reflection ● jason grace

The world has it in for her

Nathan was waiting for them outside.

"You guys are shit at sneaking out," Nathan snickered. "My favorite part was when Michael snuck into the infirmary for ambrosia and told the nurse that he liked to snack on it."

Daria glanced at her...whatever. "Did you really do that, Mike?" Michael shrugged.

He shrugged again in response, turning his attention to the son of Mercury. "Nathan," Michael said seriously. "Please tell me you haven't told anyone-"

"Hey," Jason drawled loudly. "Heard we were going on an adventure." Daria froze. No, No, No.

His blond hair shone in the moonlight; it was funny really, the fact that he was so prepared, donning a backpack and IVLIVS in his hand. He shared a glance with Reyna, beside him, equally as stone-faced.

Great. Absolutely wonderful. She almost preferred to be killed by Krios.

"For the record," Nathan said softly. "I didn't tell them."

Michael put a protective arm around Daria. She glanced at her ex-best friend. "Planning on waking up the whole camp, Grace?"

If Jason was surprised by his dryness, he didn't show it. Reyna raised one eyebrow – something only she could do. "We just want to help. You already got caught by Nathan."

"Oh no," Nathan put his arms up, crossing the imaginary border to Daria and Michael's side. "You are not involving me in your drama."

Jason rolled his eyes, he was about to say something when Daria interrupted. "We can talk later," she told them. "Outside the camp's borders."

"Of course, Daria," Jason said cooly, which was the exact opposite of what she wanted him to do. She shrugged Michael off and walked ahead of them all, hoping her body language said not to talk to her.

This quest, if you could even call it that, would be emotional, Daria could feel it. Not just for her, either. By the looks of it, things were tense between Jason and Nathan; she had no doubt that the boy from the Second Cohort had tried to talk to Jason about his issue long before she did.

Michael and Jason were bound to argue – that was just a fact of life, and Reyna and Nathan always snapped at each other. The one thing Daria wasn't counting on, however, was Jason and Reyna tag-teaming to ignore her.

"Halt!" A booming voice made her stop in her tracks. "Where do you think you're going, Daria Jackson?"

She glanced at the statue bust of Terminus, the god that protected the city limits. It was easy to sneak past him during the day since everyone was coming and going, so Daria had completely forgotten about him.

"And company!" The god said in the exact same tone of voice.

"Be quiet, man," Nathan hissed. "We're trying to sneak out here!"

Daria rubbed her forehead. Yeah, this quest was going to be so much fun.

"I can see that," Terminus said dryly, though his voice didn't get any quieter.

"Terminus, old friend," Daria plastered a grin on her face. "It's me! Daria."

"I know who you are, Daria Jackson." Steam started coming out of his ears. "And your friend, Jason Grace. Don't think I've forgotten last time!"

Reyna looked confused. "What happened last time?"

Michael sighed. "When those two were 12," he pointed at Jason and Nathan, "they somehow super glued Terminus's mouth shut. And his arms. And his-"