Reyna was shaken awake. She oppened her palm and a shinning ball of light glowed and blinded Jason, who looked down at her.

"Jason- what..?"

"They're coming for you." He said. "Courtney betrayed you; she told them about your parentage. They totally forgot everything you've done and all the blood, sweat and tears you put it. They think you're the spy, and they're going to kill you. You have to run. I got Hazel to prepare a horse, and Bobby and Octavian are faking a prophecy and keeping them busy back in the senate- it won't last for long, hurry!"

He pulled her by the hand and she just had time to put on her chest plate, and tie her dagger to her waist. Jason dragged her out and into the night, and their hands didn't let go.

"You don't believe your friends in there? You don't believe Courtney." The name tasted sour in Reyna's mouth. She'd been betrayed. Again. Except this time it was so much worst, and it hurt so much more. If it wouldn't have been Jason telling her, Reyna wouldn't have believed it. Courtney was her friend, a half-blood who'd watched over them while they were still tiny, a consul or Rome and so forth. But it was Jason, and he was the one person she could fully trust had never lied to her.

"You're my friend," Jason said. "Since you're two. I don't care if your mother is fighting with the titans, you're fighting with us and I know it."

They got to the stables at the foot of Capitoline hill. Hazel was calming down a black stallion, holding him by the reins and stroking him. Reyna was pretty sure that Jason had dragged her away from the others to help free Reyna right after the council, while the Praetorian Guard and a few of the senators were going to her tent.

She saw Reyna and gave her a quick hug.

"Follow the Tiber River North, through the fields of Mars and then get to San Francisco. Find my uncle; tell him I sent you and that he mustn't sell you out for the world. He'll listen."

"Okay," Reyna said. She climbed onto the horse.

"Thank you so, so much." Reyna said. "But if you get caught, tell them where I am right away, I don't want you in trouble."

"Keep up Reyna!" Jason said. "We don't care about what they'll do to us, it's you that's important right now!"

"Don't worry about us," Hazel said. "We'll make something up, we won't tell them a word, and we're the only 2 that know exactly where you're going. Just worry about yourself."

"You're not a traitor and you don't deserve to be treated like one. And it's a shame you have your whole life." Jason said.

Reyna nodded and gave the horse a small kick in the flank, and he galloped out of Camp, down the river Tiber, snaking through a vast land of night and shadows.

The stallion galloped as fast as it could, and Reyna gritted her teeth. The Praetorian Guard. They'd sent the Praetorian Guard after her. Soldiers in purple clothes and armour, riding on the strongest and fastest horses Camp could offer. She knew Jason was in their ranks. They galloped after her and yelled to each other and for her to stop. Like she was a criminal. Like she hadn't helped Jason kill the Trojan sea monster earlier in the summer, like she hadn't trained harder than anyone, like she didn't care for the glory of Rome.

She turned around to look as the gap closed between them. She opened her palm and flames shot out, impaling themselves in the ground at the feet of the closest horses who reared on their back legs- but Reyna had made a point to go for the ground at their feet. She would not give them another reason to chase her.

A few horses jumped over or rounded the chaos and Reyna turned back in front. She was nearly out of the forest and then they'd had to be more careful with the mortals, but she wouldn't.

"Inretio!" She yelled pointing her finger backwards. A net flew out of her fingertips and it tackled one of the guards. Reyna realised that one of the last remaining of her pursuers was Jason. She couldn't use too much magic now, she'd gotten little sleep and it would be a stupid way to get caught. Pass out, fall of the horse, get dragged back.

She took one of the daggers from the 3 pouches on her belt –a 12th birthday present- and threw one. It caught the praetor that wasn't Jason in the shoulder with deadly aim and wicked speed, and he fell off his horse and rolled in the dirt.

"Jason keep after her! Don't let the traitor get away!" He yelled. Jason had no choice to disrespect that order. Reyna had to figure out a way to give him an excuse to get off her tail, but she would not hurt Jason Grace. That left out the knife… She had no choice, now. She was going to have to pray to any god still on her side that the effort of the magic wouldn't make her pass out.

