Finally, you guys! Chapter 40! I can't believe I've made it this far! Thank you all for your continuous support. I know this sounds really sappy, but I wouldn't be here without you all! IMPORTANT: I need your guys's feedback. Do you think I should rewrite the earlier chapters? I mean, they are pretty short and I think they could use work. What do you think? Anyways, I hoped you have liked the dance so far! Just wait for this chapter… ;)
Review shoutout:
Gamerfan1235: Yesss! We're so close to 100,000 words! I'll try getting there with this chapter! Thanks for the hype, haha!
Alright, let's begin! (Disclaimer: Sadly, I have no rights to PJO and HOO.)
Reyna's POV
"That was close," Percy muttered under his breath.
"Yeah," Reyna said. "Too close."
She and Percy were walking back in the mess hall. They were trying to enjoy themselves by dancing together outside, but Octavian had nearly caught them together. Well, scratch that. He did catch them together. Luckily, Percy had played it off and lied, saying that they were just talking about praetor stuff. Octavian seemed to believe the story, but Reyna couldn't be sure. She would have to be weary about him from now on. (More weary then usual, that is.)
Reyna was about to leave Percy so he could join his friends again, but he stopped her before she could leave. "Hey, you don't always have to avoid us," he said. "We don't bite."
Reyna hesitated. She usually didn't sit by them during meal times in the mess hall because she was worried about intruding and feeling left out. Percy and his friends were really welcoming, though. Why shouldn't she go hang out with them? Besides, it was a dance.
"Alright," Reyna said. "You sure you're fine with me around?"
Percy chuckled. "Are you kididng? I'm more than fine with that! I'm positive the others won't mind."
Before Reyna could say anything more, Percy led her over to where his friends were. Almost immediately, Annabeth ran up to Percy and pulled his hand away from Reyna's arm.
"So that's where you were," the daughter of Athena said, looking Percy in the eyes. Reyna could tell that Annabeth wanted to glare at Reyna, but she clearly didn't want to seem rude.
Percy seemed shocked and a little worried at Annabeth's words. Reyna could understand. Had she figured out that they had been dancing together? She was smart.
"What do you mean?" Percy asked, rubbing his neck anxiously.
Piper came up behind Annabeth and whispered something into her ear, which seemed to calm Annabeth down a bit.
"You went to go find Reyna?" Annabetha asked, her voice not as tight.
"Y-yeah," Percy said, nodding. "It's just… she looked lonely."
Annabeth looked over at Reyna and smiled. The thing was, the smile seemed genuine. Reyna smiled politely back.
Leo came over and patted Reyna on the back. She turned to him and scowled, muttering a curse in Spanish, knowing that he would understand. He was about to say something in return, but Jason came up to him.
"Man, you did great!" Jason exclaimed, grinning at Leo. "She seemed really into you."
Reyna eyed Leo. "Wait, you got a girl to dance with you?"
Leo nodded excitedly. "Yup. And based on my vast knowledge of girls, she was totally into me."
Reyna raised an eyebrow. She turned to Piper. "Is this true? Can you confirm?"
Piper laughed. "Yes, I can. Tessa seemed to really like Leo."
"Tessa? From the Fourth Cohort? Daughter of Apollo?" Reyna asked.
Leo nodded, seeming to be in a daze. "Yeah, that's the one."
"Congrats," Reyna said, smiling at the small Latino.
Leo grinned sheepishly. Reyna's eyes met Frank's who looked kind of weirded out. Reyna just shrugged at him and Hazel laughed lightly.
She noticed that she hadn't heard Annabeth or Percy say a word on the matter, and she turned around, finding the couple deep in conversation a few feet away. Reyna turned back around quickly, hoping Annabeth hadn't seen her looking. Piper noticed Reyna staring at the couple, however, and furrowed her brow, but Reyna didn't react.
Leo, Jason, Hazel, and Frank were still talking and laughing about Leo and Tessa. Reyna smiled. She and Leo had been chatting earlier about how he cold get a girl to dance with him. Reyna had given him advice, though where the romance tips came from, Reyna had no clue. Before she had met Percy, or even Jason, she wouldn't have known as much about love as she did now. Leo didn't question it, which was good.
Reyna asked for a play-by-play of Leo's experience with Tessa, and he hastily told her all the details. Reyna tried not to think about how Percy and Annabeth were walking away together, but her mind instantly went to that. Where were they going?
