Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

EZRA

    SEVEN YEAR OLD Ezra admired the Achilles statue in the museum, looking at the stone sculpture of the Greek mythology hero in awe. His mother crouched beside him, turning to him with beautiful dark eyes with a grey-ish tint. 

"See that statue?" His mom said, nodding to the statue of the hero. "That's Achilles. Name sounds familiar?"

"That's my middle name..." Ezra murmured. 

"Exactly, bud." His dad chimed in, warm sea-blue eyes boring into the same sea-blue eyes Ezra had inherited. "Know why we put Achilles as your middle name?"

Ezra shook his head, taking a minute to turn back to the statue, then back to his mama and dad. 

"Achilles was a warrior in the Trojan War," His mom said, "He was almost invincible, except for the back of his heel, known as the Achilles heel. He was strong, loyal, and courageous, what I know you will grow up to be."

Ezra had a twinkle in his eye from the new Greek information, and he smiled. "You think I could be the next Achilles?" 

His dad laughed, ruffling his head of messy blonde curls, the same curls Ezra got from his dad. "Maybe you will be. But for now, just enjoy being Ezra, 'kay?" 

"Are the myths real?" Ezra asked, and he noticed his parents exchanging a worried look.

"Don't worry about it, Ezzo." His mom said, kissing his head with fresh affection.

And as they exited, he could've sworn he saw a winged horse in the sky.

— - ⎈ - —

LYNN

   SIX YEAR OLD Lynn walked through the usual grounds of Camp Jupiter, her arms crossed with her wild black curls of hair hiding the pout and frustrated expression on her face.

Lynn looked at the forest, and the tall dark green trees made it even more tempting to go and explore.

Thing was? None of the legionnaires on guard would let her. 

Lynn was joked to be the camp's mini praetor, since she was the daughter of Camp Head Levesque and Camp Head Zhang. Her parents were former praetors, and Lynn was told she'd carry that legacy. 

But Lynn didn't want it. She didn't want it at all. And yet, she was taught the qualities of praetorship, went to senate meetings, and even joined the war games and drills. 

The forest, however, called her. Called her to explore the area where the wilderness lived freely.

As Lynn walked around camp, she turned to see the forest. Dark trees loomed over the hills like she loomed over her toys.  Shadows cast over the ground. And it was enticing to Lynn, she wanted to go and explore the depths. 

Walking over to the forest, she made it into it for the first time...and it was beautiful. She walked into the depths, until she got pulled back by a familiar person. 

"No, Nettie." Her dad said, carrying her by the armpits and setting her on his forearm. "You can't go there."

Lynn whined, reaching her arm out for the place, as her father walked her off. 

And as she looked back, she saw a tiny green luminescent light glow wildly at her,  as if calling her attention. Sadly, she wasn't able to respond.

— - ⎈ - —

BLAISE  

   BLAISE HAD BEEN in school when it happened.

He had accidentally burned a kid on his forearm, making him cry and alert the teacher nearby. And Blaise got scolded for hurting a peer. 

So here was Blaise outside the school office, sitting next to his dad. His mom was talking to the principal about how she was sure he had no intention of hurting the kid. 

Blaise turned to his dad, who was fidgeting with something he had made. Blaise found it cool his dad could make such cool stuff.

When his dad noticed Blaise staring at the innovation, he chuckled and handed it to Blaise. Blaise squinted his eyes, narrowing his sight into a small mistake his dad had made.

"That ain't supposed to be there." Blaise said in his seven-year-old voice, pointing to a gear that was misplaced.

His dad raised an eyebrow at Blaise's statement. "You want to fix it, pequeño fuego?"

Blaise nodded excitedly, and with some effort, placed the gear into its rightful place. He looked up at his dad with proud eyes, and his dad was rather baffled. 

"You, hijo, are gonna be an expert in mechanics when you're older." His dad said, making Blaise giggle when he tickled his armpit.

Blaise smiled, and turned to see the office door opening and his mom coming out.

"I just finished talking with the principal, he says he won't budge from giving Blay deten—" His mom stopped her sentence when he saw Blaise and his dad together, and Blaise smiled wider when his mom smiled at the sight, sitting next to him.

While the small family laughed, his mom and dad saw the little sparks of fire forming on Blaise's hands from the excitement he expressed.

— - ⎈ - —

   FROM THE SMALL AGES they'd seen or did things that were seen as peculiar to mortals, it was clear to the gods the three kids were legacies.

 And legacies they would be, with both meanings behind the term.

The names Ezra Chase-Jackson, Lynnette Zhang, and Blaise Valdez would have many meaning to the gods, as they were children of five of the Prophecy of Seven heroes.

And little did the young ones know they were fated to a prophecy themselves. The lines had been recited to the gods before Apollo, god of the sun, had disappeared from Mount Olympus. The lines rang in the major deities' heads, years until the prophecy would be revealed to the legacies themselves:

'Heroes' legacies shall travel all around,

 Three which a prophecy that since birth have been bound.

Find the sun god that has been locked away,

With vague clues leading the way.’

Chapter Text

EZRA  

   NORMALLY, PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL as a sophomore would be chaotic. You've spent a year in high school, dealing with obnoxious jocks, poor kids being picked on, that type of stuff. And you have to deal with it. Again.

So it was a normal Tuesday, and he struggled to unlock his locker. He had fifth period in about two minutes, lunch had already passed, that meant three more classes of absolute boredom.

As he finally jammed open the stubborn piece of metal, he heard two familiar voices call out to him. Somehow, it stood out in all the chattering voices of the hallway.

"EZRA!" Lynn and Blaise called out, both running up to him with a wide grin. 

Lynn was the 'weirdo cheerleader' of their school, which Ezra found as completely false. Lynn wasn't the girl to like parties or enjoy makeup. She liked being at home, studying astronomy and liked her natural facial features. But despite that, she still had feminine aspects. She liked skirts, she did cheerleading, all that girl-ish stuff. And yet, she was still the carefree, wild Lynn who would rather stay confined in her room listening to music late at night.

Blaise wasn't necessarily known. He stayed under the radar to avoid trouble, since he said it would 'mess up his future'. Blaise was in the school band — the most noisy extracurricular — which definitely fit his running mouth and hyperactivity. No wonder the guy was picked to play the snare drums. Blaise avoided parties, since he believed they were always the root of new gossip around the halls. And honestly, Ezra couldn't blame him for thinking that.

Ezra himself was on the junior varsity basketball team, and he was pretty popular around. He was six foot two, which was basketball height. Ezra was also gossiped to be 'good-looking' and 'a total ten out of ten'. But he didn't do all the stuff that was considered 'cool'. He kept to his interests — basketball, skateboarding — and hung around his two childhood besties.

"Hey Star Girl, Drummer." Ezra greeted them both with a smirk on the face, ruffling Lynn's curls and fist-bumping Blaise.

Lynn pouted, scoffing at the nickname she was given. "Don't give me that 'Star Girl' shit. Just because I have an interest for astronomy doesn't mean it's my whole goddamn personality!" Lynn made wild hand gestures as she spoke, then ended with her arms crossed. 

Blaise snickered at Lynn's mini outburst. "Come on, it ain't that bad of a nickname."

"Says the one with the normal—"

"Can you stop bickering, you two?" Ezra said, with the tiny speck of hope in his tone of voice praying they'd stop bickering.

Lynn huffed. "Fine."

The three of them then walked down the hallway, talking a little and laughing at stupid jokes. This was how Ezra liked his life: free from problem, two good friends on his side, a sport he loved...the dream life any normal guy could ask for.

"Dude, I'm saying, Science is kicking my ass—" Blaise complained, but cut off by Lynn.

"That's because you don't pay attention for God's sake!" She countered, giving a half-hearted scolding glare to Blaise. Ezra had known her and Blaise’s dad — Frank and Leo — had a grudge when they were teens. Genetics passed on.

Ezra would laugh, but he was too stunned by what he was currently seeing. 

The...hybrid had the head of a literal lion, the body of a goat, and a ten-foot long snake-headed tail. The mane was caked with blood, and it wasn't comforting Ezra at all. Ezra shivered at the sight of it, and turned to Blaise and Lynn.

"Guys...look." Ezra grabbed Lynn and Blaise's wrists in each hand, nodding to the lion-goat-snake-hybrid he had faced.

Lynn and Blaise turned their heads, and like Ezra predicted, they had stunned expressions. Ezra grew even more nervous when the hybrid approached them three.

"Should we run?" Blaise asked.

"That's the logical thing to do!" Lynn yelled.

So they ran to escape their early deaths.

— - ✯ - —

LYNN 

   LYNN WAS ABSOLUTELY terrified of the creature chasing them three out of school campus.

But, at least she didn't get to face the wrath of English, History and Journalism. Honestly, those classes purposely attempted to give her hell. But she somehow aced them even though she never studied for that stuff anyways.

Lynn didn't need to turn back to know the creature was hungry, and her, Ezra, and Blaise were the thing's next meal. 

Lynn looked around for a turn they could take, or an alley they could hide behind. Her eyes scanned their surroundings wildly, searching for a way to not get killed.

Lynn then noticed an alleyway a block away, and she nudged Ezra.

"There!" She yelled over the commotion, pointing to the alley. Seriously, why did she pick to wear Mary Janes again? They weren't fit for running, for shit's sake.

