Chapter Eight: Piper (Jason vs Kayla)

I ran towards the arena alongside Hazel, Leo, Jason, and Annabeth. There wasn't much time to spare as that Kahale guy was about to impale Reyna during their match. We ran as fast as we could, but I knew we were too late. When we reached the arena, Kahale was nowhere to be seen. In the center was Reyna on the floor staring at the evening sky. At her side was Nico who was in the viewing area beforehand with us. He must of shadow traveled straight towards her at the moment of danger. Frank was the second one to reach them as he transformed from a hawk back into a human. He was checking her vitals and seemed to be all right. Thank the gods.

We finally reached her and Annabeth, Hazel, and I all picked her up. Her armor was incredibly heavy. Something I could never wear. Despite the weight, we were able to move her towards the medic tent where Will was waiting. I took one look at her and flinched. She had a massive amount of dried-up blood on her face. You could only see her eyes and teeth in the moonlight. Her hair was tangled and frizzy. Her braided hair untouched. Her sword was at the other side of the arena and her knives were all over the place. Such a brutal battle. But the brutality wasn't just in the physical side of the fight, but the mental. Reyna was exhausted beyond belief. She didn't say a word, but her eyes betrayed her. She had the face of the defeated. The calm and brave Reyna that we were used to wasn't there anymore. This was somebody else.

Annabeth tried to wipe the blood off Reyna and that seemed to wake her up. Reyna pushed us all back and walked the rest of the way back to the medic tent. She didn't want our help. She went through hell but still had a little bit of pride left. She walked past Chiron and entered the viewing arena by herself. We were all at a loss for words.

I was the first to break the silence.

"What happened, we didn't get the see it."

Nico was a happier person after the war with Gaea, but his old face returned when speaking on Reyna.

"Kahale didn't try to kill her. He yielded instead." Nico said silently. "Reyna advances and Kahale is in losers."

We were all in shock, but Jason jolted us out of it.

"Don't you mean he's in out of the tournament? We can't have somebody like that still in this."

"No, he's still in the tournament."

The voice came from behind us. Previously on commentary, but now in the arena. Percy Jackson made his opinion known.

Jason gave him a death stare. "He almost killed her, and what he said to her was unacceptable. We can't reward that behavior." Jason said.

"We're not rewarding it." Percy argued. "The praetors put him in the tournament and it's his right. Look, I don't like this as much as you do but there is no reason to kick him out."

Jason stopped talking. Jason was normally more level-headed, even more level-headed than Percy at times. I never saw him like this before.

I understand. He and Reyna have a complex relationship. Even more complex now because of Hera taking Jason's memories away months ago and then dating me. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I trusted them both, and I consider Reyna one of my best friends now, but there was something there. Something I couldn't put my finger on.

"So, what now?" Leo asked as he pointed to the crowd. "The people in the stands don't look happy.

Leo was right. I looked up and saw plenty of Romans looking concerned by what happened with Reyna. They wanted answers. Many of the same people also wanted to know what happened with Kahale. He was a leader to them too. It was like the camp was losing their most influential players. The campers of Camp Half-blood were perplexed as well. Not knowing what was transpiring.

Except for one more praetor. Frank got off the ground and transformed again as a hawk. This time landing in the commentary booth next to Terminus. Terminus didn't look so happy about that as he wobbled away slowly to give Frank space. When Frank transformed back, he took the mic and spoke to everyone in the coliseum.

"Praetor Reyna isn't in any imminent danger. She is being healed now, so please stay calm and stay where you are. We are taking a short break before our next set of matches. All participants of the tournament, please return to the viewing area as we clean out the arena.

We all did what Frank said and moved back towards the viewing area. I was impressed by Frank. The moment the camp's strongest leaders went down, he took charge and directed traffic. He was a leader through a through.

As I climbed the stairs, I couldn't help but hear a conversation coming from Annabeth and Clarisse. Both discussing what happened during the fight.

