The Roman crowd gathered before the landing warship, following their newly promoted praetor into the field. Percy looked up with a smile as wide and bright as the sun, his arms wrapped around Hazel and Frank. The young girl stared at the ship in anticipation, knowing that her Sammy could be on board, back after 70 years. Frank seemed more uncomfortable, but that was likely due more to his large size fitting uncomfortably under Percy. Though, perhaps the pseudo-cannon fire launched by Terminus at the Greek ship was of greater concern.
Thankfully, Annabeth and Jason had managed to talk down the armless statue and struck a deal not to cross the Pomerian Line and remain airborne while they rappelled down into the forum, unarmed of course. Percy and Annabeth embrace before the former finds himself flatly on his back, the air knocked out of his lungs. He laughs it off before returning to excitedly greeting the other members of Camp Half-Blood both new and old.
In the crowd, almost too scared to move forward, stands Reyna, eyeing her former colleague Jason with the daughter of Aphrodite. Slowly, she begins making her way past the legionnaires and citizens until she stands before the encirclement of Greek campers around Percy. Her mouth felt dry as she opened it to greet their visitors.
"Jason Grace, my former colleague…I welcome you home and these, your friends, welcome to New Rome," She uttered as formally as she could muster. It felt like the weight of the world has simultaneously been lifted from her shoulders and doubled.
Jason cleared his throat to subdue some of the raucous noise of the campers. "So yeah…it's good to be back."
He continued with introductions of the Greek campers starting with Leo and Piper, the latter of whom Reyna could have gone without knowing. Leo flashed her a peace sign which puzzled Reyna as she did not have a proper response to such a casual greeting. Well, at least not one that would suit her position.
"And this is Annabeth, daughter of Athena, but I guess you already knew that…" Jason started. "Uh, she usually doesn't judo-flip people."
"Nice to meet you Annabeth," Reyna said extending her hand. "If I didn't know better I would say you have Roman blood in your veins. Or Amazon."
"Well, the Hunters of Artemis did try to recruit me if that counts," Annabeth replied, returning the gesture. "Pleased to meet you."
"It seems we have much to discuss," Reyna noted.
The next thing both sides knew, they were sitting down to a proper Roman feast in the forum (prepared unhappily by Octavian at the praetor's order) as wind spirits shuffled food and plates around in a literal whirlwind. Together, both parties relayed their stories, Jason to represent Camp Half-Blood and Percy to represent Camp Jupiter. Surprisingly, these two leaders seemed to get along rather well, though the opportunity to gang up on Octavian helped.
Prophecy and foreboding lingered in the air, talk of the giants, Thanatos and the trip to the ancient lands did not help with the atmosphere. Reyna did her best to maintain her composure, but inside was a whirlwind of emotion. Jason was back but with Piper, Percy had turned her down due to his memory loss at the time and on top of the three praetor issue, there were giants and immortal armies marching on the Old World to uproot the Olympian gods. Great. The breaking point was when Jason had asked her permission to show Piper around the grounds. Reyna gave him her consent but turned away quickly so as to hide the pain and hurt those words had caused her.
On her way out from the tables, she ran into the daughter of Athena. Swallowing it all back down again, she knew she had a duty to complete. She took Annabeth to the Garden of Bacchus where she revealed the story of the deranged child of Athena that had made his way to Circe's spa years ago. Though the air was heavy, it had been nice to walk, grab hot chocolate and have a chat with the Greek girl. She respected and appreciated their culture and architecture more than Reyna would have expected and on top of that even remembered the girl from her brief stay at the spa all those years ago. It was almost enough to put a smile back on her face. Almost.
"Percy is very lucky to have someone like you," Reyna said, once again offering her hand. Annabeth shook it firmly offering her thanks and asking permission to look around the area.
She left Annabeth in the Garden to admire the architecture as she returned with Aurum and Argentum to her quarters to brood. This was not a good day and she was tired of trying to keep up the façade for her colleagues. Unfortunately, her day was not about to end quite yet and a certain son of Poseidon was to blame. Percy was waiting for her still in his formal attire and clearly having a better go of things than she was. That was annoying, especially with that ridiculous grin on his face when he saw her and waved her over. Cursing silently, she began to trudge over to where he was standing.
"Hey, I was waiting for you," Percy said with a smile. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Jackson," Reyna started, regaining her composure. "What did you need?"
"You haven't seemed like yourself today, I wanted to make sure you were all right. Do you want to walk and talk about it? I mean you don't need to if you don't—"
"No, it's fine," Reyna sighed, her shoulders dropping slightly. "Thank you for your concern but I think I've had enough walking for today. Let's head inside and talk."
