"The moment I met you,
I held my breath.
And you've been taking
it away ever since,
Nico di Angelo."
[ NICO DI ANGELO x MALE OC ]
[ PERCY JACKSON SERIES ]
[ HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES ]
cover by @humaneity !
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0012. | HIS REPUTATION PRECEDES HIM FOR GOOD REASON
Jason was born to be a leader.
He was the son of the King of the Skies. He was a Praetor of New Rome. He led the Roman legion at the Titan's Palace. He slew the Titan Krios singlehandedly. He raised himself from an abandoned child to a boy worthy of the title Prince. He was the Head Counsellor of Cabin One at Camp Half-Blood. He was always, always in charge and in control.
Truly, Jason liked it that way, or at least, that's what he convinced himself.
When he was in charge, he was always in control. Nothing went ahead without his approval, nothing happened that wasn't his idea. Everything was his decision, everything was part of his life. There was no downside to Jason for being in charge. It gave him control, but it also gave him freedom to not have to worry about loose ends. He never had to depend on anyone to fulfil a duty when he could do it himself. He narrowed every opportunity for human error.
It also meant that when things went sideways or didn't work out the way they were meant to, he could blame himself. He could change himself to be a better person—a better leader.
He didn't mind that his worth came from his leadership, his only value was what he could contribute to others, like how a good king should be, like how he imagined his father was. He knew that was what others liked about him, so why should he change it about himself? If he always acted in service of other people, then he would also be well liked, well respected, well loved.
It made total sense to Jason. He had never had to think on his leadership too much because it was never questioned. He was the son of Jupiter, why wouldn't he be perfect for the role?
He supposed that was what he found so hard about being part of the Seven. Nothing was completely under his control, everyone was doing their own part and he couldn't control any of it. It also didn't help matters that he had spent the majority of the quest thus far unconscious.
As part of the Seven, every action he took was analysed and questioned. It didn't even happen aggressively or rudely, but Jason always felt so patronised when it did happen. He felt untrusted. It was hard for him to deal with when he knew how often people used to seek him out for guidance and now he was being interrogated or challenged at every proposal.
Even something as stupid as wanting to sit at the head of the table. Of course Percy would try and fight him for it! It was a chair, why did it matter?
He also knew he was being a hypocrite for being annoyed at Percy for wanting to sit in the exact same chair that he had wanted to sit in. Hypocrisy was unfair, and unfairness wasn't justice. His hypocrisy was an opportunity to better himself—to eradicate that weakness so he would always be fair. And he also knew that when Vela had sat in the next chair he had chosen, it was in jest, just a joke to lighten the mood, but it still got under his skin. Vela got under his skin.
