Screams. Pain. Bloodshed. Murder. Death. These five things swirled in his mind. These were the only five things on his mind. His hands kept striking, he was warrior, a soldier. But what came with that was a killer. As praetor he had to keep his army in order. With that, he had to punish. Flashbacks came with that package. Marcus Barnes was charged with murdering two fellow centurions. Jason had sentenced him to be executed. He would never forget the begging for mercy, before the sword chopped. It still haunted him. Then there was the the siren. He was wearing ear plugs as he slaughtered the monsters, the look of sincere fear planted on that one youngling's face as he killed her. He had closed his eyes, so badly wanting to save the mermaid, but the sword stabbed her anyway.

The one fear he had was losing control. Not being able to stop. Medea, the eidolons, they all made his worst fears come true. One memory, he knew, would haunt him for the rest of his life. Black Lightning was a gift he developed early. But it had hurt his mother. Even at two, he knew he would never use it again. He still remembered throwing the tantrum, when Thalia had gone to school without him. He didn't want his mother; he didn't like her from an early age. Thalia was really the only one who took care of him. But then he had struck her. He struck his own mother.

She had gone into a coma. Thalia manipulated the mist to have the doctors say it was a drug overdose. They had stayed all alone together for almost a week. When his mother had come home and recovered, she had taken them on that picnic where she had abandoned him to the wolves. He never forgot that. Now that he had struck Nico, his heart ached with the hate for himself.

He was a killer. A murderer. He was a monster.

"Jason, look at me," Piper was there, and Jason was forced to look at her. "Don't do this, Jason. Snap out of it," Piper's eyes pooled with tears.

He dove at her, his knees scraping on the wooden floor, and hugged her hips, burying his face in her waist. He couldn't help but cry, soaking the fabric of her shirt. He didn't know how long they stayed there; the tears just kept coming.

"I've turned into a monster, Pipes," he cried.

"Jason, no." He could feel tears dripping into his hair. "Don't rip out your own heart by blaming yourself."

Piper dropped to her knees, tilting her chin to look at him. Her fingers came up to wipe away his tears, her thumb stroking the scar on his lip. She sniffed, more tears streaming down her face. Then he blinked, and took off his slightly wet and extremely smudged glasses. He pulled her face forward, so their foreheads touched. Their lips met, their tears mixing together.

"I love you," he breathed when they separated.

"Oh Jason, I love you to Olympus and back," Piper said, melting against him.

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"Yoo-hoo! Beauty Queen, Superman!"

Jason opened his eyes and grabbed his glasses. Piper squirmed against him, pushed herself to her feet. They were still on his floor; probably fell asleep. That happened a lot these days. Leo stood there raising his eyebrows, hands on his scrawny hips. His wide, brown eyes blinked, reminding Jason of an owl, though Jason doubted Leo could be described as wise.

"What, Leo?" Piper looked thoroughly annoyed.

"Annabeth wanted me to get-"

"Annabeth? Annabeth is here?" Piper squealed, grabbed Leo's face and kissed him on the cheek. Then proceeded to run out of the cabin.

"Was the floor comfy?" Leo wriggled his eyebrows as he grabbed his glasses, but Jason knew that he had figured out something had happened. After all, he most likely had gigantic tear stains on his face.

"Sure. Is Percy here, too?" Jason rubbed his eyes beneath the glasses.

"I though I was your best friend?" Leo clutched his hand to his heart dramatically.

"I never said he was my best friend," Jason said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, who is your best friend?" Leo asked.

"What if I said Percy?" Jason raised a blond eyebrow.

"Then I would say-" Leo started.

"Will you ladies stop cat fighting and give me a hello?" Thalia stood in the doorway, glaring at them both.

"Thalia!" Jason almost yelled, before running and scooping her up.

"Jason Perseus Grace! Put me down!" Thalia started beating on his chest, but Jason managed to give her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Hold on. Is your middle name Percy's actual name?" Leo started giggling.

"Yes. I happen to carry the name of the two greatest heroes of this generation," Jason stuck his tongue out at both of them. Immature, he knew, but he wanted a break from being mature for awhile.

"Hey!" Thalia and Leo said at the same time.

Jason took a good look at his older\younger sister. Technically, he was older than her now, but he liked to consider himself younger. She was shorter than he remembered, or maybe he was just taller. He wasn't going to miss a chance teasing her about, though.

"Dang, Thals, both my girlfriend and my sister are way shorter than me," Jason grinned when his sister glared at him.

"Shut up, Jason," Thalia grumbled before standing on her tiptoes to ruffle his hair.

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"Alright, Lightning Boy, what's going on?" Percy and Thalia had cornered him. There they were, in Cabin Three, literally in a corner.

"What do you mean what's going on? Most of my shrines have been built if that's what you're asking." Jason pretended to be confuse, though he knew it wouldn't work. He was a terrible actor.

"Jason, we know something's up. You not yourself," Percy crossed his arms.

"Are you eating enough?" Thalia pinched his cheek.

"I'm eating fine, Mom," as soon as those words left his mouth both Thalia and Jason winced.

"Look, Jason, after effects of a war don't only mess up the landscape. If there's something you need to tell us, then tell us for Poseidon's sake," Percy's tone was gentle, but it didn't help.

"You know I would," Jason offered, trying to wiggle out of a conversation he had been dreading.

"Alright, spill," Thalia plopped down on Percy's bunk, giving Jason a look that meant he would get hurt if he argued.

"What makes you think I have anything to say?" Jason smiled, his hands starting to sweat.

"Because I know you do, and you just said you would," Thalia pointed out.

"What's going on, Jason?" Percy gave him what Jason categorized as 'I'm-not-your-older-brother-but-I'm-going-to-pretend' look.

"Nightmares," he admitted softly. "Visions. Terrible visions of everything and anything. But there's been a new one. There's a new aura of power; that could either be a dream come true, or our worst nightmare."

Yes, yes. I know. It's short, but hey! At least it's here. Thank you for the two reviews. They made my day! However, I will not be posting a new chapter until I get at least five reviews on this chapter. So review!