Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Drew.
In her opinion (the only one that really matters), these are words to live by. And slap Aphrodite and call her a slut if Drew doesn't live by them. The Aphrodite cabin turns out quite a few worldclassbitches, and a girl needs to fend for herself. Over the years, she has become something of a revenge specialist. Poor Katie Gardener still has nightmares about when Drew dyed her soap green (thus taking "green thumb" to a whole new level), while others stay up at night worrying that they are on her hit list.
A list that one Miss Piper McLean has earned the numero uno spot upon.
Honestly, Drew only exacts revenge on the bitches (or bastards) that really deserve it. It's not her fault that there's a lot of people that really deserve it. The world is rampant with idiots. And Drew hates idiots. In fact, the only thing Drew hates more than an idiot is a cheater. Is Piper a cheater? No. (At least, Drew has yet to dig up evidence.) But she did knowingly enter into a relationship with Jason when he outright told her there might be someone special waiting for him at home. And in Drew's opinion, that puts Piper down with the scum of the earth.
Oh, and Jason, of course, has spot number two on Drew's hit list.
Drew long ago found that she does her best plotting at two in the morning, while staring at the glowing red numbers on her alarm clock and listening to whatever song she has a craving for. Tonight, the soundtrack to her scheming is more of background noise than her sole inspiration.
Piper's number definitely is up. Not only did she snatch Drew's councillorship and popularity, she stole Reyna's almost boyfriend. Drew thinks she may have finally found another person she can tolerate in Reyna. Now for ways to hurt Piper. Since Piper has such an… attachment to Jason, hurting him would hurt her (and it would also serve the double purpose of knocking him off the hit list). Oh, how Drew loves multitasking!
The only problem was that Drew didn't yet know where the crack in Jason's golden armor lay. She prided herself on knowing where to cut people so that they bleed the most, and Jason has managed to hide all his arteries. But…
There was one person who might know his weakness. Someone who worked with him. Someone who was his friend. Someone who love(s)d him.
Smiling, Drew rolled over onto her back and pointed her toes to stretch. It was time for some well-earned sleep. In the morning, she and Reyna would have a nice little chat.
But I don't want a good girl,
No not today
'Cause I want it bad
Reyna.
Reyna was a good girl. She kept secrets, did her assigned chores, followed the rules, helped people who were lost, let go of grudges, didn't unload her problems on others. Reyna was a good girl; a good Roman.
But apparently, a good Roman wasn't good enough for Jason. Reyna was highly respected at Camp Jupiter; some considered their beloved praetor near perfect. And they considered her and Jason a perfect match.
But Jason, bless his traitorous little soul, didn't quite understand the word exchange. Reyna knew that Percy had every intention of returning to Camp Half-Blood as soon as this war was over. In fact, it was one of the reasons she offered him the praetorship. She knew it would only be temporary, until Jason came back.
And Jason came back. Oh yes, he came back. He came back with some goddamn-motherfucking-gorgeous Aphrodite arm candy. Now, it seemed as though the Romans would lose their Saving Grace to the Greeks, (but that's okay, 'cause it's all in the name of love).
Reyna halted pacing across her living room to take a deep breath and resist the urge to stamp her foot. Fuck Piper Cherokee, fuck Venus and her plots, fuck Jason! All Reyna wants is someone dependable to lead with, is that too much to ask for? Did she not suffer enough already? Did the gods still consider her unworthy? How many more trials would she be put through before they decided that she passed their stupid test?
Reyna exhaled loudly through her nose and rolled her shoulders out. It was no use to be angry at all-powerful beings; it brought nothing but trouble. Instead, she focused on the one bright spot to her day: meeting Drew. The Japanese girl had shared an interesting anecdote about Piper being desperate to wipe off Aphrodite's blessing. Apparently, she hated standing out (or pretended to). Reyna felt a feral smile that would be more commonly seen on a wolf than a teenage girl stretch across her face. Tonight, she would rest. There would be plenty of time tomorrow to ensure Piper McLean found her stay at Camp Jupiter most (un)comfortable.
I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it
I underestimated just who I was dealing with
She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum
She underestimated just who she was stealing from
Plots.
Drew was glad that Reyna had decided to give the Greeks a day to explore the camp and train beside Romans (not that Drew would be doing much training). No, Drew was happy because this gave her a chance to speak with Reyna in private. After breakfast served by bratty little nymphs whose wind blew Drew's hair into her mouth, she spotted Reyna walking alone down a dirt pathway. Motioning to Baina and Cass to follow her, she began walking through the throng of campers. She didn't have to duck around anyone, the crowd parted like the Red Sea for her and a small smirk crept across her face. Drew had an aura of importance that Piper would never be able to steal. Drew tapped Reyna on the shoulder and the taller girl whirled around.
