Work Text:
Third Person POV
“Jason!”
The son of Jupiter turns to his girlfriend, who’s running toward him with an excited look on her face.
“Hey Pipes. What’s going on?”
She kisses his cheek and smiles.
“Some of the campers are arguing. I don’t know what about, but it looks like they need a third party. Maybe this could be your time to show that you can be a leader! That you can take that Percy guy’s spot!”
Percy Jackson.
Jason can’t go anywhere in camp without hearing his name. Now, he doesn’t have anything against the guy, it’s just irritating hearing his name everywhere.
Maybe this is how I can prove to them I’m a good replacement.
He tilts his head, considering this for a second, before nodding.
“Yeah, okay. Where are they?”
Piper takes his hand, smiling.
“In the amphitheater.”
Jason hears the argument before he sees it.
“-come on, Will, we got it last time!”
A group of campers are surrounding Will and Katie. Will rolls his eyes, and Jason takes that as his cue.
“HEY!”
All of them turn to Jason, and for a moment he wavers at the look of pure hostility given to him by nearly every Greek in attendance.
I can do this.
Steeling himself, he steps forward with his hands raised.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I might be able to help resolve this.”
One of the Demeter kids, Miranda, lets out an audible scoff.
“Oh please. Like this is any of your business.”
Another Apollo camper rolls his eyes and nudges the Ares guy next to Clarisse.
“Looks like your attitude is rubbing off on your girlfriend.”
The Ares guy shoves him away, and Jason steps toward them.
“Hey now-“
Liam moves in front of them, hands free but Jason knows that doesn’t mean anything. He’s one wrong move away from being skewered by a katana.
“Stay out of this, Jason. You might’ve been Hera’s exchange student-“ a few people let out laughs “-but you’re not our leader.”
Jason frowns, and Piper glares at the campers.
Surprisingly, though, the campers either ignore her or laugh.
“We’ve seen scarier glares from puppies.”
This is getting off track.
Jason clears his throat again.
“Look, I’m not trying to be your leader. I just figured, with both Percy and I being the sons of Poseidon and Jupiter respectfully, that-“
Clarisse lets out a sharp, barking laugh.
“You… you think we follow Jackson because he’s the son of Poseidon?”
Confused, Jason nods slowly.
“I… well, of course you guys follow him because he’s a son of Poseidon. That’s how it works.”
Malcom lets out a long sigh, and shakes his head.
“Look, Jason, I don’t know how things were done at the Roman Camp, but here? We don’t judge people off their parents.”
One of the Stoll twins - Connor, Jason thinks - nods.
“If we did, no Hermes kid would be trusted.”
There’s a collective wince, and Jason figures there’s a story there but it’s not the right time to push to hear it.
Unfortunately, Piper doesn’t quite get that.
“What? Why? That’s stupid! Luke was a hero!”
Luke?
Jason glances at Leo, who looks just as confused as he does.
Some campers - Jason realizes it’s all the older ones - look angry, or annoyed, or hurt.
“For the love of Hades, who told you that?”
Clarisse takes a step forward, her hand instinctively going to her spear.
Her boyfriend - Jason really needs to learn the names of these people - puts a hand on her shoulder.
Piper rolls her eyes.
“Please. Annabeth told me how-“
Katie lets out a loud scoff, and shakes her head.
“There are so many things wrong with what you just said, but we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about why, for some reason, Jason thinks we only follow Percy because he’s the son of Poseidon.”
Jason, still confused and not sure how this camp runs if leadership isn’t decided by parentage or skill, frowns.
“If camp isn’t run based on parentage or power, then-“
A younger girl, one he’s seen sitting at the Poseidon table, sighs.
“People aren’t given special treatment just because of their godly parent or power level. Leadership here isn’t based on either of the things you mentioned. We pick leaders because of their overall abilities. Percy leads the Poseidon cabin because of the hierarchy of the Sea, but he’s the camp leader because he’s earned our loyalty.”
She shrinks back slightly when she sees everyone staring at her, and Liam squeezes her shoulder tightly before ruffling her hair playfully.
“That was good, Ames.”
The girl smiles, revealing a mouth full of pointy teeth, and Liam hugs her quickly before he turns back around to Jason.
“Look, Jason. It’s nothing against you personally, it’s just that… well, you’re not one of us. You weren’t here for years, training and fighting and bleeding alongside us. You weren’t here when we had to stand on one side of a battlefield, fighting people we grew up with, knowing the person trying to kill you is the same person who used to comfort you after a nightmare, or the person you used to race up the lava wall. You weren’t here for the aftermath, to hold the hand of a sibling while they were dying, to pick up the bodies of friends and siblings who didn’t make it. I respect you as a person, Jason. We all do, but you don’t get to come here and start acting like you’re the new Percy.”
Jason blinks in confusion.
“But… I’m the son of Jupiter.”
The other Hermes twin lets out a long sigh.
“Jason, we don’t follow Percy because of his parentage or his powers. We follow him because he’s earned it. Because he’s the one demigod whose loyalty we never had to question. Because even though he’s more powerful than any of us, he never lets it go to his head. Because he’s gone toe-to-toe against gods for us. Because he’s Percy.”
Jason is still confused, and Jake steps toward him.
“Jason. I don’t know how things were at the Roman camp, but here? This isn’t a camp. It’s a family.”
Clarisse rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, and he’s the insufferable father figure.”
Kayla snorts. “No, Percy’s the weird uncle.”
Mark shakes his head. “No, he’s Camp Mom. Mr. D’s the weird drunk uncle.”
Everyone laughs and Jason just… he doesn’t get it. At Camp Jupiter, no one would dare insult any of the Centurions or Praetors like this.
Harley, one of Leo’s younger siblings, tilts his head.
“I don’t get why you’re so confused. We just love Percy, and he loves us.”
Love.
The 9-year-old says it so easily, and the other campers nod in agreement, and Jason…
Love wasn’t a word used at Camp Jupiter very often, if ever. Duty, yes. Rank, often. But, love? Loyalty? Family?
Jason blinks as it finally clicks for him.
The Greeks… they don’t follow rank, or parentage, or power. They follow family, they follow bonds forged through war and love.
It’s not the Roman way, it’s not something Jason is used to, but as he looks around at the campers gathered, he thinks he could get used to it.