Ezra nudged Blaise, and then they ran faster, ducking behind the alley. Lynn almost had a heart attack, but the monster seemed to think he had lost them, so the thing didn't bother them anymore and just leave.

Lynn let out a relieved sigh, shaking a little. "What in fuck's name was that thing...?"

Ezra shook his head, facing her. "I don't even know myself. That definitely wasn't our imagination, though."

Blaise slid himself down the stone wall, groaning. "Why today out of all days did we have to risk death?" Blaise said in a tired but upset tone, as if he wasn't complaining about the wrath of fifth period Science about twenty minutes ago.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about the wrath of our next classes." Ezra said, and the comment made Lynn laugh.

A moment of silence passed, the three of them looking at each other with the same words being passed: 'Was that really real?"

Lynn was the first to break the silence, shaking her head. "C'mon, let's go to someone's place, but not mine. My parents are gonna beat my ass to next week for skipping. And trust me, I don't wanna face their wrath." Lynn shuddered at the mere thought. They were sweet but deadly.

"My place!" Ezra raised his hand excitedly.

So Ezra's place they went to. They laughed, talked, and shoved each other while walking down the bustling street in California. Everyday was sadly hot, so Lynn had to shed off her favorite grey cropped jacket to not get a heatstroke. 

And then the three of them got to Ezra's place.

— - ✯ - —

BLAISE  

   BLAISE WAS NOT expecting the whole council.

And by council, he meant their parents, in deep discussion.

He spotted Ezra's parents — Percy and Annabeth. Percy was running his hand through his blonde curls countless times in a minute, his sea-blue eyes with deep concern. Annabeth was nervously fidgeting with one of the dark braids of her hair, dark eyes frantically looking around and dark skin sweating in anxious nerves.

Then his eyes saw Lynn's parents — Frank and Hazel. Frank was this big, burly guy, like his dad had described him. Frank had messy black hair, and dark brown eyes hidden with the hands hiding his face from sight. Hazel had dark brown curls loose, and they hid her golden eyes from seeing the three of them entering the house.

Blaise's eyes finally landed on his papi and mami. Which Blaise found odd, since they had divorced when Blaise was eleven. It was rare to see them in the same place, much less room, talking with each other. His papi was fiddling with something in his hands, dark curls and eyes standing still as an implanted rock in the land. His mami was tapping a pen on the table, caramel hair up in a messy bun and dark eyes staring into the table's void.

Then Mami saw Blaise, and Blaise knew he was deep-fried butter on a stick…and he meant very deep-fried.

"Blaise?" Mami said, taking the attention of all the other adults. And Blaise could've sworn their heads all turned to see him, Lynn and Ezra.

"Mom...? Dad...?" Ezra muttered, staring at his parents with a look of astonishment.

"Ma? Pa?" Lynn said, the Louisiana accent she inherited from Hazel suddenly more prominent. 

"Mami? Papi?" Blaise asked, turning to see his divorced parents sitting next to each other. 

There was a moment of great silence between all nine of them, just confused stares and looks of shock or worry.

"...what is this?" Blaise, Lynn and Ezra said in unison, completely perplexed.

"What are you guys doing here?" Percy asked them, a look of utter unexpectedness in his tone of voice.

"Uhh...we got chased by this creature, so we went home...?" Lynn said.

Blaise could've sworn he saw Percy and Annabeth exchange a worried look.

Annabeth then spoke up. "What type of creature, exactly?"

Ezra gulped. "He had a lion's head, a goat's body, and this HUGE snake-headed tail—" 

Now that got their parents even more worried, hushed mutters and worried exchanges going around like school gossip. (School gossip goes around like wildfires, Blaise knew. Lynn had been the center and she beat the hit out of the person who started it.) 

Calypso finally turned to them three, with a sigh escaping. "Sit down, we'll tell you guys everything."

Chapter Text

EZRA

   EZRA DECIDED TO SIT next to Lynn, who sat in between him and Blaise.

Ezra wasn't comforted by the worried looks of the adults, and he glanced at Lynn. Lynn had the same reaction, obviously not very comforted by the tense atmosphere. Blaise was fiddling with the hem of his khaki shorts.

"Look," Hazel said, "You three are legacies."

Ezra raised an eyebrow at that, and he turned to Lynn and Blaise. Surely enough, they had the same reactions as he did. 

"What exactly are legacies...?" Ezra asked, but it was more of a quiet murmur as he tried to process all the information. 

His mom sighed, looking at him, Lynn, and Blaise with tense expression. "Legacies are descendants of gods. Greek or Roman...that's exactly what you guys are. You, Ezra are a legacy of Poseidon and Athena."

"The god of the sea and the goddess of wisdom..." Ezra surely couldn't have gotten the wisdom, since he was currently failing about three of his classes.

"Lynnette—" His dad said, before Lynn harshly cut him off.

"Lynn."

"Sorry, Lynn, you're a legacy of Pluto and Mars." His dad said. 

Ezra turned to look at Lynn, who was silently taking in his information.

"Hijo," Leo started, catching Blaise's attention. "You're a legacy of Hephaestus, god of the forge and fire."

"Huh." Blaise softly muttered.

"And that thing you encountered...was a chimera." His dad said with a reluctant tone in his voice. 

The three of them took in this information. How could they be descendants of literal gods? Ezra had been told tales of their myths as bedtime stories, but he had never imagined them to actually be real. And the Greek myth monsters were real? It was just a lot to take in, and Ezra felt as if he were going insane.

"So...the Roman and Greek myths are real...?" Lynn said with a raised eyebrow, and she turned to look and him and Blaise. Her expression was almost worrying, and he wanted to comfort her in that rightful moment.

"I guess they are." Ezra responded. 

And the silence was there in the air, as the three of them took in the fact they had gods' blood in their veins, and were related to major deities.

— - ⚡︎ - —

LYNN

   SHE COULD HANDLE rigorous cheer practices. Classes? She could handle the boring work.

But being a legacy of the god of war AND the god of the dead?

She didn't know how to feel. 

After that whole thing, Lynn and her parents headed home. Lynn went in the car, and she leaned her head against the window.

The silence was very stiff. 

Until her mother spoke up.

"Lynn, we know how hard it is for you to take in something like this..." Her mom turned to face Lynn, with the sweetest smile Lynn had ever seen on her face.

"Yeah, it is." Lynn muttered, but it sounded more like a scoff than actual words. It came naturally to her, since she was born speaking impetuously without any regards of her consequences. 

"Don't worry, Nettie." Her mother said, but it seemed like she had more to say. She just couldn't muster it up.

Lynn tensed at the childhood nickname, and she knew she couldn't just 'not worry'. She HAD to worry. She was at risk for danger, since in the tales, demigods and legacies were practically chocolate cake to monsters. Except legacies got targeted less due to their farther relation from the gods themselves. But Lynn was aware she was in deep danger. 

Lynn pulled one knee towards her chest, the other crossed as she looked out the window.

"So, is there anywhere for legacies like me, Ezra and Blaise? Or do we just have to wing it for the rest of our lives?" Lynn asked, her head for once turning to face her parents with curious eyes.

"There is a place," her dad started, making Lynn perk up, "and it's a camp just a couple of hours from here." 

"Me and your father met there, y'know? Gods' sake, we were crushing on each other so much and we were so—" Lynn decided to cut her mom off.

"Ew, I don't need the sappy romance story! But, what is the camp's name?" Lynn asked.

Lynn saw her parents exchange glances, before saying the name in unison:

"Camp Jupiter."

— - ⚡︎ - —

BLAISE  

   HOME WASN'T AS great as he found it to be.

It was the first time his parents had been in the same house since their divorce. Blaise had been taken into his papi's custody, and therefore he was the one who took care of Blaise the most. His mom took Blaise on the weekends. And every time, he saw them exchange snarky remarks of how they raised their son.

It pained him.

And now, Blaise stood there, unable to block out his parents' arguing. It was like he was nine again, standing in the edge of the corridor as his parents argued and exchanged insults. 

Blaise looked down, tensing at the horrible noise that he couldn't erase.

"STOP!!" He suddenly yelled out.

His parents turned to him with a stunned expression. His dad just stood there, staring at Blaise with widened eyes and a sympathetic frown. His mom crossed her arms, and she gave Blaise a 'I'm so sorry' look. But it didn't solve anything.  It wouldn't solve their family dynamic.

"Can you actually act mature and stop arguing for once?" Blaise snapped. "All you ever do when you're in the same room within ten feet of each other is argue, argue, and argue! Even before you guys divorced. And maybe, just maybe, if you actually considered about how I fucking felt when you keep on spitting insults at each other, maybe you wouldn't have divorced in the first place!"

After Blaise's rant, it was complete silence in the room. No words were spoken. All Blaise saw was his parents giving him guilty looks. Blaise looked up at them with horrified expressions. It was insane to think they had been once a good family.

“Blay—“ Mami started, but Blaise cut her off.

"Don't even speak to me." Blaise murmured, and he climbed up the stairs to his room, trying to hide his tears as his parents called out his name.

Why couldn't everything go back to the way it was, when he was a kid and unaware of being related to a god, when his parents were still together?

Why couldn't he go back to the best part of his life he never got to fully appreciate?

Chapter Text

EZRA

   AFTER THE WHOLE ordeal, being told they were legacies, they went back to school. Their parents insisted on waiting until the summer to go to Camp Jupiter, which was in three weeks.

