Chapter 4

"Told you we would see him again" Hazel boasted

Reyna gave her a look "This is hardly the time Hazel"

The two women looked down at their unconscious friend,

"What happened to him? He looks like a beaten tramp" Hazel asked kneeling down to take a closer look "Smells like one too"

"I don't know but he was brought by Moneta" Reyna paused when Hazel's eyes looked back up at her in disbelief "She is collecting her favour, but first she said we had to fix him" she gestured to Damien

"How do you suppose we do that?" Hazel asked "Is he just drunk?" she asked when the smell hit her nose

Reyna thought for a moment before looking towards her bathroom "Well… I have one idea" Hazel followed her gaze and nodded

Together they dumped him into the walk-in shower in Reyna's en-suite, they had managed to get his dirty jacket off but Reyna thought it wasn't right to undress him further, Hazel stepped back as Reyna turned on the cold water on full. There was a moment of silence before Damien twitched under the icy shower, then he gasped and tried to lunge forward but Reyna leapt towards him and held him under the water, strong hands wrapped around her wrists as he tried to pry the hands off of him

"Damien!" Reyna called over the water "Damien it's okay, it's Reyna, just stay under the water for a little while"

Damien shook his head and blinked through the downpour at Reyna, his eyes widening in what looked like fear, his body went ridged as he stared straight at her.

"You're gonna be okay" she tried to sound reassuring but the look in his eyes made her feel unsure.

There was a long silence, the only sound was the water falling, Damien and Reyna still kept their grip on one another, watching each other

"Reyna?" he said quietly, water getting in his mouth

"Yes it's me" she moved a hand to push the soaked hair from his face, revealing his golden brown eyes, they had a red tinge to them, probably due to whatever he had been drinking

"No… no I can't do this again" he released her and tried to back away, but Reyna held on and was pulled under the showers water "I can't"

Reyna shivered from the sudden chill of the icy waters "Damien calm down, it's okay"

"Why do you keep torturing me like this?" he demanded, but he did not seem to direct it at Reyna "Leave me be"

"Damien… no one is going to hurt you, you are safe here" she vowed trying to pull his attention back to her "You're safe with me"

"This isn't real" Damien muttered to himself, he continued to shake his head "Not real"

Reyna reached up and shut off the water, she took her hands and moved them so she held Damien's face, forcing him to look at her

"Damien this is real, you are at Camp Jupiter" she said commandingly "You are here with me right now and I need you to snap out of it" she slapped him hard enough to leave a red mark

He gasped and moved his head back hitting it on the wall hard, he blinked rapidly and looked at Reyna, this time it was like he could really see her

"Reyna" he touched her face gently "This isn't a dream?"

"No Damien" She said revelling in his warm touch, she looked him up and down, taking in his tatty clothes and over grown hair "What happened to you?" she asked concerned

Damien smiled at her weakly "It's been a long 10 months" he looked down at his soaked clothes "Got any spare clothes? Preferably not purple" he attempted to joke with a small smile, but his eyes still held uneasiness

Reyna returned his smile "I will get you some new clothes, you take a proper shower then we will talk"

"Yer, you stink" called Hazel as she moved into the other room "And get rid of that hideous beard"

Damien kept his eyes on Reyna "You got a razor?" he asked, but his eyes just watched her still uncertain if what he was seeing was real

Reyna grabbed him what he needed and left him in the bathroom, closing the door behind her, she listened to the door for a moment

"So what was that about?" Hazel asked as she had made herself comfortable, reclining on Reyna's bed

"I don't know" Reyna said sitting next to her, she exhaled "I really don't know, maybe it is a side-effect of being transported by Muses"

"Or maybe him being absolutely smashed?" Hazel looked at her with a slightly worried expression "He looks like a hobo… smells like one too"

Reyna ran a hand through her wet hair, she grabbed a towel ignoring the comment by Hazel "We don't know anything yet Hazel"

The younger demigod nudged her "How are you feeling with him back?"

Reyna stayed quiet for a moment thinking over the question, she had been so happy to see him again but seeing the state he was in and the fear in his eyes when he had first seen her, she wanted to understand, but she wanted to let him do something normal so he could maybe relax a little bit more

"I just want to make sure he is okay" she muttered, drying the ends of her hair

She had sent Rebecca to get some male clothes for Damien to change into and now she watched the out the window, she didn't know why but she felt as though she was being watched, maybe she was just being paranoid because she couldn't see anyone acting suspicious, just demigods wandering around doing their duties.

The opening of the bathroom door made her turn, the words in her throat fading away when she saw Damien standing there in just a towel that was wrapped around his waist, she could feel her cheeks heating slightly as she took in his impressive figure, he might have turned to alcohol but it looked like he kept up with his workout

"Hey" His shaggy hair was still wet but at least he had shaved that horrible beard off "Anyone know how to cut hair?" he asked