She pointed 3 fingers out at Jason and Tempest, yelled a spell word and with that deadly speed and aim that Reyna Vivaldi had worked for, the spell reached Jason and Tempest and suddenly they both seemed to be moving in slow motion, like the frames of a movie were being passed slower and slower…

"Keep up!" Reyna yelled back as a few Praetors caught up to Jason. But they stopped; because they'd lost their prey and they knew it.

Hazel's uncle Jules had hidden her in the basement until she could figure out what to do, and he was doing a good job of keeping a black stallion hidden in his backyard.

Part of her wanted to go to Mount Othrys, to follow Jason and her friends up that mountain and to the palace of the Titans. She wanted to support Jason, Hazel, Bobby, Dakota and Gwendolyn as they acused Consul Courtney of treachery –which, Reyna had known since the night she'd been betrayed. She'd pieced together what Courtney was as she rode into San Francisco praying for the mist to hold, and she wanted to be accusing with her friends- bringing up the proof that only she could bring. She wanted to warn the legions that Courtney was a fake and that she'd destroy them from within. That she was working with the Titans, unlike herself.

But at the same time Reyna felt torn apart inside. So many times she'd let people convince her to put her guard down and let them inside, let them discover how she thought, how her heart beat and what she liked. And at the same time they discovered where her blind spot was, how to hit where it hurt and what tortured her inside. She couldn't even count the times that had happened on her fingers.

Time and time again, like the fates were picking on Reyna for fun.

Like Reyna was just a slow learner when she shouldn't be letting anybody in.

The closest people, it was always them. But she desperately wanted to let people in. Well, one person for the moment… She wanted to be close to one person, and she knew that that wouldn't happen because he was leading an army up Mount Othrys. And she was sitting here in a basement hiding from them because they thought she was a horrible person, a horrible roman… And they were going to be destroyed from within. That legion that Jason and Hazel and all her friends had killed themselves trying to train, that army, that nation that Reyna –whether they likes it or not- was a part of, all of it. Destroyed.

She got to her feet.

She'd be a traitor if she let them down now.

And Reyna was not a traitor- she was just someone who'd been hurt many, many times and wouldn't let it happen again.

Jason swung IVLIVS and a split-second before the sword met the golden orb, Reyna pointed her finger to the left. The orb zoomed out of harm's way, like it was connected to her finger by an invisible wire, a magnetic force or all those petty little mortal excuses for what the truth was, for what lied under their noses. Magic.

"What?" Jason said. "Common that's…"

"Problem Grace?" Reyna asked from the rock she was perched on. He turned to her.

"'Course not, Vivaldi." He said with a smug smile.

"Thought so." She said. "Keep up, then."

Jason swung again, Reyna pointed her finger and Jason missed again. Jason swung again, Reyna pointed her finger…

But Jason kept charging the magic orb and both of them trash-talked. But whatever Jason said and no matter how good his comebacks were, whenever his sword got anywhere close the orb skirted away like it was the opposite ends of magnets.

"Who's the fastest?" Reyna asked sliding off her perch. Jason rolled his eyes.

"You are." He said.

"And don't you forget it." Reyna said kissing his cheek. "You got close this time, though. I was nearly sweating on that rock."

Jason made a face, "Watch your back, maybe one day I'll be faster than you."

"Sure," Reyna said. "You can think that if it helps you sleep at night."

"Actually, what helps me sleep at night is the fact that I never will and that we'll always be able to come back here and try." Jason said. A warm feeling spread across Reyna when she thought Yeah; he's talking about me. Somehow I'm good enough.

This was their clearing. A place they'd discovered when they were 4 years old and had wiggled out of Lupa's eyesight. Now that they were 16 and high ranking Roman Soldiers, they were pretty sure that someone had already known about it, but they had been 4 year old explorers. What kind of 4 year old explorer has that logic? They'd called it Reyna and Jason's clearing, but it'd only become their clearing last summer.

It was a bit more of the beach that gave out to a cove, the forest in which Camp Jupiter was camouflaged behind them. There was a beautiful view of the sunset there in the evening, a front row seat to the sky turning all sorts of colors that didn't seem to belong.

"So you like it here?"

