There's no love without pain // Jeyna

23. Epilogue - The Funeral

Rachel's POV

The funeral was three days later.

Rachel had wished that the vision she had seen of Piper sobbing into Annabeth's shoulder would be about her break up. She knew that it wasn't, but that hadn't stopped her from hoping.

Everyone from Camp Half-Blood travelled to Camp Jupiter. The afternoon sun burned brightly in the sky, its harsh glare reflecting on the patch of ground behind the Senate House.

Nobody, not even Piper or Will Solace, could muster up a smile. Chiron looked like the thousand year old centaur that he was as he gazed at the stage from his seat.

Rachel was sitting in front of two identical wooden coffins. Beside her was Piper Mclean, her puffy red eyes boring holes into the ground. Next to her sat Will, Nico and Hazel. The grass underneath Nico's chair had started wilting and underneath Hazel's was a pool of various gems which she had warned people, especially the fauns, not to touch. Tears were falling from Nico's eyes and Hazel covered her mouth with a hand, trying not to sob too loudly as Will tried to comfort them. Though, Rachel could tell his heart wasn't in it.

Tons of people from New Rome, the majority of the Amazons and the Hunters had joined them. Everyone was dressed in black, it was a depressing sight.

Reyna's sister Hylla had volunteered to speak first, seeing as Thalia was in no state to talk, what with all her sobbing.

She spoke about Reyna's amazing triumphs and their struggles as children, not without shedding a tear or two. She muttered a few words about how they were both amazing Preators and left the stage respectfully.

Thalia managed to gather herself up and spoke next. She talked about how they had both matured into great people and about how they were heroes. Although, she said it with a shaky voice. She barely managed to withhold a shuddering sob before leaving the stage.

Next, as Preator, Frank had to go onstage. He spoke a few words strung together with difficulty, trying to finish speaking before the tears started coming.

Then came Gwendolyn, former centurion and good friend to Reyna and Jason. She also barely managed to hold back her sobs as she spoke about her two best friends who had left her "way too soon".

Annabeth, who was sitting beside Percy, was crying into his shoulder, while the man himself shed more than a few tears. He stood up to speak next. He was in a right state, with tear-stained cheeks and hair in a complete disarray (probably from running his hands through it so much). He managed to choke up a few incoherent words about their bravery. He said, "Seems we have a dam problem." before returning to his seat. Rachel didn't know what that meant but she noticed that Thalia started sobbing even louder at his words. Percy had his head buried his head in his hands.

Nico got up after Percy. As he walked to the stage, the grass all around him turned brown and brittle. His voice was hoarse as he spoke about two of the people who had been closest to him. When he got back to his seat, he held on to Will's hand, trying to make it stop trembling.

Before they knew it, the sun had set and darkness had started seeping in.

They moved back to the camp slowly, none of them very aware of anything. The night was calm. A gentle breeze was blowing the hair out of her face. Piper, who had broken down into tears the moment they stepped past city limits, was holding on to her hand for support with tears still flowing steadily down her cheeks.

No one uttered a word of goodnight, probably because they knew that none of them would get sleep that night.

Rachel laid down on her bed. She heard someone sniffling from the bed opposite to her, it was Annabeth. She refrained from saying anything and she didn't realize when but she had drifted off.

***

Jason and Reyna were walking hand in hand, gazing into each other's eyes, letting their feet take them wherever. They stopped in front of a river, pure black, flowing with the lost desires and hopes of all the dead who had crossed it.

They stepped into a ferry with the demon-like creature, Charon, as their escort. 

After they'd travelled across the Styx, they walked to the end of the line. All those people awaiting their judgement to spend the rest of eternity either in heaven, hell or the eternal nothingness of the purgatory.

They didn't stop staring into each other's eyes, they couldn't. Their hearts were going places, places it had never been before, and they couldn't stop it.

They could communicate without words. He could see all her thoughts, her heart's deepest desires and her sorrows in her eyes. Pictures may speak a thousand words, then you could imagine what a true, heart-felt emotion can express. It was right to say that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

He knew that he could never have talked to her about these... feelings. The words wouldn't form in his mouth, no matter how hard he may have tried. Now, he felt like he was doing just that. Her eyes were so full of emotion that it was almost overwhelming and the only reason he didn't feel intimidated was because he could feel the same amount of emotion swelling up in his heart.

They didn't care whether their story would be told for generations to come. All they needed was each other and the knowledge that the other loved them.

Before they had realized, they were sitting in front of the three masked judges. They broke eye contact for the first time and looked up at the ones who would be deciding their fate.

"Looks like they're joint at the hip." Said the one on the right, seeming annoyed at the fact that the guards couldn't seperate their hands.

"Jason Grace and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. Son of Jupiter and daughter of Bellona. Both of you were preators of the twelfth legion for a duration of time. Fought the Giants and Titans. Destined heroes." Said the middle judge.

"and lovers, I daresay." The left one muttered.

"Jason Grace, though I am sorry to say, you have broken an oath." The middle one said before a voice rang loud through the air.

I swear on the river Styx that I'll never leave you Reyna, never again.

"I think that he's got punishment enough." The right one said, gesturing at the two sitting in the Underworld, awaiting their judgement for the afterlife.

There was a pause and then-

"Elysium." The three of them chorused.

"That is, unless you choose to be reborn." The left judge proposed. They looked each other in the eye for a moment.

"Yes." Jason said.

"We choose to be reborn." Reyna continued.

"Then you must have your memories wiped." The middle judge announced before they were magically transported to the banks of a river. This one was pure white, beautiful yet the most dangerous of them all.

And with that they stepped into the Lethe. All their memories getting washed away as they stepped into their new lives.

***

Rachel sat up straight in bed with tears streaming down her face. Until then, she believed that she wasn't very attached to the two deceased heroes. But now, seeing them together, they way they finished each other's thoughts , the way they would do anything for each other, it made her want to sob. Sob for the loss of two wonderful heroes and dedicated lovers who just. . . didn't have enough time.

Annabeth came and sat beside her. "What happened?" She asked, sounding alarmed.

Rachel pulled her into a hug and cried into her shoulder. "Th- they chose to be reborn." She sniffled out.

Annabeth's eyes slowly started welling up with tears as she processed this information. "Of course they would." She started with a shaky, hoarse voice. "Bloody hero complex, the whole lot of them. Almost as bad as Percy."

Rachel choked out a muffled wet snort.

They counted down the hours till the sun rose, sitting in absolute silence, shedding a few more tears as they thought of their friends. In that moment Rachel was sure about one thing, 

Jason and Reyna's story would be told for generations to come. They would be known as the warriors who saved the world. It would be told as the story of two tragic heroes, not lovers, who might have been. . . given time.