Rome here.
So… we'd all had this debate over who would write first.
Originally, we'd told either Sea or Dusk to write something first.
But, it turns out you guys got me instead! ^.^ Good? Bad? You decide.
If you were looking for a song to go with this story, I would recommend "For the First Time," by The Script. I love the chorus.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Hello Again
Coach Hedge was anxious, pacing around the deck and muttering to himself.
Ever since Annabeth and Percy had fallen into Tartarus, the satyr had grown increasingly agitated and violent.
Okay, fine. He'd always been violent, but now he overreacted at the littlest things.
A cockroach was lurking in his room? DIE, PUNY INSECT!
Not enough caffeine in his coffee? DIE, COFFEE MACHINE!
Giants had lost a game? DIE, OPPOSING TEAM!
It had gotten to the point where the demigods all pretty much avoided him. No one really wanted a crazed satyr named Gleeson hitting them with a baseball bat and screaming, "DIE!" in their faces.
Coach Hedge was extremely distressed. As chaperone of the trip, he felt personally responsible for all the demigods. And Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. Some protector he was.
Even worse, Camp Half-Blood would soon be under siege by a bunch of purple-shirted Romans.
Jason had said Reyna would try to slow them down, but Hedge wasn't sure he trusted this Reyna girl. After all, Piper didn't like the name. He was under orders to protect Piper, and if Piper didn't like something, then it must be evil. And deserving of death.
Coach Hedge really wanted to check in on the Romans. The pressure was building inside of him, causing him to explode in violent outbursts. He couldn't take the stress of having so many questions unanswered.
He decided that the first chance he got, the son of Jupiter/Zeus was going to go make a call to Reyna.
Hedge jumped on the half bloods during dinner.
"Hey, Jason, are you sure your friend's on our side?" he asked.
"Um… which friend are we talking about?" Jason looked nervous, his eyes darting furtively to his right where Piper sat.
"You know. That Reyna girl."
At this, both he and Piper stiffened.
"Oh, um, yeah. I'm sure she's doing all she can."
Coach Hedge snorted. "Is that good enough?"
"I… I don't know. I hope."
Coach Hedge stood up. "You're going to Iris-message her when you finish eating. Hope isn't good enough in times like these."
Jason stared down at his plate.
Leo broke the awkward silence. "But… isn't it good to also have hope? I mean, without hope, you have no aspirations. Without aspirations, you never get anywhere. So if you want to go far in life, you must believe in hope and follow your dreams. Then—and only then—will you be able to unlock your true potential."
Hazel stifled a laugh.
The coach wasn't sure whether Valdez was being sarcastic or not, so he just shook his head.
Frank frowned. "That sounds like something Sensei Wu would say."
"WHOA! You watch Ninjago too? I have just decided that you, sir, are slightly less lame than I thought you were."
"Uh… I'm going to pretend that was a compliment."
"It was."
"Some compliment!"
"Boys!" Piper interjected, pouring a little charmspeak into her voice for better impact. "Stop!"
"Sorry," they muttered simultaneously.
Coach Hedge said, "Whatever. Grace, I want you to call your friend when you're done eating."
Jason still had half his pizza slice left, but he stood up and pushed his chair in.
"I'll go make that call right now," he said. "I don't really feel like eating."
Piper stood up. "I'll go with you."
Hazel said, "That… might not be a good idea."
Piper shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides, I kind of want to try and… smooth things over, if you know what I mean."
Hazel did know what she meant, and she was afraid that Piper was making a terrible mistake.
Piper didn't know Reyna. Piper didn't know about the bitterness that painted Reyna's world black and white.
"Be careful what you say," Hazel warned at last. "And call me if… if you need any help. She'll at least give me a chance."
"It'll be fine," Piper said again. "Come on, Jason. Let's go."
"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering."
Jason had made a rainbow by summoning a faint mist in the room and adjusting the lighting to mimic that of sunlight.
He tossed a golden drachma into the rainbow, and then said, "Show me Reyna of the Twelfth Legion."
An image shimmered into view.
A dark-haired girl sat alone in a room, staring out a window blankly. For once, the muscles in her face were relaxed—the stony mask was nowhere to be seen.
She didn't look happy, but she didn't look as tense as she usually did. She seemed… calm. At ease.
Jason remembered how she'd used to look, before he left. No worry lines. A bright smile that transformed her from fearsome to friendly, even though it was hard to come by.
She'd been happy. Or, at least, as happy as someone with her history could be.
But now? Now, all the laughter was gone from her eyes. She seemed to have aged a few years in the space of a few months.
Jason missed the girl he'd used to know.
Piper cleared her throat. "Um, Reyna?"
At the sound of her name, the praetor shot to her feet. Her features hardened. Her hand crept to the hilt of the dagger sheathed at her waist.
Reyna locked eyes with Piper. "Oh. Another one of those… Iris-messages. Lovely." Her tone was curt. "So what do you want?"
"We wanted to know how things were going on your end," the daughter of Aphrodite said. "So, how's everything?"
"Absolutely wonderful." Reyna smiled. "Octavian's pretty much getting the legion to revolt against me, we march on your camp in a day or so, and I won't be able to stop my legionnaires from killing all of your friends."