"Hello again Reyna. Allow me to introduce my friends Baina and Cass," the girls mentioned smiled warmly and held out hand to shake. Reyna took them, raising a single eyebrow.
"A pleasure to meet you," she said stiffly. Drew smiled a bit wider.
"Relax, these two dipshits can be trusted." Baina punched her arm lightly at the insult, but snickered anyway. "Now, I wanted to discuss something rather… personal with you. Is there a place we can speak without little morons overhearing?"
"Yes, I'm actually heading to my house right now. Nobody can get in except Lupa, and she would need a very good reason to want to." The three girls walked in silence to the white house with brown shutters, Drew's clicking heels muffled by the dusty path. Once Reyna led them all inside, they settled onto the leather couches, Reyna sitting pin straight while Drew stretched her legs over the armrest.
"Now, last night we had a most illuminating discussion about our two favorite campers," Drew said sarcastically. Reyna's mouth twitched.
"Yes, and where were these two while we had that conversation?" she returned, nodding at where Baina and Cass had curled up.
"I… um… needed to change my pants…" Baina muttered, wincing slightly. Reyna's mouth formed a little "o", but she relaxed into her chair nonetheless. Apparently, all girls find common ground with their periods.
"Anyway, I was thinking. Piper and Jason really need to get what's coming to them, and karma seems to be on vacation. So I was thinking that I would take over for a little while. The only problem is, I don't really know what would hurt Jason," Drew smirked at Reyna. "That's where you come in."
Reyna's face was an expressionless mask. Drew took a moment to admire the impeccable poker face.
"So basically, you want me to tell you how to destroy Jason?" Reyna deadpanned.
"Well, not destroy per se… Maybe embarrass him enough to wet himself?" Baina interjected. Reyna's mask cracked into a grin.
"I'm in. You see, Roman's consider dignity very important. If you strip away someone's dignity, then most of the camper's will avoid even talking to them. Now, Jason has dignity piled so high it would take a forklift to get rid of it all." Reyna folded her hands across her lap.
"But how would one typically lose dignity?" Drew questioned, resting her head on her hand.
"Well, appearance is a big part of it. And so is how well you can speak to crowds, particularly in Senate or when leading the legion into battle," Reyna's eyes glinted at the thought of war. It made Cass draw back a few inches.
"Well, I think we're running a little low on battles," Baina stated.
"So, we get him in front of the Senate. Perfect. And don't y'all worry about the appearance bit, I've got that on lock," Drew clapped her hands together and smiled. Reyna raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it's excellent that you know how to sabotage his appearance, but how do we ruin his speeches? He's rather good at it," she pointed out. Baina chose this point to interject.
"Is Jason a virgin?" Reyna blushed burgundy at the seemingly random question and appeared unable to speak.
"Are you kidding me? That boy is the most prude son of Zeus, or Jupiter or what-freaking-ever that I've ever heard of!" Drew snorted.
"Well, then we could do something that involves him talking about sex, or makes him look like he's a man-slut," Cass finally found her voice. Drew raised both eyebrows and nodded in appreciation.
"Now you're thinking!"
"Excuse me, but how are we going to force Jason to talk about… sex in front of the Senate? It would be weird if one of us just stood and started asking sex ed questions," Reyna interjected. Drew leaned back in her chair, and let a worldclassbitch smirk spread across her face.
"Oh, don't you worry darlin', we don't even need to make Jason talk. We just need to make him stand up."
And I almost had you,
But I guess that doesn't cut it.
Almost loved you
I almost wish you would've loved me too
Ready.
Drew wasn't too concerned about making Jason look absolutely ridiculous. She wasn't even bothering to get creative with this one. Orange hair dye in the shampoo bottle, same old same old. And the orange would further infuriate the Roman population, thinking Jason was doing it out of devotion to Camp Half-Blood. As said before, Drew loved multitasking. The dye was already attained (Drew brought around a full salon everywhere she went), now she just needed access to Jason's shower. She knew where his room on the Argo II was, as did everyone else on the ship. Level closest to deck, second room on the right. And since nobody expected her to show up at training, slipping into his cabin was all too easy. She took off the shampoo cap, carefully poured in half the flask of dye, and screwed the cap back on.
"Your number is up, Jason Grace," she whispered as she slithered out of the cabin. She had a new spring in her step as she started ascending the stairway to the deck. A stairway being blocked by one Annabeth Chase. Shit.
"Why aren't you at training Drew?" the blonde asked. Drew just raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Okay, ignore that question. Why were you in Jason's cabin and why are you holding a bottle of hair dye?"
