I listened to Rick Riordan read the first chapter of The Mark of Athena on youtube (Type in "rick riordan reads the mark of athena chapter 1" and the one that has a bunch of capitalized letters and shows Rick at a podium is the right one) Well, what are you waiting for? Go! Go! Go!
But, come back afterwards, please! Thanks.
Reyna rolls over in bed, chills making her pull the covers more tightly around her. She shivers, although her body is covered in sweat. Her mouth tastes weird and feels hot. Like it does when you have a fever. Reyna's going to throw up any second. She just knows it. Not to mention that her stomach is churning like a pool of boiling acid.
Reyna has a horrible headache, too. It feels like a large rubber band has wrapped itself tightly around her head, making it throb as if it has a heartbeat.
She would have run to the bathroom, but whenever she sits up the room spins and she feels even more queasy.
Aurum lays on the foot of her bed and Argentum lays on the floor. There's a knock at the door and they both bolt out of the room and down the hallway, barking excitedly.
Reyna hears the door open and Jason call out her name. Go away! She thinks bitterly. Every sound seems louder and more annoying to her.
Footsteps in the hall, then a silent knock on her partially open bedroom door. She groans, not opening her mouth, because she's afraid if she speaks she won't be able to keep her food down.
"Hey. You okay? It's eight o'clock and you should be up by now." Jason says gently. He walks over to her bedside and sits on the edge of her bed.
The greyhounds jump up. Argentum slams his paw into her stomach and thigh. Reyna curses and nudges the dog away with her leg. He lays down on his stomach next to her, his ruby eyes inches from hers. Argentum lets out a slight whine, cuddling closer to her. The automation's cold body raises goosebumps on her arms, but feels almost soothing.
"Jason. If I was able to get up, I would have. I think I have that stupid flu that's been floating around lately."
His eyes are laced with concern, his lips turned down at the edges. The scar on his upper lip ripples when he does so. Jason caresses her forehead with his hand. It's ice cold, which makes Reyna tremble.
"Good gods! Reyna, you're really hot."
"Thanks. You're not too bad looking yourself, Grace."
Jason looks at her for a second, confused. Then he gets it and scoffs.
"Oh ha ha. Very funny. Well, you still have your sense of humor so that's a good sign. Do you need me to get you anything?"
"No. I can take care of myself."
"I know you can. I was just wondering if I could get you anything."
"I'm fine. Go do your praetor duties, okay? I'll be back to normal tomorrow."
"I'll check on you whenever I can, okay?" Jason says as he moves the hair out of her face. He gets up and whistles for the dogs, which hop off the bed. But not before stabbing Reyna's stomach and legs with their paws. She bites back another curse.
"Stop worrying about me. Just go run the camp, alright?" She groans, rubbing her stomach. She almost disgorges what little food she has in her stomach right then as she feels the vomit crawl up her throat. Her stomach feels even worse because of the automations. Like the wind has been knocked out of her.
Stupid dogs. She's sure that they did that on purpose. Probably because she didn't give them her steak the other day at dinner. They were staring at her for what seemed like forever. But she still didn't succumb to their begging. Really, they are freaking automations. They don't even need food. Unless you consider motor oil food, then they do.
"As you wish." Jason chuckles softly, closing the door behind him.
Reyna feels like she's heard that from somewhere, but she can't remember. Maybe a movie or a show. Oh well, like it mattered. Gods, now her head is hurting again, even worse than before. It feels like that large rubber band has been taken off of her head and the Throbbing is worse.
She tries to go to sleep and ignore the constant urge to vomit, but eventually finds herself in the bathroom, leaning over her toilet. The horrible hurricane swirling inside her stomach comes in waves like the ocean.
Chills wrack her body and sweat dabs her neck. Her teeth chatter and her knees begin to go numb from kneeling on the cold tile for so long. She grabs a towel and stuffs it under her head to use as a pillow. Curling up against the wall, sleep eventually finds her.
Reyna walked toward the cage of hamsters. C.C. had told her to feed them. She opened the cage and took out the bowl to pour the food in. One of the hamsters screeched suddenly, then bit her on the wrist. Reyna's eyes widened and the bowl dropped from her hand which clattered against the stone. Blood dripped from her wrist onto the polished floor. She gasped as the pain tore through her arm. The eyes of the hamster grew. They were an ugly brown-red. Like the color of mud mixed with blood.
She blinked, but when her eyes opened again she found herself being pushed into a wooden wall. The ship's floor rocked beneath her. A pungent stench made her clamp her hand over her nose. She breathed in through her mouth. She tasted sweat and dirt. Luckily, though, it stopped her lunch from coming back up.
