Work Text:
Octavion was done.
Oh,sure, he had tried.
But look where that got him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Octavian had woken up as usual, and started getting ready for the day.
Which included covering his oh-so-growing scars.
Yeah...
The campers never saw said scars, and always assumed that good-ole-grandaddy Apollo always healed them, which made them even more mad, and lead to more scars. Repeat procces. Anyway, as Octavian went outside, he was greeted, (more like bombarded), with hoards of owls and poop. Fun. Then he was charm-speaked by Piper to burst into the dining pavillion and yell on the top of his lungs, his most horrifying secret. A secret that had gotten him abused for years.
Which is how the whole camp found out he was gender-fluid.
Woopie.
Then he was followed around by a personal raincloud, and constantly shocked by lighting, courtesy of Jason. Then he finally got home. FINALLY!
…Only for it to be sideways in a tree, sky blue and painted with teddy bears, graditude of the Stoll brothers. Then he took one look at Annabeth and high-tailed it out of there.
HEY I'M A LINE BREAK. VOTE ME INSTEAD OF TIMESKIP.
And now here he was, sitting on the bridge in the woods,questioning stuff.
More inportantly, why? And why was Percy Jackson seen as strong, but not him? Octavian had been through hard things too. All Octavian did was question things at home, and now look. But in reality, he knew. Because only someone strong can withstand years of abuse, and monsters, not all mythical, and even Tartarus, and get back up again, and again, and again. Only The Strong.
Only Percy.
But Octavian, Octavian was just so broken and mangled and scarred and hurt, that he was a pile of uselessness, left behind and forgotten.
Like The Weak.
Like him.
So he gave up.
He showed them all his scars.
TIME SKIP TO NEXT MORNING. ALSO VOTE FOR ME, NOT LINE BREAK
Percy was eating his usual breakfast when in came Octavian.
Percy was expecting glares, looks of hatred, and averting eyes when Octavian entered.
Percy was expecting white porcelian skin, shock-blond hair, accompanied by a SPQR shirt with a toga.
Percy was expecting… Octavian.
Percy was NOT expecting this.
Well, Octavian looked perfectly normal.
Except his arms. Oh sweet gods his ARMS.
They were covered in scars, barely a square inch left of untouched skin, and Percy was betting his torso, back, and legs looked the same. Percy looked around, despreate for someone, anyone, to look as horrified as Percy did right there.
No one did.
Instead, he saw looks of pride, astonishmant, and soon vocies started floating through the air.
But no expression of disgust that someone would do this to a child.
Not even the best doctors would have seen what Percy saw.
They would see spots, ragged and discolored, from childhood accidents.
Percy saw memorys, of a past with a cruel hand.
HEY GUYS, IT'S ME LINEBREAK. VOTE FOR ME, NOT MY BROTHER!!
Octavian sat down, and felt their stares and gazes settle on him. Soon the whipers started floating around, growing, infested in his mind.
"That's him."
"That's the thing I told you about."
"Jeez, he's so weak."
Weak.
WEAK.
WEAK!
For some reason Octavian had perfect memory of every single hateful thing thats been said to him,and this was no exception.
Soon the whispers grew, joining the flood and wrapping Octavian in their own judging blanket.
He had enough. Octavian stood up and slammed his hands on the table, effectively gathering everyones attention… and stares. He glaced briefly at all of them, then walked out of the dining pavillion, hiding the tears that fell.
HEY GUYS, LINEBREAKS BACK. VOTE FOR LINEBREAK, NOT TIMESKIP!
Octavian was sitting on the bridge, dressed in normal clothes and enjoying the peace and silence, save a few sounds like the bubbling of the river. The calm mood was broken by the quick, padded movements of feet and giggling nymphs leading them. Octavian turned around.
It was Percy.
There it was when Octavian finally broke, tears spilling out. There it was when Percy hugged and conforted him. There it was when Octavian calmed down, and Percy held him out."Thank you." Octavian muttered. Percy smiled."You're welcome. Ah, if you don't mind me asking," Percy questioned, "Who was it?" "My mother." Octavian's words were clipped, emotionless. "A mortal." The other grimaced. "The worst. If it helps any, I think you're strong"
And it did.