gasped. "Score!"
We all looked down as he reached for something, but Hazel screamed, "Don, no!"
She pushed him out of the way and snatched up a small shiny object. I caught a glimpse of it before Hazel slipped it into her pocket. I could have sworn it was a diamond.
The other dudes with us were confused as hell. "Anyone want to tell me what the hell was that?" Michael asked, once more confused. I didn't really blame him. I was a bit confused too to be honest with you.
"I have absolutely no idea.." Luke muttered.
"Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!"
"Don, please," Hazel said. "Go away."
She sounded shaken, like she'd just saved Don from a charging elephant or something to be honest.
The faun sighed. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time you walk by—"
"Good-bye, Don," Hazel said quickly. "Let's go, guys."
She started jogging. Percy, Colton, Michael, and Luke — plus me — all had to sprint to catch up to her. Percy looked like he wanted to know more.
"What was that about?" Percy asked. "That diamond in the road—"
"Please," she said. "Don't ask."
So none of them didn't.
Colton just looked like he was pretty close to figuring out why that was at this point, but he simply chose not to say anything apparently.
- — - — - — -
We all continued to walk in uneasy silence the rest of the way to Temple Hill. Colton looked more deep in thought than ever, Luke was puzzled, Michael was curious, and Percy looked confused. It was really odd to watch honestly. Anyways, we followed the crooked stone path past the many altars and domed vaults that made up Temple Hill. Hazel pointed out Bellona's temple as we went by. "Goddess of War.." she said. "..that Reyna's mom." Colton looked especially confused for some reason, but simply nodded along and took an extra moment to stare at the temple like he was making a note to go back there and inside sometime - as if it was calling out to him. We passed by the temple of Mars and Percy looked freaked out and also angry too. Colton meanwhile stared at it as if he was looking at family.
"Please tell we're not going in there.." he said. Hazel just shook her head. "No.. we're not.." she replied. "That's not where we are going. That's the temple of Mars Ultor."
"Mars... Ares, the war god?" Percy muttered, and the other three looked confused. I swear, what was it with these guys and saying Greek names? It was weird.
"That's his Greek name," Hazel said. "But, yeah, it's the same guy. Ultor just means 'the Avenger.' He's also the second-most important god of Rome." Percy did not look thrilled to hear that honestly.
"And I'm guessing that one at the top is both where we are heading, and also the most important..?" Colton asked, pointing towards the summit of Temple Hill. There, clouds swirled over Jupiter's temple, the largest of them.
"You would be correct, Colton.." Hazel said. "Octavian reads auguries there—the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus." For some reason, now it was both Colton and Luke that didn't look thrilled to hear that for some reason. It was really weird.
Percy then looked deep in thought, and then he looked as if he realized something. "Jupiter...the best and the greatest?" he said, and then Colton snorted.
"More like the idiot one.. don't know why I said that.." he muttered, looking really pissed off now. I have no clue what Jupiter did to tick him off so bad.
"Right" Hazel replied.
"What's Neptune's title?" Percy asked. "The coolest and most awesome?"
"Um, not quite." Hazel gestured to a small blue building the size of a toolshed. A cobweb-covered trident was nailed above the door. "Okay.. now that is a load of horse shit.." Michael said.
"Yeah.. like just.. why?" Luke said, in obvious bewilderment. Colton looked even more angry than before.
Percy looked like his heart had sank to the bottom of the ocean. "Popular place" he said depressingly.
"I'm sorry, Percy," Hazel said. "It's just...Romans were always scared of the sea. They only used ships if they had to. Even in modern times, having a child of Neptune around has always been a bad omen. The last time one joined the legion ...well, it was 1906, when Camp Jupiter was located across the bay in San Francisco. There was this huge earthquake—"
Colton was still pissed off but looked once more very deep in thought, while Michael and Luke just listened in amazement.
"You're telling me a child of Neptune caused that?" Percy asked. I felt bad for him, having to find all of this out.
"So they say" Hazel said, looking on apologetically. "Anyway... Romans fear Neptune, but they don't love him much." Percy simply stared at the cobwebs for now.
"That's just messed up.." Michael said, clenching his fists. The son of Apollo looked really angry now. "What the hell is wrong with these people?"
Percy now reached in his backpack and dug out the last bit of food from his trip—a stale bagel. It wasn't much, but he set it on the altar.
"Hey...uh, Dad" he said, his voice cracking a bit. Again, I felt bad for the guy. I really did. "If you can hear me, help me out, okay? Give me my memory back. Tell me—tell me what to do."
