A/N: finally succumbed to jeyna. 'tis too powerful for me to resist. So, yeah, doing Jeyna. gosh, my arms hurt. jumping rope at school, and you have to jump for 12 minutes . japanese teachers must be idiots. enjoy? and review. oh yeah. *hand thrust movements*

And then I looked up at the sun
And I could see
Oh, the way that gravity pulls on you and me
And then I looked up at the sky
And saw the sun
And the way that gravity pushes on everyone
On everyone

And if you ever feel neglected,
If you think all is lost,
I'll be counting up my demons, yeah,
Hoping everything's not lost.
When you thought that it was over,
You could feel it all around,
Everybody's out to get you,
Don't you let it drag you down.

they say that you should never count what is lost, but what is found. it's one of those sayings that our mothers say to us, and we remind them of after, when they're moaning about this and that. after a long time, it becomes a clever remark; something that nobody really cares for anymore.

reyna never knew how painful it would be to have him and lose him all over again. and she doesn't think she can remind herself of that saying again.

she doesn't think she has anything now.

Love has eaten her up.

for all her life, she has lost to Love bitterly. It has twisted and turned her mind around and left it so messed up she can't figure out which is right and which is wrong, and she can only bite her lip and try to bear through it, because that is what a war of Bellona should do. she can only chide herself that she has done nothing wrong; that fate had ordained for all of this to happen, because she has strived for happiness all her life to the limit. she is not a special demigod, nor especially powerful. she is not audacious, and she is never considered herself to be so. being a daughter of warfare did not allow her to win all her battles, physically and emotionally.

when she was only thirteen, she had lost everything she had known of - her possessions, her home, her safety, and most importantly, her sister.

Hylla had made her choice, and she made hers. there had been a fork in the road, and it turned out that her sister didn't love her enough to take the same route. she had assailed her sister, and done everything in her power to keep her by her side, but Hylla had taken her words with a grain of salt and ignored her begging.

Reyna didn't look back.

four years later, she is sitting on the throne of camp jupiter - holding the whole camp's respect, decked in a purple toga with the whole camp on her shoulders and a crown of pressure resting on her head. she sustained the whole population with her decisions, and it was not forgotten by all who were living under her umbrella.

she had everything, but inside, she was as hollow as could be.

on that bright quiescent afternoon, her eyes had met those of a radiant boy, with sky blue eyes and incandescent blonde hair, and her heart seemed to feel something; that of love and that of distaste.

either way, it was the first time in ages that she had felt anything deep down for anybody, and it made her feel flushed.

He becomes a praetor, side by side with her, and it becomes the first time she gets a chance to truly know about him.

up till that point, she had known what all the other campers had known about him - that he was quite tall (rumours were that he was 6'1), could beat anyone when it came to swordfighting, was possibly the most powerful demigod in the legion, and extremely "hot". the last one, she told herself, was only an opinion (stated by the Venus girls, no less), and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. but she couldn't fool herself.

he was beautiful.

"Octavius is really annoying, isn't he?"

oh, right, she was talking to him. she bit the insides of her mouth.

"Oh gods, thank you for saying that. I've probably hated him ever since I stepped into this camp," she said. "Possibly because he called me a Greek during the first week."

He laughed, and it sounded like tinkling bells for some strange reason. "I can't imagine you acting like a Greek, out of all things. You're probably one of the most Roman demigods I've ever met. That just goes to show how ignorant of others he is."

"Yes," she agreed, and their eyes met. "It does. But I'd rather we stop this conversation about him now - I might spill sick over the floor from even thinking about him."

The corners of his mouth turned upwards, smiling at her. She suddenly felt the urge to run away in embarrassment. Not very praetor-like.

She should be used to all of this now. He had already been praetor for almost a month now, and they've almost spent everyday together, whether it was going over papers at the café or crashing out on the sofa after hours of work. She's ignored the dirty looks from the Venus girls, as if she had stolen away their god, and also the little comments from Jason's friends about their relationship.

"We're friends," they repeated over and over again. after a while, the statement becomes overused and meaningless, and not enough.

"Want to come over to my house for movie night? We could watch Get Smart for the seventh time -"

she shot him a glare.

"or, we could watch Twilight and badmouth it," he finished, grinning.

after hours of Edward/Bella fluff and just general cheese throughout the movies, they finally succumbed to their tired minds and passed out on the couch.

"how do you feel, being a praetor?" she asked nonchalantly.

he shrugged and thought for a moment. "if it means no curfew and dishwashing, it's good enough for me."

"gods, seriously."

he paused. "it's much better than I thought it would be. the duties are boring, but you finally get the feeling you're making a change in the world - if you understand what I mean. and...you're great. I thought you were a cold beauty, just a cold beauty, but now -"

"same on my part," Reyna said. "you're much more than I thought you would be. and -"

nothing said out loud had been exactly motivating, and there was nothing special about the moment - just two friends sprawled out on the couch. but suddenly, his lips had covered hers, and the room suddenly felt much warmer, and he swears he can hear her heart pound hard against her chest, and she's absolutely lost, and -

half a year later, he's lost.

and her heart shatters, and she can literally feel all of those little pieces spiking her every move. she's been bested by Love so many times now that she thought peace was given to her at last, before it happened and it's too late and she can't take anything back. she can only try to reform her heart again on her own, but it doesn't really seem possible.

this is her wrath, and maybe Octavian was right - only Greeks fall at the hands of Love.

but it's only when all is lost and hope lost from your grasp, that you realize the only thing left is love.

liked it? I dunno, it was okay, in my opinion. The lyrics at the beginning are taken from Coldplay songs.

I'll probably do jeyna again in this series - it's way too tempting. Reviews appreciated! (: