My Boyfriend is a Dead Roman Hero | Jason Grace

I Lose a Fight To a Monkey Wrench

Julie watches the Greek-Roman standoff from the deck of the ship, bitterness smoking in her chest like a sticky, bubbling witch's brew.

She can see the glint of Jason and Annabeth's blonde hair in the sun as they approach the Romans. She watches a figure break towards the crowd, sparking some kind of altercation that sends shockwaves of defensiveness through the Roman camp. For a moment, she thinks she's going to have to arm the Argo II's canons to get them the Hades out of there, but then a dark haired figure raises a hand, and everyone relaxes.

They only talk outside for a minute. Then, the group travels into some dining hall, and Juliette gets to spend the day getting sunburned by herself on the deck of the ship.

She passes the time by angrily bouncing Annabeth's paperclips off Terminus' face in the barrier.

"INSOLENCE! SKURGE! DAMNABLE WEAPON, CEASE THESE RIDICULOUS ACTIONS AT ONCE!"

Julie scowls. Her next clip bounces right between his eyes.

"Unbelievable! I would think an honorable Roman Praetor would have a better hold on his servants!"

She throws a whole hand full of paperclips this time. "Stop calling me that! I'm not his servant!"

Terminus scoffs. "His slave, then? His concubine? A barbaric practice in my opinion, but sometimes such measures are necessary-"

"I AM NOT HIS CONCUBINE!" Juliette yelps, face burning. She glares at the floating face and chucks the clip container right at his forehead. It collides and falls down into the city below. Someone's going to be very confused on their afternoon walk today. "I am a free person. Independent entrepreneur! I'm my own boss. Why would you just assume otherwise?" She gestures wildly. "Also, why am I the one you've got a grudge against?! Leo can literally set things on fire! With a thought! That seems way more dangerous to me."

Julie crosses her arms like a child as Terminus sniffs dismissively. If he were anything more than a floating head in the sky, she can imagine he'd have turned his nose up at her. "A masterless cordolium. What this world has come to...I suppose next everyone's going to be having beach parties and eating olives and other perilous Greek behaviors." He spits.

Julie squints up at him. "Those are the 'perilous Greek behaviors' you're worried about?"

"OLIVES ARE A GATEWAY TO PHILOSOPHY AND DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES!"

"Uh...Right." She clears her throat and averts her eyes. Alright, this god really is one head short of a hydra. She makes a mental hashmark under the Greek column on her 'Greece vs Rome: Where to Vacation' chart. Peleus is a much cuter guardian. Terminus sucks. What he just said to her fully sinks in, and she blinks up at him rapidly. "Wait, what was that you just called me?"

"A CORDOLIUM! AN EGO-SPAWN! A WEAPONESS OF THE EMPERORS!"

Ooh, that last one sounds pretty cool. It almost balances out being called a concubine a minute ago. Before she gets the chance to comment such, though, there's a tugging at the rope ladder from below. Julie gasps in excitement. She leaps from her seat on the ledge to crouch and poke her head down below to see who's approaching.

She deflates. Oh. Just Leo.

Okay, that sounded mean. She loves Leo. She just loves Percy more, and if she doesn't see he's okay in the next twenty minutes, she might have to summon an entire paperclip army to take down Terminus so she can go search for him herself.

Because she's a wonderful friend, Julie pushes back her disappointment and starts pulling up the rope ladder to help Leo board quicker. Once he reaches the deck, she offers him a hand up. He brushes past it.