Sympathetic Octavian Propaganda
(OC X Octavian, HoO fanfic. Posted here to see if people will actually read this stuff before I commit myself to it. 2,024 words)
Spoilers for Blood of Olympus
The battle against Gaea was short, the earth mother woke, the demigods rallied together under the command of Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano and Percy Jackson. Though, Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge deserve most of the credit. They had carried the Athena Parthenos across the world to heal the rift between Greeks and Romans, without that the gods wouldn't have synchronized their Greek and Roman versions. The seven heroes would have likely died in Greece, and Gaea would have killed everyone as the two camps warred against each other.
Octavian, augur of the twelfth legion, had led the Romans to war, commanding the legion to kill all the Greeks. His cape had been caught in an onager projectile. If his cape hadn't ripped off he would have died. Nico and Will were sure that he was going to get pulled into the fiery blast, but then he wasn't. His cape yanked him back, he fell down, but the fabric ripped. The battle ended, his attack destroyed the earth mother's body. She is probably asleep again, she is the earth after all. You can't really blow her up without destroying the planet.
Once the battle ended Octavian was restrained, imprisoned for treason against the legion, deemed the enemy of Rome and Greece alike. He was supposed to await trial, but no one wanted him. No one wanted to bring him back to Camp Jupiter, despite them having more places to put a prisoner awaiting trial. He was left behind by the legion, left at the mercy of the Greeks he hated so much.
On the first morning of his imprisonment he was greeted by a girl around his age. She had dark skin and dark hair. There was a nasty scar over her right eye. She brought a plate of food for the prisoner and had a kind smile.
"What do you want, Graecus?" Octavian glared, but he has no weapon, and even if he did one of his hands is chained to the wall and he does not have the strength to break free before anyone would come to help this stupid girl.
"I brought lunch. You're a prisoner, but you still need to eat." She gave him a warm smile and brought the plate to him. She held it out to him, but he just knocked it out of her hands.
"Why would I eat what you bring me? You're the enemy!" The food spilled on the floor and the girl's smile fell away.
"Octavian, you are a prisoner here. I know that we're not friends, but I wouldn't poison you. No one here would." She paused and bent down to start cleaning up the spilled food. "At least, I wouldn't let them."
"Is that a joke? You look like a butterfly would beat you in a fight." He narrowed his eyes. She was so gentle, so non-confrontational. When he smacked the plate out of her hands she just sighed and started to clean it up. Stupid Graecus woman. No Roman would ever accept such disrespect.
"I'm able to fight, when I want to. I just don't like to. Besides, I don't think you're going to hurt me." She picked up the fallen food and piled it onto the plate she brought. "I'm going to bring more food, okay? I don't want you to starve." She left the room, when the door was open Octavian looked out. The door is always locked unless anyone is coming or going, and this might be one of his only glimpses of freedom. When the door closed he was alone again. He preferred to be alone. It was quiet. He could pretend he wasn't surrounded by people he hates, and people who hate him.
Apollo had promised him he'd be the savior of Rome. It was his right. His destiny. Why would his ancestor lie to him? He wished he could contact Apollo, ask what went wrong, what could he have done better? He'd given everything to be recognized as a hero. To gain power, and now it was all gone.
He thought about what his mother and father would say. They had encouraged him to rise through the ranks. They'd tell him, "no one in our family has ever not been praetor. All the way back to your great-great grandfather who founded this family." They'd tell him how he was a disgrace, how he was an embarrassment to the family for not being praetor by the time he turned eighteen. He'd argue, "but they made me their augur, isn't that enough?" It wasn't. It never was.
When Jason went missing that was his chance, he could win the favor of the legion, or convince them some other way, and he'd be praetor. It was his only chance, he couldn't wait for Reyna to age out, she was younger than him. He was so sure that once Jason had been made praetor it was all over. Octavian had another chance, and that terrible, fish-breath, Graecus had taken his chance. He had stolen Octavian's destiny.
Now he's without a title at all. He had so much just a few days ago. He was the leader of the twelfth legion, he was going to save Olympus. The Pontifex Maximus. It was all the fault of the Greeks that this changed. He'd done what he thought was right. What he was told to do.
He looked out the window. It's at least a little nice to have a window. It'd be torture to keep a descendant of Apollo away from sunlight. At least the Greeks aren't so stupid to have locked him in a windowless room.