"The blessing of Bellona." Annabeth said. "It's where Reyna got her strength from. Its aura looked almost like your blessing of Ares way back, Clarisse."

"Sure, it does a little. But there was something different about it." Clarisse corrected her.

Clarisse usually scared all of the other campers, but I knew she smarter than most. She was one of the few campers who were attending college. Spending your winter break in a fighting tournament doesn't sound fun to most, but it probably sounded like a delight to her.

Clarisse continued. "I went into a full rage when I got mine, but she looked calm. She had all the strength I did with none of the rage involved."

She turned back to Annabeth. "And don't even ask me about the aura coming off Kahale. I got no clue on what happened there." She said with finality.

"Well, maybe someone knows." Annabeth said glaring at me. Crap, did she know I was eavesdropping?

No point in pretending I didn't hear that as I tried to give Annabeth insight, which is like trying to teach a wizard how to use magic.

"Well, I'm guessing it's the blessing of Venus, right?" I said unsure of everything. "I never experienced it myself but that would explain it."

Annabeth agreed. She probably already reached that conclusion herself. She was usually three steps ahead.

"I'm less concerned about what it is and more interested in what it does. It's like his aura extended across the whole coliseum. I felt it."

"I felt it too." I added. "It didn't scare me or sent shivers down my spine. I remember feeling relaxed when it hit me."

"Venus is a laidback goddess of love. Maybe he used it to disarm her." Clarisse said.

Kahale may be a child of Venus but that wasn't his style. I still couldn't believe he was my stepbrother. He had more in common with Clarisse or Reyna than me.

Annabeth didn't seem satisfied with my answer. "Blessing of Venus. That is possible. Let's just find Reyna for now.

"That won't be happening."

I turned to see where the voice came from. From the entrance of the viewing area came Chiron. He was in his wheelchair was not too happy about what transpired.

"Why can't we see her? What are you hiding from us?" Annabeth said accusing Chiron.

Chiron had his hands in the air. Looking at shocked at Annabeth's raised voice.

"I am hiding nothing from you. Reyna just wants to be alone. Only Will, Frank, and I can see her as she is being healed." Chiron clarified.

I cursed under my breath. I knew she would want to be alone. She didn't want anybody to see her pain, that's just the type of person she was.

Chiron left us as we entered the viewing area. I was having fun trying out tons of new weaponry in the practice range with Thalia, but things were too depressing, so we all sat down and ate instead. Annabeth was talking to Percy who was leaving and Clarisse was forcing Leo to train. He lost his match to Hazel and now Clarisse became the worst teacher of all time. Nico was by himself for a while before Frank and Hazel joined him.

The next match was Jason vs Kayla. She was a smart kid. Smart for being a kid of Apollo. Normally I wouldn't think she could win, but Jason wasn't in the right mindset ever since Reyna got hurt, something went wrong with him. I tried not to be jealous. I should be thinking of Reyna and praying for her health. I was a horrible friend. Thinking only of love. Typical of a daughter of Aphrodite.

The arena was cleared. It took longer than usual. There was so much blood on the floor from both Reyna, Kahale, and even Thalia. Travis created a bigger mess from his traps, but it's easier cleaning ketchup off the floor than blood. It was unsetting. The first to make it to the ring was Kayla.

Kayla Knowles wore only jeans and a Camp Half-blood T-Shirt. With her bow slung to her side. Her quiver was chock full of arrows of different colors. I knew she was a better archer than Will. She may be the strongest archer in the Apollo cabin. She had green highlights in her short ginger hair that cascaded over her freckled-filled face. She was cute as always, but she had a competitive edge. I don't think she cared that her first opponent was Jason. She would fight everybody. She waved to the crowd and tried to get them going. Not a good time for that since everyone was still conflicted on the last match.

On the commentary desk were Terminus and Percy again. Percy wore a tie now which was given to him by Julia. She smiled as she put it around his neck. Percy suffered through it. Can't disappoint a little girl now.

