eachdraidh | video / open to both courts

[the image on the lockets is clearly from inside the cave system that whole moon hunt is taking place in. jason seems to be taking a break, and while he's pretty dirty and scuffed up (and definitely not enjoying being underground), he attempts a smile anyway.]

I know Nico and Rachel were talking about us doing the whole Greco-Roman myth storytime thing regularly, when he shared the whole "Hades and Persephone" story the other month, and switching off between Greek and Roman stories, and I guess since I'm still our token Roman, I might as well do a Roman myth.

[he's babbling a little. sorry.]

To be honest, most of the Roman myths are just Greek ones with the names changed, but the story of Romulus and Remus is all Roman. Mostly because it was their way of explaining why Rome was the most powerful city in the world.

[which is...honestly a pretty roman kind a thing to do. at the very least, none of the other demigods plus rachel should be surprised.]

So there was a princess named Rhea Silvia. Her uncle, this guy named Amulius, seized power and had all the legitimate male heirs killed so no one can challenge him. Rhea Silvia was dating the god of war, Mars, and she ended up giving birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus.

Amulius was scared that Romulus and Remus would grow up and overthrow him, so he had them put in a basket and abandoned to die in the Tiber River. Y'know because that worked out great in the hundred other stories where they just abandon the baby out in the wilderness somewhere and hope it'll die.

[seriously. atalanta? oedipus? ion? that shit never works and no one ever learns.]

So anyway, the river just carries them to safety, and they're found by a female wolf called Lupa who raises them for a while. She's, uh, actually still around, and still trains new Roman demigods. They're just not usually babies these days. I spent a while with her when I was little, but I think most people go to her when they're a bit older, and just for a few months before they're sent to the Roman camp.

[he's getting off track. jason's mouth twists, stretching the little scar at the corner of his lips, and his shakes his head and continues.]

Anyway, so eventually Lupa left Romulus and Remus for a shepard to find, and they were raised by him and and wife until they grew up. They eventually find out the truth about everything and go kill Amulius, but instead of taking over a co-kings, they decided to make their own city instead.

So they found a place they liked for their city, but they couldn't agree which hill to put it on. They argued about it a lot and looked for signs from the gods to decide who was right, but they even disagreed about the results of that and eventually Romulus just started building the wall of his new city.

Remus was annoyed and started making fun of his brother's wall and jumped over the wall to point out how easy it was to get over, and Romulus was so angry he killed Remus. Romulus went on to finish his city and named it "Rome" after himself.

[jason looks more than a little embarrassed at his own roman-ness, now that he's actually going through the details of this dumb story. this was clearly a mistake.]

So...yeah. I guess it's supposed to mean that Rome is the best city ever because it was founded by a demigod, but in hindsight I'm not sure why everyone's so proud of a founded who killed his own brother because they had a really stupid argument. But Rome did go on to become the most powerful city in the world for over a thousand years, so...whatever.

[jason frowns, glancing away. okay, so maybe storytime was kind of a stupid idea. he'd just wanted a distraction from the whole "hanging out in uncle hades' domain for an extended period of time" thing, alright?]

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[She raises an eyebrow slightly when he says Rome. He certainly doesn't look Roman, no more than Hiccup looks like a viking she supposes. Then again, she's never seen either and is just recounting the tales that she's heard from the Lords and her father - her mother's never had any political liaisons with Romans that she would've had to learn to deal with eventually. So that's what she goes with.]

My father an' th' other lords battled Romans, but I never knew their history was so complicated.

[It sounds like a legend at the very best.]

[he probably doesn't look roman because he's an american teenager from california.]

I think a lot of people kind of forget that their enemies are people too, with their own culture and history and myths and all that. It's easier not to think about it, when you're fighting against them.

[but he doesn't want to sound accusatory or anything, so he goes for a smile.]

Where are you from? You sound kinda Scottish.

[She's gathered that from a few people.]

I think th' same can be said for some of th' people here. Some of them seem to be way too devoted to just...goin' at it.

[Not that she can claim to be any different, but she actually tried to do something about the moon without attacking the other party. The question makes her incline her head, returning the smile.]

Aye, I am. [She'd curtsy, but he probably wouldn't see most of it, so she just grins from ear to ear.] Merida, first born of Clan DunBroch an' daughter of Queen Elinor an' Fergus th' Bear King at your service.

I haven't ever heard of a Bear King, but that might just be a time thing, or a "different worlds" thing...

[since cassie is also from earth but clearly not the same earth he knows, so there are probably a few different versions.]

And I'm not really from Rome, if that makes any difference.

It's possible. I figure that with most people I meet.

[If the way she relaxes a little is any indication, it does make a difference, though she was the same way with Hiccup when they first met. She smiles and laughs a little sheepishly.]

Sorry, I'm rather used to hearin' of Romans bein' referenced as big brutes.

Hey, I'm big. [probably the biggest of their whole group, save for maybe frank. but that guy can turn into an elephant so that's not really a surprise.] Just, maybe not the "brute" part?

Ah, well, I wouldn't call ye a wee thing either.

[The lad they mistook for Wee Dingwall was bigger after all, and many of Merida's clansmen fit the bill better. There's a beat before she comments;]

Th' Rachel you mentioned...wouldn't happen to be Rachel Dare by chance?

Yeah. You guys met?

[y'all certainly have the hair in common. maybe he shouldn't be surprised.]

Aye. She explained a few things to me an' I promised her archery lessons at some point.

[Redhaired ladies have to stick together.]

I suppose if you're one of her friends, you cannae be that bad.

I'm surprised she hadn't gotten any before now, to be honest.

[what, apollo never felt like giving his precious oracle some private lessons?]

I think we're all pretty alright, though. Those of us here from our world, at least.

Who knows? Maybe she was waitin' for th' best archer in th' land to show up.

[She's definitely not stroking her own ego shush.]

Ye mentioned Greeks before you started your tale. There's more of you?

[How lucky.]

[there is a story involving a golden apple that explains pretty well why just asking for "the best archer" wouldn't be a good idea.]

Yeah, there's a whole bunch of us here. Like...ten or eleven now, I think?

[hold on, he's literally counting on his fingers.]

[Someone should tell her that story one time, because the Celtic gods weren't nearly so petty :V She waits for him to count on his fingers, fighting back her envy.]

That's amazin'. I've heard tales of Greeks too but I'm bettin' like you they're not really Greek, huh?

[yeah, "petty" could describe at least half of the greco-roman myths tbh.]

Yup. I mean, we're all at least half Greek or Roman or whatever? Except Rachel, anyway. But most of us were born in America, and we all live there, so...yeah. It's complicated.

It sounds like it.

[America sounds like it might be something like a 'this world, that world' thing, so she leaves it alone.]

An' here I thought our history was complicated. Though it could possibly be mother's lessons...

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sorry for the late! plot things happened and jay's tags fell by the wayside ; ;

it's np! I get distracted by psl tags the same way sometimes it happens :3

thanks :'> i'm terrible at juggling multiple characters

ahaha so am I. I think it's a universal thing c:

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