Chapter Text
Luke was lost. Not in the literal sense, he was at the Grand Canyon with Annabeth. But in the sense that he truly had no idea what was going on anymore. He had been dead by this point before so he didn't know what was going to happen or what his place in it would be.
A few weeks ago Annabeth called him frantically because Percy had gone missing and Olympus had gone into lockdown. The initial worry was that Percy had somehow gone rogue again, but he had no reason to anymore so that theory was quickly thrown out the window. There only lead was when Annabeth got a dream from Hera telling her to find the boy with a missing shoe at the Grand Canyon.
When they arrived the glass bridge was already broken and three teenagers stood in front of it looking terrified. Luke glanced at the blonde kid in the middle. His shoe was missing. Annabeth noticed before Luke did and let out a huff of frustration. Luke shot a smile at the apparent demigods before turning his back to talk to Annabeth.
"She said he would- gah! That's what I get for-"
Luke reassured her, "Annabeth, she never said it would be him, just that you would find a boy missing his shoe. She probably counted on you assuming it was Percy to ensure you would get them which means these guys are important. Regardless they are still demigods and we need to take them to camp."
Annabeth took a breath and collected herself, "You're right, I just– I'm worried about him. Nico said he's not dead but there's still no trace anywhere."
"I know, I know we'll figure it out. We will find him Annabeth."
They turned back to the trio. Luke stepped forward with a wave, "Hi, I'm Luke, this is Annabeth. Sorry she's a bit prickly, she was expecting someone else."
The girl had her arms crossed, "Who's Percy?"
"Someone we did not want to lose track of again." Luke responded easily.
The short boy to the right of the blonde haired shoeless kid asked a question, "Where are we going?"
The boy in the middle spoke, "What's this about demigods?"
Luke gestured for them to pipe down, "I can explain on the way, but with this many halfbloods in one place things never stay calm for long so we should get out of here. Unless you want the police to arrest you for destruction of a national monument?"
The girl looked at Luke critically, "The Grand Canyon hasn't been a National Monument since 1919."
Luke smiled sarcastically, "My point still stands regardless."
When they got to camp Annabeth looked to Luke. He smiled with a nod, "Alright, I'm head of Hermes cabin so I get the lovely job of showing you around camp, providing explanations and being responsible for you all until you get claimed. Before we get started let's do some proper introductions, I'm Luke Castellan, son of Hermes and head of Hermes cabin. That was Annabeth our resident daughter of Athena and Head of cabin 6."
Luke looked at the trio expectantly. The short curly haired kid spoke first, "Leo Valdez."
"Piper Mclean."
The blonde kid stood awkwardly, he looked about to say something when a blazing symbol appeared above Leo's head. Leo jumped seeing it, "Ah! What is that?"
Luke grinned, "Congratulations, you've been claimed. Fastest I've ever seen."
The blonde kid stared at the symbol, "Vulcan."
Luke gave the newcomer an odd look. His voice was slow, "Good guess, but that's the Roman version. Leo is a son of Hephaestus. Say, what was your name again?"
The kid looked surprised to be addressed, "Uh Jason?"
Luke looked at him for a moment before putting a smile on, "Okay Jason." He called Michael from Cabin 7 over, "Hey, can you show Leo to cabin 9?"
Michael's eyes widened, "That fast?"
Luke nodded with a smile, "Oh, by the way, Annabeth just needs to do a few repairs on the chariot then she'll get it right back to you."
Michael groaned, "You did not break our chariot already! We finally keep Ares from getting their grubby hands on it and you go and break it!"
Luke shrugged, "We had some trouble on the way here. It's only minor repairs, it won't take long."
Michael rolled his eyes, "Fine, Whichever one of you is Leo come with me."
Leo ran off to his cabin with Michael. Campers were out and about doing various things. Most just shot a cursory glance before continuing as usual. They had been getting a lot of new campers recently, but despite this every kid in Hermes cabin had a bed. Kids were getting claimed left and right.
While showing them the cabins Luke noticed a mark on Jason's arm, "What's that on your arm?"
Jason looked at his arm, seemingly just as confused as Luke, "Oh, I don't know, tattoo I guess."
Luke carefully took his arm to look closer at the strange tattoo. When he saw it fully Luke flinched, seeing it filled him with a dark sense of foreboding and defense. Luke drew in a sharp breath, seeing the letters 'SPQR'. To a Greek that spelled 'threat' in big bold letters. Luke slapped his hand over it to prevent anyone else curious from seeing it, "Uh, change of plans."