"We got matching ties now, Jackson!" Terminus chuckled.

"Great. Kill me now." Percy said slumped on the desk.

"Break a rule and I just might do that! Now, where is the former praetor? Where is Jason!" yelled Terminus.

It seemed like no one had answers but from the other entrance of the arena came out Jason. He was rocking out some golden armor from head to toe. No helmet to speak of. His gladius in hand. Looking far too serious than he has ever been. I was worried for him.

I'm not going to lie. I have been avoiding Jason. He is my boyfriend and I love him more than anything, but things have changed. We started to drift apart. When Jason decided to stay at Camp Half-blood, I was so happy. We would finally have time to spend together without a quest on our shoulders. Hades, the world on our shoulders. We spent the last days of summer together. We even found Leo in the process. Those were the best days of my life. But going to California with him for school was a big ask. Jason wanted me to join him, but I like my life at near Camp Half-blood. Not only that, but I fear he only wants to live close to the legion. Horrible of me to assume that, I know. I tried to think about the good times between us, but we argue more than anything these days. Jason went through a lot this year and even lost all of his memories for a while.

Memories I thought to myself. Our whole relationship started because of fake memories. I always tried to avoid that thought process, but it is true. We only came together because of Hera's horrible plan and my mother's usual tampering in love. How much influence did I really have in our relationship? How much does Jason have? It was a weird Frankenstein creation of a relationship. I could not dwell on it. It would drive me crazy. I just had to have faith in us. That we dictated our past and future. Relationships can't all be like Annabeth and Percy's.

Jason was in stand-by position. Ready to fight. Kayla pulled out a green arrow and notched it. Thalia explained to me different arrowhead types quickly. Was that a Hydra arrow?

"Children of Apollo don't have a good track record again children of Zeus in this tournament. Thalia may have beaten Will, but he's more healer than an archer. I'll show you the strength of Apollo." Kayla said with confidence.

Jason didn't even respond to that. I could tell he wasn't in the right frame of mind.

Percy gave a yawn checking the time. "Ok, it's already like dark outside. Let's wrap these matches up quickly. Jason and Kayla. You ready?"

They both gave a nod. Ready for action.

"Then fight!" yelled Percy.

Kayla was the quicker of the two as she notched four arrows and sent them flying. They were Hydra arrows that split apart and created a net. Jason cut the net on impact and gained distance from Kayla. She didn't let it end there as she sent three more arrows towards Jason. He cut through each and every one. He was unstoppable.

Jason started to fly as the clouds above him started to churn. Kayla started to panic quickly. Thalia never used lighting, but Jason wasn't Thalia. Kayla notched five arrows at once, which was an impressive feat. She let them loose towards the sky as Jason went higher and higher.

Jason waved his hand and the wind around shifted and blew the arrows away with no difficulty.

Kayla was stunned as she knew arrows would be useless now. Jason raised his sword to the sky as thunder came down and hit him. Lighting was booming in the arena. The wind was too much as my hair was blown away. The foosball table was pushed over. Arrows went flying in the practice range. People evacuated the stands before Jason flew down at a drastic speed. His sword aiming at Kayla. His whole sword crackling with electricity.

Kayla was sweating bullets before dropping her bow and yelling out "UNCLE!"

Jason stopped midflight. The storm dissipated and the winds returned to normal. Jason came down to Kayla and extended a hand. The serious look on his face evaporated.

"Sorry," Jason said with ease. "I was in a really bad mood. Good match"

Percy got up from the floor and back to the desk. His hair a frizzy mess. "Ok, superman. Thanks for making it quick." Percy said with a smile.

"No problem, bro." Jason said winking at Percy.

I just sat there laughing. Here I was worried about Jason without realizing that he has his own way of coping with things. I smiled at him and noticed me easily.

He blew me a kiss and I caught it with ease.

Next chapter coming...soonish?