Reyna ran through the last stacks of paperworks for the day.
Even the record-breaking praetor couldn't restrain from letting a small sigh escape in front of the sheer mass of reports on her desk.
The young praetor scowled as she skimmed over yet another paper related to the upcoming holiday in February 14th.
Reyna was never a fan of holidays; even before it meant her workloads trippled for a week prior.
Since her age reached double digits, since Hylla frantically led her away from Julian Ramírez-Arellano's residence, she never felt a single day of her life was worth a celebration.
Even at Circe's Spa, arguably the most stable place she had been since, she was nothing more than one of the hundreds of spa-workers.
By the time Reyna escaped the Blackbeard crew, split paths with her sister and reached Camp Jupiter, she had long since accepted that she didn't need any celebration.
Therefore, to her, every holidays and anniversaries held in the Twelfth Legion Fulminata felt empty.
Reyna participated in each events strictly under the obligation as the Probatio, then Centurion, and finally, as the single Praetor of the Camp Jupiter.
The only exception was almost exactly am year ago, during the last Valentine's Day.
The residents of Camp Jupiter gathered at the【Valley of Venus】, where they would select a pair of couple to perform a dance at the altar of Venus's Shrine to appease to the love goddess for another prosperous year.
The dancers didn't strictly have to be a couple to perform the ritual, but the symbolism of the procedure was hard to ignore; it was an unspoken rule that they'd become lovers sooner or later.
Reyna could, to this day, draw a vivid picture of the last year's celebration.
The valley was brimming with crimson lights and colorful decorations, the sweet scent of various flowers with romantic meanings filled the air.
She had been chosen by an overwhelming vote to participate in the main event. On an usual occasion, she would have politely declined the offer. However, this time was different.
Her bright blue toga(yes, she wore an actuall dress) snagged on her legs as she carefully climbed the stairway to the altar.
All the time, her heart was pounding louder and faster than any peril she had been in as she was fully aware of the identity of her partner climbing the same stairs from the right.
When she reached the top and stepped under the roof of the shrine, Reyna tried her best to hide the beaming smile as Jason Grace climbed up from the opposite side.
He looked ridiculous and uncomfortable, drapped in a purple toga that snagged over his sandles and a lurel wreath topped slightly to the side.
Reyna was glad that Jason was ill-fitted with the formal clothings; it meant they shared one more similarity.
Jason smiled awkwardly, his cheeks tinged scarlet with embarrasment as he offered a hand to Reyna.
"Shall we?" He asked.
Reyna gladly accepted the hand.
The prime couple of the camp started to dance—a first few seconds in slince, but the magic of the shrine kicked up to play a tune.
A small frown furrowed over Reyna when she heard the music. It was slow and low-toned, which was fine by her, but the tone itself was melancholy and sorrowful.
"Something is not right," Reyna whispered as she twirled around Jason.
The crowd below look up with a tinge of anxiety that grew as the somber tone continued. The ceremony was supposed to be uplifting and cherishing, not woeful and depressing.
Reyna could feel the hundreds of eyes on her back until Jason pulled her into his arm by surprise.
In a blink of an eye, Reyna was wrapped in her partner's arms with his face hovering only a few inches over her's.
"Let's focus on the present," Jason muttered from the corner of his mouth.
Reyna nodded in silence, not trusting herself to uncharacteristically squeak if she tried to reply.
By the time the song stopped, they were both beaded with sweat. The crowd cheered, forgotten about the blue timbre of the music.
Reyna grasped Jason's hand slightly tighter than she usually dared. Perhaps, she had a future—a future with someone else...
And in a tipical demigod fashion, her hopes were dashed entirely before the year fully passed.
Roughly two months before the next Valentine's Day, Reyna got the chance to meet Venus herself at Charleston.
"You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart."
Reyna was never the same after she returned to Camp Jupiter.
That annoyed her as almost as the prophetic line itself, because it meant she had let her guard down against the world, only to get backhanded by the harsh reality for the third time.
First, at her home at Puerto Rico.
Second, at the beach front of California.
Now, at Camp Jupiter. Her second, real home.
Hope was a plague, and Reyna was sick of it keep finding ways to infect her.
Be that as it may, Valentine's Day was rolling in once more, and the lone praetor of Rome was facing a conundrum.
The entire Camp was aware of Venus's word. Reyna personally guessed that Octavian was behind the hubub.
It was plausible that this was another one of the countless ways he played to decredit her.
At the very least, the occupants of New Rome and Legionnaires saw her under a sympathetic light; something a Roman praetor should avoid above all else.
In short, she need to find another candidate, preferably before the tomorrow's ceremony rolled in.
But who? Dakota? Travenon? Or Octavian?
Reyna shuddered as soon as the thought passed her mind. Maybe that was the Augur's plan: that she'd get desperate enough to select him as the second praetor to meet everyone's deman.
"..."
Reyna's hand snapped the harpy quill in half as the revalation hit her like a thunder admist a gloomy rainstorm.
The answer had been always hanging over her head.
As the praetor of New Rome, she was responsible to entire Camp Jupiter and the city of New Rome. She had to be a leader, someone everyone looked up to.
There wasn't a chink in the armor of obligation for "Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano" to squeeze in.
It wasn't a welcoming thought, but Reyna was used to swallowing pills she didn't like.
With her mind set and clear, the praetor rose from her chair.
Her two mechanical dogs came near, whinpering and rubbing theit snouts around her ankle. They felt the inner turmoil of their master, just like how they decipher truth and lies.
"I'm fine," Reyna told them. Neither hounds could detect any dishonesty, which only troubled them more.
Reyna slipped a small piece of envelope into Argentum's maw.
"Take this to Jason Grace," she whispered, and the silver dog pounced out the door.
The praetor returned to her chair with a huge sigh.
Tomorrow, she would climb the same steps like last year. And from the other side, the same person would climb up as well.
But nothing would be the same.
As she waited for the Centurion of the Fifth Cohort to receive her message and come to her office, Reyna was reminded of another boy.
Someone she met by nothing else but pure accident, on one of the weirdest quests she had ever took part in.
It was with a Hunter of Diana and the boy.
Meeting a devoted follower of the moin goddess was a rare experience by itself, but David was by far the most...peculiar being Reyna had ever seen.
He was a supreme fighter for one, going nearly toe-to-toe against the Titan General, but what caught Reyna's eyes was the way he saw the world was different from most people.
While the vast majority teetered between each one's personal goal and the good of others, David didn't have that distinction.
In a way, David reminded Reyna of Jason more than she initially realized. Only a but more whole-hearted and rash, which was also an unusual combination.
She wondered, if David was here instead of the Son of Jupiter, how much things would be different.
"I can hold your hand if that makes it better."
The praetor let out a small snort as the memory of David's innocent tone and expression as he offered his hand at the hem of Mt. Tam.
Yes, things would be certainly different if David was here.
But that was simply a wistful dream. A sweet, yet meaningless fantasy.
Although Reyna couldn't help but wonder, waiting for Jason to get her message, how would David spend the same holiday?
A/N:
Again, quite short chapter for my usual standard, and the writing may be choppy, but I'm still in the boot camp(doing better than I thought), which doesn't give me much time to look over my writing.
Still, I hope you all had fun reading!
I'll hopefully see you in the next chapter, the last Valentine's Day chapter—at Camp Half-Blood.