| “ | And I came to the conclusion that, no one trusts me because I do things they see as criminal, and no one likes me because that is the only way to get things done. And that's when I decided, if I can't win their trust, I don't need it. | ” |
—Souta to Haruna in The Sword of Storms | ||
Souta Nezumiya is a fifteen-year-old Japanese-born Roman demigod, the son of Mercury and Kaya Nezumiya. He is also a Greek legacy of Thetis through his maternal ancestor Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. Souta was formerly a recurring character in both The Heroes of Olympus and The Trials of Apollo, later becoming the deuteragonist of the Hearth in the Stars trilogy. Following the Battle of San Francisco Bay, Souta was promoted to Centurion of the Fifth Cohort alongside Lavinia Asimov. He is currently the boyfriend of Haruna Ryuuzaki.
History[]
Early Life[]
Souta Nezumiya was born on September 13th, 1996, to Mercury, the Roman god of travel, commerce, merchants, and thieves, and Kaya Nezumiya, who was married to the head of a Yakuza Family, Kenji Nezumiya. Like with most other demigods, Mercury left when Souta was merely an infant. As Kaya was married and had spawned an illegitimate child through unfaithfulness, Souta was raised to believe he was the child of his stepfather.
As a child, Souta lived both in danger and well protected at the same time, as his stepfather's business often included crime in order to get more money, and while Souta often attracted monsters, any demigod that happened to stumble upon Nezumiya Holding's would immediately become more informed of Souta's heritage than Souta himself, and would be paid both to protect him and keep his mother's infidelity from his stepfather.
Growing up, Souta was quite influenced by organized crime, and found it quite easy due to his father. As such, he spent most of his childhood getting expelled for pick pocketing and other mayhem, and apparently once stole his principal's car (without the keys) and drove it a few miles away into a nearby ditch after pulling the fire alarm and stealing the wallets of all his teachers during the evacuation. According to Souta, after that incident, his stepfather liked him more, and all the good schools stopped admitting him.
Moving to America[]
When Souta was seven, he apparently started a gas fire that almost killed an entire hospital, and afterwards was labeled a menace to society and sentenced to nine years in juvenile detention, though Souta would go on to say this wasn't his fault. As his parents didn't want to deal with the fine, the judge mysteriously went missing soon after, and Souta's stepfather mysteriously decided America was a better place to live. Afterwards, Souta learned that to get what he wanted, he had to do whatever it took, though at the time he didn't exactly have a moral compass he could use to instead work for the greater good.
In America, Souta was able to get away with a lot more than in Japan, and also became quite rich for a child from selling contraband at school. Unlike Haruna, his English improved greatly after living in America for years
Joining the Titan Army[]
When Souta was eleven, he accidentally brought multiple empousa to school, and his middle school was set on fire. Due to his history, Souta was blamed for this incident and expelled, and afterwards CPS was sent to his home. At home, Souta found his stepfather insulting his mother, which he would later learn was because his stepfather found out the truth about Kaya's infidelity, something he never forgave his mother for. Afterwards, Souta was placed in foster care, and his stepfather moved back to Japan, but told Souta that as they somewhat had a father-son bond, he could use Nezumiya Holdings resources when in Sapporo, and his parents wouldn't get divorced as it was too much work and they didn't have a prenup.
Souta ended up completely hating foster car, and ended up running away from Hartford, making his way to Westport, Connecticut, where he was found by Luke Castellan when he was looking for his mother's blessing. At first, Souta tried to pickpocket Luke for money to get food, but was caught by his half-brother because he accidentally attracted a hellhound, which Luke dismissed. Deciding he was obviously a Roman demigod, Luke told Souta about the gods, but told him that his father had left him alone, eventually convincing him to join the Titans. Afterwards, Souta didn't see Luke again, but it was decided he was a child of Mercury soon after, and he learned to fight as a soldier.
