The Other Girl

As the ship flew—or fell, rather—closer, Reyna began to feel lightheaded. She cursed herself for being so nervous, so weak. It wasn't acceptable for a praetor to behave this way. Reyna should have been marching confidently over to the forum next to Percy, instead of timidly trailing behind him, her heart pounding.

     But, gods, she'd missed him. It was incredibly difficult to be the only one in charge of camp, especially in the face of the war. She remembered all of the times she'd woken Jason up in the middle of the night, asking him if he thought the Titan army would try to attack camp. Wartime situations were easier to deal with when she had someone to talk to.

     Who, though, could she rely on now? That Percy guy seemed like the best option, for a Greek. But, as he'd been so quick to assure her, he already had a girlfriend. Reyna figured if she tried to talk to him, he'd take it as a come on.

     Anyway, she'd really missed Jason. For…personal reasons, too.

     The dark-haired boy she'd just been thinking about slows down, so she can catch up with him.

     "You nervous?" he asks.

     "No," She answers weakly. "Are you?"

     "Oh, not at all," Percy said shakily, running a hand through his messy hair.

     At about ten feet away from the ship, they stop walking. Miraculously, the huge vessel has landed in one piece. A flight of stairs tumbles of the side of it, probably rigged by some mechanism inside the ship.  

     A short, elfish boy jogs over to the railing, frantically trying to switch on a big, white megaphone. With a painful screech, the boy manages to turn it on.

     "Hello!" he announces. "As you probably already know, we aren't attacking! I swear."

     Murmurs spread through the crowd of Romans, who, Reyna notices, are not in formation.

     She turns around to address her soldiers. "Where are your formations?" Reyna snaps, whishing her voice wasn't shaking.

     The crowd rushes into lines and flanks, their armor clattering.

     Satisfied, Reyna turns back to the boy, wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans.

     "Um, if I step of the ship, you guys won't start throwing javelins at me or anything, right?" He asks cautiously.

     I can understand his trepidation, Reyna thinks, with a touch of pride. After all, their army should look intimidating.

     Reyna shakes her head in affirmation, and Percy follows suit.   

     Timidly, the boy begins walking down the stairs. A tall, blond girl follows him, right on his heels.

     Reyna hears a soft gasp. She glances at Percy. His face is lit up and he's staring at the girl as though she's Aphrodite. The girl must be his girlfriend.  

     "Gods, Leo! You're walking slower than a snail," Reyna hears the girl mutter.

     The boy—Leo, Reyna notes—frowns. "Oh, yeah, Leo, hurry up to your utter doom!" he mimics. "Seriously, do you see their swords?"

     "Just move, supreme commander of the Argo II."

     As soon as Leo's foot lands safely on the ground, the girl shoves past him. She sprints towards Reyna and Percy. Reyna almost takes out her sword, thinking the girl is going to attack them. But, she guns right for Percy, tackling him. Percy, probably to the Romans' surprise, hugs her back.

     The group of Roman soldiers falls silent. A few confused whispers ripple throw the crowd as they watch their praetor kiss the Greek girl. Leo starts whistling, but the couple doesn't seem to notice.

     Then, Reyna hears an awe-filled whisper come from a boy behind her. "Look! That's Jason!"

     Reyna's head snaps over to the ship's stairs. There he is, walking down them

     with a girl

     and he's holding her hand.

     Jason leans over, kissing the girl's temple quickly.

     What does the leader of Camp Jupiter—who has faced many monsters, angry gods, and murderous Titans—do?

     She runs.