Reyna gestured them inside, her metal dogs finding their spots to curl up, keeping one eye open just in case something were to happen to their master. They moved further in past the foyer and she motioned for him to have a seat at the small white dining table while she gathered up some stray items. Not that her place needed much cleaning. The legion training had drilled disciplined daily cleaning into her routine which impressed Percy whose ADHD kept tidiness at bay back home.
"Get you something to drink," Reyna asked, motioning to an assortment of beverages she kept stored. She noticed Percy's look as her stock was a bit more extravagant than the normal camper. "Ah some of the perks of being praetor."
"I'm alright, thanks," Percy nodded. "Uh, so—"
"I'm fine Jackson," Reyna said cutting him off again. She took a seat with a cup of water across from Percy. "Really, I…It's ok. But it must be nice for you. Seeing your friends again after so long. It must be a reward from the Fates."
"It…has been nice, yeah," Percy said, choosing his words carefully but a wistful smile graced his lips. "Everyone is just like I remember – now that I do, y'know? But the new guys to. Leo, Coach Hedge, Piper…Jason."
Percy almost winced. He knew he had tread somewhere dangerous with the last name, but it was what he had wanted to confirm. He knew about Reyna and Jason, or rather, the one-sided affection that Reyna had for the son of Jupiter. He may also not be the brightest, but it didn't take a massive intellect to figure out that Jason was involved with Piper. As soon as the two were off the ship, it had become clear to Percy that seeing Jason like that had shattered Reyna's hopes. Looking at how she acted in the forum and at lunch he was more than certain that she was less than pleased, especially when Jason had asked her if he could tour Piper around New Rome. Percy scoffed mentally at how dense Jason was. No way could he relate to that.
"Reyna, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have," Percy tried, but was instantly shut down once more, this time by an angry Reyna.
"You're right, you shouldn't have. This is my business. Not yours Jackson. Now, if that's all you have to say, please leave."
"Reyna, I know how you feel, and I wanted to make sure you're okay. You're my friend and my fellow praetor. I want to be there if you need my help. We're stronger together."
She lost it at the word praetor. All the emotion she had kept down throughout the day came rushing to the surface all at once. All of the anger, sadness, regret and loss exploded as she stood from her seat, slamming her fist into the table. Reyna stared Percy in the eyes with loathing, barely holding back tears as she prepared to give him a piece of her mind.
"We are not friends Jackson. You may have earned my respect but no more than that. As for praetor, that is simply a temporary position that you will relinquish soon. You do not know how I feel and I don't need the sympathies of a taken man who has turned me down once already. Unity only gets you so far in life. Sometimes you have to just grow up and take matters into your own hands by yourself. Sure you may have friends who fight beside you in the legion but at the end of it all we die alone," Reyna glowered, venom in her stare. She felt like a weight had been lifted but at the same time her gut twisted horribly, and her blood ran cold. Percy didn't deserve the verbal lashing she had directed at him but there was no one else and he had provoked her into it.
Reyna sat once more to compose herself, taking a deep inhalation and letting it out before speaking again. "I'm sorry. That was unbecoming of me. You know why I'm upset, and it wasn't fair of me to bring your relationship into this. Annabeth is wonderful and you deserve each other."
Percy was a bit taken aback by the sudden outburst but quickly gathered himself quickly once Reyna had calmed back down. Years of training and hardened combat experience had taught him how to recover quickly. Still, her words had hurt as deeply as she had meant them to. The two sat in silence for a moment, waiting for something to happen. Aurum and Argentum poked their heads into the room to check on their master. Reyna's knuckles were white as she gripped her cup under the tense atmosphere.
Finally, Percy broke the silence as he sighed into the heavy air. "Reyna, maybe you don't feel the same way, but I do think of you as a friend. I know you had your heart set on Jason and I know you're disappointed. I also know that exact feeling…because…I felt the same way about Annabeth."
His shoulders slumped as he spoke those words. She looked at him in surprise. Surely, he couldn't mean what she thought he meant. After all, the way the two had embraced when they saw each other, the way Annabeth had spoken about him at the Gardens. No, certainly not. Yet Reyna held her breath, waiting for him to speak again. Despite everything she said, he was still here as a friend and colleague opening his heart up to her on a silver platter.
"I told you that I fought with Kronos but that isn't the full story," Percy said.
Reyna moved forward in her seat, the light in her eyes softening. She felt her hand being to raise but caught herself. "We have time."