Too late, Drew realized she forgot to put the bottle in her purse, or even hold it behind her back. Inwardly cursing her stupidity and arrogance, she answered, "What do you think I was doing?"
Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Don't play games with me, Tanaka. Why are you trying to sabotage Jason? What has he done to you? And, personal reasons aside, we need him to convince the Romans not to attack us!" At this point, both hands were on her hips. Drew raised her hands in a placating gesture.
"Chill the fuck out, Annabeth. I'm not tryna kill Jason, just dye his hair. Thought he needed a new look. Besides, we already got Percy up there as praetor, and Reyna trusts us too. We don't need Mr. Grace to maintain the peace," Drew leaned against the wall, folding her arms over her chest. Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek.
"Okay, maybe we don't need him, but he would still be useful. And you still haven't answered my question. Why are you doing this?" Drew took a deep breath, and unfolded her arms.
"Do you remember Rachel?" Annabeth gave Drew a look.
"Drew, I'm not the amnesiac," she responded.
"Believe me sweetie, I'm well aware. That's not what I meant. Remember how when you first met Rachel, you hated her?" It looked as though Annabeth would protest, so Drew held up one perfectly manicured finger to stop the words. "Don't deny it, you hated her. You hated her because she was legitimate competition for Percy. Even though you and Percy were not dating, you hated her. And it's all good now, because you got your little fairytale ending and Rachel's not a threat anymore so you guys are all fine and dandy. Which is great, but just imagine for a moment. Imagine if Percy had started dating Rachel."
Annabeth's face crumpled and she cast her eyes downward. "I can't imagine what that would be like," she replied quietly. Drew allowed a small 'I got this in the bag' smirk.
"Exactly. But that is how Reyna feels right now." Annabeth whipped her head up.
"Who said anything about Reyna?" she asked. Drew feigned surprise.
"Oh! I didn't mention that? Well, Reyna dear and I bonded last night and this morning, and I realized how hurt she was by Jason following his hormones over to Piper. So I decided a teensy bit of revenge was in order," Drew had just broken one of her rules to live by: Deny, deny, and then deny some more. But if it meant gaining Annabeth's trust, so be it. Annabeth's mouth formed an 'o' of surprise.
"Look Annabeth, I know you're not a really vengeful person. But just imagine how heartbroken Reyna is right now, and how hard she's tryna hide it. Don't you think she deserves a laugh?" Annabeth bit her lips in hesitation. "And it's not like this will hurt Jason or anything. His hair will just be a different color for a while! You know that this is tame for me," Drew wheedled. Annabeth exhaled loudly and stepped aside, allowing Drew to trot up to the deck. Mission accomplished.
Unfortunately, Reyna had a harder mission to complete. In order to humiliate Jason in front of the Senate, she needed a speaker system installed in the Senate House. And in order to get a speaker system installed in the Senate House, she needed someone to install it. Drew had recommended the services of Connor and Travis Stoll, Hermes spawn who apparently loved a good joke. If worst came to worst, Drew said Leo could install it, but flirt and don't mention that it was to prank Jason. Just bat your eyelashes, was the exact phrase. That was a last resort though, and one Reyna shuddered to think about. She first would try to find the infamous Stoll brothers, who were more elusive then one might think. Finally, she found the pair skulking underneath the bleachers in the Coliseum. What they were doing there, she didn't want to ask. She reached out and tapped their shoulders, causing them to whirl around, excuses on the tips of their tongues.
"Save it," she warned, dark eyes glinting. "I need your help with something." The two boys shared a raised eyebrows glance, then performed matching bows.
"You wish is our command, Miss Praetor," they sing-songed. Reyna licked her lips.
"How good are you two with wires…"
Had a dream I was king
Woke up
Still king
Set.
Drew surveyed the area. The white marble was gleaming, and the Romans were talking amongst themselves whilst the Greeks sat quietly in their assigned seats. She noticed a few people pointing at Jason's orange head and laughing. She could see no sign of wires running around the pillars, which either meant the Stoll's had performed their task fabulously or had skipped out on their duties. (In which case, there would be hell to pay and a Leo to seduce.) Just as she finished her casual inspection, the two praetors walked up the aisle way to their seats. Well, Reyna walked, Percy kinda tripped. She could hear snickers as the Romans settled down into their benches. After that, Drew tuned out all the boring court formalities, and Percy's retelling of his most recent quest. Of course he came back victorious, he was Percy- I'm- Fucking- Invincible- Jackson, it was pointless to listen. But Drew shook herself and positioned her folded hands so she could easily press the button concealed within a charm bracelet. Dear old Silena would be proud. Percy sat after finishing his tale, and Reyna rose.