Ezra dribbled the basketball on the empty court, the squeaks and rapid feet movement being the only sounds he heard. He did basketball, and it was a sport he really liked doing. He was fit for the job, considering he was tall and he was a pretty good shooter.

On water break, he took a sip out of his water bottle, and took a glance at the cheer team in the other side, practicing their cheer for the upcoming game. He was mesmerized, but his eyes (for some reason) always landed on Lynn, who was cheering with such enthusiasm it made him more motivated.

Lynn had a natural ability for that. Her smile was wide like her father's, and gentle like her mother's. She had this glow to her, one that could pull anyone intoxicated from her abilities to cheer someone up. But to anyone but her close friends and relative, she was bitter.

He shook the thoughts off his head, and he hadn't even noticed it was time to go until his eyes landed on the clock. So he took one last sip, for his duffle bag, and started to head out the exit when he heard the familiar voice.

"EZ! Wait up!" Lynn called out, racing after him. She was still in her practice attire for cheer: a white crop top, black shorts, cheer shoes, and her curls done messily up in a ponytail. 

Ezra ruffled her hair, smirking. "Still as short as ever, huh?" 

Lynn gave Ezra a side-eye, and playfully shoved the guy. "Ain't my fault my mom's five foot two!"

"Doesn't mean you have to be mini-sized." Ezra smirked.

Lynn rolled her eyes, and then let out a groan. "Right after this, I have to go to competitive cheer practice, which takes three hours, and then I'm gonna end up on my bed dead."

Right. Lynn did both competitive and school cheer. Meaning the girl had practices three hours long, three times a week (On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays), along with school cheer practices on Mondays and Fridays. But it had bumped to daily since semi-finals had been coming up for her.

Ezra raised his eyebrows. "And you're gonna be wearing that exact same outfit?" 

Lynn shook her head with a sigh. "I'm gonna change in my competitive cheer practice uniform, then head to the gym."

The two of them walked out the exit, just happy to spend time with each other.

— - ꨄ - —

LYNN

   ALTHOUGH BEING A competitive and school cheerleader was difficult, Lynn grew to like them both.

But if you asked her which was her favorite, she'd say competitive cheer within a heartbeat.

There was something about the adrenaline she got from tumbling, dancing, and stunts that made her feel good. The mixes were upbeat and fast, just exactly how she liked to be. 

Lynn got in the gymnasium, waving bye to her father as she entered. It was a gymnasium with two large tumbling mats, and the duffle bags were set in a corner.

Lynn rushed to place hers down. She was lucky to already be in her attire — a plain blue tank top with their team logo on the front, with yellow hemming, and black shorts with the white cheer shoes — and she headed to her group. 

It had all went by like a blur. The rehearsal of their routine, the dancing, the stunts, the tumbling, all of it. She lost herself in it, mostly because of the adrenaline rush after. 

Lynn was one of the best tumblers on the team. She was normally tumbling the most, and she was fine with that. 

Lynn tumbled in the back while their mix started. In her mind, she recited the moves: Roundoff, back handspring, layout. Then she'd join the others, with her mind set on keeping sync with the jumps, stunts, dancing, even more so since she was a flyer. 

She hadn't noticed the three hours had passed by, so she got her duffle bag, wiped her sweat away, took a big drink, and headed out to wait for her mom.

Lynn was definitely feeling exhausted. Her hair was sore from the ponytail, she had practically being moving all around, and she had kept her facials all the time.

"Lynnette," A teammate, Kelsey, called out to Lynn. Kelsey was the mean girl of their team. She looked like she went through artificial surgeries to keep her looks in check: silky brown hair, tanned skin, brown eyes, and Barbie-like features that made Lynn wonder why in fuck's name she wasn't in a modeling industry. "You could really work on yourself."

Lynn had to refrain the scoff that threatened to come out alongside her voice. "What's wrong with me?" Lynn asked.

"Is your hair always that frizzy?" Kelsey asked with a fake smile. 

"It's not my fault my hair is naturally curly, you Barbie wannabe—" Lynn was cut off by her mother's car, so Lynn approached it with a huff and gave a glare to Kelsey.

But at least she had somewhat an okay day.

— - ꨄ - —

BLAISE

   EVER SINCE THAT DAY, when he lashed out at his parents, he couldn't help but feel guilty. But he kind of did have a reason, didn't he? He was just sick of their antagonistic behavior towards each other.

Blaise laid on his bed, doing nothing but making random gadgets with scraps of metal, when he heard his papi knock.

Blaise looked at the mirror, and never took in how many similarities he shared his papi. The same dark brown hair, elf-ish features, the same smile. His skin was a mix of mami's and papi's, a definite tan. The same dark brown eyes his parents shared.

"Hey, hijo mio." his papi said in a soft tone, looking into Blaise's eyes. 

"Hey," Blaise muttered, fidgeting with his newly-made gadget. "Why did you come by?"

He sat in front of Blaise, with an almost...nostalgic expression as he saw Blaise fiddling with the gadget. "You know, I did the exact same thing before I knew my father was Hephaestus, always making something to keep my hands busy. You take on after me."

Blaise nodded, turning to face the window with a sigh. It was until his papi's next words that made Blaise perk up.

"You know that Hazel and Frank never wanted me dating Calypso?" He said. "They were like, 'she's treating you horribly, Leo, you should break up with her!' But I never listened...without her, I wouldn't have made you. Things are rocky after the divorce, even years after and after. But I don't regret having you. Tu fue la luz en la dia oscuro, mi niño."

Blaise understood what those words meant (despite sucking ass at Spanish), and he was grateful for the love he received from his mami and papi. But yet, it made a huge impact on who he was.

Blaise went to hug his papi, sighing in his shoulder and feeling his dad's warmth. He was glad to have a good father.

He was just glad, super thankful, that the father he loved the most stood by his side, even during the rough, rainy days.

Chapter Text

EZRA

   THE UPCOMING GAME was today, the second-last day of school. 

Ezra was putting in a lot of effort, dribbling the ball and shooting mercilessly. He really wanted to win this, since it was the last official game of their school. He was one of the best players for a damn reason, and it was also the finals.

Ezra glared at the players in the gold and white basketball jerseys, a complete contrast from their black and purple jerseys. He had heard these guys were complete cheaters, so he was set to make sure these guys knew their place and that the Pageway Panthers — Ezra, Kynn, and Blaise's school's mascot —  did not play. Not one fucking bit.

Ezra ran to a certain spot, shooting the ball and making the shot, cheers from their side erupting. Ezra landed his eyes on Blaise and Lynn. Blaise was in the school marching band as a trombone player, and he stood in his section with a very proud grin. Lynn stood on the sidelines, in her black and purple cheer uniform with her hair up in a ponytail and the black lipstick that covered her lips danced into a small smile, a 'good job!' type of smile.

Ezra saluted to them both. Blaise in response winked, which Ezra smirked at. Lynn blew a kiss at him, which he whistled to in response. He loved both his best friends.

Half-time took place, so he went over to the bench where his water bottle was to grab a quick drink. Lynn and Blaise's ran over to him, and Ezra decided to envelop them both in a hug. 

"Dude, that shot was sick!" Blaise commented, and Ezra smiled at the compliment.

"Seriously, you're definitely carrying this game." Lynn replied, squeezing Ezra tight in his hug. 

"Thanks Blaise, Lynn." Ezra ruffled both their heads, and he returned back almost immediately.

The game continued on, with Ezra's team winning at 21 to 15, and Ezra got tackled in a hug by Lynn and Blaise, who both congratulated him and jumped up and down in excitement, because they had won the finals. 

— - ♪ - —

LYNN

   LYNN ARRIVED AT HER place after the evening basketball game, taking off her shoes and yanking the simple black hair tie off, letting her hair fly loose and cascade down her back down to her waist. 

She walked over to the pantry, looking for something to eat, when she felt a smack from a very familiar object hit the back of her head.

"No snacks before dinner, missy." Her ma said, twirling a wooden spoon in her hand, the short, dark brown curls Lynn that definitely had not inherited from her ma unknowingly being caught in the handle. 

Lynn sighed, admitting defeat, then went to take a few astronomy textbooks from her dad's library. Astronomy: the subject she'd been into since she was five. It all started when she'd been walking in New Rome University's library, when she still lived at Camp Jupiter, and she bumped into a bookshelf. There she had dropped a few astronomy-related books onto her. Instead of crying, she'd picked the books up, and she started reading them while her parents frantically searched for her and ended up finding her surrounded with astronomy textbooks,  a wide smile on her face as she read about space.

Lynn set the textbooks on the dining table, looking through the first volume, wishing she could be able to read it like she was five again and struggling to say the words. Now, they came naturally off her tongue when she talked about it.

Her pa peered at what she read. "Astronomy? Again? I swear, you're obsessed with the topic."

Lynn rolled her eyes at the remark. "It's very interesting, it isn't just some stars and planets and it's actually way more than that—"

Her pa put out his hands in front of her face, refraining her from talking. "Please. No. I can't survive another one of your space rants."

"Remember, Lynnie," Her ma said, catching Lynn's attention for a split second. "You go to camp in a few days. So remember to pack the things ya need." 

"Thanks for reminding me." Lynn muttered with a sarcastic tone, and she again got whacked with the spoon. "OW!"

"It should hurt." Ma rubbed her head, and Lynn smiled softly. 

