Livia would love to tell you how she ended up holding the sky on Mount Tamalpais.
She'd love to tell you that it was an action-pack mission filled with danger, that she came to terms with her own mortality, laughed in the face of death, took on the sky in an example of roman strength, et cetera.
The truth?
New Rome had traitors within its walls. If she somehow survived this, she was going to wash them out.
Livia had been over in San Francisco, heading to one of their storages to retrieve a hidden cache of imperial gold as Augustus had finally seen that war was on the horizon. Vulcan and his legacies were working overtime as were everyone else to scourge the lands for imperial gold.
(No one would say it outright, but the Fifth Cohort was getting a lot of flak for losing their eagle and weapons since that failed exhibition. But she and Jason and Octavian refused to let it grow. Their friend had been nice enough to lend them weapons from his family's own armory.)
"Is it really okay to leave her there," a telekhine asked. Her eyes were blurry on the edges as she lost the feeling in her body. The blond boy, Luke, walked over to her. "It's the best choice for now. Thorn will be bringing her replacement soon and we can give this one over to Triumvirate Holdings." He looked at her in disgust. If she had the strength to care more, she would wonder why this unknown demigod looked at her in that way.
She had already had to deal with Reyna (the harlot) looking at her in suspicion all the time. And now, the entire camp thought the girls were at odds about Jason (damn his kind nature!) since the girl developed a crush on the oblivious fool.
That didn't even account for the moment the girl accosted her as she was leaving her and Jason's favored spot in the Garden of Bacchus to ask about Percy Jackson. That was what started the rivalry if you let Livia tell it. Reyna should not know that name and she should definitely not know any connection to her about it.
After demolishing the girl on more than occasion in training and gladiator battles, the younger girl learned to keep her mouth shut about Livia's elusive twin. After all, it wasn't like Livia was announcing to the legion about her little case of patricide. To attempt to steal Jason from her with honey-toned words and bring up her damned brother, Livia had every right to tell the legion of her actions. She had every right to have the girl sacked. She should be thankful for Livia!
That damned probatio had learned to watch her words when it came to Livia. The sea showed no mercy.
Livia came back into awareness as the weight of the sky was pulled off her. Every muscle in her body felt as if it were on fire. Her bones felt like they were melting. She wanted to scream, but she didn't have the strength to open my mouth. She sank to the ground, groaning when water was poured on her, flopping instinctively like a fish out of water.
"Come on, sweetie," a somewhat familiar voice cooed. More water was born onto her body and she could sense the rejuvenating power it gave her. "You can't die yet. We still have used for you."
Her sight was blurred as she blinked slowly. Voice was hoarse as she croaked, "Don't call me 'sweetie.' You can't hold a person prisoner and then call them 'sweetie'!"
"Would you prefer princess," the voice mocked. Her sight was coming back and she had felt a sting of horror as she realized she was looking at a familiar purple shirt.
"Oh the princess of what," one of the monsters calls out. "We're the only ones out here and she's not a princess of ours."
Her gaze moved up to their forearm, taking in the sight of the twin torches on it. A child of Trivia. There were six marks on their arm, detailing their years of service. Her gaze moved up even more and she bit back a gasp of surprise.