"Now, we would like to invite Jason Grace forward to inform us what happened whilst he was… away at Camp Half- Blood," she announced. Two rows ahead and four seats to Drew's right, Jason gave Piper's hand a squeeze and began to stand up.
Go.
Drew pressed down on the button, hard. From what seemed like all four corners of the room, music blared.
I JUST HAD SEX,
AND IT FELT SO GOOD…
For a moment, everyone in the Senate House was frozen. Everyone but Drew and Reyna, who gave each other matching smirks. Then, the room exploded.
Jason flushed bright red, which clashed with his orange hair. The Romans all glared at him. The Greeks were all suppressing smiles, except for the Stoll's, who low-fived each other. Percy looked slightly uncomfortable, but also a little amused. He always could take a joke. Piper's mouth formed an 'o', and she immediately whirled around to glare at Drew. The Japanese girl simply wiggled her fingers and flipped her hair over her shoulders. She then pressed the button again and the room fell dead silent.
"Well, Jason Grace, if you are done making a spectacle out of a Senate meeting…" Reyna said in an icy tone. Jason bit his lip but continued to walk up to the front of the Senate. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Drew slammed down the button again.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD SEX?
I HAVE IT FELT GREAT.
IT FELT SO GOOD WHEN I DID IT WITH MY PENIS.
This time, the room didn't wait to react. The majority of the Greeks cracked up, while the Romans shook their fists and screamed at Jason. Reyna jumped to her feet. Drew immediately terminated the music. However, everyone was still exclaiming. Reyna strode to the front of the Senate, shoved Jason out of the way, and threw her arms apart, black eyes flashing. Every motion in the room stopped, and every eye was on the young praetor. The respect she commanded was palpable.
"Grace, if you cannot respect the tradition of the Senate, then I will have to ask you not to speak." Jason opened his mouth to protest, but Reyna sent him a glare and it slapped shut once more. "Now, I feel as though we have made enough progress for the morning. Let us break for lunch, and when we reconvene, I expect much better behavior from our Greek counterparts. Rome will not be mocked!" For a few moments after Reyna's proclamation, nobody dared to breathe. Then, they all stood and filtered out, nobody saying a word.
It not like you
To say sorry
I was waiting on a different story.
Finish.
Everyone from Camp Half- Blood met on the deck instead of having lunch.
"Why are we here? I was looking forward to pizza," Drew called out.
"Are you really so stupid that you don't know why we're here?" Piper hissed from her spot in the middle of the bunch. Drew rolled her eyes.
"I know why we're here, McClean, I just don't know why the fuck I had to miss lunch for it."
"We are all here, Drew, because if the Romans are angry, it concerns all of us," Annabeth responded.
"I don't think they're angry at us, I think they're angry at Jason," Drew pointed out. "And it's not like they called off the meetings."
"I don't know about you, but I don't like people with weapons angry at me," Jason retorted.
"Well, if you don't like it, why the hell were you a praetor? Besides, with that hairdo, they'd be mad no matter what. Anyone ever tell you orange was not your color, hon?" Drew rested one hand on her hip. Annabeth shot her a warning glance.
"I want to know who thought it would be funny to endanger the outcome of this war by playing inappropriate music at an inappropriate time," Annabeth made eye contact with everyone on the ship. To their credit, Travis and Connor kept impeccable poker faces. When Annabeth met Drew's gaze, she simply quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh please," Piper finally blurted. "We all know Drew had something to do with it."
"We do?" questioned a confused Will Solace.
"Apparently," Drew answered. "Now, why on earth would I do something like that, sweetcheeks?"
Piper blushed a bit. "Well… you've hated me since I got to camp."
"Not true. I made fun of you when you got to camp, and have since grown to hate you. Also, I don't really see how you were affected," Drew replied.
"Yes, Piper, Drew's right. What does this have to do with your feud?" Annabeth said. Piper now had a full-on blush.
"Nothing."
"Just what I thought. Honestly, you need to stop jumping to conclusions." Drew let a worldclassbitch smirk take over her flawless features.
After all, Drew always won.
Author's Note: Well, a sequel to Walls of Ice was requested, so here you go! Songs used, in this order, are: Bad The Cab, Better than Revenge Taylor Swift, Almost Bowling for Soup, Lighters Eminem, I Just Had Sex Lonely Island, How You Remind Me Nickelback.
Sorry for the extreme delay in posting! I had a super busy summer, and high school is loaded with homework. This is the last installment of this series-thingy, but I do plan on posting more Reyna/Drew stuff.