Despite the confusion that had entered her life, she still remained with at least some good memories, even if it wa shuts a regular part in her daily routine.

— - ♪ - —

BLAISE

   BLAISE WAS SURPRISED TO SEE his mami was picking him up this time. 

There, with her caramel hair done back in a loose bun, wearing a basic white cashmere sweater with jeans and black flats, her gentle smile gracing her face as she hugged him.

"You're already taller than me!" She squealed. Blaise would admit, he was roughly five foot eight, but that wasn't really tall. His mami was just a shorty.

"Yeah..." Blaise looked around. "Isn't papi supposed to pick me up today?" 

"He was, but he had some urgent work to finish, so he asked me to do it." Mami said, a hint of disdain in her tone. It made Blaise upset, for some reason.

He clenched his fists, but stuffed his closed hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Let's just go home."

Blaise got in the passenger's seat, while his mami got in the driver's seat, and she let out a sigh. "Blaise. You're the best thing that ever happened to me and your father. I saw you for the first time, and I knew you were a blessing from the gods themselves. But the marriage was over a long time ago, we never got the courage to actually end it. And I'm sorry. Really. For being a shitty mother."

Blaise took in Mami's words. 'But the marriage was over a long time ago.' 'I'm sorry.' 'For being a shitty mother.' He didn't blame her. Not at all. But he couldn't help the resentment that boiled up inside him.

"You're not a shitty mother, mami. I don't blame you. But it just hurts a lot. And I hate it even more when you and papi are always exchanging comments about the way you both parent me and—" He hadn't noticed his words spilled out faster until his mami enveloped him a hug.

Blaise sobbed into her shoulder, his arms wrapping around her waist. His breaths were shaky, and he felt her hand rub his back. 

Sometimes he wished it would go back to the way it was. He really did. But when something happened, you couldn't just make it not happen, go back in time. You dealt with it.

The car ride to Mami's house was silent, and as Blaise looked out the window, he only thought of one thing:

'Life just happened the way it did.'

Chapter Text

EZRA

   IT WAS THE DAY. He was finally going to Camp Jupiter. His parents reassured him, saying he'd have Lynn and Blaise there. But he would admit he was a little nervous.

Ezra checked he had everything for what seemed like the hundredth time, before he finally went down in an outfit he had picked out lazily: grey sweatshirt, jeans, and black sneakers. Then he bounded down the stairs.

His mom didn't approve, since she pinched his cheek. "It wouldn't hurt you to clean up a little, hm?" 

Ezra sighed, ruffling his mom's hair. He was pretty tall for his age. His mom was roughly five foot eight compared to his height. Almost matching his dad completely. "It's going to camp, Mom. Chill a little."

His dad popped out from the kitchen, blue crumbs around his mouth. Dad had an obsession with blue food, because it reminded him of Grandma Sally and it was his favorite color. 

"Yeah, Annabeth, chill a little." Dad teased, and he yelped when Annabeth raised a slipper.

"Do not test me. Neither of you. Or we're not getting any godsdamn slushees on this trip." Mom said sternly. Ezra noticed how different his parents were, and Ezra wondered how he ended up like a carbon copy of his father. 

Ezra did end up fixing his hair, because he wanted a blue raspberry slushee. And when he went down the stairs, he saw his dad hugging his mom in reassurance, like a scene in those cheesy coming-of-age movies.

"Is anyone gonna tell me what's going on?" He asked, playing with the drawstrings of his sweatshirt.

"Your mother's worried for you, since this is a sleepaway camp after all—"

"What." Ezra dropped his bag, just gaping at his father. 

"You're just gonna be training with the legion there. It's nothing much...did Leo say it was a military base?" Mom squinted her eyes.

"Yes?" Ezra laughed nervously. "I mean, Camp Jupiter is known for the rigorous training and all that." 

"Trust me, kid, you'll be fine." Dad gave him a tight hug, and Ezra found reassurance in it. Mom then joined in too.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

— - ❀ - —

LYNN

   SLICKING HER HAIR BACK into a high bun, she got her phone, stuffed it in the pocket of her denim shorts, and then put a bobby pin in her hair while holding her hair tie in her mouth.

Doing her hair like that came naturally to her, had been for a few years now. She had been in competitive and school cheer, and they wanted the hair back nice and neat. So her hair was always, always done back with the help of her aunt Reyna until she was eight and could do it herself. She had a mental breakdown if any strand or bump was visible. Normal cheer stuff. 

Tying her hair (finally), she added some star hairclips and then put on her white Nike sneakers to match with her white-and-gold beaded anklet. It was a gift from Ezra when she was twelve for an astronomy museum trip, and she never took it off. It was adorned with star and planet charms. That damn anklet was her go-to lucky charm. 

She wore her favorite T-shirt, a white top with black sleeves and collar, with the words: 'EVERY GREAT IDEA GETS ME IN TROUBLE.' She had seen it when thrifting with her cousin Mayra, and she wore it to bed, to school, to practically everything. Anyone would have to pry it off her cold, dead body if they wanted it off. 

Finally she went down the stairs, eating a Atkins bar — specifically the chocolate coconut one — and seeing her parents eyeing her shirt. 

"Hell's wrong?" Lynn asked.

"The better question is why you've worn that shirt for thirty days straight." Ma retorted. 

Lynn sipped the cup of red slushee that she retrieved from the counter from its straw. "You'll have to pry it off my cold, dead body." 

"You're not dead Lynn." Her pa said.

"Says who?"

"Your existence."

"Well wompity, womp, womp." Lynn smiled mischievously. 

"Don't you 'womp womp' us." Ma spoke. "I pushed you out for nineteen hours, I will NOT be tolerated to be said 'womp womp' by my own daughter." 

"And whose fault is that, for giving me sass?" Lynn commented.

Pa stifled his laughs, but then he broke through and wheezed, hands on his knees while her short ass ma (Lynn was five foot, sadly, she couldn't be talking) just glared at her half-heartedly. 

Lynn once was told to find the light in the darkness. 

And she found it now.

— - ❀ - —

BLAISE

   AWKWARD WAS WHEN your divorced parents were in the car with each other, bringing you to the camp that was said to have military-like training and punishments that made anyone weak.

Blaise fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, while he heard his parents arguing once again. Blaise didn't speak up, just stay quiet. Just the same. Always has been, before and after the event that ended his world.

It seemed that Mami noticed his discomfort, because she nodded to him and told Papi to shut up. And then silence arose. Tense silence, not like the chats on a road trip when he was younger. This was...different. 

Blaise looked out the window, seeing the nature and houses and streets pass by as the car traveled. His hands automatically cracked his knuckles and played with the gadget he had broke and remade many times, since he was six. A quality from his abuelo, he assumed.

He saw his father giving Blaise a sad smile. Why did he have to smile like that? What about Blaise made him feel that way?

Then his mother, giving Blaise a reassuring expression. Nothing was reassuring, not even in the court when they were telling him it'll be fine when he was ten. Blaise hated it all.

"Let's play something on the radio, hm?" Papi spoke up suddenly, turning up the volume of a Spanish song playing. 

Mami's eyebrows furrowed. "You know I hate Spanish songs, I don't understand a word of them."

"Does it look like I control the radio, Cal?" Leo said, gripping the steering wheel. Oh great, another argument in the same day. Blaise felt the compelling need to get on his hoodie and pull the hood over his head. And he did just that.

"We're not together, stop calling me those stupid nicknames of yours." Mami said coldly.

"Mami, Papi—" Blaise's voice went quiet, shaky.

"I'm sorry I'm trying to make our relationship better again—" 

"It was over a long time ago, it can't be fixed—" 

"Guys..." Blaise said, but it was still overpowered by the argument. 

Blaise's shoulders tensed, and he hid himself in the corner. Once again, he dealt with the misfortune of having divorced parents.

Some things never really change, did they?

Chapter Text

EZRA

   HERE IT WAS. Camp Jupiter. Home of Roman demigods, and Greek and Roman legacies alike. It was really beautiful. Statues of Roman heroes, past to present, were set around the camp grounds. It was set like the real Rome, and above, in a huge quartz sign: 'WELCOME TO NEW ROME.' 

Ezra looked around, and immediately got tackled by Lynn. "Hey—!" He called. 

"Hi, my amazing best friend." Lynn said teasingly, leaning over to kiss his cheek. It was just a brief peck, but he just hoped he wasn't reddening right now. 

Blaise later approached them, and they did their secret bros handshake they invented at the start of middle school. They still did it now, and they would share a laugh when Lynn stared at them in complete confusion. "What's good man?" 

"What's good, Breaking B?" Ezra pat Blaise's back. Of course, Ezra called Blaise 'Breaking B' because Blaise once got in trouble at school for accidentally breaking a beaker during science, and exploding their mixture instead of following the directions.

And sure enough, like mentioned, Lynn had that confused look when they did their handshake. "Are y'all excluding me?" 

"No, Nettie." Blaise said, pushing her perfectly-done hair back. "We're just saying our greetings in Broish."

"Which is the language of the bros." Ezra stated proudly.

Lynn sighed loudly, and looked up at them. "Why did I hang around you since we were kids again?" 

"Because you were basically forced to, and now we're an awesome trio of best friends with the girl who acts like our momma." Blaise wrapped an arm around Lynn's shoulders. "And also because you have no one else." 

"Quality over quantity!" Lynn exclaimed. 