Joining Camp Jupiter[]
During the Battle of Mount Othrys, Souta was one of the few demigods left on the mountain due to his age and lack of experience. When confronted by Jason Grace, Jason seemed to know that Souta had been manipulated and tricked into joining the wrong side, and convinced him to stop supporting the Titans, later convincing Reyna to let him join the legion since he was just a kid. Afterwards, Souta was extremely distrusted by Camp Jupiter. At first, he didn't steal much from them in an attempt to gain their trust, but after realizing it was futile, he decided that if they wanted him to be bad, he'd just do whatever he wanted.
The Heroes of Olympus[]
The Son of Neptune[]
During The Son of Neptune, Souta was one of the demigods of the Fifth Cohort, who talked to Percy once, telling him about Jason and how Jason was the reason he was there. He later fought in the Battle of New Rome, and apparently somewhat scared Percy by how violent he was fighting. Later on, he watched the Argo II arrive in New Rome.
The Mark of Athena[]
While the Greeks were in New Rome, Souta apparently played nice enough. Apparently, while Reyna was with Annabeth and Leo was with Octavian, Souta and Haruna got in an argument and started screaming at each other in Japanese, which was broken up by Percy, though apparently this argument was minor enough that both forgot quite easily. After Leo fired on New Rome, and the Argo II left, Souta went back to either his legion duties, or whatever he did instead of his legion duties.
The House of Hades[]
According to Octavian, after The Eight were labeled as fugitives by Rome, Souta decided to trust Jason and Percy and started sabotaging everything the Legion did to find them.
The Blood of Olympus[]
Later on, Souta came to Camp Half-Blood with the rest of New Rome, apparently annoying Octavian heavily as he couldn't prove anything that Souta had done. After the Giant War ended, Souta hung out with the Hermes Cabin until the Romans returned to California.
Between the Series[]
At some point, Souta dated Catalina Aguilera for a month after she asked him out, but later broke up with her after noticing her strange behavior.
The Trials of Apollo[]
The Tyrant's Tomb[]
Souta first appeared with Lavinia, Don, and a few dryads, to take Apollo, Meg, and Haruna to camp, revealing that Souta had snuck them out of Camp. After seeing the coffin, Souta asked who was in it, and was angered to hear it was Jason. The six of them brought the coffin to a secret and closer entrance near Lake Temescal, but it was too small, so Lavinia went on ahead. As they were attacked, Hazel suddenly appeared and helped them, and they returned to Camp. Apparently after, Hazel told Souta to leave and cool off, as he was still distraught over Jason. He later fought in the Battle of San Francisco Bay, and watched Haruna kill Caligula. Afterwards, Reyna resigned as praetor to join the Hunt, and Hazel was promoted to Praetor, leaving the Fifth Cohort without both of its centurions after Hazel was promoted and Dakota died. However, Hazel had Lavinia replace her, and then asks Souta to replace Dakota, to his surprise, but he accepted, becoming Centurion of the Fifth Cohort.
Hearth in the Stars[]
The Sword of Storms[]
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The Son of Stone[]
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When Stars Fall[]
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Appearance[]
| “ | Haruna didn't seem to know how to feel about the fact that he was over a foot taller than her, and taller than both Percy and Jason. | ” |
—Apollo about Souta in The Tyrant's Tomb | ||
Souta is a teenager of Japanese descendant with disheveled jet black hair, warm beige skin, and the elfish features most children of Hermes/Mercury possess. His eyes are dark brown, and according to Connor, have a glint in them that gives off "I'm going to steal a live landmine and put it under your feet before you notice" vibes, but also a judgemental look as if he's judging every move everyone makes. He stands at 6'2", being a few inches taller than Connor and towering over Haruna, and is often described as attractive, but brooding.
As someone who's played hockey for years, Souta is incredibly athletic, but remains lean due to his father's genes. He often has a judgemental look on his face, and looks as if he's always thinking, or scheming. He also has a tattoo of a Caduceus and SPQR with two lines on the underside of his left forearm to signify that he is a full member of the Roman Twelfth Legion Fulminata. He also grew tanner while with Haruna and Connor.
