Livia had not truly seen Jason in months. Quests were pulling them and their friends apart as the Legion prepped for war. They all started spending so much time in the Senate House that Livia made herself a pallet to sleep at in between missions.
Not that it mattered. No one wanted to be near the cousins, which was fine by them. Their skin felt like it was crawling as the climax of this war drew nearer. As much as Jason tried to control it, he was continuously letting off small sparks as the stress climbed higher. He was sometimes levitating in the air unconsciously. Ever since Typhon had been released, King Jupiter had been calling all of his power to himself and that included the power he gave to his son.
Livia could barely walk at times and was dealing with spells of dehydration. It was almost dangerous to send them out on quests, but they wouldn't be held back. They learned pretty quickly which ways to avoid as the gods did their best to push Typhon back and battle his monstrous children that were escaping tartarus.
They were in a meeting for a recap of the previous week missions. Half the court was absent as they were still out on some of said missions. Livia had three gallons of salt water sitting in front of her as she rubbed some pearl cream into her skin to keep it from drying. Pranjal was watching her from across the room after she had come back from a summer at sea. When she came back from a summer of war at sea. She had injuries atop of injuries, but she became a war veteran below and above sea level.
Her nightmares were filled with chasing streams where Typhon took each step pulling at his legs alongside the river gods and naiads in a bid to slow him. This was her fault she knew. She and Percy had allowed his freedom and her attempts to stall him barely counted as annoyances as he continued on. Her nightmares were filled with his monstrous face and she had taken to sleeping under the lake to avoid sinking camp.
She looked around taking note of Augustus and Octavian on the other side of the room. After they won the war (because they had to win. There were no other options.), Octavian would step up as the auger. They were looking into replacements for him also. After the death of Annia last summer, the senate went mad with their protection. It had taken an argument that could be heard from outside the Senate Hall that kept the two boys from being placed in the reserves.
(Though some of the families in the legion were taking this as a chance to upgrade their status. Augustus was already gaining many offers for arranged marriages and others wanted to be his surrogate. Octavian was facing the same issue though not as much as his cousin due to many people believing he was in a relationship with Livia. Which was amusing as the only person that could lay claim to her in that particular department was one of their most beloved gods.)
Livia blinked when she realized the meeting had started while she had been lost in her head. She blinked again as she realized the entire room was looking at her. Jason glanced at her worriedly from his seat and Leila had grasped her hand tightly.
Livia looked up, stiffening as Octavian's sky blue eyes glowed a frightening gold. She felt almost frozen in her seat as he drew closer.
"Half-blood of the eldest gods"
Oh. Oh, crap.
"Shall reach sixteen against all odds."
Her birthday was in a few days. She scrambled to her feet as Octavian neared her. Livia backed away from him.
"A single choice shall end —
He bent over, choking. A green smoke escaped his lungs and she fought against her instincts to comfort him as her body was turned to run away.
—days"
He stood with a speed he should not possess. His hand wrapped around her wrist and as much as she yanked at it, he would not let go. Those eyes– shining aurum shaded eyes– stared into her own. Her heart hammered in her chest like the beat of waves drumming against the shore. There was death and destruction and agony in those eyes.