Ezra smiled at them both, before turning his head back to his mom and dad. They were talking with Leo, Hazel, and Frank. Hazel seemed a bit worried, and Frank was reassuring her. Leo was fiddling with something in his pockets. And his own parents seemed concerned. 

Lynn saw this too. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Camp Jupiter's pretty cool. I was born and raised here, after all." 

Lynn's words made a smile creep up onto his face.

Maybe they would be fine.

— - ❁ - —

LYNN

   WITH A FINAL GOODBYE, Lynn entered New Rome, walking in between her bestest friends as they took a good look at the city. Lynn had seen it, but it seemed to improve as the years passed. 

Lynn had been born here in Camp Jupiter's infirmary, and immediately, she got branded with the SPQR tattoo. Her sign was the glyph of Pluto, but with two spears crossing over the line to represent Mars, her other grandfather. Under it, she had six lines of the six years she'd been raised around the legion. And she'd be lying if she said she wasn't sure if she wanted this tattoo. All she knew was that she got it, and it told her: 'Born a Roman, live a Roman, die as a Roman.' 

She shook off her thoughts, and she heard Blaise and Ezra's gasps as they entered Camp Jupiter. 

"Welcome," Lynn started, spreading her arms out like an eagle's. "To Camp Jupiter!" 

It was marvelous. Twice the size of the other camp, Camp Half-Blood, it was littered with marvelous buildings and houses and happy young and old legionnaires. And in the midst of it all, was the real deal. 

Lynn held Blaise and Ezra's hands in both of hers, and with a collective nod, ran towards their new training area. They were free, finally able to experience a summer camp experience. 

But Lynn knew they didn't know the heavy training Romans went through. She'd seen it all as a little kid. It was even a miracle she didn't do the trainings until she was five. But even then, she was still scared of their well-being. 

They slowed to a stop in front of the camp. Lynn's eyes widened when she saw the new praetors. A girl and boy around their ages. The girl had soft, brown hair away from her face with a navy headband, dark blue eyes, soft pale skin, and light freckles dusting her cheeks. The boy had tightly-curled hair tied away in a bun, soft brown eyes, chocolate-colored skin, and a scar tracing his cheeks. They both wore the familiar praetor’s cloak and Roman armor. 

“Welcome,” the girl said, “to home of Roman demigods and legacies of both!” 

— - ❁ - —

BLAISE

   THEY LATER LEARNED THAT the praetors’ names were Eliane and Logan. Eliane was a daughter of Fortuna, Roman goddess of fortune. Logan was a son of Vulcan, Roman god of fire and blacksmiths. They had been praetors for about five years now, and they both were twenty-three in age. 

The sweet praetors led them to their shared office. It was a small mess, with a few papers here and there and a bit of disorganized work. It had a few plants on the white windowsill, where the light peeked in just a bit for comfort. Not his cup of tea. But Blaise knew to not judge, so he sat on the chair with Lynn between him and Ezra. 

“So,” Logan said. “I see you’re all new to Camp Jupiter?” 

“Not me.” Lynn said, raising her hand weakly and chuckling a little. “I was born here. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been here, yeah.” 

Eliane raised her eyebrows at Lynn’s comment, but gave a soft smile to them all. “Very well then? Any of you have recommendation letters?” 

Silence. Damn, Blaise forgot to beg Frank to write recommendation letters for them all. It would’ve taken longer with him, though. (Don’t ask why.) So for now, all they got was silence and some uncomfortable glances away from the praetors’ lines of sight.

“No?” Logan asked.

“Nah, not this time.” Ezra muttered shyly. At that, Lynn elbowed his upper arm, which Blaise had to refrain from laughing at. He just let out a snicker, getting a glare from Ezra. Like a, ‘Dude! What the heck?’ type of glare. 

After some examination, Eliane shuffled around the room, trying to find something. Blaise sat in criss-cross, and held Lynn’s hand, because he was kind of terrified. Lynn squeezed back, giving him a soft, reassuring smile. He loved that smile because it comforted him so dearly. 

“Very well.” Eliane held out three tags, asking for their names, and then putting it over their heads and letting it rest on their necks. “Welcome to the fifth cohort!” 

Chapter Text

EZRA

   HE HADN'T SEEMED TO like New Rome immediately. While they were walking around the small city and camp, Lynn explained to them how the Roman government worked. How praetor's elections worked, how the training went, and everything she had learned since she was a kid. But, it almost sounded too good to be true.

As they walked around the campus, Ezra holding Lynn's hand with a tight grip, and his arm around Blaise's shoulder, he heard a voice that Lynn seemed to recognize.

"Ettiebug! Is that really you? Damn, you've grown!" They all turned, and saw a young guy—maybe, twenty-five?—that went to go and pat Lynn on the back. The guy had wavier hair than Ezra's, that was a raven-black color. He had glittering dark brown eyes, like if he were planning a prank.  He had ivory skin littered that what seemed like battle scars and bandaids, and he had a scar that was to the bridge of his nose, to the left corner of his rosy-lips. 

"H-hey, Axel..." Lynn said shyly. Ezra noticed she had some...discomfort? She was obviously tense, and the way this 'Axel' laid his hands on her lower back and waistline, Ezra got the feeling he had more deeper feelings for Lynn. That was pedophilic...and he wanted to just grab Lynn by the arm and treat her more respectfully than this man. 

Axel turned to him and Blaise, and a mischievous smile grew on his face. "What's up, you both? I'm Axel Roberts, augur here at CJ, legacy of…Mercury. Ettie here's a good friend of mine...right, Ette?" Axel nudged Lynn's shoulder with his bandaged elbow, a little too rough for Ezra's liking. 

"Y-yeah...I've known him since I was a toddler." Lynn said, almost shyly. A brittle whisper. Something that made Ezra realize that was why she had that look of hesitance at the gateway. When she looked almost saddened when she announced the camp's name to him and Blaise.

Axel led them once again through the camp and city grounds, and Ezra felt as if something was off.

Maybe his prediction, about Camp Jupiter not being what it seemed, was right after all.

— - ⚛︎ - —

LYNN

   LYNN'S MOOD FELT AS if it grew tense with Axel around. 

He was somewhat a part of the reason she wouldn't speak about being born and raised in SPQR. He was cool, sure. He gave her sweets and played games with her. He helped her with Latin and entertained her in legion’s meetings when she was a baby. But, she had to a pay a price for all that good stuff he did with her.

Lynn's eyes instinctively trailed towards the very faint scars on her forearms. She shuddered at the mere sight of them. All she could remember, was sitting in front of Jupiter's statue and—

"Lynn?" Blaise's voice snapped her into reality. "You snapped into space." 

"Oh, sorry!" Lynn chuckled softly. "You know how I am...always distracted..." She chuckled warily, and immediately caught Axel's look after, a sharp expression. He had a scowl and furrowed brows, with angry-looking eyes as he mouthed, 'Tell them and you'll regret it, Lynnette.' 

Lynn let out a small yelp, crossing her arms over her chest. Fuck it, she went weak whenever someone used her full first name, strictly. Axel used it a bunch of times back in Jupiter's temple, when she was four and five. 'Don't say a single word to your parents, Lynnette,' 'Hold your arms out for me, Lynnette,' 'Lynnette, you're a powerful kid. I'm doing this for your well-being.'  It was different from how her ma and pa said it, only when she got in trouble or when they needed to talk about something serious with her. 

It still haunted her. With a quiet shudder, she followed along as Axel gave brief summaries about landmarks and the city, along with some small parts about Camp Jupiter’s history. Her eyes darted to anywhere but Axel and the items he talked about to Ezra and Blaise. All Lynn could wonder was, ‘Would he hurt my friends the way he hurt me…?’ If he did…

She wasn’t sure if she couldn’t prevent Ezra and Blaise from getting into the wrong path, here at SPQR. It was all just a mask.

— - ⚛︎ - —

BLAISE

   BLAISE IMMEDIATELY KNEW something was heavy wrong with Lynn. 

The way she tensed around Axel’s presence, his dirty look to her, the way he nudged her and his hand placement…but Blaise knew he couldn’t be as mad as Ezra was.

The guy was fuming. One look at him and Blaise immediately knew that he had to step away from the guy before he exploded another pipe. (It was a confirmed event. Ezra got suspended for it once, Lynn and Blaise had seen it happen.) 

“Dude,” Blaise whispered to Ezra. “You good?” 

“Not with the way Axel seems to be treating Lynn.” Ezra whispered back, almost like a poisonous snake’s hiss. “Have you seen the way he touched and looks at her? It’s pissing me off.” 

Blaise winced. “Yeah…wait.” Blaise put his three braincells together. “What if…Axel was the reason she won’t talk about SPQR?” 

Ezra facepalmed. “No duh, genius. And your dad built the Argo II, I expected more intelligence from you.” 

“Hey!” 

“What’s goin’ on?” Lynn joined their whispers, when Axel was busy going to train some of the third cohort for archery. “What are y’all yappin’ about?” 

“Ezra hates Axel.” Blaise said bluntly, earning a glare from Ezra.

When Lynn heard that, she seemed to almost be in shock. She looked down at her feet, then to the sides as if trying to recognize constellations. Blaise assumed what Axel had done to her when she was little, it hadn’t been pretty. 

“He’s been with me since I was very little. Like, he was one of my parents’ best campers. He was loyal to the camp and a natural leader. He’s everything to SPQR…just, give him a chance?” 