Hazel put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. You're here now. You're one of us." Percy looked a bit awkward, before he just simply smiled. Colton, Luke, and Michael did as well.
That was short lived though, as thunder rumbled above us once more. Red lightning lit up the hill like crazy now. Luke, Michael, and Colton — though Colton seemed a bit reluctant — all put their hands on Percy's shoulders as if to say, we're here for you. It was honestly very touching.
"Octavian's almost done," Hazel said. "Let's go."
And as on we went, straight on up to Jupiter's Temple.
- — - — - — -
Generally speaking, I think I was more distracted by the interactions between the guys and Octavian rather than the temple honestly. Sounds weird, but that was the way it was for me.
Octavian was standing in the center in front of the marble altar, doing a ritual with a lightning bolt from what it looked like. For some reason, the faces of the guys just looked at the bolt in confusion.
"It doesn't look like that," Percy muttered.
"What?" Hazel asked.
"The master bolt," Percy said.
"What are you talking about?" Hazel asked again, confused. I was too honestly. What was he even talking about?
"I—" Percy frowned. "Nothing, I guess."
Octavian now raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.
"Interesting light show.." Michael muttered in amusement.
"You can say that again.." Luke added.
"What's he doing?" Percy murmured, and then Octavian turned around. I was a bit uneasy now just from looking at him. He had a crooked smile and a slightly crazy look in his eyes, holding a knife in one hand and in the other was something like a dead animal. That didn't make him look any less crazy, honestly.. believe me.
Colton growled in anger for some reason, and Octavian's eyes grew very wide at the sight of Colton for some reason, and he seems a bit unnerved. Nevertheless, he caught himself and calmed down after a few moments.
"Percy, Michael, Luke, and Colton," Hazel said, "this is Octavian."
The four of them simply sized him up, not saying a word for now.
"The graecus!" Octavian announced. "How interesting. Also, greetings to my new half brother Michael. Welcome to Camp Jupiter."
Michael seemed a little bit uneasy at that. "Hello.. sibling.." he said, hesitantly.
"Uh, hi," Percy said. "Are you killing small animals?"
Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. "No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts—chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use stuffed animals."
Colton growled again, still pissed off for some reason. "Any reason why he's angry over the stuffed animals part?" Octavian asked, looking away from Colton for some reason. It was absolutely weird to witness honestly. Michael, Luke, and Percy all shrugged their shoulders.
Octavian now stared at Luke, and he looked blown away by the person in front of him. "You look.. so similar to me.." Octavian muttered. "Remarkable."
Then Percy noticed that there was a whole pile of mutilated stuffed animals at the foot of Jupiter's statue. Once Colton saw it, he was looking like he was about to explode now. It took the efforts of Luke and Michael combined to calm him down.
"Seriously?" Percy asked.
Octavian stepped off the dais. His eyes glittered with harsh curiosity, like he might gut someone just as easily as a teddy bear if he thought he could learn something from it. It was a bit unnerving to look at honestly.
Octavian narrowed his eyes. "You seem nervous."
"You simply remind me.." Percy muttered, turning to Luke. "..of him."
Octavian simply nodded. "I've noticed the resemblance myself. Uncanny, if you ask me. Though to be fair, you might also be thinking of my namesake, Octavian—Augustus Caesar. Everyone says I bear a remarkable resemblance."
Colton simply snorted. "Doubt it.." he muttered, and while Octavian looked like a little miffed at that remark, he didn't say anything back for some reason. It was remarkable to watch really. It seemed as if Colton held some sort of power over Octavian that no else had, it was so.. bizarre.
(** Monster King Cameo Theme starts playing here. You can find out more about this in the "Heart Pierced" Universe Soundtrack book. **)
It almost seemed as if Colton reminded him of someone. I just didn't know who.
(**Monster King Cameo Theme ends here **)
Percy didn't really look too convinced that Octavian looked like his namesake honestly. "Why did you call us 'the Greek'?" He asked him.
"I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar. "The message said: The Greeks have arrived. Or possibly: The goose has cried. I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct though. You all seek to join the legion?"
They all nodded.
Hazel spoke for them. She told Octavian everything that had happened since they had all met at the tunnel—the gorgons, Colton's headshot, the appearance of Juno, their conversation with Reyna. For some reason, Octavian still couldn't look Colton directly in the eye. It was so, so weird.
When Hazel mentioned Juno though, Octavian looked surprised — and I didn't blame him at all. It wasn't everyday that Juno appeared after all and Octavian's next words only reinforced this.
"Juno," he mused. "We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats."
