The Curse of Oenone (Daughter of Olympus II) - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

I'm Currently Having the Worst Time of My Life, Thanks for Asking!

One thing about demigods is they will expose their trauma to the room. And if Ara's dad was her monster under the bed, Jason's mother was his Roman Empire (pun intended). All he ever did was based on the one lie she'd told him when he was a toddler.

"So pleased to meet you, son of Jupiter," Antinous smiles. "Listen to your mother. You have many grievances against the gods. Why not join us? I gather these serving girls are your friends? We will spare them. You wish to have your mother remain in the world? We can do that. You wish to be a king—"

"No. No, I don't belong with you." Jason replies in a dazzled state.

"Are you so sure, my fellow praetor?" The son of Janus asks. "Even if you defeat the giants and Gaia, would you return home like Odysseus did? Where is your home now? With the Greeks? With the Romans? No one will accept you. And, if you get back, who's to say you won't find ruins like this?"

"That's a lie," Ara steps in.

Jason raises a hand to stop her and replies to the other boy. "You were a legion officer—A leader of Rome."

"So were you. Loyalties change."

"You think I belong with this crowd? A bunch of dead losers waiting for a free handout from Gaia, whining that the world owes them something?"

The crowd closes around him. Piper uses charmspeak. "Beware! Every man in this palace is your enemy. Each one will stab you in the back at the first chance!"

"Dearest, be sensible," Jason's mother insists. "Give up your quest. Your Argo II could never make the trip to Athens. Even if it did, there's the matter of the Athena Parthenos."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't feign ignorance, my dearest. Gaia knows about your friend Reyna and Nico the son of Hades and the satyr Hedge. To kill them, the Earth Mother has sent her most dangerous son—the hunter who never rests. But you don't have to die."

Jason looks at the girls, then back at his mother. "What do you want? What brought you here?"

"I want life! Youth! Beauty!" The woman leans in looking crazy. "Your father could have made me immortal. He could have taken me to Olympus, but he abandoned me. You can set things right, Jason. You are my proud warrior!"

"You're a mania," his voice quivers. "A spirit of insanity. That's what you've been reduced to."

"I am all that remains. Embrace me, son. I am all you have left."

"No!" Jason steps back. "My loyalties haven't changed. My family has just expanded. I'm a child of Greece and Rome. I'm no child of yours." He makes the claw sign over his chest and his mother vanishes.

"Well, then," Antinous sighs. "I suppose we'll just kill you."

Ara tosses the platter she's holding at some ghouls, expands her shield, and draws out Almighty. Her friends join her and pull out their weapons. Watching Jason fight when angry, is one of Ara's favorite things. He throws amazing one-liners, like the one he uses when he pierces Antinous through the chest: "Enjoy the Fields of Punishment." 

Jason and Ara run through their opponents fast and mercilessly, with clear progress in their teamwork after eight months of knowing each other. The boy summons lightning while Ara keeps changing her weapon to different things, Annabeth jabs and beheads, and Piper tosses food at the spirits while shouting stuff using charmspeak.

Jason lowers his sword only a second and Michael Varus stabs him with rage before Piper kills him. Ara drops Almighty in shock. Piper tries to pull out the sword but Ara shouts at her in a commanding voice. "Don't! That'll make him bleed out faster!"