“Yes ma’am.” He saluted, ruffling her hair.

Angry grumbling came from Ezra, who didn’t seem happy that Lynn was defending him, but he seemed to agree with what Lynn said. Of course he did. He was a simp for her. 

“Alright…wait. What should be our group name?” Lynn asked suddenly. 

The three of them went silent. Out of ALL the years they’d been friends, ever since elementary, they hadn’t made up a friend-group name. Of course. 

“How about…ELB? It’s our initials.” Ezra suggested.

“No, too cheesy.” Blaise replied. “Maybe…Toph, Katara, and Zuko?” 

“We’re not using Avatar references!” Lynn protested. “Let’s go for Legacy Trio. Cuz we’re three and legacies of the best heroes of their time.”

“Makes sense.” Ezra immediately agreed. 

“Dude, you’re such a simp—“ Blaise started.

“Shut up.” 

“Never.”

“So Legacy Trio it is?” Lynn said.

“Yep.” Ezra agreed.

“I second that.” Blaise nodded.

“So…” Lynn put her arm out, and soon enough they followed the gesture. “One…”

“Two…” Ezra said,

“Three…” Blaise continued.

“LEGACY TRIO!” They all yelled, collectively throwing their hands back.

Chapter Text

EZRA

   EZRA FORGOT TO REMEMBER that he was with full-blown military soldiers as young as three and not the Greek demigods he hung out with when he was a kid. He kinda wished he had gone to Camp Half-Blood, but they didn’t permit legacies. Only Greek demigods.

No joke. So far, the fifth cohort was doing laps around the crumbling gladiator arena, in the Camp Jupiter shirts and other running attire.

Blaise panted beside Ezra. “Why the hell do they do this? It’s fucking eight in the morning…” He ran a hand through his dark brown locks, pushing back a few strands with his sweaty palms.

“To improve agility.” Lynn explained from Ezra’s other side, her bun curling back into a ponytail as she ran. “Y’know, because we gotta run from monsters and antagonistic people with sharp no-nos and all that.”

“Good to know, little miss know-it-all.” Blaise said, rolling his eyes sarcastically, flipping her off.

“Fuck you.” Lynn retorted.

“Guys, stop fighting. My sides hurt.” Ezra commented, putting a hand on his left side and wincing at the stabbing pain.

“You’ll get used to it soon.” Lynn said. “This is a common training format that is kind of mandatory.”

“MANDATORY?! I’m not living past seventeen in this camp.” Blaise whined, pouting his bottom lip.

A few more minutes of running, talking, and a bit of jokes and giggles until the whistle was blown from one of the first-cohort centurions, signaling the end of the exercise.

“Fuckin’ finally.” Ezra muttered, placing his hands on his knees. In his peripheral vision, he saw Blaise wiping sweat off his forehead and Lynn stretching out her arms behind her back.

Great, he thought. Another day, another Roman experience.

— - ఌ - —

LYNN

   TRAINING DAYS WERE BASICALLY hell when it came to the fifth cohort.

Being treated the shittiest, meant you got the shittiest workouts. Not as in ‘not effective,’ just more of ‘more war training’ because the fifth cohort was for the weak.

And of course, the centurion training them, wanted to have them lift up a barbell. A hundred and twenty pounds.

“You’re kidding me.” Blaise muttered, sighing. “I can barely lift the quad drums, let alone lift a damn hundred and twenty pounds.”

“You have more of an advantage with the straps when you’re with the drums.” Ezra said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not sure if this one has though.”

“Thanks to my dad for giving me weak nerd arms.” Blaise sighed, as he stepped up forward, trying to lift the barbell with no progress.

Soon, it was Lynn’s turn. So, she got into the position she was taught, and lifted it up with a bit of work, but lifted it up nonetheless.

The centurion looked at her, astonished. But called for the next person to suffer the weight of the barbell.

Lynn put it down, and Blaise pulled her aside to whisper to her.

“Dude, how did you do that?! I’m older and stronger and I couldn’t even lift that shit!” Blaise huffed, hugging her playfully.

“I’m an all-star cheerleader, tumbling and stunts got my muscles locked in like the cookie jar in Auntie Rey’s house!” Lynn said, smirking as she flexed her muscles.

Lynn laughed a bit when Blaise squeezed them in his palms, and pulled her into a hug when Ezra approached them with red, ruined hands.

“So, no progress. But I will get progress in a murder case if you don’t share our Lynn.” Ezra smirked, and Lynn got pulled to Ezra instead.

“Clingy bastard.” Lynn rolled her eyes.

“I’m your clingy bastard.” Ezra smirked.

Of course, training days might be her favorites.

— - ఌ - —

BLAISE

   SOON THEN CAME TO THE third training of the day.

Which, included dodgeball. Yes, dodgeball. Like the average sport a dumbass PE coach would put when they got the turn for the basketball court.

Except, it was with these metal balls that would bruise you easily. Some even had fire attached to them.

“What’s the purpose for this one?” Blaise yelled, narrowly dodging a fireball from burning his left leg off.

“To create tolerance! And also to dodge better!” Lynn yelled, wincing as a metal ball hit her right thigh, and Blaise could sense she got a horrible bruise.

“Well, that purpose is shitty!” Ezra huffed as he got a nearby shield and sent another metal ball over the net.

Blaise set a normal volleyball, accidentally setting it on fire. “Well, that works!” He joked, and Lynn looked at him like he said the most disappointing joke in her fourteen years.

“Dude, where’d you learn to set?” Ezra said, moving to the left of him.

“Thank band camp for teaching me volleyball. We did it before and after we did our practice. It was free time.” Blaise smirked.

“I thought I’d never hear band camp and volleyball together.” Lynn raised her eyebrows, spiking another normal volleyball and somehow turning it into a huge ruby. “That works too.”

“You’re lucky you guys have an advantage.” Ezra huffed. “I have water and wisdom. I only have half of that bundle though. Blaise’s got firebending, and you got to control gems like you’re in creative mode on Minecraft!”

“I’d like to thank Leonidas Valdez for giving me fire powers.” Blaise smirked, setting another ball on fire and throwing it over the net.

“I’d like to thank Hazel Levesque for giving me gemstone manipulation or whatever it’s called.” Lynn said, hitting a ball over to the other side and turning it into an emerald.

“I’d like to thank Annabeth Chase for contributing to absolutely nothing when I was in the Character Customization stage of my life.” Ezra said.

The three of them burst into laughter, Lynn wheezing, Blaise giggling, and Ezra doubled over on the floor.

He always heard that time went by faster when you’re having fun, and slower when you’re bored.

It felt like minutes were hours with these two.

Chapter Text

EZRA

   THE DAY STARTED OFF NORMAL. Y’know, the strict training, that was fine. The breakfasts were pretty good (Blaise liked it more than him, he devoured those bacon and eggs like nothing). 

After a drill on shelters for bad weather, however, the legion (including them probatios, for some reason) got called down to the senate. It was kinda shaped like the Pantheon to him, and when he pointed it out to some legionnaires, they gave him a scoff and said graceus like it was a degrading term. 

“Uh, those legionnaires just called me—“ Ezra started.

”Graceus?” Lynn asked, then laughed. “Don’t worry, they say that to every legacy with Greek in their blood. Well, except the ones who are also Roman demigods, like my pa.” 

“Is that why a legionnaire called me the G-word when I complained about the arm weights?” Blaise asked, his voice muffled since he was eating a chocolate Rice Krispie.

Lynn shrugged, looking at them both. “It’s not a bad term…I think. It’s just an outdated idea since Mr. Chase-Jackson got here to SPQR in ‘11.” She explained.

”Gee, thanks for letting us know, Little Miss Roman Encyclopedia.” Ezra said sarcastically, and winced playfully when she smacked him upside the head. 

“You’re lucky! If I weren’t here, you’d be lost puppies sacrificed to the bag with angry weasels!” Lynn huffed. 

“I BEG YOUR FINEST PARDON?” Blaise looked at her with the most shocked expression known to mankind. 

Lynn winced. “Right…I forgot to tell you the worst punishment is the sewn bag of angry weasels. Don’t worry though. Best thing you can do in there is be scratched alive. I think they also have a bit of Roman aspect in them as well.” 

Once they walked into the senate, they all sat down together, in their usual order. Ezra to the left, Lynn in the middle, Blaise to the right. It had been that way since baby times. It was a collective agreement in school, photo shoots, and practically everywhere. 

After some murmuring between their trio, rumours between other legionnaires, and a heated, hushed conversation between the senate representatives, ambassadors and praetors, Praetor Eliane tapped the microphone. 

“On behalf of our augur, Axel Roberts-Ortega, we have discovered a prophecy given by Apollo before his sudden disappearance on June 21st, 2016. As it has been concerned with the senate, the legion, and city of New Rome as a whole, we have come to the conclusion it comes to our government to select the three candidates been spoken in the Stolen Sun’s Prophecy. Augur, if you may.” Eliane stepped back to let Axel to the royal purple podium.

”Thank you, Praetor Del-Ventura. Now, as spoken, the following words have been recited—“ Axel took a big breath, before he spoke the words:

”— Heroes’ legacies shall travel all around,

 Three which a prophecy that since birth have been bound.

Find the sun god that has been locked away,

With vague clues leading the way.” 

As expected, murmurs scattered around the legion. Praetor Logan had to shush them. 

