Reyna's POV
I stood at the prow of the boat (I swear I knew nothing of boats until I met Percy. Now I talk in boat terms. Joy). I wasn't the biggest fan of night- tactical disadvantage of limited vision and all that (and I was the daughter of the Sun god). But standing at the prow, the wind in my face, staring out at the horizon, I managed to feel calm. Or mostly calm. Normally, staring at the horizon always calmed me, ever since Jason and my first quest when we'd sat on that rooftop for a night, the only calm night of the entire quest, and the first time we were really friends.
However, Jason was now a subject which led to stress. We'd be friends for years, and, as often happens when your best friend is a member of the opposite gender; we were often mistaken for more than friends. I knew for a fact that the Venus bunker stayed away from Jason for fear of my wrath. We'd stopped really setting people strait a couple years ago, mainly because it just wasn't important (we were fighting a war). But during those years- I wasn't entirely sure we were just friends anymore. Neither of us had really cared, just gone on with our lives, and let what happened happen. But then Jason went missing and- especially after interacting with Percy and Annabeth, who seemed to be the Greek counterparts of Jason and I- I really just wasn't sure what I counted Jason as anymore. Not to mention his increasing amount of time spent with Piper, for which I found myself jealous. Friends shouldn't get jealous-
I shook my head as I realized I sounded like a daughter of Venus- probably from ninth legion or below. I needed rest for the battle; standing in the wind was hardly a practical use of my time. So I quickly made my way below deck and into my cabin- which I found empty. I assumed Annabeth was with Percy- and I knew where Piper was of course- so I ignored the silence, using it instead to my advantage as I drifted quickly off into sleep.
For the first time in a while, my dream was not normal. I found myself in a field with a flock of sheep and a shepherd in front of me- who immediately grinned when he saw me.
"Daughter sleeps restless
big battle is coming
I come to save the day."
However, the shepherd's smile then faltered.
"That was six syllables, wasn't it?" he asked, frowning.
"Father," I greeted, slightly annoyed that he appeared to be in a more Greek mood today- not that there was much difference between the two, Apollo was the most similar between his two forms.
"Shhhh," he replied. "I'm incognito. Call me Max."
"Max," I repeated.
"Exactly. Now, I need to tell you something," he informed me. "You need to get more in touch with your lighter side."
"My lighter side?"
"Children of Apollo- great guy, you ever met him?" he ended this question with a conspiratal wink. "Anyway, like Apollo, they tend to have both a lighter Greek side and a more serious Roman side. Most are pretty extreme to one side, but you've nearly killed the light- with encouragement from Lupa of course." His eyes widened, and he glanced over his shoulder.
"Yeah, that nasty wolf is stealing my sheep! Quick, Rainbow Princess Reyna, save my fluffy sheep from its clutches so the candy kingdom will be at peace!" I chose to ignore this sentence and hope he would never repeat it. "Anyway, if you don't figure out what your light side's telling you, Olympus will face a loss unlike anything we've experienced for centuries." Thunder boomed in my dream.
"Ah, look, the candy kingdom is in-" He realized he wasn't fooling anyone and instead he dropped his voice to a lower volume, speaking quickly. "Good luck Reyna, you'll do what's right. I'll see you later." Then, "Max the Shepherd" vanished.
-)(-
Jason's POV
After another hour, Piper went down to bed, since Leo and I could handle the ship without her, and we'd all need our rest come tomorrow.
"What's up with you and Piper?" Leo asked, staring at me curiously. "You put your arm around her, then you get angry with me for trying to hint the situation along?"
"Leo, it's…I'm not sure…well-" I now felt bad for questioning Percy about him and Annabeth. I wasn't sure how to explain my current situation.
"What, you like Reyna?"
"Uh… well we've been friends forever, and-" Leo rolled his eyes at me.
"Jason, stop dodging the question. You either like Reyna or you don't," he informed me with exasperation. I considered that statement. Did I like Reyna? Well, of course I did. She'd been my best friend for years. But did I like her?
"I… I don't think so," I replied. "But I feel differently about her than I do the rest of you guys…"
"What about Piper?"
"She and Reyna are different," I replied, not sure how else to explain it. "They-" I suddenly felt a strange tingle as though I was close to a large electrical source. I glanced around to look for thunder clouds but found none.
"What're the odds that something's short-circuiting?" I asked Leo.
"Short circuit? My ship? Jason, my ship will not short-"
"I was just asking, there's some massive electricity source nearby," I explained. Leo blinked.
"Are you just trying to change the subject?" Leo asked as I raced to the side to look for disturbances bellow us. Instead, I saw a cluster of tents- familiar looking tents.
"Leo, the Legion's down there," I announced, turning to stare at him. "What is the legion doing here?"
"How do you know those are Legion tents from all the way up here?" Leo asked, walking over the rail too. "And those tents aren't all the same."
"Those must be Camp Half Blood."
"What if it's a trick?" Leo demanded. I considered the point. It probably wouldn't be hard to obtain some tents that are in the Legion's style. But the electrical source-
"It's not, Thalia's down there," I replied. Leo sent me a skeptical look. "I can tell. We need to go see what they're doing."
"I'm not turning down an opportunity to hang out with your hot sister," Leo agreed returning to the helm. "I can land us; you want to wake everyone up?"
"Back in ten." With that, I raced down the stairs to the deck, then down the second flight to the cabins. I charged into Leo and Bobby's, giving Bobby a shove. He replied by trying to smack me in the side of the head, but I knew to duck so his blow glanced over my head.
"Don't wake me up like that," he grumbled as he pushed himself into a sitting position.
"On deck now," I replied, already headed for the door. "We've spotted a group of campers." With that, I moved to the next cabin, nudging Reyna awake.
"Wake up," I urged. She sat up immediately, nearly slamming her head into mine.
"What is it Jason?"
"We're landing, there are Legion tents bellow us."
"I'll be up in two," was her reply as she shoved me from the room and closed the door. I found myself standing in front of Piper's room, but I stopped with my hand on the door knob. I withdrew my hand and knocked on the door instead.
"Piper, we're landing," I called.
"Okay," she called back. I moved down to my bunk, puzzling over why I'd stopped myself from going into Piper's room. She's a girl, my brain replied. What if she wasn't fully dressed? So why hadn't I had the same problem with Piper? My thoughts were cut off when I noticed Percy wasn't the only one in his bunk- Annabeth was lying with her back to him, his arms wrapped around her waist. I instantly felt that I should not be here- regardless of the fact that both were thankfully still fully clothed.
"Uh-" I decided I still had to wake them up. "Guys, we're landing now."
"Huh?" Percy replied, lifting his head from Annabeth's as she began to stir
"We saw some Legion tents and some ones from Camp Half-Blood too," I reported as Percy released Annabeth, who was now also conscious.
"What're they doing here?" Annabeth demanded as they both got up. I shrugged and all three of us headed for the bridge.