"Aye, she's a fighter this one is. A pretty one at that, too. The blood of a warrior, she has. I know a daughter of war when I see one." Blackbeard laughed, his grimy hand touched her cheek, as if affectionately. His crew mates laughed loudly. Reyna shivered when his face moved closer to hers. She could smell his breath. It was indescribable, the smell. But it made Reyna want to faint and puke in his face at the same time. Instead, she snorted loudly and all the snot traveled to her mouth and mixed with her saliva. This was something she would have never done on the island.
But then she reminded herself: She was not on the island. Reyna removed her hand from her mouth and spat in Blackbeard's face. Snot and spit dripped slowly down his face.
"You and your crew should burn in hell." She stated confidently, standing taller.
His eyes flickered for a moment, and she could see red in his irises. He wiped his face, growled darkly, and grabbed her black hair. A scream escaped her as he slammed the side of her head against the wall. Reyna fell to the ground, dizzy and disoriented. The side of her head was wet and warm with blood. It took a few seconds for the pain to settle in, but when it did it erupted through her. He kicked her stomach and she gasped for breath.
Then, something snapped inside of her. A small part of her died. She was not a weak and needy daughter of Venus. She was a daughter of Bellona. She was no longer the sorceress in training. No longer did she don dresses as light as feathers or wear sandals that laced up her ankles. No longer would she wear makeup or nail polish or have someone to do her hair in extravagant braids or beautiful ringlets. She was not that girl anymore. And, for some reason, Reyna was glad that she wasn't. She liked this new feeling. This feeling of adrenaline buzzing within her. Her instincts beginning to kick in.
Revenge ran through her like adrenaline. She could see everything more clearly. As if she'd been blind but then miraculously regained her sight. Reyna stood up and, gathering her strength, punched the most fearsome pirate in history right in the nose. Blood flowed from it and into his mouth and beard.
"You'll pay for that, matey!" He yelled, a hand reaching for his sword.
Reyna opens her eyes, and sees a face above her. She sweeps her legs under the person, and they're knocked to the ground. She stands up and plans to put her foot on the person's chest. But, since the blood hasn't rushed to her head and the flu is still making her brain fuzzy, she stumbles back and leans against the wall. Reyna's head throbs and her body is stiff from sleeping on the floor.
"Jason! I-I'm sorry, I-"
"It's okay. I shouldn't have woken you up. You looked like you were having a pretty crazy dream." Jason says, getting up off the bathroom floor and looking slightly shaken up.
"I was. I thought you were... someone else." Reyna muttered, her eyes dropping to the ground as she sat down.
Jason sits next to her. He nods to the counter, where a glass of bubbly water sits.
"I got you some Alka-Seltzer. I'm no son of Apollo when it comes to taking care of sick people. But, I thought it would help."
"Thank you. I think you're doing okay. Except that you don't listen to me when I tell you to do something."
"When have I done that?"
"I told you not to worry about me. And you didn't listen, did you?"
"It's two, Reyna. There's nothing else to do."
"No, when I fell asleep it was around ten. It must be only twelve."
"Well you must have been sleeping for a while, then. Because according to the clock it's two in the afternoon."
"Oh."
Reyna leans against Jason for support. Usually, she wouldn't think of doing such a thing. But right now she was so tired and feeling so crappy that she could be leaning against a hellhound for support and she wouldn't care.
"You're cold." She complains. He feels like he's been standing outside in the snow. Not that she knows what it feels like to be in the snow. His windbreaker is freezing, and his chilly hair tickles her forehead. A cold arm wraps around her shoulder.
"It is sort of a cold day. But I think it's mostly just because of your fever. Maybe it's because I've been outside, but I think you're hotter than you were-"
"I appreciate your opinion on my looks, Jason. But I don't think I look any better now than I did this morning."
Jason sighs and rolls his eyes, even though he's smiling.
"Okay, you goofball. Do you want to stay here or should I carry you to bed."
"I can walk fine. I also want you to go and stop neglecting the camp, Jason. If no one can find either of their praetors when they need them, they'll think we're... up to something."
Jason's eyes widen at her implication. That people would think they were doing things praetors shouldn't be doing until they were a lot older. Things that praetors shouldn't even be doing in general.
"Alright, I'm going. I'm going. I'll check on you after the War Games okay?"
"Tell me who wins."
"I was already going to."
"Good."
Jason nods,"See you later."
He stands up and leaves. She's sort of glad he's gone, because now she doesn't have goosebumps and she's not freaking out about the camp not being run.
Reyna takes the glass from the counter and chugs it down. It's lost some of it's fizz, but she hopes it will help her stomach. She hasn't eaten or thrown up at all today. She's only been having dry heaves, where you gag and your whole body contracts and it feels hard to breathe but nothing comes up, which is much worse than actually barfing.