“According to the prophecy…” Axel froze, realization striking his features in a rather unsettling way. “The prophecy speaks of the following candidates…”

— - 🌜 - —

LYNN

    “…EZRA CHASE-JACKSON, LYNNETTE ZHANG, AND BLAISE VALDEZ.” 

When Lynn heard her, Ezra, and Blaise’s names be spoken, her heart ran cold. Okay, she should’ve expected this. Her parents were heroes, she knew THE Percy Jackson and his son…surely her name could’ve been spoken. 

But she still froze in surprise. 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN US?!” She snapped, standing up in a state of impulsivity and making the crowd around her look in shock and disgust. She wasn’t acting like a proper Roman, but she couldn’t care less. “Are you sure you interpreted it correctly?” 

Axel stared at her with a sickening smirk for a moment, but switched it to a firm augur expression. “Yes, Probatio, it was interpreted correctly. No sir as the council makes a decision.” 

Lynn flushed red in anger and embarrassment, but sat in silence with her arms crossed and an ugly look on her face. She couldn’t believe it. How can you not believe something you’re supposed to expect? Normally, that question rose upon her when good things happened, like making cheerleading when she was told a hundred times by peers ‘You’re going to make it’ or getting a perfect score when she’d been top of the class. 

But this time was a horrible swirl of confusion, surprise, anger, despair and also rage. 

She was just starting being a teenager last year, she couldn’t go on deadly quests now. Then, she remembered her mother. Her mother had went to the damn quest in Alaska when she was her age. And she didn’t whine. Why was Lynn? Heroes didn’t cry. Heroes didn’t cry, especially not Zhangs. It was a Zhang tradition to be mature and reliable. 

“Holy fucking Christ.” Blaise said, turning to Lynn and Ezra. “We’re going on a quest? As probatio? I thought only legionnaires and higher could go.” 

“That’s wrong. The probatio can go on a quest, but it’s very rare. You’d get bumped up to legionnaire sooner that way instead of the mandatory one-year loyalty to the camp and all that. Normally a centurion leads a quest, I think.” Lynn explained, uncertainty brewing like a sickening stew in her stomach. 

“…but we’re probatio, there’s a chance we can’t go!” Ezra said. “At least, until they bounce us up the ranks as centurion and legionnaires.” 

“Oh my gods, you too are hopeless with the Roman tradition.” Lynn murmured. Why did she feel ashamed? They were her best friends, and she loved them. They cheered the loudest for her in pep rallies, cheered every time she got promoted to the next grade in elementary, even cheered when she won junior valedictorian in eighth grade. In her stomach, although, she felt like just telling them to shut up. 

But her emotions got over, and she didn’t say that, since she loved them too much. 

After the council apparently came to a decision, Praetor Logan came up to the podium. “Thank you for your patience as the council spoke their decisions. May the following quest candidates step up, please, so we can promote one of you as centurion to lead the quest?” 

They all stood up, and she tried to ignore the murmurs of disgust and frustration. Once they all approached, Lynn shyly clung to Blaise. He squeezed her shoulder in a reassuring way. She felt weak, so she just smiled. 

This was it.

She’d be going on her first ever quest!

— - 🌜- —

BLAISE 

   IT WAS REALLY NO SURPRISE that Ezra got promoted as centurion to lead the quest. His parents were Annabeth and Percy, he was popped out, of course he gets chosen. Not that he was jealous, though. 

Once Ezra got branded (one line under the SPQR, with an owl holding a trident to signify his legacy of Poseidon/Athena) and placed with the centurion badge on his shirt, he mouthed to Blaise, ‘The branding hurts real bad!’ or something along those lines.

Blaise was gonna expect pain, got that. 

“As of the legion’s agreement,” Axel stated, “you are to depart sunrise of tomorrow. I suggest to get a good rest and prepare necessities for your journey.” 

After a speech about teamwork and all that mushy stuff, they all exited with the legion. 

Lynn led them down to a secluded path, one with lush trees and pretty royal purple flowers with a dash of bluebells and lilies. They walked in silence for a bit, Lynn doing the occasional acrobatics trick and Blaise and Ezra having to keep up with laughter. 

“Can you believe we've only been here for a week and now we’re getting sent off on a quest, PGA style?” Ezra asked, running and jumping to pass his hand on a branch, swinging off it and landing on his feet. 

“What is PGA standing for?” Blaise asked. 

“I assume it stands for Percy, Grover and Annabeth. I mean, they were the original, infamous questing trio.” Lynn said, doing a back handspring in the direction they were walking in, then doing a layout. 

“Huh.” Blaise muttered, catching up with Lynn and Ezra. 

These were gonna be his questing buddies. His best friends since Lynn was old enough to talk, the ones who worked with him on every project, the trio he had went with to their 8th grade prom and 5th grade grad dance. 

And he couldn’t be happier.

”I love you both, you know that?” Blaise said with a fond smile, and he saw their fond smiles as well. 

“We love you too, Breaking B.” Ezra said with genuine love. 

“Always and forever.” Lynn hugged him by the waist, and Ezra soon joined to hug him by his torso. 

He accepted their hugs, and nuzzled both their heads. 

So far, he had them. That was all he really needed for now. 

Chapter Text

EZRA

  HE PACKED HIS NECESSITIES for the trip up ahead. His favorite clothes, his snacks he stole from Blaise, the sword he inherited from his dad that also worked as a normal pen (just don’t take it out in the legion unless you wanna get punishment for threat), and of course the Polaroid camera his mother gave him as a ‘testament to your dear memories’.

Blaise found out a way to contact their parents during the trip, by making a monster-proof connection device shaped like a compact mirror. It has been rare when he and Lynn had first seen it, but it worked when they could call Auntie Piper while she was at her nail salon shift. 

So now, Ezra was hitching his ragged backpack over his shoulder, the one with his favorite bands pinned on it and random doodles and signings from people back at their high school. He waited for Lynn and Blaise, who seemed to be arguing over something really dumb. 

“Blaise, I swear on every god above you can’t bring your horrible poster that says…” She looked at the low-effort poster with that frown, with her cute little chin dimple that had Ezra flushed red. “I can’t read your shit.” 

“Erm, it says, ‘help us we are poor and need money’. It’ll help us score some bucks.” Blaise smirked with that elfish face of his. 

“…you do realize I’m rich, right?” Lynn said with furrowed brows. 

Right. Him and Blaise had completely forgotten Lynn was loaded because she didn’t flaunt her riches. Hell, her piggy bank allowance was ten times theirs combined. 

“I can just grab us…” Lynn went deep into thought, biting her lower lip. “I’ll get a couple 20s. That’ll work.” 

While Lynn scrambled through her purple piggy bank for money, Ezra heard Blaise on call with Leo. Although it shouldn’t have been possible, they got demigod-friendly cellphones when they were twelve. And right now, Blaise was muttering about the quest and the routes they would go about. 

A few moments before they went to pack, they got a scroll with the minor prophecy written down: ’You shall travel to find the sun’s possession, you shall face the traveler to head towards succession. An oath to keep until the final breath, to the betrayer whom acts such a friend.’ Ezra swore it could’ve been something else if it weren’t for the explanation that it was their very tiny quest prophecy. 

Lynn returned, with about sixty dollars and twenty-seven cents in hand, clutching the money and placing it in her plastic phone case with sparkly blue glitter. “This’ll hold us for the next few days, I think. We just got to be smart with it.” 

Blaise nodded. “Okay, so Captain Seawater will bring us down to the Caldecott Tunnel for our journey?” He asked, placing a hand on Ezra’s shoulder.

”Okay, no Seawater, but yeah, that’s where we gotta head anyways.” Ezra muttered. “To the Caldecott Tunnel we go!” 

— - 💫 - —

LYNN 

   THEY WERE WALKING DOWN WHEN THEY HEARD a familiar voice call out, “Hey you three! My favorite legacies!” 

Lynn turned her head to see her godmother, Reyna approaching them, with her hair flowing down her back and tattoos littering her arms and back. Lynn’s favorite was the intimidating eagle one on Reyna’s left bicep, above her SPQR tattoo. Reyna wore a black camisole with cargo pants and the standard Roman boots, her piercing dark eyes glinting when she saw them. 

“Rey!” Lynn hugged her tight, nuzzling her shoulder. “Why are you here?” 

“Axel”—she said the name with disdain—“said you guys were going on a quest. So I came to visit before you three set off down to New York.” 

Ezra’s eyes widened. “How did you—“ 

“Know?” Reyna raised an eyebrow. “I overheard the conversation you were having with your mother. Next time try not to interrupt our daily gossip session.” 

“Gossip?” Blaise raised an eyebrow. “Because I heard that two Fourth Cohort legionnaires were making out in the Neptune shed—“ 

“And the praetors didn’t catch them?” Reyna gasped. 

“No, Eliane did. And she was pissed, telling them off in rapid Cuban Spanish about how they were disrespecting Neptune and to learn how to keep it in their pants—“

”We’re getting off track!” Lynn said sharply. “So…no assistance in the quest, just a visit?” 

“I can lend you my ol’ Praetoria.” Reyna nodded down to her truck, rusty and holding on my at least one needle. “She’s a bit rusty, but she’ll hold off.”

”We’ll take it.” Ezra said proudly. 

“Ezra, none of us have our learner’s permit, much less a driver’s license.” Lynn pointed out. 

