What can I say, Dreyna's really growing on me.
~o~
It's hard to accept change. To throw yourself into something totally different than your normal routine. It's frightening to think about tossing everything you know out the window and trying something totally out of the ordinary, to lose all the familiarity you hold so dear. I don't like change, I've never liked it. Though it seems to be a pretty prominent trend in my life so far. And truthfully, I can say most of them have been part of the more terrible parts of my life. And this, I was convinced, was one of them. I couldn't help but think of all the possible outcomes of meeting them, the Greeks that is.
I was aboard the Argo ll sailing to New York, I'm pretty sure we were somewhere in Philidelphia. Though it was quite impressive, I couldn't help but feel the sour taste of anger in my mouth knowing that this was the weapon that destroyed my home. And that imbecile of a mechanic just so happened to be driving it. It also just so happened, that Jason Grace had to run into me. Probably looking for Piper I guess.
I really hated change.
"Oh-uh, Hey Reyna...I didn't know you were up here." He looked nervous. Good.
"I was just leaving." I turned around and started to walk briskly down the opposite hallway, leading to the stables I had just been visiting.
"No wait Rey, I mean Reyna, I think we need to talk." Golden Boy just can't seem to take a hint, though I guess, neither could I.
"Thinking and doing are two entirely different things, Grace." I said coldly, only pausing a small moment to let the words sink in before I continued.
That's when he grabbed my arm. My breathe froze as all the memories came back. The laughing at Octavion. The mornings he would bring me hot chocolate when I was irritable. The way he would force me to go to bed when I worked to hard. The holding hands. The rejection. It all came back so fast, like a slap in the face. A wake up call. I blinked fast before I turned towards him, no way in Pluto would he see me cry.
He looked at me pleadingly. "Please." Again'st my better judgement, I succumbed to him, like I always have. He was just to hard to resist. Or maybe I just didn't know how to say no.
"Fine." I said, in a curt, whisper. His demeanor changed slightly, like he mentally relaxed. But only slightly.
"I just, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I knew that you liked me and I didn't do anything to tell you otherwise. But Reyna, I just need to be sure that you won't take this out on Piper, she didn't do anything wrong." His eyes were pleading me to tell him what he wanted to hear. That I could never think of blaming sweet, innocent, little Piper. And I couldn't say no.
"Of course, it wasn't her fault." He smiled at me, content with my response. "Great, so can we be friends?" The smile was still there. I couldn't stand it.
"No Jason I don't think we can." The smile was gone.
"What do you mean, I thought we could go back to being what we were." He said, obviously confused.
Suddenly, my cold Praetor demeanor evaporated. "Were we ever really friends, Jason? What kind of a friend leads someone on like that? You knew all along and yet you did nothing. You don't know anything about me, and neither do I about you. We weren't friends Jason. We never will be. You are my fellow Co-worker. That is all."
"But I thought you said you didn't blame anyone."
"I said I wouldn't blame Piper." I spit her name out through my teeth. "I never said I wouldn't blame you." With that I turned and walked away. Leaving him with a hurt, dumb-founded expression on his face. How does it feel to be rejected Pretty Boy? Not to good huh? It looks like I had just learned how to say no. I felt bad for a moment. That moment wasn't long.
Dinner was an awkward occasion. More awkward than usual anyways. Since the dinning area wasn't large enough for all the Romans that were on board to eat together, people were placed just about everywhere. I just so happened to get placed with Mr. Sensitive and his gang. I had tried to keep out of any conversation, knowing they probably didn't want me there anyways. Until something caught my attention.
"I just can't wait to finally be home." Percy said "I really miss everyone there."
"Even Clarisse?" Annabeth said, smirking at him sideways.
Percy got this look on his face. It looked like a mix between annoyance and humor. "Eh, maybe."
Leo snickered. "I just can't wait to see her and Drew go at it. I've really missed their fights." Hazel looked horrified.
"Leo! Don't encourage fighting, that's a terrible thing to wish." Her innocence is just so cute sometimes.
"Who are they?" I cut in. Everybody looked surprised for a moment. They had forgotten I was here. Go figure. Percy was the one to answer my question.
"Well Clarisse is a Daughter of Ares, or Mars for you guys. And Drew is a Daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus." He said quite vaguely.
Leo cut in yet again. "Yeah, and those two go at each other over everything. It's hilarious! One time Drew called Clarisse's mom a whore during dinner, and Clarisse just got up and smashed her face into the wall! It was priceless!" He said, seemingly doing all he could to keep from cracking up.
"They sound lovely." I said with the straightest face possible.
"Did you just use sarcasm, Reyna?" Frank asked. I only smirked at him and went back to eating. They forgot about me fairly quickly, and we were right back to where we started. All I knew was that those two girls sounded interesting, especially that Drew girl.
The war ship's arrival at Camp Half Blood was an event in and of itself. There were about 100 kids standing near a huge pine tree. And of course, a centaur, Chiron I had learned his name was. The greeting they gave us was quite interesting. There were purple fireworks, that were somehow visible at 4 in the afternoon, Spelling out "Welcome Romans!" But the greeting the gave Percy was competely insane. Everybody went crazy with welcoming him back. It was sweet how they all cared.
After everyone got settled though, it was time to sort the campers into their cabins.
Chiron ended up somehow quieting all of us down so that he could be heard throughout the now 180-ish of us. He began by welcoming us whole-heartedly and by telling us the main rules of Camp Half Blood. The later of which was very boring so to speak.
