Work Text:
From the moment Octavian laid eyes on Jason Grace, he did not like the boy. Sure, he was the son of Jupiter. Sure, he had climbed up the ranks admittedly quickly, and isn't that what Romans are meant to do? To have power?
But Octavian was far from stupid. To others, Jason Grace was powerful, untouchable, respected and liked. But to him?
Well, Octavian knew trouble when he sees it. The newly-ranked praetor hid it well, but it was obvious that he did not like the rules carved in stone. It was clear Octavian would have made a much better leader than that Jason Grace.
But Reyna would never listen to him. Perhaps she had liked Jason. Octavian never cared to notice such things. Relationships were trivial, and power was much more important.
When Hazel Levesque came to camp, with an escort sent by Pluto himself, he knew something was off. Levesque practically radiated lies, and the escort was nothing short of suspicious. Her brother, she claimed. Son of Pluto.
Figures. The boy reeked of death, of course he would be the son of it.
When Jason Grace disappeared, Octavian was relieved. Finally, a chance to become praetor, to win the camp over and fix all the mistakes previous leaders had made.
But no, of course not. Reyna would not let him, and she was still a higher ranking officer than he was.
The Zhang boy showed up at some point. He wasn't all that suspicious or troublesome. No, he was just a nuisance. Clumsy, weak, cowardly. Traits that should never be in a Roman. Octavian was of the mind that they would have been better off without Frank Zhang.
Then, the last straw appeared, in the form of an overly powerful demigod by the name of Percy Jackson. And by the gods, Octavian hated him. In the camp run by order and rank, Percy Jackson brought chaos everywhere he went.
He had to admit, Jackson was fascinating. The son of Neptune was surrounded by souls of the dead, the damned, and everything in between. He exuded an aura of pure power, and had knowledge he should not have known.
Child of Neptune, huh? Perhaps, but this boy was, without a doubt, very much not a Roman.
War games were held that evening. And, the First Cohort lost, for the first time since Jason Grace vanished.
-
Octavian was seething. He probably should not have stabbed that centurion (what even was her name?), but he did not regret it. Besides, she survived. She should not have, but she did.
That evening was mess, but it eventually turned out fine. Yes, Percy Jackson disrespected a god and was nearly smited (a shame he wasn't), but he and Octavian's two biggest problems were sent on a quest that would ultimately get them killed, so that was wonderful.
Of course, then the problems returned, saved their lives, and Percy Jackson was raised as praetor instead of Octavian, so that was actually a lost cause.
Problems continued appearing, in the form of a giant warship made and piloted by accursed Greeks, which promptly opened fire on them.
Damn it, he knew Jackson was no good. He should have stopped them earlier. He should have forseen this.
Oh well. He could still stop them.
After all, he had Apollo's blessing, didn't he?
Reyna leaves on a quest - mostly likely false - which would end up with her exiled from the camp. Good. A girl like her should not have been praetor at all. It should have been Octavian, and now he had full control over Camp Jupiter.
The Greeks had this war a long time coming, and Octavian would lead it. This was his fate. Apollo himself said so.
He dressed himself in purple, draped himself in gold. Octavian welcomed back the previoiusly exiled, demigods and legacies who would help shape the camp into what it should have been.
And so it started.
-
A direct descendant of Apollo faced him, staring defiantly and spouting words that were pure disrespect. Octavian sputtered, speechless, but ultimately turned a blind eye. The demigod may exceed him in power, but Octavian exceeded him in rank. All in good time. The Greeks would learn to respect him, if he decided to leave any of them alive at all.
All in good time.
-
Octavian reached to reload the onager. The battle with the Earth Mother may have been in the sky with demigods who were entirely irrelevant, but Octavian would be the one who comes out the hero. He must be. It was what he saw in the sacrifices.
The son of Apollo tried to stop him, but Octavian ignored him. This upstart wanted to take his glory, to steal his spotlight? The son of Pluto pulled the other boy back.
Yeah. That's what he thought.
-
As he rocketed into the sky, thoroughly intertwined with the flaming cannonball he himself shot, he had only one thought amongst his own screams.
This could not have been his fate. Right?