“So? We can learn how to drive on the way.” Blaise smirked. 

Lynn prayed to every god above, especially Mercury, that they would have safe travels. 

— - 💫 - —

BLAISE 

  THEY INFACT WERE HORRIBLE. Blaise definitely made a mental note not to let Ezra drive whatsoever. 

They all screamed as they lurched back, Blaise hitting the roof as Lynn gripped onto the sole armrest. 

“ARE YOU SURE WE’RE SAFE?” Blaise screeched as he hit the side window, praying their borrowed car didn’t lurch sideways. “BECAUSE IT SEEMS WE’RE ANYTHING BUT!” 

“We’re fine!” Ezra said as he was attempting to hit the brakes, but ended up lurching forwards instead. “Maybe not!” 

After a few good minutes of screaming, praying and shouting directions, they somehow were managing to drive smoothly. Lynn pulled up the map from her spot in the passenger seat (favoritism, ew), squinting at the routes. “Okay, so we have to take this road, and then this one so we head down into Nevada—“ 

“Hold up, is that where Los Angeles is?” Ezra asked, and Blaise could see the irritation in Lynn’s eyes. 

“No dumbass, that’s Las Vegas, Los Angeles is in California.” Lynn answered. “Though I really would like something to blow off my mind.” 

“Doesn’t Las Vegas have that Lotus Casino thing?” Blaise muttered from the backseat, lying down with a dragon stuffed animal in hand, the one he named Fireball when he was seven. “The one where a day can last a hundred years…?” 

“Oh yeah…” Lynn muttered. “Uncle Nico said he got stuck in there for seventy years with his older sister.” 

“Huh.” Blaise muttered. “That must’ve been terrifying. One day you’re an English schoolboy in the forties and next thing you know there’s sagging pants and weird pop music.” 

“Victorian children would hate that era.” Ezra added, making all three of them giggle. 

Jokes helped ease their mood from their stressful quest in hand. Occasionally something would just pop up and they’d laugh for four minutes. 

Maybe quests weren’t so bad after all.

Chapter Text

EZRA

  IT WAS A NORMAL THING IN NEW YORK for tourists to be present. Ezra took that into consideration, considering he saw a bunch of people in tourist shirts, people with obviously different accents that weren’t from New York, and it was packed. Always was in June. 

Lynn turned to them both. “Alright…B, can you score us some food at that McDonald’s? Take some of my money.” Lynn took out one of her twenty bill, giving it to Blaise. The guy ran off across the street, entering. 

Once he was out of sight, Lynn looked up at him. She was cute like that, with her curly hair in a messy braid, her dark eyes shining with persistence and determination. “Look at the Empire State Building, Ezra!” She pointed to where it was, smiling. “I’d love to go up there someday!” She seemed to realize what she said, and winced. “Y’know, not for getting confronted by the gods.”

”Me too, Nettie.” Ezra smiled right at her, tangling her hair by ruffling it in his palm. “Maybe you and I can go up there together…alone…” Ezra realized what he said, and quickly pulled his arm away. Shit, was his blush evident? Real smooth, Ezra, real smooth.

Lynn laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “Like…a date?” 

He looked down, shaking his head ‘no’ so fast he felt like he got whiplash once he stopped. “No, no! Y’know, as best friends.” 

Her smile softened, and he felt her hand lay right on his forearm. “I’ll take it.” 

“Hey! Don’t get all married in front of me!” Blaise yelled as the guy neared them, holding two bags of McDonalds. “Here. I got the cookie, ten-piece nuggets, and medium fries for Ezra, the Big Mac and large fries for me, and the small fries and apple pie for Lynn.”

Ezra looked away from Lynn at the same time she did, and he swore his heart was pacing even faster than before.

To distract himself from the prior embarrassment, Ezra snatched his nuggets, fries and cookie, sitting down and leaning on the store behind him, Lynn sitting to his right and Blaise sitting on Lynn’s right.

Ezra moaned once he ate his hot nuggets. “Oh fuck I missed these.”

”Same!” Lynn ate half of her apple pie in one bite. “I remember when Leo used to take us out to Chick-Fil-A or McDonalds after a game, whether we lost or not.”

”Yeah, still in our game uniforms.” Blaise smirked. “Remember Nettie, when you accidentally spilled your water on me and wouldn’t stop apologizing?”

Ezra barked a laugh. “Oh shut up Blaise! Don’t embarrass her more!”

Lynn rolled her eyes. “I’m not embarrassed, Ezzy.”

As they talked more, sharing jokes and laughing their asses out while eating, he was sure they were all sharing the same thought:

They never wanted this to end.

— - ✾ - —

LYNN

  AFTER THEIR MEAL, THEY TOOK WALKS AROUND THE STREETS to look for something supernatural. Normally. On a quest there was always something weird going on. So why wasn’t there any now?

She looked ahead, trying to convince her mind it was crowded, and therefore they couldn’t see anything. Plus, she was also short, maybe she couldn’t see it.

”Guys!” Ezra yelled, grabbing her hand. “I think I see something!” 

“Where?!” Lynn asked, jumping up to see what he was looking at. 

“In that theater!” Ezra pointed to the glass doors of a window, where sure enough, a golden shine was coming right from the edge of a theater room. 

“C’mon, let’s go!” Blaise said, grabbing both their arms and running inside.

The movie theater was well…like any other average movie theater. Ezra ran up to a cashier, looking straight into his eyes. The cashier looked any any other bored teen, maybe seventeen years of age.

”Listen man…” Ezra looked at the golden shine, then the sign above it. “What movie is room seven?”

”Uhh…” The cashier muttered something incoherent. “Why?”

”We need tickets!” Blaise added in. “Can you spare us three?” 

“Sorry dude, can’t happen. The movie already started.” The cashier muttered. Lynn was really starting to get annoyed at his quiet tone. “Is room four or ten good…?”

”No, it needs to be number seven!” Lynn pleaded, gripping the edge of the counter. “Can’t you do one exception?” 

“No can do.” The cashier grumbled.

Lynn clenched her fists, thinking and thinking. She could run in, but then she’d be an interruption. Or disguise herself as a cat lady and walk in then!

Lynn yelped as Ezra dragged her and Blaise by the upper arm, running into that theater. Guess Ezra had an idea right before her, great.

”C’mon, c’mon…” Blaise muttered, biting his lip. 

Lynn looked around, willing herself to sharpen her eyesight into a hawk’s. She couldn’t shift like her father could, but she could will herself to have animalistic features, physical or mental. She saw the shine right near the highest row, in an edge seat. 

She willed her eyesight back to normal, and ran right up to the edge seat she had seen before, turning to Ezra and Blaise just for a moment, mouthing ‘C’mon!’

They followed her up, and Lynn made small steps, considering there was an audience in the row, muttering quick apologies as she neared her final destination. 

This was it! She was gonna get it, exit out nonchalantly with Blaise and Ezra without seeming like thieves, and then run out! No biggie.

She looked towards Ezra and Blaise, and all three of them had a collective nod: plan on.

She grabbed the shining thing from the edge seat, and took off with her best friends by her sides. 

They all ran down the stairs, Lynn clutching the shiny gold thing with the tightest grip she could muster. Her knuckles were white from the grip itself, and she was sure Ezra and Blaise’s grips were even tighter on her wrists. Hey, legacies stick together. 

Right once they exited, they saw a giant ass ant. 

Another way to end it, that was for sure.

— - ✾ - —

BLAISE

  HOLY SHIT. That was Blaise’s initial thought, as the giant ant stood in front of them, ready to attack. Blaise was planning on curling in fetal position and praying to the gods, because this buddy was not doing any friendly manners. 

Lynn took out her scythe, wielding it in front of the giant ant, though the fear in her face said it all. She was a scared as them, despite being more prepared in fighting than they were.

Ezra opened his pen, and out came his cool sword. 

Blaise had to remind himself he didn’t have a weapon with him. So, he just summoned his fire, praying that worked. 

The giant ant charged, spitting poison an inch right between him and Lynn. Blaise slammed himself against the wall, making a portrait fall in the process. Lynn did a back roll, landing in an awkward position that Spiderman would’ve cringed at. 

Ezra slashed at the thing, and it tried to stab (?) with its mandibles. He dodged, but the idea of almost getting killed must’ve shook him a little. 

Lynn had a bit more success, sliding down and poking at the cracks in between the armor, although it was stopped when the giant ant thing spit position just enough to reach the ends of her hair. 

After Lynn had rolled out of there, Blaise aimed with his fire, and it made a small effect. The ant thing made a sound that was an displeasuring mix of a screech and groan. Blaise was a bit surprised himself, so he continued for a small bit, while Ezra and Lynn aimed for the thing’s sides and back.

”You guys get anything?” Blaise yelled over all the commotion, swinging his fire side to side, because he didn’t know what else to do with the said fire.

”Nothing yet!” Lynn yelled, stabbing the scythe in the armor with about a hundred percent rate of failure. She looked to Ezra, as if waiting for his response.

”Me neither!” Ezra yelled, and Blaise could see he was grumbling about something as he slashed with his sword. 

Blaise used all his might, and burned the ant’s face with his fire. 

Imagine his surprise when it somehow actually worked. The ant fell to its demise, crumbling into golden dust, the same color as the golden shiny thing Lynn had shoved into her bag at some point.

So they did what was usual at a crime scene: run out of sight.