"'Course I do. Only place nobody says anything if I do this." He said kissing her cheek. That got a smile out of Reyna.

"Well there's me, but it can't be too hard on you to hear 'I love you'." Reyna said. Jason laughed.

"You're right, I actually like it," Jason said. "I love you too."

Jason slid to the floor, one leg extended in front of him, IVLIVIS at his side and his back to the rock. Reyna sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulders, and they watched the sunset with him. Why? They didn't know. They didn't care about the sun much. Maybe it was just a moment of calm, which they never got if not this one. Maybe it was just watching the sun set and thinking 'one more day of training done, a million more to go' and knowing that they'd be here for a long time, training and fighting and living.

He passed his fingers through her long dark hair and Reyna completely relaxed. The burdens of her dreams, her legion, her fights with some other praetors and the worry that came with the gods being even more silent; all brushed away. Just like that. Being with Jason was like magic for her; and Reyna knew all about magic.

"You know, you're completely different when you're here. When it's you and me and not you and the world." Jason said.

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked.

"You're a funny person, and you're so much less…"

"Less what? Harsh? Scary? Violent? Lethal?" Reyna said throwing out various adjectives.

"Yes," Jason said.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Reyna asked.

"I don't know," Jason said. "I love you either way. Remember, Vivaldi? Keep up." Reyna gave him a little shove.

"I guess… I guess it's because the Son of Jupiter doesn't believe the 'minor' in 'minor god' as much everyone else. I guess it's because I can afford to be softer around you." Reyna said.

"You know that nobody thinks you're weak, right Reyna? Most of them are Styx-scared of you. Most of them wouldn't dare defy you; a lot of them actually admire you."

"I'm not taking the risk," Reyna said.

"But you'll run into the monster-infested woods with no armour."

"Yes," Reyna said. "Keep up Ben Franklin."

Jason rolled his eyes at her stupid nickname for him. Lupa should never have sent them to middle school, even for just a year.

"Either way, you're perfect Reyna Vivaldi."

Reyna got into Percy's face.

She had had to quiet down the whole of legion 12 who had acted up about this 'Son of Neptune', even defying her orders for silence! That was a first, and with a little luck it'd be a last. She'd put Alexanne Lécuyer in charge seeing as Frank and Hazel were busy with the new boy, left, had to swat away questions from other legions since the wood nymphs always ensured that news spread like wildfire, and her unforgiving mood had been even worst since December.

She was not happy, and he was a loudmouth.

"Son of Neptune, I am asking the questions right now, and you will kindly shut up. I've climbed mountains, dodged avalanches, worked until I couldn't feel my arms and that my chest felt so tight I could barely breathe to get to this point. You don't hit me as an idiot Percy Jackson, so I hope that you know that I have 50 ways of killing you right now if you underestimate, undervalue or don't pay your respect to me- as I do to any demigod who messes with me no matter who they think they are. Is that clear?" Reyna said.

Percy didn't answer and gave her that stuborn blank look that he'd been sustaining, and Reyna had to lock her jaw.

"One more time. Where is Jason Grace?"

"I have nothing to do with that!"

"Don't lie- yes you do!"

"Is that why you think you know me?" Percy snapped. Reyna bit her lips and starred poison-soaked daggers at the Son of Neptune.

"I've had dreams. Each one about you. Each one bad news. One of them showed Jason Grace at a place that goes by the name on the shirt you're wearing. You know it exists, I know it exists, and so do the gods. If you won't tell me, I'll just kill you and let Pluto judge your punishment for abducting a consul of Rome and his entire legion."

"I didn't do any of those things!" Percy repeated.

"Then who did? Where is he? Do you know someone who would have done this to him- if not you?"

"Look, you can ask me 40 times, I still won't know!"

"I know that you have something to do with this, so if you do know and you're trying to make a fool out of me- than gods help you." Reyna said.

"I'm not trying to make a fool out of you."

"Anything or anybody at that camp you can tell me about?" Reyna asked.

"No," Percy said a little too quickly.

"Want someone to jog your memory?" Reyna was sure that Percy was imagining running around tracks with her flinging knives at him until he collapsed- which might work, but wasn't the plan.