Souta often wears baggy jeans and combat boots, and is almost always wearing an SPQR shirt. He never wears heavily warm clothing, as he is accustomed to snow and doesn't find California cold during the winter. During formal events, Souta still only wears dark colors, wearing entirely black while dressed up with Haruna. According to Percy and Haruna, Souta's happy smile is lopsided.
Personality[]
Souta is an incredibly complex and often misunderstood person. Extremely perceptive, curious, intelligent, and imaginative, he is the kind of person who thinks outside the box and does not conform to societal expectations. He tends to question everything he is told, and is extremely unpredictable and moody. Though he has good intentions, he does not care how others see him, and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, causing him to be a loner without friends at Camp Jupiter. Souta is characterized by his sarcasm, unpredictability, and unusual morals. However, he is also protective to the point where he becomes a lethal weapon when his friends are harmed.
Short-tempered and pessimistic, Souta is a "realistic" person who sees the world for what it really is. He believes that trust is a thing that he doesn't need, as no one would trust him anyways. After being blamed for various events all his life, Souta understands that he will never be trusted by the majority, but is fine with it as he often proves others wrong when his methods end up being the only way to get things done. Unlike many heroes, Souta is not very reckless, and almost always considers his actions before acting, except for when he is enraged. However, he does not seem to take rules seriously, as he knows that he's already known as a rule breaker anyways.
In The Heroes of Olympus, Percy describes Souta as a complicated person who is downright scary at times, but later agrees with Jason that he's incredibly loyal to those he doesn't hate. Souta shows to be trusting of the two of them, sabotaging the legion in an attempt to stop them from finding The Eight. He also seemed to get along with his siblings in Hermes Cabin, and Percy saw him smile for the first time. In The Tyrant's Tomb, Souta is distraught by Jason's death, showing that he did consider Jason a friend, maybe his first friend.
In The Sword of Storms, Souta shows a more emotional side after watching another son of Hermes be murdered, and shows that he can be extremely vengeful when accepting the quest to find the Sword of Storms. On the quest, he shows a softer side to his personality to Haruna, and proves to actually be very understanding, translating for her and Connor when needed and being the first to speak Japanese fluently to her in years. He proves that he is capable of compassion, loyalty, selflessness, and even nobility, following Haruna instead of taking the illegal way out as he would've prior. He expresses how he actually does care for Camp Jupiter, something that his cohort had just begun to pick up on, and develops a close relationship with Connor and Haruna, giving the latter his bracelet, his only possession from his biological father.
In The Son of Stone, Souta reveals more of his childhood to his friends, revealing his resentment towards his mother, but decides to try to make amends with her on Haruna's wishes, her being one of the few people he will listen to. In the process, it is revealed how much he had gotten blamed for fires in his past, and why he doesn't look for the trust of others. However, he falls into depression after reuniting with his mother and step-father, once again becoming distant and rebuffing his new friends. Later on, he is forced to change and accept trust as a necessity, beginning to lose his overly cautious nature and act on instinct, and finally forgave himself for the hospital fire he started when he was a child.
In When Stars Fall, Souta was making more friends at Camp Jupiter and finally earning the trust of the legion, and seemed to be happier with himself and his life. On the final quest, he was much nicer to Connor while in Japan than the first time, and understanding how tired they all were, showed his smart sense of human and made more sarcastic remarks. He defended his trio from the threats they were facing, including the Gods, dropping his former caution when talking back to them. He confidently led the fifth cohort and most of Camp Jupiter during the Battle of The Final Prophecy, and when it was over, he was finally able to live his life without threats of monsters or persecution.
Fatal Flaw[]
| “ | Everyone thinks I like to fight, but it's not true. Maybe sometimes I lose my temper, but it's not like I enjoy it. I'm not... a violent person. I don't want to be like this. | ” |
—Souta to Haruna in The Sword of Storms | ||
Souta's fatal flaw is wrath. Vengeful and unforgiving, his anger issues cause him to lose control of his actions and act without thinking. Naturally violent and unforgiving, his inability to forgive and forget can cause problems and lead to others getting hurt.
