So! An angst-y Jeyna two-shot! Enjoy!
Warning: this contains graphic death and suicide.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Drop the dagger. It's pointless. You can't win.
The voice of Gaea reverberated in Reyna's mind; it was warm and sleepy. Comforting, even.
Reyna didn't want to agree with the Earth Mother on anything, but she agreed that the fight was pointless.
Oh, it had started well enough. That was, until her javelin broke. Now she only had her dagger, and her hounds.
The twin automaton dogs snarled on either side of her. Their ruby eyes glared at the surrounding Earthborn.
I could probably take three. But seven to one?
She didn't even finish the thought. The Earthborn wore broad smiles in their clay faces. They knew she was beaten. Heck, she knew she was beaten.
We just need your blood, child. It's nothing personal, Gaea murmured sleepily.
Shut up. Reyna sent the thought down into the earth with as much rage as she could muster.
We can go either way, daughter of Bellona. You chose your own fate.
Reyna ignored the voice. She wished she had someone fighting alongside her.
Unfortunately, she was stuck on her own. As always. Reyna missed the days when she could count on Jason to watch her back.
She remembered the confidence she felt when they stood, back-to-back, facing oncoming monsters. She'd felt like there was no enemy she couldn't defeat.
Now, though? She was just a scared little girl who was outnumbered and trapped.
Her mind raced. She knew magic from her time on Circe's island. So why was it that the monsters needed her blood to fully wake Gaea?
Then she remembered. It had been a boring day, when Circe had no visitors and had decided to educate Reyna further in the magical arts.
"There's a difference between something taken and something given," Circe says. "Can you guess what it is, Reyna dearest?"
"Um… I guess consent. If someone takes something from you, then you didn't give them permission, right?" ten-year-old Reyna asks.
Circe nods, her vivid eyes sparkling. Circe had always said that Reyna would make a wonderful sorceress someday. Reyna is her best student.
"Yes. And there's a certain power in consent. Take demigod blood, for example."
Reyna gasps.
Circe laughs. "Oh, don't worry. I wasn't going to take your blood. I was just going to teach."
"No one's taking my blood for any reason," the ten-year-old girl exclaims.
The smile fades from Circe's face. "You can't guarantee that. There might come a day when—gods forbid—someone wants you for a sacrifice."
The sorceress continues. "Right, so… um… demigod blood has certain properties. There's a lot of raw magic in it. That's why it's so powerful."
"Is that why the monsters can smell me?"
"Exactly." Circe nods. "You're such a bright little girl. You'll make a powerful sorceress one day—perhaps even greater than the likes of me."
Reyna beams and says, as she usually does, "Oh, but you're the greatest sorceress!"
Circe laughs. "For now, little one. For now." She resumes the lesson. "Now, if there's fear in the blood, and it's taken, then what do you think that would be used for?"
The daughter of Bellona scrunches up her face in concentration. "Uh…it would have a lot of energy. So maybe to power something up?"
"Good, very good. And what if there was love in the blood, and it was given willingly as a sacrifice? Like maybe you had to save someone you cared about."
"Um… I don't know."
Circe looks mildly disappointed for a moment, but tells Reyna the right answer. "It's a very strong protection that wards off evil."
"Oh." Reyna makes a mental note of that, even though she isn't sure why on earth she'd need it.
After all, Circe's island is perfectly safe, right? That's why Hylla had brought her there… right?
Reyna snapped back to the present. She looked at the golden dagger in her hand.
Drop it. It's useless. Gaea laughed.
Reyna took a deep breath to steady her shaking hands. She shut her eyes and braced herself before pressing the blade to her forearm and dragging it across quickly.
She gritted her teeth as a sharp pain, like a red-hot brand, shot through her arm. She forced herself to make more cuts.
They were shallow, though. Only a little blood oozed out. She needed more.
Reyna opened her eyes. Three red lines ran across her forearm.
"I need them to be deeper," she said out loud.
She wanted someone to come rescue her so she didn't have to finish doing what she'd started. But she knew no one would come.
Reluctantly, she plunged the dagger into her arm. The muscle jerked, but she dragged the blade across. She needed to spill the blood.
Tears were streaming down her face. She choked back a sob.
She couldn't be full of fear. She had to be full of love and happiness.
Reyna shut her eyes and tried to think of happy things.
Nothing was coming to mind.
In desperation, she made more cuts in her legs. Blood, bright crimson, oozed out.
She needed happy memories.
Think happy, Reyna, she ordered herself, wincing at the pain.
As she mindlessly laced her skin with cuts and crosscuts, she was reminded of a day long ago past…
"You fell with a knife in your hand and cut yourself?" he demands, standing in front of her. "How? How on earth does a person do that?"
Reyna sighs. She's thirteen years old, with no worry lines etched into her face and less battle scars.
"I don't know," she says. "I just… fell."
"You fell, or you were pushed? There's a big difference."
She doesn't want to seem like a big klutz, so she admits, "Well… someone pushed me."
The boy who's her best friend in the whole legion tenses up. "Who?"
"It doesn't matter." Reyna tries to defuse his anger, but she knows it's too late. Nothing stops Jason I've-Gotta-Be-Perfect-All-the-Time Grace. "Hey, do you want to go get some hot chocolate?"
"Rey, I don't get it. You can stand there so calmly and tell me someone pushed you when you had a knife in your hand, and then go ask me if I want hot chocolate? No. I wanna see someone bleed."
"Here, then," Reyna says, holding up her bandaged hand and wrist.