Piper turned to look at Jason. He could clearly read the mistrust and pain in her eyes, though she tried to hide it.
Why do you trust her? She's not helping us. The words were plainly spelled out in her expression.
"They're your fighters. Why can't you stop them?" Piper asked. Although, from the tone of her voice, it sounded more like, "What's wrong with you? Why don't you stop them?"
"I've done everything I can," the daughter of Bellona snapped. "If Octavian had had his way, we would've razed the camp today. Or yesterday. Or the day before that. I can only delay for so long."
Jason could sense how her patience was dwindling. For some reason, Reyna really didn't like Piper.
He didn't know why.
Reyna's glare traveled to Jason's face. "What about you? Do you have anything to say to me? Or are you just going to let your witch friend speak for you?"
"Witch?" Piper growled.
"Yes, witch. Charmspeaker. Every time I hear your voice, it makes me sick. I can't trust anything you say."
"I don't charmspeak all the time!"
Reyna shook her head. "How sad, to have such power and so little control over it. You don't realize it, but even when you don't intend to, your speech sways people to your side. You persuade them without trying. Did you really think that everyone gets their way so easily?"
"I don't always get my way," snarled Piper. "Do you know how things have been for me? I hate it. I never—I wish—Ugh. Forget it. You obviously wouldn't understand it. Are you even human? You're so cold and distant all the time, it makes me wonder!"
Obsidian eyes met kaleidoscope, unwavering. Reyna's stare seemed to bore into Piper's like a starving wolf watching its prey.
"And here I thought you were just a bit better than the rest of your siblings," the raven-haired praetor said distastefully. "It seems I was wrong. You pretend not to like attention, but all you wanted when you were a child was attention from your family. I'm right, aren't I? I can see it in your eyes."
Piper scowled.
"Did Jason ever tell you how I came to Camp Jupiter? I suppose he didn't. He's ashamed of who he used to be friends with, isn't he? He wouldn't want to talk about his old Roman friends, not around you Greeks." Although she didn't raise her voice, the words cut into Jason like knives.
"What happened to you?" he burst out. "Gods. You weren't like this before!"
"No, I wasn't," Reyna answered. "But I changed. You have, too, even if you don't realize it."
"I'm still the same!"
"No, you're not." Her dark eyes flashed for a moment to Piper. "Would you mind giving us some privacy? I'd like to speak with him alone."
Piper opened her mouth to speak, but Jason nudged her. "It's okay. I'll be fine."
"Call me if you need me," she said after a pause. Then she walked out of the room.
Once Piper had left, Reyna seemed to sag. Instead of cold and hard, she looked tired and beaten.
"What happened to me? What happened to you? You're not the same person I was once friends with," she murmured.
"Really?"
"Really. You used to be a bit of a dreamer. You liked cloudy days. You were a bit too prideful at times, but I didn't mind. I liked your confidence." She searched his face. "You wanted to learn how to play guitar, but never had the time. And you hated whenever people were treated unfairly."
He sighed. "I guess you're right. That's not me anymore." He tilted his head. "But what about you? You hated the cold, and liked warm weather because of your time on the island. You had a serious sweet tooth, and you loved jellybeans. Especially the popcorn-flavored ones, which I thought was weird, but whatever. You hated boy bands. And your favorite kind of story was a fairytale with a ride-off-into-the-sunset ending."
"That's not me anymore."
They stared at each other for a moment.
"So," Jason said at last. "Care to reintroduce yourself?"
She raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Hello again. I'm Reyna, and I'm a daughter of Bellona. I like rainy days, I don't really care much for candy anymore, and I think happily-ever-afters are cruel lies. I still hate boy bands, though."
There was a pause. To break it, Jason asked, "Why rainy days?"
"I like the smell of ozone. It reminds me of you." She flushed slightly.
He pretended not to notice.
"You want to reintroduce yourself?" Reyna inquired.
"Sure. Hey again. I'm Jason, and I only found out recently that my birthday's in July. I like the sun, I feel incompetent a lot lately, I've given up on the guitar thing, and I hate bullies more than anything else."
"Happy birthday," she said softly.
"Thanks. And… um, since I missed yours, happy birthday to you too. You're fifteen and a half now, right?"
She smiled sadly. "Yup. Happy birthday to us."
"Yippee."
"Can I talk to Annabeth?" Reyna asked, changing the subject.
"No. Sorry."
She picked up on his tone. "Why? What happened?"
"Um… she and Percy kind of fell into Tartarus."
"What?" Her eyes widened. "But… oh, gods, no. I'd had a nightmare, but I was hoping it wasn't true…"
"We're going to find the Doors and get them out."
"Do that."
She was her guarded self again, eyes as sharp as flint.
"Don't worry."
"Bit too late for that, Grace." She barked a laugh. "Go get some sleep. I'll contact you when I get a chance. But don't… don't Iris-message me again. If Octavian sees… well, no telling what'll happen."
"'Kay." He wanted to find something else to say, but couldn't. "Bye."
"Bye."
She swiped a hand through the rainbow, and the connection dissolved.
Bad ending, I know. But I couldn't think of anything else.
Reviews would be nice! And if you have any guesses on who I am (or who the rest of us are) PM us.