I was born a child of Rome but grew to be a child of the gods. I was crafted to be the champion of Juno but rose up to be a hero of Olympus. Now, I will create my own path. I will keep my promise to represent all the gods and to protect their children, or I will die trying.
Independent Jason Grace Blog from the Heroes of Olympus Series May Contain Spoilers Mun is up to date Multifandom/OC friendly M!A: None but Accepting Tracking: filiusxregis ♃
“What look?” he inquired, while still giving him the puppy eyes. He was an unstoppable force and he would get his way, he just had to figure out a way to do so, and if there was one thing Leo was good at, it was finding solutions. “Jason - I thought we were best friends, why won’t you indulge me?” Leo sighed dramatically, putting a hand over his heart as if he were hurt.
“It’s not suppose to be practical, Grace! C’mon, just try the combo for a little while, I’m not asking you to fight monsters in it - just a quick look to see what it would look like!” by this point he was bouncing from foot to foot, tugging a bit on Jason’s sleeve, trying to get him to comply.
Why did he have to do that? Why the guilt trip? Each time Leo would do that to Jason it pierced his heart worse than any arrow. It made it harder to keep his foot down, and with that look included…well the son of Jupiter was about to lose. “You know the look. The ‘Jason play videogames with me even though I know we have things to do’ look and the ‘Jason grab me a snack even though it’s after dinner and you might get in a lot of trouble’ look,” he huffed. “Best friends or not my clothing styles shouldn’t be used for Valdez entertainment.”
But even with the strong words there was little to no bite behind them. With the thought of not having to wear it more than a few minutes, and hopefully not in public, he was starting to give in. “…But if we do it in my room and if I don’t have to leave the room until I’m back in normal clothes then… I guess I can indulge you. You’ll owe me something very big later though, like one hundred tofu tacos big.” Though if this worked and he looked nicer, but not too flashy, then maybe that could be rearranged.
An elusive smile flits across her face as she marches back a few steps, hand gripping her much used Imperial Gold dagger. “Only as much as you are, Grace.” Her smile fades back into determination, keen eyes taking in her partner’s actions.
Slowly he started to circle around her, his eyes sizing up the competition. It reminded him of training back at the Wolf House though this time it was a less of a ‘do or die’ situation. He weighed the sword in his hand, still trying to get used to its weight compaired to Ivlis, and, after a few closer steps, Jason stepped towards her and jabbed at the girl.
It wasn’t the first time Piper had broken the ‘sit with your own cabin’ rule, nor would it be the last. After quickly eating her breakfast and getting bored with the topic of conversation at Cabin 10’s table, she spotted Jason, writing in the pocket sized journal he carried with him instead of eating. She sat next to him, giving him a peck on the cheek before watching silently for a while as he jotted down whatever memories came to him.
“So, is it helping?” she asked when he seemed to be in between thoughts. “Remembering more about who Jason Grace was before the Wilderness School?”
“Apparently the Jason Grace before really liked brownies,” he responded. “This is the third time I’ve remembered something about getting brownies in the streets of New Rome. I’m surprised that they didn’t cut me off.” It was supposed to be a joke, but the growl that came from his stomach reminded him that it was one of those little things he missed about his home. A few more notes were scribbled down before he shut the book and turned towards Piper.
“But I think it is helping. Clovis’s mind magic too. They’re still not all back, but hopefully within the next month or so they’ll all be here.” There was no hiding the excitement in his voice. For too long he felt just like a shell of himself, like a skin that moved and acted like Jason Grace without knowing what he truly was. Now, he was finally able to fill in the blanks and get some answers. “Also, something old Jason would have said was for you to go sit back with your table and follow the rules, but I think we can push that aside for right now.”
___❝Jason Grace ! You are required to join Apollo’s team for tonight Capture the flag. I won’t accept no for an answer. ❞
“Uh..” What the best answer he could give. Absolutely outstanding. “If I’m required then alright? I think Vulca- Hephaestus cabin already has dibs though.” Though it seemed like they had dibs for awhile now.
She could feel his anguish. She could not blame Jason if he chose to hate her. He, unlike many, truly had a reason to despise her. “It is a shame that it’s true — we cannot always follow our hearts. We cannot always make everyone happy in the end. For that, Jason, I do apologize for.”
He wondered that if everyone could be happy then so many people wouldn’t have died. He wondered that if his mother would have suffered such the fate she did. There was thing he was happy about however. “Please don’t apologize, Lady Hera,” Jason said, no regret in his words. “While I don’t agree with how things went about I know that I wouldn’t have wished them any other way. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have gotten to know the people I call friends, and I..” He trailed off. There were other things he wanted to say but didn’t think this was the time for that. “I thank you for giving me that chance. Just maybe next time you can leave my memories in tact.” The sadness was still there, but it also held a sense of strength and purpose, like he truly believed what he was saying.
Hera’s Hymen, Nico was looking at a year of being grounded—maybe even more! He was not supposed to tell someone their death date until a few hours before, and even then it was complicated and pushing the rules. Gods, he could just picture what his dad would make him do—clean the palace and send all the guards and usual workers on a vacation.