Fears[]
Souta is seemingly fearful of few things, but after making friends, he has a fear of losing them. After being blamed for multiple incidents, he is afraid of being persecuted once again for something that wasn't his fault, and is even more afraid of his own friends being the accusers.
Abilities and Tools[]
- ADHD: Like most demigods, Souta was born with supernatural alertness and keen senses that keep him ready for, and alive, in battle. It also lets him analyze his opponents fighting style as well as pick up minor details about an opponent, such as where their muscles tense so he can tell which direction they will attack from.
- Dyslexia: Souta's brain is "hardwired" for ancient languages, in his case both Latin and Ancient Greek, rather than modern languages. However, he is much better with Latin due to being half Roman while only a small part Greek.
- Multilingualism: Being born and raised in Japan, Souta is completely fluent in speaking, reading, and writing Japanese, as it is his native language. As such, he is able to read some Chinese characters, though not as well as Frank. After living in America for years, he is able to communicate in English, but sometimes mispronounces, says with an accent, or forgets words, and sometimes struggles to read it due to his Dyslexia. Due to being a son of Mercury, Souta is also able to understand most modern languages. He is able to speak Spanish, Arabic, and most Balkan languages such as as Bulgarian, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Macedonian, and seems to somewhat know the Cyrillic Alphabet. He also seems to be able to speak Greek, more so than Ancient Greek, though he picked on a little bit of it from Haruna and Connor.
- Metric System: Being Japanese by birth and European by ancestry, Souta knows and prefers the Metric System, though unlike Haruna, he did actually take the time to learn the American Standard System.
- Basic Survival Skills: Taught by his step-father, Souta knows many basic survival skills such as starting fires without matches or lighters, tying knots, navigation, intermediate mortal first aid, and how to tell what wild foods are edible.
- "Ramen Sense": Like Haruna, Souta has shown to be able to find any Ramen within a ten mile radius.
- Skating: As a hockey player, Souta is an extremely fast and agile skater, on and off ice, though not as good at tricks as Haruna. Due to his Roman side, he is also able to maintain and control a much greater speed than most mortals.
- Dreams: Like most demigods, Souta has dreams that show him events occurring in the past, present, and future. Due to the power of his bloodline as a whole, Souta's dreams are a lot more potent than those of other demigods. He has also shown to be able to jump into the dreams of others, and is able to defend his dreams from weaker hoppers.
- Fighting Skills: Taught by his step-father, Souta is a violent and dirty fighter, especially with smaller blades. As a Roman, he is incredibly disciplined with his training, and is arguably the strongest soldier in his quest trio.
- Unpredictability: Due to his supernatural speed and agility, and his violent fighting style, Souta is an extremely unpredictable person, especially in battle.
- Superhuman Durability: As a demigod, Souta is considerably much more durable than ordinary mortals and legacies. He is mostly immune to mortal disease, and can withstand much more blood loss and blunt trauma than an average human.
- Superhuman Strength: As a demigod, Souta is considerably stronger than most mortals.
- Superhuman Reflexes: As a demigod, Souta's reflexes are significantly better than most mortals, even more so as he is a son of Mercury.
- Intelligence: Souta is an extremely intelligent person who is able to decipher riddles in seconds, formulate plans in seconds, and make decisions easily under pressure. He is also able to exploit his step-father's business to get what he needs, something Haruna doesn't do very often despite the same ability.
| “ | Even before I knew what she did, I knew your mother had a heart of stone. I had a feeling, since I heard her name, dear Kaya. You may not be my child, but you are my son. You take after your parents, Souta. All... three of us. You are strong. | ” |
—Kenji to Souta in The Son of Stone | ||
Though not as powerful as Big Three demigods or Ema in terms of raw power, Souta is a decently powerful individual as a son of Mercury.
