Lunch aboard the Argo II that day was simple, but a welcome and much needed respite for the entire crew. For Leo who had been cast off to Ogygia, it was great to see everyone finally back together and cracking jokes again while being scolded by Annabeth. Frank looked embarrassed and uncomfortable when they brought up the subject of this promotion, but everyone was more than happy for him, Reyna included. Piper, Jason, Nico and Hazel all enjoyed the fresh air after being trapped underground for so long. Even for children of the underworld, the two looked happy to see sunlight.
Annabeth and Percy, both let themselves finally breathe again after recovering most of their strength thanks to the ship's supplies. The daughter of Athena took the time with Percy to admire the statue of her mother in all its ivory and gold glory. They soaked in the fact that they were back, their mission to retrieve the statue complete and promises kept. Soon, Reyna came to strike up conversation with Annabeth while Percy went to join Frank and the others. He silently breathed a sigh of relief as he wasn't quite ready to face her.
Once everyone had caught up, they sat down to begin their next course of action over more sandwiches. It was agreed that the seven were needed at Athens to stop Gaea there and keep the old Olympus safe. Reyna was the one who needed to take the statue back to America, but without her Pegasus, there was no way for her to return, let alone with a structure as massive as the Athena Parthenos.
"The Labyrinth," Hazel suggested, explaining how Pasiphaë had reopened the subterranean maze. However, the idea was immediately vetoed out of concern from Percy and Annabeth. They reasoned that even if it was open, without a way to navigate it and no one in control, it would be suicide.
"I could go," Frank offered, trying to come up with ideas for transportation, but this time, Reyna was the one to dissent.
"No Frank Zhang," She said, giving him a weak smile. "I look forward to working together in the future, but your place is here. You are one of the seven of prophecy."
"But I'm not," Nico interjected. Everyone turned to the younger boy, his face dead serious. "I'll go with Reyna. I can take her and the statue via shadow travel."
"Are you sure?" Percy asked concerned. "A year ago, you said that just moving yourself was dangerous and that you ended up in China a few times."
"I've changed since Tartarus," He snapped back. "You of all people should know. I'll go in a few short jumps, but I'll need time to recharge in between. Reyna will need to protect me for that time."
Percy winced at the accusation. "Very well," Reyna agreed. "But I would feel better with one more person. Three is the optimal number for a quest."
"Coach Hedge," Frank blurted.
"Uh," Percy started, furrowing his brow. But Frank and the Coach made a solid argument.
He finally conceded and everyone was now in agreement over the plan. Seven to the east, three to the west. "Well!" Piper cut in, patting her cornucopia. "Now that that's settled, who wants dessert?"
When everyone had had their fill of magic desserts, most of the crew decided to head inside and rest up. Most of them were beyond tired, especially Frank whose arm was still healing and so decided to spend the afternoon recuperating before setting out at sundown. As Percy was about to head in as well, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Reyna behind him and he knew he could no longer avoid the inevitable conversation.
"Can we talk alone?" She asked. He nodded and moved to open the door to his room.
"Where do you two think you're going?" Coach Hedge asked, suddenly materializing by them.
Percy nearly jumped and screamed at the sudden appearance. This kind of thing really needed to stop happening around his room.
"You two," Coach continued, eyes narrowing. "Better not be getting off to anything suspicious."
It may have been the accelerated heart rate pumping extra blood, but Percy felt his face grow red at the implication. "No, Coach," He squeaked. "But we do need to talk. I promise, nothing is going to happen."
He looked back at Reyna who raised an eyebrow at him and he suddenly cursed his choice of words. Hedge nodded and began to walk away before turning back and pointing two fingers at his eyes. Percy sighed in relief before finally opening the door.
The room was almost exactly as he had left it. Someone had tidied up while they were gone, but otherwise, everything was in order. Bed neatly made, cupboards in order, bathroom clean, the nightstand, a little dusty, but easily remedied. He sat on the bed and watched as Reyna inspected the small space, he had called home over the journey.
"Not bad," She admitted. "A bit cramped, but everything proper and in order. I was expecting a bit more… mess from the son of a sea god."
"What can I say?" Percy shrugged. "Camp Jupiter made sure I was tidy and on time."
Reyna chuckled as she moved over to the nightstand, his folded purple and torn t-shirt still resting on top. She ran her fingers over it before turning towards the bed, taking a seat next to Percy. He glanced nervously at the shirt, then back to her, then down into his hand which were fidgeting furiously in his lap.
"You kept the shirt?" She wondered. "Why?"
"Do you need to ask?" Percy responded, running a hand over his tattoos.
Reyna shook her head. "No, I suppose not. Though I guess we match now."
Silence fell over the room as the two sat there. They both moved around awkwardly, unsure how or where to start. The afternoon sun shone bright through the windows, painting the wood and bronze golden in its warmth. Yet, the air hung like ice between the two demigods.
"Percy, I want to talk about us," Reyna finally blurted out. "I'm not going to ask what happened in Tartarus. I just…I want to know where we stand now."
He closed his eyes as the dread finally sank in. That was the question he was most unprepared to answer right now. Sighing, he ran his hands over his face several times, trying to find the words to tell her what he was feeling. The promise was kept, they were together again, but even though he liked her, he was afraid. That pit had shown him what he could do at his absolute worst. It had kindled every primal fear of disappointment, resentment and abandonment within him and put it on full display. Coming back, it felt like he had just left a movie theatre of all his worst hits.