"Now, it is time for us to assign you all to your respective cabins. Would your Praetor please come forward with your camper list please." And just like that all eyes were on me. I felt nervous as I walked up to the centaur, it was nerve-racking to have everybody stare at you so expectantly. Especially people I didn't know. But I didn't let that show, I was the Praetor after all. After I had handed him the list I went back to the general area of my original spot, towards the left and in the front of all the Romans.
"Now to begin; Jason Grace, you will be residing in Cabin 1, I trust you know where to go. Daniel Garfield, Sean Joseph, Jessica Peterson, Carrie West, and Simon Hughes you will be staying in Cabin 4, Katie and Miranda will show you the way..." It went on like that for a while, the number of campers slowly dwindling as they went to their respective cabins. Until the only ones left where; Chiron, Annabeth, Percy, and I.
Chrion was the first to speak. "Reyna, considering there is no cabin for Bellona you will have to stay in the Athena or Ares cabins. Which is it you would like?" Before I could answer Annabeth spoke up.
"Reyna just stay in my cabin. It's much nicer than cabin 5. Besides you won't get along with the Ares campers anyways."
"Well I-" I started but then Percy spoke up.
"Chiron, where was Clarisse? I didn't see her." Chiron's eyes looked on the verge of amusement and annoyance.
"Well Percy, Miss La Rue is actually in the kitchen on dish duty because she broke Mr. Rodriguez's nose."
"Why was that?" Annabeth asked, obviously entertained. I could now tell that Chiron's eyes just showed pure amusement.
"I believe it had something to do with him calling her 'sweetheart', though I could be mistaken." That's when Percy burst out laughing.
"Oh gods I missed Camp." He said after his laughing fit. "Well I need to go unpack, you coming Wise girl?"
"Of course." She said with a role of her eyes. Chiron's eyes followed their retreating forms. It was obvious he cared about every single camper here. These Greeks were so much more different than the Romans, that was for sure. But no fights had broken out yet. So I guess I'll count the small blessings.
"Now, Reyna, have you decided on your cabin yet?" Chiron asked me.
"Yes," I said slowly. "I think I'd like to stay in cabin 5."
When I saw the Ares cabin, I began second guessing my choice. It was painted a grotesque red color, like blood. It had barbed wire lacing the perimeter of the roof. The most frightening part though, was the boars head at the top of the door. I was startled by the fact that I had a subconscious sense of home. Weird.
The only constant reassurance I had was the fact that Frank was in there. At least I knew someone if this whole thing blew up in my face. As I stood in front of the door, duffel bag thrown over my shoulder, gathering my wits, someone's voice shook me back to reality.
"You just gonna stand there or what?" The voice said. I turned slowly to find a girl who looked to be about 17 and was built like a basketball player. She was wearing an over sized sweatshirt that said 'Bogotá, Colombia' on it with a pair of jeans and running shoes. She had brown hair tied back in a ponytail, with a red bandana over it, her bangs hung loosely in her face.
"I'm going in actually." I said. This seemed to surprise her.
"Why?" She questioned.
"I'm assigned here." I replied.
She raised her eyebrows at this. She almost seemed, hopeful. "Daughter of Mars?"
"No." I answered. "Bellona." She seemed satisfied with this answer.
"Whats you name 'Daughter of Bellona'?" As she said this it seemed more like an accusation than a question.
"Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion." I said, my tone on the verge of sounding cautious. I could tell that this girl did not have a very long temper and that she was like a time bomb, only seconds from going off.
She smirked at me. "Clarisse La Rue." That caught me off guard. Though I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering She was a daughter of Ares, and I was right outside her cabin. But still she didn't fit the description Percy and the Greeks had given me. Sure she was intimidating, but she didn't look like the cruel person they described her to be.
She made a 'follow me' motion as she walked up to the door. I obliged. As she opened the door I was met with very loud music and about 15 teenage boys in one room. Together. Clarisse seemed to be the only girl in here.
With her fist she banged one of the walls, instantly getting everyone's attention.
"All our little Romans, get to the back wall!" She yelled. Me and six others, Frank included, followed her instructions. "Now, you all may have your own little schedules at your Camp, but this is Camp Half Blood and more specifically, The Ares cabin. Which means you follow our rules. You will train with us, eat with us, and live with us for the rest of the summer, so may as well get that through your heads now!" She said fiercely. This girl obviously didn't take any shit. I was starting to like her.
She stared us down for another minute, silently daring anyone to disagree with her. No one did. "Carry on." She said. With that everyone went back to waht they were doing. Arm wrestling, burping contests, things of that nature. I started trying to find a bunk when Clarisse spoke up.
"Reyna come with me, I'll get you a bunk." She led me through a door I hadn't even noticed when we came in that led to a second room. It was identical to the one we were just in, except smaller. But this one was much cleaner and it only looked like on of the four bunk beds was being used. I realized it was Clarisse's bunk.
"You sleep here all alone?" I asked.
"Yup." She said nonchalantly. "This is the girl's side of the cabin. It's just you and me now." She smirked. I looked back at her, my eyebrow raised.
"Okay then, count me in." I threw my bag on the bed next to hers. I think I had just made a potential friend, maybe I wouldn't be so lonely after all.
I think I'm starting to warm up to this change thing.
~o~
Firstly, I have no idea where I'm going with this, it just popped into my head. Secondly, I'm sorry Drew didn't come into this chapter, it just didn't work out like that. My bad. And Thirdly, I'm sorry, but I had to include some minor chrisse in here, I can't help it. Hence the nose punching and the over sized sweatshirt. By the way, this is in no relation to 'Tranquility', they're two separate things. I'm kind of excited to see where this goes, honestly. Let me know what you think.