It's not your concern, Reyna told herself. Percy is dating, remember?
But it was hard to believe that the adorable son of Poseidon who had just been romancing with her earlier that night could have a girlfriend.
"And that's how I got Tessa do dance with me! She even knows some Spanish," Leo concluded.
Reyna snapped back to reality. "Oh, oh yeah. That's great, Leo. I'm proud."
Leo nodded triumphantly. "As they say, 'All the ladies love Leo.'"
Hazel pursed her lips. "People say that?"
Leo started nodding, but Piper just shook her head, laughing. Hazel looked confused. The poor girl still hadn't completely gotten the hang of modern language.
Reyna couldn't see Percy or Annabeth anymore. Where had they gone, and why hadn't they told anybody? Before Reyna could stop herself, she said, "Um, guys? I'll be back. I gotta go… check on something."
Her friends nodded and Reyna slipped away, towards the direction where Percy and Annabeth had gone. She tried to act inconspicuous, pretty much avoiding everybody. She saw a bit of Annabeth's dress, and caught a glimpse of the familiar blond head of hair that belonged to the girl. She was pulling Percy by the hand somewhere. It looked like they were heading outside…
Reyna couldn't help herself. Her curiousity got the better of her. She followed the two until they were outside and alone. Reyna hid behind the nearest bush, trying to channel her inner shadow and blend in with the darkness. Her puffy dress was making it hard, though.
Once she was settled, she zoned in on Percy and Annabeth's conversation.
"Percy, are you sure you're okay?" Annabeth asked. Reyna couldn't see very well in this setting, but she was sure Percy put on a concerned face.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I know you're my girlfriend, but you gotta stop worrying," Percy replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
"No, I'm passed the worried faze. You've gotten so distant since I came to Camp Jupiter. Is there something going on?" Annabeth asked, clearly anxious.
Reyna's breath caught. She couldn't tell, but she thought she saw Percy put an arm around Annabeth. "Wise Girl. Calm down. Just pre-war jitters, okay? I'm fine, promise."
Reyna could tell that Annabeth didn't fully believe him, but she said, "Alright. I- I guess."
Reyna saw movement, and she thought that the two were kissing. Reyna gulped, pushing back tears. She would not cry for the second time that night over a guy.
After a few more seconds, Annabeth and Percy headed back inside, and Reyna followed them, staying far enough back that they wouldn't see her.
The couple rejoined their group and Reyna held back for a minute, so she wouldn't seem suspicious.
When she emerged from behind another group, Percy stared at her. "Where were you?"
"Oh, praetor stuff. You wouldn't understand," She teased.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Okay…"
Reyna watched as the couples started to dance. Another slow song had started to play. She and Leo were the "third-wheelers," so they decided to dance together again.
Leo had just cracked a joke, and Reyna had laughed, but she heard something in the distance. A crash? Reyna looked towards the direction where the sound came from.
"What was that?" Reyna asked. "Did you hear that?"
Leo frowned. "I think so. It sounded like a crash of some sort."
Boom. Another loud noise. And it was coming from New Rome.
Reyna's POV
The whole mess hall went silent. The only remaining sound was the song, but the DJ quickly turned it off. Reyna, Percy and Jason all made eye contact.
They all made a silent agreement: to go check out the noise.
Jason looked at Piper, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel and Leo. "You guys stay here and keep everyone calm," he said. "But Piper, I think you should come with us."
Piper looked confused but followed the praetors anyway. "Why am I coming exactly?"
Reyna looked at Jason. "Terminus?" She asked. "You think it could be him?"
"Who else could make that racket?" Percy pointed out. "Especially the way he is now."
"Oh..." Piper said. "So you want me to use the charmspeak thing?"
"If it comes to that, yeah," Jason sighed.
The four were jogging towards New Rome, though Piper and Reyna were struggling with their dresses. Luckily, Reyna had on some Converse, but she couldn't tell what shoes Piper was wearing.
Another loud noise came from New Rome, followed by a scream. The group started running faster. Something was seriously wrong, even if it wasn't Terminus who was causing the commotion.
A few long minutes later, Piper and the praetors arrived in the center of the city. Sure enough, a marble bust was crashing into things and making a mess. It didn't seem like he was trying to attack any people, but he was causing a lot of damage. The fountain in the center was spewing water everywhere; Terminus had broken it.
