(Percy 1 Year Later)
Octavian is a dick. Percy had been at Camp Jupiter for a year now, and every single day, Octavian made it his mission to be as infuriating as possible. It started from the moment Percy picked the 5th Cohort, which had annoyed Octavian to no end. Apparently, Percy choosing the least prestigious cohort was some kind of personal offence in Octavian's eyes, and ever since that first night, he hadn't stopped pestering him. There was something about Percy that set him off, something Octavian couldn't quite figure out, and that only made him more relentless.
Octavian knew Percy was different, and he was determined to prove it. No matter how many times Diana had claimed Percy as her own, Octavian refused to believe that was the whole story. He was obsessed with the idea that Percy was hiding something, and he wasn't about to let it go. It was like a game to him, this constant digging for dirt. Anytime Percy was alone, Octavian would magically appear, hovering nearby, trying to catch him slipping up, trying to get him to reveal something—anything—that would validate his suspicions. It drove Percy crazy, but he did his best to ignore him.
Percy had bigger problems to deal with. He'd spent the past year trying to put the pieces of his life back together after the brutal betrayal by everyone at Camp Half-Blood. The sting of it still sat heavy in his chest, like a weight he couldn't quite shake. His old home had become nothing but a painful memory, so he threw himself into the Roman way of life, hoping the strict discipline and structure would help him move on. It was harder than he thought, though. Being a Roman demigod wasn't just a shift in location; it was a completely different mindset. The order, the routines, the expectations - it was a lot to adjust to, especially after growing up at Camp Half-Blood where things were more... chaotic, for lack of a better word. But Percy was determined to move on, no matter how tough it got.
Seeing Diana every month or so helped. The Hunters would visit a spot just outside of camp, and Percy would slip away to meet them. Those visits were one of the few things keeping him grounded. Of course, even that didn't escape Octavian's radar. He found it suspicious as no one was supposed to be that close to a god, not regularly anyway. It wasn't the kind of thing Roman demigods were used to, but Percy had always had a weird connection with the divine. And so he made sure the Iris Messages from his other patrons were kept hidden. If Octavian ever found out he was being checked on by not just Diana, but also Hades, Apollo and Vesta then he'd probably pop a vein.
The last thing Percy needed was Octavian figuring out that secret. As annoying as the augur already was, that information would only fuel his obsession, and Percy didn't want to think about how much worse his life could get if Octavian had more ammunition. Even worse, if he found out who Percy's birth parent was. So, he kept his head down, kept his secrets close, and did his best to navigate this new life at Camp Jupiter, all while trying to outrun both the pesky augur, and his old life.
Despite Octavian, Percy was doing his best to fit in and find some peace. The internal struggles were real, though - trying to let go of the past while dealing with Octavian's constant prying wasn't exactly a walk in the park. But not everyone was out to get him. Plus Percy had made friends.
His relationship with Jason had been surprisingly since good everything that happened at the Colosseum. Percy had heard plenty about him - how he was essentially the Roman equivalent of himself, a powerful demigod who had once been the pride of the 1st Cohort and had led countless successful missions. When Percy first met him at the Coliseum, he half-expected the awkward rivalry between them to continue. But instead, Jason had since welcomed him with open arms, with only the occasionally bit of hubris. And since then the two clicked almost immediately.
Jason had this natural calm about him, something Percy found both annoying and admirable. Whenever Percy got frustrated with Roman rules or Octavian's constant snooping, Jason was there to level him out and help him. They trained together, exchanged stories about their adventures (Well the limited information about his life Percy was willing to share), and bonded over their shared sense of responsibility. Jason didn't pry into Percy's past which he was thankful for. Although hiding the secret of Thalia was something he struggled with a lot. Percy knew when Jason did find out about it, there was going to be an issue.
Then there was Reyna, the other praetor. She was harder to crack at first. Reyna was all about duty and discipline, the epitome of a Roman leader, and Percy couldn't help but admire her. It took time, though, for her to warm up to him. In the beginning, Reyna kept things strictly professional, treating Percy like any other legionnaire. She didn't go easy on him, and he respected that. She wanted him to prove himself, and he got it - he was the new guy in camp, after all, and being escorted to camp by a goddess didnt automatically mean she would trust him.
Over the year, though, Percy earned her respect. She saw how hard he was working to adapt, how he was determined to leave his past behind and embrace this new life. Eventually, they developed a mutual understanding even if she did not fully understand the life was leaving. All she knew about was his time in the sea of monsters and that was only brought up in one awkward conversation between the two.
Then there was Piper. She had been a surprise. A daughter of Venus, already part of Camp Jupiter when Percy arrived, Piper McLean was unlike any other Roman demigod he'd met. She was fierce and confident, and she had this way of making Roman life seem a little less rigid, a little less... uptight. In a way, she kind of reminded Percy of her greek sister Silena Beauregard. At first, Percy didn't know what to make of her - she was too laid-back for the Roman style, yet she thrived here. But over time, they became close. Piper was one of the few people he could talk to about things that didn't revolve around camp politics or battles. She had her own baggage, of course, but she was good at cutting through the seriousness that sometimes weighed Percy down. Plus, charm speaking Octavian to go away was always helpful.