He glanced at Percy, Michael, and Luke but not Colton though, as if to say: like mysterious Greeks, for instance.
"I hear the Feast of Fortuna is this week," Percy said. "The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion on that day. Did you see that in your stuffing?"
"Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."
"Well.. that doesn't sound good.." Michael muttered.
"I'm afraid it doesn't sound good indeed dear sibling.." Octavian agreed. "It.. is rather troubling to say the least about it."
"Don't you have...I don't know," Percy said, "an oracle or something?"
"An oracle!" Octavian smiled. "What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended—"
"The Siba-what?" Percy asked. Colton perked up, as if he had heard that before. I don't know how, but there was no other way to categorize the expression he made on his face when he heard that other than.. well, that. "Yeah.. I'm confused.. what exactly is he talking about?" Luke asked.
"Books of prophecy," Hazel explained, "which Octavian is obsessed with. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell."
"Basically a.. I don't know.. fortune-telling book.." Luke muttered, trying to understand what was said to him. He hissed at the word "prophecy" as if he really hated that word.
"More or less, basically.." Hazel responded.
"Yeah.. more or less.." I added on.
"Some people believe that," Octavian interjected. "Unfortunately our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them—"
"Because Reyna isn't stupid," Hazel said. Octavian looked really miffed at that response.
"—so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books," Octavian continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these."
He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor. The guys almost choked after staring at it for a little while, as if the lines were really familiar.
"That one." He pointed, and was about to translate when Colton's voice spoke up.
"Eleven half bloods shall answer the call.." Colton began. "..drawing many with them on a journey beyond all. Through heaven and hell many will go.. but to storm or fire the world must fall."
"Yes, yes.." Octavian said. "Keep going."
"The Queen's powers shall unlock when needed most.." Luke continued. "..and the web of fears shall wilt in its wrath. Love arises to help fall another.. and the gun shall bear the test brought in the mire."
"Against many he and his forces will stand.." added Michael. "..and unleash the rage on where they stand. Between him and the future he demands.. are three usurpers bent on revenge."
"Two pantheons collide in the tower of hell.. and the Monster King's rage bore forth to save all.." Percy added, and Octavian trembled a bit of the mention of the Monster King. Hazel did too. I was new, and hadn't been here long, so I was confused really. I didn't really know what exactly they meant by "Monster King". Nevertheless, Octavian finished the prophecy without looking.
"An oath to keep with a final breath.. and foes bear arms to the doors of death."
Percy was silent for a while, then he spoke. "I—I know that one" he muttered. "I mean.." He looked at the others, who also had grim looks on their faces. "..we all know that one." Percy's whole body was trembling now. "It's important."
Octavian arched an eyebrow. "Of course it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Seven, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it...Well, Hazel can tell you. Bad things happen."
Colton glared at Octavian, and the augur looked away in fear when he caught his eyesight again. I still couldn't really understand what it was about Colton that made our augur so fearful of him. I just couldn't. Hazel glared at him too. "Just read the augury for them please.." she said, annoyed. "Can they join the legion or not?"
Octavian thought about it for a moment, and then he held out his hand for Percy's backpack. Colton had just calmed down after he had glared at Octavian by this point. "That's a beautiful specimen. May I?"
Colton and Michael simply looked at each other, while Luke kept his eyes fixed on Octavian.
Percy didn't seem to understand what Octavian had meant by that, but the latter just snatched the Bargain Mart panda pillow that was sticking out of the top of his pack. It was just a stuffed toy, but judging from the reaction on his face as well as those of the others, Percy had obviously carried it a long way. He seemed to be kind of fond of it. Octavian turned toward the altar and raised his knife.
"Hey!" Percy protested. Colton simply growled once more, while Luke and Michael both looked on, a good bit of annoyance present on both of their faces.
Octavian slashed open the panda's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the panda carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff — I couldn't really hear what he was saying, and turned with a big smile on his face.
"Good news!" he said. "They may join the legion. We'll assign them a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that I approve."
Hazel's shoulders relaxed. Colton, meanwhile, was still annoyed even with Luke and Michael calming him down once more. "Uh...great" Hazel muttered. "Come on, guys."
"Oh, and Hazel," Octavian said, causing her and the guys to stop and turn around. "I'm happy to welcome Percy into the legion. But when the election for praetor comes up, I hope you'll remember—"
"Jason isn't dead," Hazel snapped. "You're the augur. You're supposed to be looking for him!" She was right. He was supposed to be — why he wasn't, the answer seemed to elude me.