So Reyna leaned in and kissed him.

It was only a peck but Percy's mouth filled with the taste of gingerbread.

Percy was pretty much in shock and confused, and Reyna was still looking at him like her plans for him included daggers.

"Any help? Good. So you're sure there's nobody at this Camp Half-Blood?" She asked.

"Annabeth." Percy said. His eyes sprawled and he felt like slapping himself. He hadn't been planning on sharing the information, it'd just slipped out.

"A girl called Annabeth, hmm? Guess I shouldn't have kissed you then. What about her?"

"Only her face. Only that I've known her for a long time and that I…" Percy caught himself at that one. No way, no way in Hades was he going to admit to this girl that he-

"Love her." Reyna said. It was more of a declaration than a question. He tensed, but couldn't deny it, and Reyna seemed to soften –maybe just a little- and then hardened again.

"Do you want to hurt somebody?"

"No! Of course not!" (although he wasn't liking Reyna so much).

"This camp?"

"No. Don't you want to butcher me?"

"Quiet, I'm the one interrogating. You can talk when you have my job- and that won't happen." Reyna said, "Do you have the Aquila?"

"The what?"

"The Aquila."

"I don't even know what that is." Percy said, completely confused with the Roman and Latin terms flying out of nowhere.

"Have you met Juno before?"

"Yes-no-maybe-I don't know."

"That wasn't a yes or no, but I'll let it go." Reyna said. "I don't like the fact you're here. I have a feeling it'll just cause trouble and we don't need any more of that. I'm watching you, you better swim quick, or I will personally make sure you sink- Son of Neptune or not."

She walked out on him, but turned around with a hand on the doorframe.

"Oh, and that kiss? Don't take it personally; it was a confusion charm. I'm a daughter of Trivia after all," Reyna said, opening her palm to black flames that climbed her arm up to her shoulder. "It helps everything slip out."

The flames died and she disappeared, leaving Percy alone in the Principia.

Hazel caught her friend's arm on their way out.

"Reyna, what did he say?"

"He doesn't remember anything." She said.

"Why? Did you kill him?"

"I didn't kill him!" Reyna said. "He's amnesiac or something. Has no memories. Stolen by Juno, he says. Look, he's bad news but he's the only chance we have at finding Jason and I'm not giving it up for the world."

"Rey…" Hazel said with pity in her eyes. "You do know that he's been missing in action for months. That now he's presumed dead?"

"He's not dead!" Reyna insisted. "I can feel it! My dreams aren't dreams! There's something not right about this Percy Jackson, Jason is still alive, and that's the truth! You've got to believe me."

"Reyna, you could be creating the dreams by magic." Hazel suggested. "Out of something you want really badly, you've done it before."

"But I'm not! And Jason aside, he doesn't want to hurt any of us. I don't see why we would kill him. He's powerful. I don't like him, but he can be trained." Reyna said. "I'm not giving up on Jason. He didn't give up on me when they called me a traitor and he helped me escape. I won't give up on him."

"Reyna, this isn't the same thing." Hazel said.

"Show the son of Neptune Camp, will you? Explain to him what we're dealing with, while you're at it." Reyna said so she'd stop talking.

"Yes Reyna," Hazel said.

Reyna walked alongside Jason, her hands in her jacket pockets and her eyes targeted to the forest floor as she listened to Jason talk. Since the Argo II had landed the weather had been cold and rough. It felt like a reflection of inside Reyna right now.

Except Reyna's problem wasn't Khione, it was another girl with a different name.

"So that's it then?" She said. "You forgot me but there was another pretty face when you found out, and she's just more important."

"Reyna, it's not like that." Jason said.

"It's exactly like that!" She protested. "Jason, doesn't it matter to you, what's been happening over here?"

"Of course it does, it's my home."

"And I thought I was your friend. I thought I was your girlfriend."

"Reyna-"

"Obviously that wasn't it. You wouldn't have gotten rid of me so quickly if it were real. You wouldn't have gotten rid of me, period. Now I wonder; did you ever mean it when you said 'I love you'? Did you ever mean it when you called me strong, or beautiful, or amazing?"