He called over the nearest Head counselor, "Silena! Can you show Piper around while I take Jason here to the big house."
Silena's eyes filled with gentle concern but she agreed. Luke pulled Jason along quickly, "What's going on? Why-"
Luke muttered, "Just come on."
Luke made a beeline for Chiron's office practically dragging Jason along. He stopped in front of Chiron and held up Luke's arm, "What is this? Is this something we should be worried about?"
Chiron looked up, his eyes widened when he saw the tattoo, "Oh. Oh dear."
Jason stood awkwardly, "Uh, Hi. I'm Jason."
Chiron collected himself and put on a smile for Jason, "I am Chiron, trainer of heroes."
Understanding seemed to click in Jason's head, "Like Lupa."
Chiron's eyes were wide. Luke glared, "Chiron, explain."
Chiron sighed, "It appears as though we have somehow found ourself a Roman."
Luke's eyes widened and he moved across the room away from Jason, "A Roman!?"
Jason's eyes flicked from Luke to Chiron, "I really don't know what's going on. Can someone explain please because I just got hit with a lot of lightning like an hour ago and learned I could fly."
Luke stared, eyes blown wide. Chiron spoke carefully, "Do you remember your full name?"
Jason thought hard before nodding, "Jason Grace."
Luke would have done a spit take if he had been drinking water. He cleared his throat in surprise, "What."
Chiron raised a brow, "I see."
Luke gave Chiron a look, "I'm telling Annabeth."
Chiron nodded, "That would be for the best. Young Jason and I have much to talk about."
Luke left the room in a rush. His instincts had been screaming at him to get away from the Roman. Roman demigods weren't supposed to be a thing. One coming to Camp Halfblood felt like a bad omen. The ancient Romans had destroyed Greece and stolen their gods, who knows what could happen if they found Camp Halfblood. He found Annabeth on the stables.
"Annabeth!"
She turned surprised, "Like, did you get the new kids sorted out?"
"The blonde one is Roman."
Annabeth's eyes widened, "What!? What do you mean Roman?"
Jason tried to explain, "I mean, he's a Roman demigod. He's not one of us."
Annabeth cursed and started pacing, "I knew this was a possibility with my cousin and the Kanes."
"Annabeth what are you talking about."
Annabeth shook her head, "Nothing you need to worry about. What do we do about him? Is he a threat?"
Luke shrugged listless, "I don't know. He doesn't have his memories and he doesn't seem to want to hurt any of us. He was friends with those other two."
Annabeth nodded, "Okay, okay so we just keep an eye on him. We don't tell anyone about his heritage until we know more."
Luke took a breath, "Annabeth it gets worse."
Annabeth stopped pacing and narrowed her eyes on him, "What do you mean worse?"
"He's Jason."
Annabeth furrowed her brows, "Jason? Wait Jason!? Like Jason Jason!"
Luke emphatically nodded, "Yes! Thalia's little brother Jason! But I don't think he knows it, and she certainly doesn't either and shit her brother is Roman Annabeth!"
Annabeth ran her hands through her hair, "Oh this is bad."
Luke didn't know what to do. He was coming into this whole thing completely blind. Percy was who knows where, and had an amnesiac Roman on their hands. Things were certain to be interesting.
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The girl turned out to be a daughter of Aphrodite, and she was clearly not happy about it. Jason was quietly stuck in Zeus cabin, his parentage clear. That didn't matter much though because shortly after Jason got claimed the three of them were sent on a quest. Typical for Big Three kids.
To Luke's dismay the kid had remembered some things when he got back, and decided to announce to the entire camp that he was Roman, and that there was a Roman camp across the country.
The current theory was that one of the gods decided to do a little exchange program. Why? They didn't know yet, but getting to the Roman camp was their only lead at finding Percy. Leo had apparently dreamed up the ship for them to take, the Argo II. It would take time to build but he could do it.
Annabeth was fraught with anxiety. A Greek ending up in the middle of a Roman camp spelled bad news. Sure, a Roman popping up at Camo Halfblood wasn't ideal. Everyone's first instinct was to see Jason as a threat, but after some time of Jason being friendly and not attempting to destroy their culture and way of life most people came around to him. But a Greek at a Roman camp spelled disaster, there were so many risks to it. The Greeks and Romans had been kept separated and ignorant of eachothers existence for a reason, as was the case with the other Pantheons. Only a select few were allowed to even know the others existed. So with a God trying to bring the camps together? Luke didn't like the direction this was going. Something big was about to happen and Luke wouldn't have the hindsight to stop it.