"Holy Hades," Percy mumbled. "Piper, if there's a good time to talk to him, now's that time."
Piper rushed forward so she was close enough to the god, but not too close. "Terminus!" She shouted. "STOP!"
Reyna could hear the charmpspeak in Piper's voice, and she almost stopped everything she was doing. Breathing, blinking, etc.
Terminus paused and eyed Piper as he floated in the air. A pedestrian was staring up at him nervously and hiding behind a peice of stone broken off from the fountain. A few other retired demigods and legacies stood by, swords at the ready.
"Terminus, I know you have an eidolon inside of you," Piper said calmy. "Let it go."
A shiver went through the gods body, and a voise that wasn't his spoke. "Why should I yield, daughter of Aphrodite?"
" I have skilled fighters with me, and if you don't leave, eidolon, we will attack."
"My form is a god," spoke the voice. "You can't kill me."
"Do you want to test me?" Piper asked firmly. Even though she looked as if she'd just came from a dance (which she had), she looked pretty intimidating in her red dress.
"I- I…" the voice said.
"Leave. NOW," Piper shouted.
Terminus's eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the ground, right next to the cowering citizen who yelped and scrambled away.
Reyna and the rest of the praetors cautiously approached the still "body" of the god. He stirred breifly, then opened his stone eyes.
"What happened?" He asked in his actual voice.
Reyna exhaled. "You were possesed by an eidolon."
He started levitating again, staring at everyone and sneering when he saw Percy. "Impossible. I am a god."
"Apparently, it is possible," Percy said, stepping forward. "Piper coaxed it out of you just now."
Terminus curled his lip when Percy spoke, but Jason said, "It's true. But at least you're back and can protect the camp again!"
Terminus nodded. "Yes, yes. Where is my pedestal?"
Reyna, Percy, Jason and Piper walked with Octavian to his stand by the entrance to New Rome. Stars twinkled in the sky.
"Do you not remember a thing about being possesed?" Reyna asked.
Terminus sighed. "No."
Reyna sighed too. "Well, we're glad to have you back."
Terminus seemed to puff out his stone chest. "Yes, well, I'm very important. No, go back to camp! You haven't been accpeted into the city yet!"
Percy rolled his eyes. "One sec," he said. He turned towards the directon of the spewing fountain and waved his hand. The water stopped. "There."
"GO!" Terminus yelled again. The group scurried back up the hill to the mess hall.
"You know, I liked him better when he was possesed," Percy said.
Reyna punched him in the arm. "I'm glad we have our boundaries over the camp again."
Jason laughed. "As strict as he is, Reyna's right. Piper, are you okay?"
Piper was walking slowly, and in the glow of the moon, she looked pale.
"Y- yeah," she mumbled. "I guess that drained me."
She slumped forward, and Jason caught her. "Woah, Pipes. Easy."
"It's hard to charmspeak a god," Piper said warily.
Jason stabilized her and they continued to walk up the hill. Eventually, they reached the mess hall. Solemn faces stared at Reyna and the rest of her group. Once person spoke up, "Well?"
"Terminus is back to his old self," Percy said. "The demon is gone."
A collective sigh could be heard throughout the gathered half-bloods. Reyna could hear some groans, too.
"How'd you get rid of it?" Octavian asked sceptically.
"Piper McLean," Jason announced proudly. "She's, uh, tired right now."
Piper rested her head on her boyfriends shoulder. "More than tired."
"Anyways," Reyna spoke up. "Let's continue, shall we? We still have thirty minutes left to party!"
The silence was broked by cheers and the DJ started up the music again.
Annabeth ran over to Piper. "Are you okay?"
"That much charmspeak drained me," Piper mumbled.
"I'm sure," Annabeth said, brushing strands of hair out of Piper's face. She looked over at Percy. "How'd it go?"
"Pretty well," Percy said. "He still doesn't like me."
Annabeth turned to Reyna next. "Tell me what happened."
Reyna explained the occurance to Annabeth, who's brow furrowed. "I didn't know eidolons could talk."
"Well, it was more like it was talking through Terminus," Reyna said.
"But it's voice was different?" Ananbeth asked.
Reyna nodded. "It was defying Piper for a little bit."
Annabeth grumbled something under her breath. "At least it's gone now."
Reyna nodded, glad that for once, Annabeth didn't seem wary of her. She really did like Annabeth, but she couldn't get past the fact that Annabeth had Percy. At least Annabeth didn't suspect anything, right?
