Livia would be lying if she stated that she didn't spend the next year researching everything she could on her family. (At least when she wasn't doing quests for her stepmother.) Not that there was much to go on. Dead grandparents, dead great uncle, highschool dropout for a mother, and a statue that looked uncomfortably too much like the reported missing step father. And her twin brother had apparently been kicked out of just about every school he stepped foot in.
The poor thing.
And that's more of a literal sense. They were poor, living in upstate Manhattan where they were surviving off the expenses Sally Jackson got from the may or may not be statued step father. A quick hack into Sally's bank account showed that she had expenses in check. Something for her night classes, the job she was working at, money for the bills and the frankly appalling amount of rent for that two bedroom apartment of that size, and a separate account for Percy's school fees.
She knew the Mercury kids in the Fifth Cohort were confused and terrified for life after she made them teach her how to hack into the bank again to wire them money with no trace back to her and keep the accounts from being flagged.
Not that she cared. They were supposed to be scared of her. It's how it's supposed to be.
Either way, Percy's timetable states that it was his last day of school so they'd have some extra cash for the next few months. (Not that it really mattered since she also hacked into the school and lowered his tuition by a few hundred dollars.)
Aside from her familial duties that she still refused to acknowledge with Octavian and Jason (who had also been threatened to not reveal anything about her secret family), she had been– well she had been prepping her cohort for war.
Nothing too obvious that the praetors would take notice, but if she went harder on them during practice... that was between her and the gods. They rotated between weapons and formations. Her grades in Monster History 103 skyrocketed and she was already topping Battle Theory 1B.
And then in a fit that went against every tradition that had been set in place... Augustus' sister, Annia, stood up in the middle of dinner, looked directly at her... she could feel that pressure building once more in her ears... Livia slowly stood to her feet, scrambling away even as the pressure in her ears grew further.
Annia moved with her; blue eyes glowing gold. She shot forward, grasping onto Livia's wrist with inhuman strength. Her voice deepened slightly as if someone was speaking through her. The tone was silky as if it were a song by—
Oh gods.
It was not possible but she knew deep within her soul that it was true.
Apollo's voice sounded through Annia as they (he) looked Livia in the eyes.
Ocean's Offspring tested by Fate
You shall meet The Lady of Stow Lake
As The Teumessian Fox runs wild and free
Año Nuevo Island hides a key
To mark the future where the sun meets the sea
The dining room was silent as eyes filtered between the two, so she was a tiny bit thankful when that familiar blackout sensation crawled over her.
🌪🌊🌪
She was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk.