"No, not you!" He shakes his head, blue eyes flashing. His face is flushed. "What's wrong with you? Are you just going to take that?"
"Yes."
"Tell me who shoved you."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Cause you'll hurt them."
"Don't you want me to?"
"No, I'm perfectly capable of hurting her myself!"
"Aha, so it's a her!"
"No! Well, yes, but… UGH. Jason. Just stop."
"Maybe I don't want to stop."
"If you don't stop, I'm not going to talk to you anymore."
They stare at each other, blue eyes against dark brown, until finally Jason relents.
"Fine. But only because you make better conversation than Kota or Bobby."
Reyna heaves a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
He holds open his arms, and she automatically walks into them. Usually she doesn't like it when people come into physical contact with her, but it's different with Jason. He's her friend, and plus he's warm.
Reyna feels cold when she's all by herself.
But with her personal living jacket, she feels warm.
The scene changes to another day, a brisk and cloudy one. They're fourteen.
Jason's irritated. He's chewing his lower lip and staring at the sky, brow furrowed.
Reyna tries not to smile. He's been struggling to fly ever since a really bad incident. And he's extremely annoyed that he can't get it right again.
"It has to work this time," he mutters to himself before shutting his eyes and jumping up.
He floats in the air for a few seconds before dropping back down to the ground. Jason growls in frustration and stomps his foot. Reyna can practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.
She bursts out laughing, despite every intention not to.
He whips his head around. "What's so funny?"
"Easy there, Sparky. You're going to explode."
"What did you just call me?"
"Sparky." She smiles at him.
"You know I hate that nickname."
"Well, that's your own fault, isn't it?"
"How?" He tilts his head to the side.
"Showing off with your lightning powers all the time."
"You just jelly of my epic Jupiter powers!" Jason leers.
"Yeah right, Sparky."
"Don't call me that."
"Fine. How about Duracell?"
"Ugh. Please stop with the electricity nicknames."
"Energizer?"
"No."
"Hmm… fine. Pikachu."
"No."
"Pichu."
"Bless you."
"That wasn't a sneeze!" Reyna laughs.
Jason looks at her. "It wasn't?"
"Haven't you ever played a Pokemon game?"
"No. Aw, man! Did Bobby get to you?"
Reyna stays silent.
"He did, didn't he?" Jason sighs.
"I'm gonna call you Pikachu from now on."
"Why, you-!" His eyes widen in mock anger.
Something jerks Reyna up off her feet and into the air.
She kicks and screams. "Jason, stop it!"
"What? I'm not doing anything." He smiles innocently. A little too innocently.
"Jason Grace, put me down!"
"I'm not doing anything," he says, looking up at her.
Reyna was really glad she'd chosen to wear jeans today; if she was wearing her usual skirt… well, that wouldn't have been good.
"You let me down right now," she warns him, arms crossed.
"Mmm… no can do."
"Please."
"Oh my gods, did Reyna just say please? Somebody get a recorder. Reyna just said please."
Reyna rolls her eyes. "I'm serious, Jason."
"So am I." He grins cheekily, and suddenly Reyna starts to fall.
She screams, bracing herself for impact, but Jason catches her.
"Hey, easy there. Don't you trust me?"
His face is right next to hers.
"No," she says. Her heart is pounding, though whether it's from the adrenaline rush or from having him so close to her, she can't tell.
"Good idea," he laughs, and drops her.
She lands on her feet and raises an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you a gentleman."
"Yes. Yes, I am."
Reyna didn't realize she was smiling until the memory faded, and she was yanked back to reality.
She was grinning from ear to ear, even though tears coursed down her cheeks involuntarily.
She was going numb fast. Reyna checked the damage she'd done.
Crimson liquid dripped out quickly—more quickly than she'd like. At this rate, she'd be gone before very long.
The earth beneath her was stained. Beside her, Aurum and Argentum whimpered.
"Shh, it's okay," Reyna murmured in an attempt to console the dogs. She tried to ignore the confused-looking Earthborn around her.
You fools, kill her! Gaea's outraged shout echoed in her mind.
"But she's dying already," one protested.
Reyna smiled faintly.
Your sacrifice will be for nothing, Gaea whispered to the daughter of Bellona. You'll die.
"I don't care," Reyna rasped. Her voice was fading. Everything was fading—her vision was turning black around the edges. "It'll be worth it."
She was clinging on to consciousness at this point, trying to stay happy. She grasped at all the little details she knew and loved—the tiny things that illuminated her life.
The way Hylla's eyes glittered whenever she had an idea.
Circe, teaching her spells and weaving.
Her mother's alabaster statue, standing proud and tall.
The perfect order of her room—not a paper out of place.
The scarlet shine of her hounds' eyes.
Jason's laugh. Jason's smile. The scar on his lip. The color of his eyes. The way the sound of his voice made her smile despite herself.
Oh, Jason. She'd miss him the most of them all, despite everything he'd done.
You'll never see your Jason Grace again, Gaea said.
I'll find him. I always will. Reyna's eyes were closing, but her lips still stretched into a smile. You lose, Gaea. You won't ever wake. My life was the cost of the world's safety, and I gladly pay it.
She was slipping. She knew that she wouldn't ever wake up once her eyes closed.
Her gaze drifted to the sky, for one last look at the world she lived in.
It was cloudy and gray.
Not what I would've wanted for my last view, she thought.
Everything fell away from her, and Reyna was left grasping at darkness.
Don't worry. I'm posting the epilogue today as well. ^.^
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