The girl who'd brought him food was talking to that dumb blonde from the Argo II. They seemed to be arguing about something, and as much as Octavian wanted to say he couldn't care less he was curious. This room is too quiet and too empty. What else is there to do other than look out the one window in the room.
"Why are you bringing more food in for him?" Annabeth crossed her arms and frowned. "It's not like he deserves it. If he wants to throw the food on the floor then he can starve."
"You really think he deserves to suffer? He already got left behind by everyone he knows, and he knows that they left without him willingly."
"Yeah, because he deserves to be left behind. The only reason I'm not letting Percy feed him to a school of hungry sharks is because he's still supposed to have a trial in New Rome, and you… you wanted to care for him." Annabeth followed the other camper towards the kitchens. "I know how caring you are, Karuna, but Octavian doesn't deserve it. He tried to kill us all. This is someone you need to just give up on."
"You know giving up that easily isn't in my nature." Karuna looked back at her friend and sighed. She remembers when Annabeth refused to give up on someone, and it led to her getting hurt and almost killed. In the end Luke still sacrificed himself to save everyone. He was hailed as a hero. Why shouldn't Octavian get the opportunities to be a better person.
"You know you don't need to worry about this, right? If it bothers you so much that he's here you can ignore him like everyone else. I'm the one who volunteered my time and energy to caring for him, and I'm not stupid, I can make these decisions for myself."
"It bothers me because you're not… you're really sweet, you want to believe everyone has good in them, and you're my friend, you've been here almost as long as I have. He's going to hurt you." Annabeth followed Karuna to the kitchen and watched. "Is it really worth all this work as well? Making food for him? We can just give him leftovers from dinner last night."
"I'm putting food on a plate. It's a sandwich, not a five course meal. This is literally the least effort meal I can make for him." She also didn't want to make anything too complicated or too messy because he's probably going to throw it on the floor again. "I just think he deserves compassion. Like a feral cat. He'll come around eventually."
"Feral is right, but at least I know a cat has the capability of understanding and recieving compassion." Annabeth shook her head and decided it would be better to just change the subject. "It's the end of the summer, are you sure you don't want to go home this year?"
"Yeah, I'm fine here. You know I don't get along with my family. Besides, I love staying at Camp Half-blood. It's been my home for nine years." There was also a fear of aging out of Camp Half-Blood. She needs a plan to go to college or to go somewhere other than back to her family. Anywhere. It's been years since she had last seen them. They don't owe her anything now that she's turned eighteen, if she comes back now she might not be let in.
It's useless to worry so much about that. She'll figure it out because she has to. "Let me know how your senior year goes, and I hope you and Percy get into New Rome University together. You have a better plan of what your future looks like than I do."
"You know you should apply to New Rome University too. Especially if you don't want to see your family again. Most demigods don't stay here past their eighteenth birthday, and you'll be able to find something you're passionate about. If you care so much about people who are going to be awful you should consider becoming a nurse."
"I'll think about that. I've been here since I was nine so New Rome University would need to accept a GPA given to me by Camp Half-Blood." She looked towards the building Octavian was being held in and sighed, "I should bring lunch in for him…"
Karuna nodded and grabbed the plate. She tried to put on a kind smile before she opened the door. "I brought more food. Please do not drop it on the floor again or else I will not bring more." She tried to hand him the plate and he slapped her hands again, causing the food to all fall onto the ground. She wondered if he expected her to bring more food like last time, but she did say that she wouldn't. He'd need to wait until later.
She could clean the food up again. It wouldn't be fair not to since he doesn't really have anywhere to put it. He has no trash can, and if he tries to flush it in his bathroom then he'd probably cause the toilet to overflow. Not that he would be stupid enough to do that. "Look, I know you don't like me. I know you have every reason to be angry at the world because you were left behind by the other Romans, but I am being nice to you. I care. I don't want you to be isolated because that would probably make you feel worse."
"I didn't ask you to come here. I don't want you here. I don't want your food." Octavian growled and glared at her. Since he's going to be like that she just nodded and left the room. "Wait- you're just going to leave this garbage in here?"
"I don't need to be demeaned by you, Octavian. I brought food for you twice, and you threw it on the floor twice. If you want to be such an ass you can deal with it." She felt bad for telling that, but even if he didn't want to eat then he could have just not taken the food. He could have took the plate and sat it on the ground. He didn't need to smack it out of her hands and drop it on the floor. She'll come back later and try to sit with him anyway. She can clean it up then.
