After the Second Prophecy
Chapter Two: Duty or Love?
The next morning, Reyna woke up in tangled sheets. Her dogs snuffled and whined.
Reyna groaned. It was five in the morning, and the sun was rising lazily up the hills, turning the short green grass gold. Her curtains were buffeted by a warm spring breeze, blowing in the scents of jasmine and springtime.
Reyna staggered to the bathroom. She checked her reflection.
Yes, definitely the signs of a bad night's sleep.
Her hair was mussed, and her eyes were bloodshot. She slept in her old clothes, the one she wore to fight, so she had stained her bedsheets full of blood and monster goop. Her expression was oddly blank, as if waiting for something. She did not want the citizens of New Rome to see their almighty praetor like this.
Usually, Reyna didn't use the bathroom for showering. Sure, her bathroom was nice, with a shower stall and a bathtub, but she preferred to use the bathhouse. Seriously. Even Elysium couldn't beat the Roman bathhouses.
Reyna stuck a toothbrush in her mouth and turned on the shower into a full blast. The jets of water hit her so hard she nearly spat out the toothbrush. Reyna showered quickly, scrubbing the monster goop out of her hair and off her skin.
There was a knocking on the door.
"Wait!" Reyna yelled, trying to wring the soap suds out of her hair.
The knocking on the door increased in volume.
"Ack! I'm coming!" Reyna yelped, tripping over her own feet as she wrapped herself up in a fluffy towel. She groped around for a bathrobe.
The sound increased so much Reyna almost imagined her door bursting from its hinges. There was no time for the bathrobe.
Reyna staggered over, wrapped in nothing but a towel. Her dogs dashed ahead of her, making it harder than ever to maintain balance. For once, she was regretting waxing her floors the previous night. Wet feet on bare wax was like ice skating without the ice skates.
Reyna threw open the door.
"It's five in the morning, for the sake of it! What do you want?" Reyna demanded. She leaned on the doorframe, trying to hoist the towel higher. Her dogs whined.
Reyna glared at the...
"Oh, hey, Jason." Reyna said lamely, suddenly embarrassed.
"Hi," Jason replied, blue eyes bulging.
"Um..." Reyna shifted uncomfortably.
"Uh... I was about to say..." Jason looked even more uncomfortable than Reyna.
"Go on," Reyna used her frosty, state-your-business-now voice. Unfortunately, her frosty, state-your-business-now voice did not coexist well with dripping hair and a... oh my gods... a Mickey Mouse towel.
"Piper and I... we're going to Camp Half-Blood for a few weeks, and... just to let you know."
Of course, Jason wasn't silly enough to offer, "Why don't you come with us?"
If he did ask, Reyna would be torn between duty and personal feelings again.
"Oh, all right," Reyna tried her best to sound nonchalant.
"Great," Jason smiled hesitantly. "I'll be going, then,"
Reyna watched Jason saunter down the lane to the barracks. Frank and Hazel had moved into his old house.
Reyna closed the door and sat back on the couch, not really caring if she soaked the cushions. Reyna glanced out a window. Piper was running to Jason, arms out. Jason spun her around and they kissed, rolling on the grass. As they stood up, they walked hand in hand to the bakery where they came out again clutching expressos and chocolate muffins.
Reyna closed her eyes. Such fantasies were nothing but dreams.
When Reyna opened her eyes again, it was six forty-five. She'd actually fallen asleep.
Reyna leapt up, snapping awake. She dashed to the shower. Her hair had dried out, stiff and rough.
Breakfast began at six, but praetors were expected to be there at five-thirty. She was already late.
Reyna scrubbed her hair furiously, washing away every trace of blood. She managed to dress and run out the door at five fifty. After running a few paces, she remembered her dignity. She slowed to a brisk walk, hoping no one had seen her wild expression and flying feet.
It was almost six when she reached the Great Hall. Some centurions were already there, chugging down coffee and pastries. Dakota was swigging on his Kool-Aid. A trickle ran down his chin, giving him the appearance of a vampire. For the millionth time, Reyna was grateful Dakota wasn't addicted to wine.
"Sorry for being late. So, what's up today?" Reyna asked. She strode over to the Praetor's Table where Frank, Hazel and Gwen were looking at a map.
"We'll need to rebuilt several parts of the aqueduct. Polybotes wasn't too gentle with it," Hazel noted.
Frank grunted in agreement.
"We also need to take a look at Jupiter's temple. Porphyrion practically demolished it," Gwen said.
Reyna winced as she remembered the thunderous crash as Porphyrion flattened Jupiter's temple with his bare fists, roaring loud enough to make the ground shake.
"Basically, the village and barracks are a little scorched, but that's pretty much it, really," Frank finished. "Today, we'll all have to help out with the clean-up. The reconstruction will take maybe a week or two. With the help of Camp Half-Blood, we'll get the job done faster. The Hephaestus kids are pure mechanics. They can fix the aqueducts. The Athena campers, especially Annabeth can redesign Jupiter's Temple. The Demeter kids can help out with the lost greenery. After breakfast, we can begin,"
"Good job," Reyna was honestly impressed. Even though half of Camp Half-Blood would be leaving along with half of the Romans, the amount of manpower was more than enough to rebuild the ruined city. Frank's plan was brilliant.
"After breakfast, we'll count up how many people are left and we can get to work," Reyna said. "Those that are injured too badly can stay and recover. We can set goals for every project, and once the daily goals are completed, there can be training. The Greeks have certain methods that are pretty good. We can exchange techniques..."
"What?"
Octavian stormed into the Dining Pavilion.
"Reyna, are you mad? Letting the Greeks live with us is bad enough. Sharing our techniques with them... that's crossing the line!"
"Octavian..." Frank began.
"Zip it, you filthy Graecus scum!" Octavian snapped.
"You're calling me Graecus scum?" Frank demanded angrily.
A couple of Greek campers wandered into the Great Hall. When they heard "Graecus scum", their perplexed expressions turned furious.
"Who's calling us Graecus scum?" the leader demanded. She was a burly girl with wild hair and angry eyes.
"Clarisse, no one's insulting you," Hazel said, but Octavian cut her off.
"Yes, I'm calling you Graecus scum. You wanna see what a Roman is? You'd better get out of New Rome or I'll..."
Reyna clubbed Octavian over the head with her sword and glanced apologetically at Clarisse.
"I'm sorry, Clarisse. Octavian's a little tired after the battle. He keeps on seeing bad omens, but it doesn't matter, honestly. Just... forget we said anything, all right?" Reyna said.
Clarisse narrowed her eyes.
"I'll be back once that scarecrow wakes," she warned, jabbing a grimy finger at Reyna, Octavian, and then herself. She rudely grabbed a Dr. Pepper and stormed out the Great Hall.
Even though the two praetors didn't use words, their expressions were the same.
It was a close call. If the Ares campers were on their bad side... the consequences could be disastrous.
Sorry, guys. This chapter is a little boring. I'll try my best to make them more interesting.