- Enhanced Theft Abilities: Souta is able to supernaturally steal things without people noticing, even other demigods.
- Persuasion: Much like his father, Souta possesses strong persuasive talents.
- Clauditiskinesis: Souta can magically sense the internal structure and mechanisms of any lock he touches, and is able to make it unlock, even telekinetically. This does not work on cursed locks, though.
- Lock Intuition: Souta can also identify curses and traps placed on locks. If he concentrates hard enough, he can deactivate them.
- Chrimatakinesis: As Mercury is the God of merchants, Souta is good with money, and is seemingly able to make money appear out of thin air.
- Enhanced Speed: As the son of the God of Speed, Souta can maintain and control running speeds up to 45 km/h (at full sprint), or about 27 mph. He also has increased stamina, but has stated that when he doesn't use his speed often enough, it grows weaker. When blessed by his father, he also able to run at a speed where he is a mere blur to the naked eye, though this tires him greatly afterwards and cannot be done often.
- Teleportation: Souta is able to teleport anywhere he can see in his mind, though the farther he goes, the longer he passes out.
- Multilingualism: Souta is much better at learning other languages than most demigods.
- Lie Detection: Souta is able to detect when he is being lied to much easier than other demigods, though he can still be fooled if the person he is talking to is a good enough liar.
- Lying: Souta is an extremely skilled liar to the point where his own siblings cannot tell when he is telling the truth.
- Boundary Creation: Souta is able to create a magical boundary anywhere that no one can cross without permission, except for his stronger siblings.
- Enhanced Hearing: Souta's hearing is much better than an ordinary demigod or mortal, though not enough that it can be used as a weakness.
- Clear Memory: Souta has a supernatural memory that allows him to remember any information or event, even events that occurred at times he shouldn't logically remember.
- Alchemy: Souta is skilled at alchemy and potion makings, and can also apparently name all of the elements on the Periodic Table.
- Enhanced Navigation: As Mercury is the God of Travelers, Souta is much better at navigation than normal mortals, and can find entrances to the underworld and other hidden locations, though he cannot find magically protected areas such as the Hunters' Camp.
- Exhaustion Curse: Souta is able to curse others to exhaustion, making enemies feel as if they've just ran a 5km (about 3 miles) race. Albeit to a lesser extent, the exhaustion is also dealt to Souta afterwards.
- Chameleon: Souta is able to blend into almost any surrounding, becoming virtually invisible to the naked eye at times. This power is very draining though and can only be maintained for a few minutes.
- Communication: As a legacy of Thetis, Souta is able to communicate with underwater creatures and horses.
- Curse of Achilles: At times, Souta is able to take on the Curse of Achilles, his ancestor, to become invisible, except for one spot of choice, without bathing in the River Styx. This is extremely tiring and often causes him to pass out afterwards.
- Healing: Souta can use water to heal minor injuries such as cuts in himself, and can also use it to stop bleeding or slow his heart rate when it gets to high.
- Mist Control: Souta is skilled enough at using the mist to fool any ordinary mortal and some demigods, either extremely weak ones or young children.
- Souta's Gladius: Souta owns a standard Roman Gladius that can shrink into a ring when not in use.
- Souta's Dagger: Souta owns an imperial gold dagger given to him by his step-father, that he often uses in battle, especially while fighting "the Souta way".
- Kuroken: As of The Sword of Storms, Souta is the owner of Haruna's second bracelet sword, a long blade of Astraean Silver attached to a black marble bracelet, hence the name.
- Winged Shoes: Souta is the owner of a pair of winged shoes that can fly up to 4 feet in the air and appear instead of his shoes when needed.
- Souta's Shield Bracelet: Souta was once in possession of a golden chain bracelet with a pendant bearing the symbol of Mercury/Hermes as the centerpiece, which turns into a shield at will of the wearer, while the chain becomes a handle. However, he gave it to Haruna after she gave him Kuroken, as he stated that he only needed one bracelet while he was used to seeing her with two.