Nico rolled his eyes at himself. How dare he be fretting about this when one of his best friends was going to die in two months! And it was all because of …
“Uh, what?” the words settled in a bit of a delay after he was asked to join. Slowly Nico turned around, and even then it was just half way. He peered at the other through the corner of his eyes, a look that wasn’t too happy upon his face, “No. No, I don’t want to go with you. I have … things I need to do.” he adjusted his new black leather, shoulder-studded jacket from HotTopic and then took wide striding steps out with hands clenched at his sides.
Did he say something wrong? Maybe it was the touching that caused Nico to get so bent out of shape, yet there was something else there. It was Nico he was talking about, and Nico was very good at shutting people out. Yet, Jason thought they had moved past that point. Was he just making up connections and forcing himself to see something that wasn’t there?
Either way he wasn’t happy about Nico trying to run away again.
“Alright what do you need to get done? I can help.” It was a sad attempt especially if it involved something Jason absolutely couldn’t do. Lift some boxes, you got it. Clean up the stables, sure thing. Summon some creepy dudes from underground, not so much. However, he could try and the important thing was continuing to talk to the son of Hades. “Then maybe after we can grab something to eat.”
Her four years are a mere fraction of the time Jason has dedicated to New Rome –technically speaking, Jason has already done his required ten years of service to the legion and could just go and frolic through the streets of New Rome if it so pleased him. But perhaps not, Jason had always been the one with the bigger sense of duty –now whether that mindset was his own, or if it was merely the consequence of heavy expectation placed upon him…she knew it was the latter. The information has been all but etched into her memory along with the blaze of trusting blue. And yet, here she stood, preaching to him about duty, when she knew no one who had sacrificed more.
Her lower lips worries between her teeth slightly, staring into those blue eyes. There’s something different about them now —they’re brighter, more like the summer sky, and less like the royal azure before a storm. They’re familiar to her yes, how could they not be –one look and the image was seared into her brain—yet they’re utterly foreign to her at the same time. Jason’s evolved (into something better?), and she’s still stuck back in the place where they left off.
Eyes dart resist the urge to dart away from the blue orbs as his hands find their way to her shoulders. He speaks in Latin, which in some ways relieves her, lower lip no longer between her teeth. At least one thing is still the same.
“This is what you want, Jason? Just to relive a few years like the last one never happened?”
Her eyes flutter shut briefly as she struggles to keep her face blank. Because she wants to say yes. The word is there, clawing desperately from her throat and poised to jump from her tongue. She wants to say yes even if it only ends in the demolition of her last hope that things will be even just a mere echo of what they were. She wants to just, yes. Eyes open again, piercing black captivating blue. He’s the bright summer sky just as she’s a black hole, endlessly trying to devour his sunshine.
“Yes.” It was just a simple word, but full of strength and determination behind it. He knew what he wanted, knew that this was the path that he wanted to take. Many more of his statements had become like that one. He’d been able to be sure about what he wanted and sure about himself. Failure, though still not his favorite thing, was finally an option for him, and he didn’t have to worry about being perfect. He could live his life as Jason, not the golden boy of Rome, not Juno’s champion, just regular old Jason.
And that’s the biggest reason why he knew he couldn’t go back. He couldn’t go back to the boy that was afraid of letting someone down, afraid of not being good enough to live up to the expectations placed on him. He couldn’t go back to the Jason that followed orders and though wanted to change things, knew that so long as he lived the way he was could never move beyond the scope of tradition. He still knew his place and his duty, but he also knew that there was so much more to him than just that.
Jason just hoped that Reyna could also learn to like it, like him, too.
He continued to gaze at her, trying desperately to find any hint as to what she was thinking. Her dark eyes hid what she thought so easily, yet he could see something. A light, a spark, something that gave him hope. Maybe she wouldn’t turn away from him, and with that he gives her another small squeeze, a gentle smile on his face and small amounts of static flowing off of him. “I want this.”
“You have to go away.” She would not, under any circumstance, open this door for a man. If they so badly wanted her dressed, one of her handmaids should be here. That was their job after all; to dress her when clothing was arranged.
He let out another frustrated sigh. This was much more difficult than it needed to be. “I can’t do that, my lady. I can have someone else come and dress you, but I cannot leave the area until we are ready to leave.”
“I’ve always been terrible at it.” That was a lie. Before his parents had died, he’d actually been pretty good at it. Mental hospitals tended to ruin your social skills for good. “Some food sounds amazing actually.”
“That doesn’t mean you always will be terrible.” Maybe he just needed some practice and good conversation could help, which was exactly what a nice dinner conversation could hold. “Come on then,” Jason smiled, waving his hand for the other boy to come oer. “Maybe we can pass off as siblings so you can sit at my table and we can continue to talk.”
”Ya’ll be fine, love. Don’t y’worry none. An’ don’t frown so much, yeah? Otha’wise yer features’ll be stuck like tha’ ferever, an’ wha’ if someone jus’ so happens t’ fall in love wit’ yer smile?”
The girl nodded and assured that yes, indeed, this was all there was to it. For now, anyhow. Consider this the first course (or class, if you will) when it comes to Summoning Creatures 101.
The words made him crack a small grin. It wasn’t like he never smiled just maybe not in times like this. It was a serious moment that needed a serious face, but he must have been too much if she had to comment about it.
"Right. Smile more, worry less. I can try to do that, and hopefully I won’t blow it.“ Though that was a big hope. "So do you have a list of who does what, or is it more of a learn as you go thing?”