She tries to sleep again, but since it's harder to on the ground, she walks to her bed even though she doesn't want to leave the bathroom. Her body is now hot instead of cold, so she lays on her bed with only the sheets covering her.
When she wakes up again it's because she hears metal claws tapping across the floor of her house. The greyhounds have returned. Reyna figures that Jason has, too. She swears that if he checks up on her after this for a fourth time in one day, she's going to stick her dagger somewhere that would be very uncomfortable for him.
She rolls over on her side, away from the door.
That's when Reyna realizes that it's dark outside and the day is over. She guesses that she's going to have a rough night ahead since she slept most of the day. And, if she's lucky, Jason won't visit her for the rest of the night. She hates being babied or being waited on because it just makes her uncomfortable. It also makes her feel weak, as if she isn't independent enough.
The door creaks open, and the dogs jump on the bed and cuddle next to her, as if to apologize for trying to trample her to death with their feet this morning. Kissing up won't do any good for you, buddy. Those puppy dog eyes aren't getting you anywhere. Reyna thinks.
"Second Cohort won. Although the First came close."
"That's good."
Jason scoffs, sitting on her bed, "Not for my cohort."
Reyna laughs softly. She can't help but feel bad for him.
"You feeling better?" Jason asks.
"Not much." she says.
He studies her eyes for a minute. This makes her feel even more nauseous, but almost in a good way.
"Your eyes are really pretty when you're sick. Did you know that?"
"Um... No. Thank you, I guess."
"Well, they are. They're glassy and change to a softer brown color. They're not as... Intimidating as usual."
Reyna never thought her eyes to be pretty. In fact, they are one of the few features that she sort of dislikes about herself. She wishes that her eyes were a more beautiful color instead of just a dark, fearsome brown.
"What's wrong with being intimidating?"
"Nothing! I was just saying that you have pretty eyes. I didn't mean it in a bad way, Reyna."
"Oh. Well, thank you. Your eyes are pretty, too. Especially during a storm."
"They are?"
"Yeah. They're more vibrant. Almost an electric color instead of icy blue."
"I didn't know that."
"Well, it's true. Could you go now, please?"
Reyna pulls the pale colored sheet up to her neck, then rolls over on her side.
"What if I don't want to?" Jason whispers. Reyna feels a sudden wave of cold even though she still feels hot. She turns to face him again.
"Why would you not want to?"
Jason rubs the back of his neck and mutters, "Because I want to be able to protect you and take care of you."
This causes a warmth that has nothing to do with her fever to start in her chest and spread through her. It also makes her brain feel even more fuzzy. Reyna isn't really used to getting heartfelt compliments, but when she does she has no idea what to say next other than thank you.
"I don't like it when people take care of me. People took care of me when I was on Circe's island. Sure, I didn't mind it then. But, well, when it got destroyed, I told myself that needy girl had gotten destroyed along with the it. I miss it sometimes, though."
"Letting someone take care of you doesn't mean that you're needy or weak-"
"I feel that way sometimes, though."
"Well, you shouldn't. That's one of your flaws. You don't accept help and are so independant, which is a good thing, but is also a really bad thing. You push yourself too hard. You have some trust issues-"
"Hey! I only have trust issues when it comes to boys, and there's a really good reason for that. I mean, it took me forever to get used to you."
"Yeah, same here. I tried to be nice and you were completely rude to me."
"Like I said, trust issues. Excuse me if being kidnapped by pirates and having been taught for a large portion of my life that men are pigs happened to rub off on me."
Jason smiles, "I never thought of it that way. Anyway, as I was saying, being helped out is different than being needy. Besides, I really don't mind taking care of you when you're sick. It makes me feel like I'm paying you back."
Paying her back? Paying her back for what? What has she done for him that he thinks he needs to pay her back for? Other than helping out with war strategies and battle plans and being his dueling buddy in training. Still, she has been cruel to Jason Grace in the first eight months she knew him and was still even rude after that. It took about half a year for her to start trusting him, and another few months to actually start calling him her friend.
"For what?"
Jason just looks at her for a long, long time.
"For everything."
Reyna would have asked him what she'd done in particular to make him think that he owed her, but she had a feeling that Jason's list would be very long, and Reyna was too tired to ask.
Her body still aches, and her stomach feels worse now that she's not thinking about anything and is relaxed so that all Reyna can think about is how she hates being sick. She tries to ignore it as she closes her eyes slowly. Jason's fingers touch hers, which curl around his.
"Thank you, Jason."
"You're welcome, Reyna."
Maybe just letting Jason take care of her as he insisted was just what she needed. And, maybe letting herself to be taken care of every once in a while wasn't as bad as she had once thought it was.