"Of course I did!"

"Then what happened?" Reyna said. "You know me Jason! Since we're two years old! I thought… I thought I'd mean more to you than that, that I'd have to really screw up for us to ever be over. I thought that at least [i]you[/i] wouldn't lie to me, especially not when you said 'I love you'."

"I wasn't lying."

"Then you didn't know the truth. When you love someone, you don't just leave them behind! You don't let go easily and you don't just cast them aside when someone else comes along. Even I've got that figured out, Jason. Even I know that. And so do you and I know it because I know you better than anybody. Inside out and left to right, so why are you completely throwing it aside?"

Jason had no answer for a minute.

"Reyna I'm-"

"You're not sorry, Jason. And I'm just sorry I let myself get lied to again. I'm sorry I let my guard now for someone- even for you. Go, find Piper, happily ever after, the end." Reyna said.

She could feel the sadness and anger take control of her. She knew it shouldn't, that she was praetor of the twelfth legion and she was above that, but her heart was cracking open and her demons were flying out from their prisons.

"Rey-" Jason tried to touch her arm.

"Don't call me that, don't talk to me, leave."

And she ran away.

Of course she was faster, so she would've beaten him, even if he would have been running after her. Even if he would've ran after her to try and catch her...

Reyna hugged her knees to her chest and let her head drop to her knees. Annabeth was at her left, Hazel at her right- the two only people who'd come looking for her and succeeded.

Annabeth was who Reyna really wanted to see.

"Reyna, what's wrong? You can tell us anything." Hazel said. Reyna sniffed, took a deep breath, and looked at Annabeth.

"How does it feel?" She asked, "To have him back?" Annabeth understood and the energy seemed to sap from her.

"Oh Reyna…"

"How does it?" She insisted.

"Wait, what, I don't understand?" Hazel said. Annabeth ignored Hazel (for now) and put an arm around Reyna.

"It'll be okay." She said.

"How does it feel?" Reyna insisted. Annabeth hesitated.

"It feels glorious. Like everything is back at its place, but of course it's not. It feels like I'm all there again, I can concentrate and fight and sleep better. Like everything has been out of tune for the last few months but we're okay now," she said. "I feel okay now."

Reyna knew it was true. Percy had trained well into keeping his emotions under check over the last few months, but the smile he gave Annabeth when she was around was priceless.

"Why do you ask?" Annabeth asked.

"So I know what to dream of tonight." Reyna said, a black tear silently gliding down her cheek.

The crew of the Argo II gathered in the woods, near the signal oak. The big tree as old as the Empire with wooden arrows that pointed to Camp, the Tiber and the Docks. The crew -all seven of them- were going to the Docks today. They were going on a boat to go kill Terra or Gaia.

She saw Frank, by far the biggest silhouette with a bow and arrow swung over his shoulder. Hazel's curls swayed in the wind and she wore khaki shorts and a blue t-shirt, her sword at her side. Annabeth had tied her hair up and she held onto Percy's hand, who wore a brand new camp shirt they'd brought for him. Leo Valdez had his tool belt on as he starred in the direction of the Docks, looking at his boat from afar. Jason's arm was around Piper's shoulders and her head was on his shoulder, comfortable, relaxed.

Reyna swung back to the other side of the tree and pushed her head back, squeezing her eyes shut. She kept doing it to herself. She'd been told once, 'Your heart will be broken enough without you having to do it yourself', but she just couldn't seem to stop. She let people in; they broke everything, and went back out. They rode off in the sunset on white stallions leaving her lying on the floor. And then she'd close shop, put up her walls, and end up letting it happen all over again. The fates were sending her a pattern, and Reyna just couldn't keep herself isolated, she couldn't learn to be alone, she couldn't keep up.

"I love you either way. Remember, Vivaldi? Keep up." He'd said.

Her tears squeezed through her shut eyelids and Reyna collapsed, because she couldn't keep up with this whole 'love' thing, she couldn't keep up with people around her changing and morphing as she took in their features, and she couldn't keep up with when it was time to slow down, and let them run ahead.

And this time, Reyna swore to herself; she wouldn't even try to keep up anymore