Catch Fire || P. Jackson

𝟏.𝟏𝟏

"Oh, dear," Octavian said. "Hardly the right behaviour for a new centurion, have you taught him this, Achillea?" The daughter of Apollo pursed her lips so tightly that they seemed to disappear. The only reply Octavian received was a tightly controlled exhale from her nostrils. "Jackson, I only followed you because Reyna charged me with a message. She wants you to report to the Principia without your—ah—two lackeys, here."

"What about Lea?" The words were out of his mouth before he had time to think about them. All eyes turned to the rather uncomfortable-looking Lea.

Octavian's outside composure vanished for a second. A hint of insecurity dawned on his face. His eyes were glued to the silver lightning bolt broach that fastened her toga. The reality of what he was looking at made the already pale boy as white as a sheet.

"Octavian?" Hazel stepped towards the Augur. Concern was written across her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yes!" He snapped out of it. His usual obnoxious facade returned. "She is not permitted. Reyna will meet you there after the senate adjourns. She'd like a private word with you before you leave on your quest."

"What about?" Percy said.

"I'm sure I don't know." Octavian smiled wickedly. "The last person she had a private talk with was Jason Grace. And that was the last time I ever saw him. Good luck and goodbye, Percy Jackson."

Unable to help herself, Lea let out a scoff. "That's bullshit. Jason was with me that night."

Frank cocked his head. He had never asked Lea about the Praetor. Of course, every demigod was dying to know what had happened the night their Praetor had disappeared. Theories and rumours spread like wildfire; none of them helped by Reyna's staunch jealousy of Lea that was bubbling over her and Jason.

"Why? Were you dating?"

"No!" Lea practically shouted at Percy. The demigod took a hasty step backwards. "Sorry. No, we weren't dating. I've never..." She trailed off unsure of why she was divulging that information. Shaking her head, Lea's hands found her broach. "I just hate these rumours about Reyna seeing him last."

"But that means people are suspicious of Reyna, not you. Why's that a bad thing?" Frank questioned.

"It was my birthday." She whispered. "I don't want people thinking I had something to do with him going missing but that's why we snuck out..."

"Oh." Percy breathed, rubbing underneath his ear. "That sucks."

Lea rolled her eyes, brushing hair out of her face. "Eloquent. Don't you have a Praetor to get harassed by?" She shooed him with her hands.

"You'll do great. See you at lunch!" Hazel waved, forcing a smile.

Frank clapped him on the shoulder as he walked past. "If you make it till then."

Lea said nothing more but Percy swore he could feel her eyes on him the whole time. Even when he was in the Principia with Reyna, he would've placed money on feeling the heat of her gaze burning the back of his head.

He was delusional, he decided. Lea wasn't in the Principia, nor was she present at lunch. Nonetheless, Percy kept scanning the room for a glimpse of her. It was an impressive skill: Lea seemed to materialise out of thin air when she wanted to.

Even after he had packed his gear for the quest and was specifically waiting around for Lea, it seemed like one second she wasn't there and the next she was. Either Percy was incredibly unobservant or Lea was a ninja. Despite his memory problems, Percy was pretty sure that Apollo wasn't the god of spies.

A member of the Fifth Cohort, Bobby, gave them a ride to the border of the valley on Hannibal the elephant. From the hilltops, the four demigods could see everything below. The Little Tiber snaked across golden pastures where the unicorns were grazing. The temples and forums of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. On the Field of Mars, engineers were hard at work, pulling down the remains of last night's fort and setting up barricades for a game of death ball. A normal day for Camp Jupiter—but on the northern horizon, storm clouds were gathering. Shadows moved across the hills, and a chill ran down Lea's spine.