By now, Piper looked back to her normal self. Frank had found a square of Ambrosia in his pocket, and he offered it to the daughter of Aphrodite who took it gladly. (Why Frank had a random supply of Amrbosia in his dress pants, Reyna didn't know.) Nevertheless, Piper's face was now it's normal color, and she didn't look like she was going to pass out any second.
"So, the eidolon is really gone?" Hazel asked Reyna.
Reyna nodded. "I hope so. Piper was using charmspeak on it, and suddenly, Terminus was back to his old self."
"Where do eidolons go when they leave a physical body?" Frank asked.
Reyna shrugged. "I don't know that. We have some records on eidolons and lemures, but nothing said where they go."
"I assume they just inhabit another body soon enough," said Jason, joining the conversation.
Suddenly, a cheer rose up from the center of the mess hall. Reyna's eyes went to he noise and she saw that two half-bloods werre having a dance contest. Reyna rolled her eyes and truned back to the group.
"Yeah, I guess," Reyna replied to Jason's statement. "I can't help but think that the eidolon left Terminus's body to go back to the giant army. Maybe to get instructions for who to inhabit next?"
Hazel, Jason, and Frank just shrugged. Reyna wished for the millionth time that Camp Jupiter had more records on monsters and demons. They had a pretty decent supply, but now it seemed like it was not enough. Not to mention they didn't even know what poison had killed Ezra and how to cure it. This is why Reyna wanted to form an alliance with Camp Half-Blood for the war with Gaea, but she knew Octavian and possibly others wouldn't support an alliance like that.
"Earth to Reyna!" Percy shouted, waving a hand in her face.
She blinked quickly. "Woah, sorry. I just got lost in thought."
"You good?" Percy searched her face.
"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine," Reyna said.
"Okay, well, we only have a few minutes left," Percy pointed out.
Reyna nodded. "Really? This night has gone by fast."
Percy nodded. "I'll say. Nice planning."
"Yeah," Piper said."This has been really fun. Well, besides almost passing out."
Reyna smiled. "Thanks. Though, this was Percy's idea."
Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Well, it may have been idea, but you did a lot more than he did."
"Hey," Reyna started. "Percy did... some things."
Percy was about to say something, but the DJ made an announcement, saying that the dance was now over and curfew was going to be issued in 45 minutes.
Percy made a pouty face. "Darn it. This was fun!"
"Definitley," Hazel said softly. The others nodded.
Some demigods sighed and started to exit. Reyna understood why they were upset. She kind of wanted this night to go on forever. Minus the eidolon part.
"Alright, let's head out," Reyna said. "It's late. We'll clean up tomorrow."
Soon, the whole mess hall was deserted and everbody started heading towards the barracks. Percy kissed Annabeth good night and caught up with Reyna on her way to the praetor cabins.
"Nice job," Percy said. "I coudln't have pulled that all off."
Reyna blushed. "Thanks."
"Oh, and I appreciate that you atcually took the time to do it."
Reyna nodded. "Anytime," she said quietly.
"Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't spend as much time as I wanted to with you tonight," Percy apologized.
"It's not your fault," Reyna replied. "I'm glad we got as much time together as we did."
Percy nodded. "Yeah. It was really romantic, huh?"
Reyna blushed harder. "Yeah."
Percy and Reyna were at the cabins now. "See you tomorrow?" Percy asked. And then he added, "Goddess."
Reyna's cheeks turned firetruck-red. "Ye- yeah…"
She walked inside her room and wanted to scream. That night had been one of the best of her life. She was so glad that she had gotten to spend even a little bit of it with Percy. And the dancing… oh gods.
Reyna replayed the dance in her mind. She had to admit that it wasn't technically dancing. They were just cuddling and swaying back and forth. But Reyna had felt so relaxed at that moment. It had been perfect.
Reyna slipped out of her dress and converse and into some pajamas. She hung the dress up on hanger it had come on and reminded herself to return it tomorrow. Her last thought before she fell asleep was, "Percy..."
So, how did you guys like this one? I knew that Terminus would have to show up one way or another, and I wanted to have Piper in this one cause I kinda forgot to add her the last time Terminus showed up... Anyways, the dance chapters were so fun to write! I hope you liked them because I did. Make sure to review and let me know what you'd like to see next! Please! Review, review, and REVIEW!