They would hang out by the campfires or train together, and Percy found himself laughing more around her. She had this sarcastic sense of humor that reminded him a bit of his old friends back at Camp Half-Blood, but there was something uniquely Venus about her charm - effortless, but not overwhelming. Piper didn't push Percy to talk about his past, and that was probably why he opened up to her more than most. She seemed to understand the weight of it without needing him to explain. Although despite the rumours the other legionaires were spreading, there was nothing going on between the two. They were just friends, and Percy was 90% sure there was some sort of love triangle between his three friends.
Over time, Percy started to feel more at home in this new camp. All they knew of his past was his help of the gods in defeating Saturn and a couple of his adventures that didn't relate to the greek camp. He began to truly embrace being the son of Diana, slowly leaving behind the pain of Poseidon's betrayal. By the end of the year, he had carved out a new place for himself at Camp Jupiter. It was a place that Percy was finally starting to call home. At least he thought. Because today was the day where it all comes crumbling down. Again.
Percy awoke tired after a long battle at war-games, but at least his undefeated streak was carrying on. There was now a formidable team between cohort 2 AND 5 with the likes of Percy and Piper working together. It had been a hell of a year, and Camp Jupiter was great, admittedly Percy preferred Camp Half-blood, but considering his exile this was his home now.
"Damn these lars are acting so weird, they're murmuring about a king of ghosts or something."
Percy's eyes shot open at overhearing a conversation of someone else in cohort 5. He turned to the voice.
"Whats going on?"
Dakota turned towards him taking a swig of of Kool-Aid.
"So all the lares have apparently gone to the gate, theres some sort of king of ghosts whatever that means. And potentially a new camper? I'm not sure, that new kid Frank Zhang is on guard today."
Percy rushed out of bed and ran towards the entrance. He was praying it was Nico, he hadnt seen that little emo in a long time. When he got there though, it was definitely an unexpected sight.
A large group of lars were forming, trying to get a look at the two new entrants. Percy also noticed Frank, a camper that he had not spent a lot of time with and joined fairly recently aiming a bow at...
Percy ran forwards, pushing his way through the spirits and jumped in the way of the arrow.
"FRANK! What are you doing?"
He lowered his bow slightly before steeling himself,
"They tried entering the camp, this kid here was dragging this girl over the bank and just said they had to find you actually. He wouldn't listen when I said there were rules he had to follow."
Percy glared at him,
"That is no excuse to threaten them Zhang, let me deal with this okay?"
Percy may not have any rank, but after his performance in the colosseum, people respected and listened to him. So when Frank began to stand down, Percy turned and faced a girl he recognised and someone he had wanted to see for a while.
"Thank god you're hear Percy, that psycho was threatening us just for trying to enter camp."
Nico Di Angelo said sending a quick death glare to the son of mars.
Percy bent down and whispered,
"Careful Nico, they're different to Greeks, you've got to be a lot more respectful here."
Nico nodded and asked for some help with the girl he was helping who was unconscious.
"Please help me with her, I've had to get her here all the way from DOA studios."
Percy froze as he looped his arm under her shoulder,
"Why from DOA studios... And why does she look so familiar..."
Nico looked down unable to meet his eyes so Percy looked at the girl.
She was pale, had caramel curled curly hair and dark skin. Her clothes were odd, like they didnt belong in this timeline. Then he realised.
"Nico... you didnt..."
Nico's eyes turned fierce,
"I had to, I could let her stay in the fields, it wasnt fair. She knew what was going on."
Nico had helped Hazel Levesque to leave the underworld.
Percy shook his head, they had been talking in hushed tones until Percy spoke a little too loudly.
"Listen if you weren't my cousin I would really struggle to help you with this right now."
"Did you say cousin? Should be interesting to meet someone who actually knows who Percy Jackson is."
Percy's eyes narrowed as he turned to face the voice,
"Back off Octavian, can't you see that she needs medical attention? Let us help her."
Octavian smugly moved out of the way before letting them pass where Percy noticed the praetors who had been called down to all the commotion.
"What is going on here?"
"Ah praetor Grace..."
Octavian muttered with contempt.
"It seems like Percy Jackon's... Cousin and someone else is here."
Nico looked at Jason and his eyes widened.
"Grace... but your supposed to be de..."
Percy kicked him sharply, giving him a glare to shut up. Nico also knew about Thalias long lost brother.
Jason looked at him suspiciously about to speak up but Reyna knew the more important thing here was getting the unconscious girl some medical attention.
"Let's get these two medical attention, we can worry later about where they came from. But we must at least know who you are?"
Nico spoke up before Percy could, and this is where it all started to go wrong.
"My name is Nico Di Angelo, and this is Hazel Levesque. We are children of Had... Pluto."
People gasped at this revelation but now understood why all the lares were here.
Reyna was indifferent, believing they could be treated the same as all others.
Jason was still eying the son of Pluto up and down, wondering what he meant when he said that he should be dead.
Percy's face was dark, and giving nothing. It looked the complete opposite to someone who now looked like the happiest man in the world and potentially finding out more about Percy.
Octavian smirked with a vicious glee staring at Percy Jackson and people may be wondering why.
That's because Nico slipped up in a way that Percy had not in the past year.
Octavian now had a clue to Percy's actual parentage.