Percy nodded and began to tell her of his history. How he had met Luke and Annabeth, how he had been welcomed into the Hermes cabin and taken care of by the older demigod. He spoke about how Luke had betrayed them, how he had poisoned Thalia's tree, placed them under Atlas' curse and finally been consumed by the Lord of Time after fortifying his body in the Styx. Reyna tensed a bit when he mentioned Thalia but let him continue. Finally, she understood more about the son of Poseidon and the kind of pain and tragedy that had shaped both their lives.
"When we met at the Empire State Building, sure we fought, but it wasn't on equal ground even with us both carrying the curse of Achilles," Percy continued, clearly becoming more emotional as he dug up more of the memory. "A Titan versus a demigod isn't much of a match to begin with, but he could never tire, and I was nearing my limit. There was no way I could have finished him—and I didn't. Luke did. He grabbed back enough control to finish the job himself. He was a true—a true hero."
His voice had cracked at the end and he was nearing tears as his own emotions surfaced. It felt like he was holding back a tidal wave, but at least that was familiar and within his control. Gods, Percy wished that he could command his feelings like he did the waves. On top of that, Reyna had said nothing the entire time. She had let him speak, listening intently as if she understood the kind of pain and trauma that had defined him.
"After the battle, gods it was the hardest goodbye. But what hurt almost as bad as losing a comrade was seeing the look in Annabeth's eyes. I knew that something had died with Luke and right there I knew that whatever I may have felt for her, she wouldn't feel the same way about me. So no, we aren't together."
Percy sighed; his story finally done. He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands on the table. During the time, the sun had dipped below the horizon, its warmth and light leaving with it. A few magic lights and torches triggered to illuminate the room, changing the white marble to a creamy orange-yellow hue. Reyna stared at him intently, hands still around the cup not saying a word. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation and Reyna was not giving off any indication on her feelings towards him. It didn't help that her eyes felt like lasers drilling into his soul.
Finally, Percy decided that enough time had passed and that nothing more would come from him staying. He didn't want to antagonize Reyna any further either, so he began to stand. "Uh, I think I made things a little too uncomfortable, maybe I should go—"
"No don't," Reyna said, quickly standing with him, her hand on his wrist before she could think about what she was doing. "Stay, please. I'm—I'm sorry about how I acted. I know it isn't an excuse but I didn't know and you have proven yourself more than worthy of the legion, your title and your service."
As he moved to return to the chair, everything began to go wrong. First were the explosions, then the fire, then the screams both from the Roman campers and the lares cursing the graecus for betraying their trust. The world felt like it was spinning around Percy except for the hand that was keeping him there. Unfortunately, it clicked in his head that he was now at Reyna's mercy should she find him guilty. Her dogs were already on high alert and though he knew he was innocent; someone was at fault for this.
"Reyna, we need to go and make sure people are okay," Percy said, trying to reason with her. She tightened her grip around his arm and stared him down, her expression darker than before. "Please, I don't know what's happening, but people are in danger."
"I believe you," Reyna said firmly, still not releasing him from her grip. "But someone from your side has done something to harm my camp. You said you would fight with us if it was a trick. Are you going to honor your word or leave us?"
She didn't have to say it; he could hear what she meant. You're going to leave me. Chills ran through him. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that he would stay by her side and show the Romans that things were going to be alright. He closed his eyes and turned his head away. The Fates had a different plan, and he had a prophecy to fulfill. He hated that this was his life, always pulled away from friends and family because some long-gone force wanted to see the end of all things.
"Reyna, I can't fight with you now. Something tells me that it's time to go. There's a prophecy that needs completing and a world to keep turning," Percy said through gritted teeth. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes and see the betrayal on her face. "You can either let me go or fight me here and force me to stay. But I promise, I will come back when this is all over. I give you, my word."
Suddenly, he felt a strong tug on his wrist, enough to make his body fall forward into the table. He caught himself with his other hand, the water in the cup splashing out and onto the floor. Reyna grabbed the collar of his purple shirt and Percy braced himself for whatever injury was coming his way. But it never came. Soft lips pressed against his and the world seemed to melt away as the hand that gripped his wrist moved to caress his face. As quickly as it happened, Reyna pulled away.
"Go. I will do what I can, but you know Octavian will use this to rally the camp to him. We can talk about this later… just… promise me there will be a later. Swear on the Styx that you will come back to me."
"I swear on the Styx," Percy muttered in stupor. Thunder rumbled, sealing the deal between them and snapping Percy back to reality. "Thank you, Reyna."
"Be safe Percy," She replied as she watched him leave towards his destiny. Her heart sank, momentarily unsure if she had made the right choice. She shook off the feeling and steeled herself. They would meet again, no matter what.