"Like.. let's be real here.." Michael added. "If you're supposed to be looking for him.. what the fuck are you doing here?" He really was a firecracker, that was for sure in my opinion by now.
"Oh, I am looking for him!" Octavian replied, and he simply pointed at the pile of gutted stuffed animals, to which Michael and Luke both facepalmed and Colton simply was just observing him in a rather.. creepy fashion at the moment. Octavian seemed to be oblivious to that right now, as he didn't even spare Colton a glance at this point. "I consult the gods every day! Alas, after eight months, I've found nothing. Of course, I'm still looking. But if Jason doesn't return by the Feast of Fortuna, we must act. We can't have a power vacuum any longer. I hope you'll support me for praetor. It would mean so much to me."
Hazel clenched her fists. "Me. Support. You?"
A wave of concern and anger flashed over the faces of Luke, Michael, Percy, and Colton. Colton looked especially angry now.
Octavian took off his toga, setting it and his knife on the altar. All four of the newcomers watched him observantly, waiting for Octavian to do anything that might set them all off.
"After all," Octavian told Hazel, "I might be able to help you. It would be a shame if those awful rumors about you kept circulating...or, gods forbid, if they turned out to be true."
Percy slipped his hand into his pocket and grabbed something. Colton looked like he was about to level the rifle at Octavian's head, and Michael and Luke looked like they were about to beat the shit out of our augur with nothing but their bare hands. I was really, really concerned now. This guy, our augur, was blackmailing Hazel. That was obvious. It seemed like now that with just one sign from Hazel, the guys would probably just flip out and see how Octavian liked being at the end of whatever they all had in store.
Hazel took a deep breath. Her knuckles were now white. "I'll think about it." Michael couldn't stop glaring holes into Octavian's head now.
"Excellent," Octavian said. "By the way, your brother is here."
Hazel stiffened. "My brother? Why?"
Colton just observed the interaction, jotting down notes again in his head. It seemed as if he was formulating his own theory as to what Octavian had on Hazel.
Octavian simply shrugged. "Why does your brother do anything?" he asked. "He's waiting for you at your father's shrine. Just...ah, don't invite him to stay too long. He has a disturbing effect on the others. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep searching for our poor lost friend, Jason. Nice to meet you all, by the way."
"You too.." Luke said, a little annoyed but still trying to be polite. Hazel now stormed out of the pavilion, and Percy, Luke, and I followed hot on her heels. From the expression on Percy's face, it honestly looked like to me that he had never before been so glad to leave a temple in his life.
Apparently, Colton and Michael stayed behind to glare at Octavian for a little bit longer, but eventually they too left, jogging up to rejoin us.
As we all marched down the hill, Hazel cursed in Latin. I understood all of it, and it involved Octavian, Gorgons, and some other choice language, but judging from the expressions on the guys' faces, they sure looked like they didn't understand all of it.
"I hate that guy," she muttered in English. "If I had my way—"
"He won't really get elected praetor, will he?" Percy asked.
"I wish I could be certain. Octavian has a lot of friends, most of them bought. The rest of the campers are afraid of him.." Hazel said, and Luke, Michael, and Colton all got concerned looks on their faces now.
"Afraid of that skinny little guy?" Percy asked.
"Seemed like an asshole of a sibling to me.." Michael muttered. "Can't believe that guy is a legacy of my father." Michael didn't think of Octavian very favorably right now, from what it looked like.
"You can say that again.." Colton muttered. "..He pisses me off."
"Don't underestimate him. Reyna's not so bad by herself, but if Octavian shares her power..." Hazel shuddered. "Let's go see my brother. He'll want to meet you."
None of them even argued about it at all. They all looked like they wanted to meet this Nico kid — and see what knowledge he had to offer, at least in Colton's case. Percy was just in shock though. He really was confused about what Octavian had on her, from what it looked like.
Hazel and I led them to a black crypt built into the side of the hill. Standing in front was that Nico boy, dressed in his usual black jeans and an aviator jacket.
"Hey," Hazel called. "I've brought a friend."
Nico turned, and believe when I say that for a second.. the ambassador of Pluto looked absolutely shocked to see the newcomers, as if he recognized all four of them. I turned to the guys, and gasped. They all were looking at him as if he was somebody they should know. I was totally confused. The more I was around these guys, the deeper the mystery around them all grew.
"This is Percy Jackson, Colton Reynolds, Michael Yew, and Luke Castellan," Hazel said. "They are all good guys. Percy, Michael, Luke, Colton, this is my brother, the son of Pluto."
Nico looked like he was about to curse somebody, but he regained his composure and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you all," he said. "I'm Nico di Angelo."