"It's okay," Reyna assured. "Take your time. You made it back, so like I promised, I won't kill you."
That lightened the mood enough for Percy to crack a smile at her. He took one last breath and began to tell her everything that had happened on the way to close the Doors. After what felt like hours, both he and Reyna were in tears, grasping tightly to the other's hand for comfort. The golden light from the sun was beginning to fade as he finished recounting.
"Reyna, I like you," Percy finally admitted. "But right now, I'm broken and afraid that I'm going to end up hurting you."
"Percy Jackson, look at me," Reyna demanded, lacing their fingers together. He stared straight into her glassy black eyes and knew what she was thinking at that moment. They brimmed with absolute passion and confidence so fiery that something on his face must have changed because she was suddenly smiling at him.
"I also promised that I was done running," Percy said. "I want New Rome to be in my future, in our future. I want us to be together and I won't let you be alone every again."
"Good," Reyna said. "Because I want to be with you to. Now, I think there's something else you owe me."
"I'm not following," Percy replied confused. "But whatever you need me to do, I'll do it."
Reyna rolled her eyes at the puzzled boy before grabbing him shirt with her free hand and pulling him into a kiss. Percy smacked himself mentally for being an idiot, then closed his eyes as he felt her lips. The two melted into each other's arms as the sun began to dip below the horizon.
Night had finally fallen which meant it was the opportune time for Nico to depart with the others. The crew gathered above deck to see their friends off. Leo and Frank helped with undoing the fastenings that held the statue down while the others said their goodbyes. Percy thanked Nico for everything he had done after Rome but was mostly ignored by the younger boy. Reyna made her rounds thanking the crew for their hospitality and Coach Hedge did the same, giving everyone warnings about facing his bat if they did anything stupid while he was gone.
"Good luck in your journey," Reyna said, coming around to Jason and extending her hand. "May we both be successful."
"Gods bless us both," Jason agreed, shaking her hand, his demeanor shifting a bit. "Look, Reyna, about our time at camp… I'm sorry if I led you on. It was never my intention and coming back with Piper… I mean…"
Reyna quickly overcame her initial surprise and nodded. "There was a time when I wanted you. After Charleston…I felt like not having someone made me lesser, but Venus was wrong. I was always me and having someone to share in things with only makes me stronger."
Jason watched as she turned to leave, a weight lifted from him knowing that Reyna had been able to move on. He then looked on in surprise when she stopped to share a kiss with Percy before vanishing into the shadows of the night, statue, satyr and all. He shook his head to clear it and walked over to the love-stricken demigod, Piper joining him in ambush.
"Good luck," Jason said from behind, startling Percy. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a sad look as if his fate had been sealed. "You'll need it. It was an honor knowing you."
"What?" Percy asked, face now beet red, but Jason was already walking away shaking his head.
"Um, I didn't want to point this out earlier," Piper started. "But you have something on your neck."
She unsheathed Katoptris and allowed him to peer into the mirrored blade, the soft bronze glow illuminating a small red mark at the base of his neck. All the blood in his face from earlier had drained as his mind scrambled to come up with an excuse. Now Jason's words made sense. The entire crew was aware of it.
Hazel began fanning her face and turned to follow Jason to the cabins. Frank looked at her leave, giving Percy a confused smile and a thumbs up before catching up to her. Leo made less of a fuss about it than the others thought he would before he headed off to check on Festus. That left Percy with Piper and Annabeth, the former sheathing her blade and waving her hand in front of his unmoving face.
Annabeth chuckled at the man doing his best impression of the Athena Parthenos. "Oh gods," Piper whimpered. "I didn't mean for this to happen, I just thought he should know."
"Don't worry about it, he'll be fine," Annabeth assured her, walking up to Percy's stoic figure and slapping him upside the head. "Hope you learned your lesson Seaweed Brain."
She dipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small box, grabbing his limp hand and placing it in his palm. "What's that?" Piper asked.
"I had Leo rummage around for some makeup," Annabeth explained, then addressing Percy. "You might want to ask Piper for some advice applying that. Or keep some nectar or ambrosia for after you're done."
"No wait, it's not what it looks like!" Percy pleaded, snapping back to reality.
"Look, I'm glad you're doing better," Annabeth said, putting up her hand. "But I really don't need to know the details. Just…be safe. Come on Piper."
The two girls walked off, Piper mouthing silently 'I'm sorry' before they too disappeared into their cabins. Percy was left defeated on the deck, makeup kit in one hand and rubbing the mark on his neck with the other. Sheer embarrassment made him wish he were underwater a few thousand miles from anyone who had seen the bruise.
A sudden, intense wave of heat blasted him from the bow and his shirt spontaneously combusted. He frantically patted it out before turning to a surprised Leo and Festus, the mechanical dragon's jaw hanging in a look of shock facing him. "Sorry, just trying something out!" Leo yelled back, frantically rotating his bronze sphere. Percy grimaced as he to walked back inside. Yep, underwater sounded pretty good right about now.
Note: This will be the last chapter of the year. Thank you so much for reading/reviewing since the first upload in November. 8 chapters now and it's only been about a month. I'm looking forward to finishing this story up next year and working on a few more once this is done. Hope you all have a great New Years and may 2022 be better than this one.