Jeyna: We Could've Had It All // ADVANCEMENT

vii.

Reyna rose much earlier than usual on the morning of 31st of October and her uneasy feeling was back. Ever since she had seen the flickering clone of Jason, her uneasy feeling from a couple days before had increased. She sat up in her bed for a second, frowning before deciding to go for an early morning run, to try and clear herself of the feeling that something vehemently wrong was on the horizon.
A thin mist blanketed the empty Camp as Reyna ran. She usually didn't run with music – she liked to be aware of her surroundings, so that no one could surprise her. She also felt that music disturbed the nature around her, when she ran, Reyna ran with just herself and the world around her – no interference.
Until the ground trembled.
Reyna almost fell over from the shock of the physical ground moving beneath her feet. Scowling at the ground, Reyna found herself sprinting to the Common where she had seen the flickering holograph of her boyfriend. She stood exactly where she had seen him stand, thinking hard when the ground shook again. This time she actually fell over from the sudden movement of the earth. She hit the back of her head as fell and winced a little, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. A brilliant white light almost seared her eyes but she felt instantly better, as if her head coming into contact with the hard earth had been good for her, rather than make her feel a little sick.
An earthy green flashed for a moment in the pair of blue eyes that were gazing down at her. Everything was in sharper focus – she was suddenly full of a happy, manic energy; she smiled widely and offered her hands to Jason, so that he could pull her up. He did pull her up to standing and she jumped up, kissing his nose and taking his hand, "Let's go and get some breakfast!" He smiled back at her and let her lead him to the dining pavilion where there was frantic chatter about the evening's festivities. "Hey, why don't we grab some breakfast in New Rome instead? Just the two of us," He pressed his forehead to hers and she kissed his nose again in agreement.

They sat outside in the chilly morning air, but Reyna was full of warmth and not just from her hot chocolate. "So, what costume are you going to wear tonight?" Jason seemed to stand out brighter than usual, the straight lines of his face more chiseled than she remembered them being yesterday. His blonde hair was a pale golden in the dreary sunlight; his skin was devoid of imperfection, even the scar on his lip was faded – it was like someone had airbrushed him to be even more perfect. A little nagging feeling looked for a foothold in Reyna, but the warmth brushed it aside. "So, are you going to dress up?"

Smiling, she shrugged, "Might as well, you?"

"Of course! Can't let the side down," He grinned.
The Praetors lapsed into playful conversation, taking their time on the walk back to Camp. It was odd – they'd had Camp socials before, but the air was like this was building up to something more exciting than before, something important. It was like they were preparing for war, the amount of feverish excitement was running through the campers. But still, Reyna felt oddly relaxed, as if she was taking a back seat in her actions – it made a small part of her uneasy.

Jason stopped Michael Kahale, who seemed to be chief organizer of the Camp's All Hallows Eve bash, and asked if they could help. He then set Jason to fetching and stacking refreshments and Reyna to—

Reyna was walking up the steps to the pavilion, lifting up her Greek chiton as to not drag the hem of her Megara costume (if the film wasn't going to be accurate, she thought her costume might as well be). It was odd - she didn't remember the time between the son of Venus setting Jason to a little labour work and her walking up the steps. She didn't even know she'd had a costume ready and made. A rising panic started to flood Reyna, but it settled, replaced by a warm, sleepy feeling came over her, and a gentle, yet menacing voice filled her up instead, "Not long now, my child."
It was in a sleep-like state that she finally entered the pavilion. Someone handed her a drink and she was now laughing with Dokata and a small group of other campers. She wasn't even aware that someone was trying to get her attention until she turned around. Her vision tunneled so she could only see and hear him. He was more perfect than that morning: his eyes were the electric myriad shades of the earth that made her shiver; he was gloriously tanned under the armour of his costume, and his muscles were more pronounced in a way that would make any girl swoon; his teeth were white under scarless lips. It was this that pulled Reyna out of her sleep walking state. Her eyes grew wide as he pressed his lips to hers and the voice from before spoke again, more menacing than she remembered, "Just a little longer, just a little longer now until you're mine..."

With these words, she felt once more at ease as Jason took the white flower from his breastplate and offered it to her. She let out an actual giggle as she was forced back to her dream-like state and looked at the flower he offered her. Barely bothering to push aside the blush that was creeping up into her cheeks, Reyna raised an eyebrow, "Is that for me?"
His smile never wavered, "I do believe so. As we have watched that 'adaption' so many times, I can't help but to remember that Hercules gives Meg a white flower, just like the one I am attempting to give you." He thrusted the flower towards her once more. Feigning reluctance, she took the flower, murmuring "Thank you," through her smile. Tucking the flower behind her ear, she looked up once more into the son of Jupiter's eyes - Megara's Hercules. Reyna's Jason.

"We'll just leave you two alone then," The group of Campers that she had been talking with before smirked and dispersed, almost literally it seemed.

There was an awkward silence. "Want to go outside, see the fireworks clearer?" Jason proposed. Reyna couldn't see any problems with that - the heat and crowdedness of the pavilion was starting to cloud her judgment.
The two found themselves alone, in a secluded corner of the party and their lips found each other's as they had done before. Their kisses usually made her feel alive, like a lit firework ready to go off, but tonight she felt sleepy and a deep, unsettling calm.

With a belly full of ambrosia and heart full of determination, Jason laid back down in the Hypnos Cabin at CHB. Clovis was on edge as he began murmuring different incantations, for extra protection, and Piper was lurking in the doorway. He knew how much she resented his doing this, but he also knew that she understood what he had to do - at least he hoped she did. But at the moment, Jason didn't care what she thought – he was fully focused on Reyna.

"You are playing a dangerous game, boy." A sleepy voice trembled, trying to break his thought pattern.

The white light this time was searing, making it difficult to open his eyes or see anything and when the high pitch pop! went off it rung through his head, painfully.
He stumbled onto the scene and fell – the ringing in his head seemed to be cracking a hole in his skull but he had to find Reyna. Running through the Camp, he caught sight of the swish of Reyna's dark hair, but Campers seemed to materialize in front of him as he tried to find her. "Reyna!" He called desperately and she turned around, her eyes flashing earthy green.
A renewed energy filled him and he fought forwards, finally catching up to her and stopped dead. Reyna was once again with that blond guy wrapped in a tight embrace – rage broiled inside him. He felt all of his father's thunder and power rage through him in that moment and he was ready to use it.
Just as he felt the electricity licking at his fingertips, Reyna looked up from her Herculean-clad suitor. Her eyes widened – confusion was evident in her being. She pushed the blond boy aside to stand up, eyes locked on Jason. But she was moving sluggishly, as if she was half asleep and her eyes were fuzzy – Gaia must have a strong hold on her.

The other blond boy murmured something to Reyna, "Come on, get away from him, Reyna,", before also standing. Now that Jason could see who Reyna's blond fantasy was he also became rather confused. Jason was looking at himself, but this Jason was more polished. His brain couldn't process what he was seeing as the other Jason drew his sword, so he moved his gaze again to Reyna.
"Rey, you have to wake up. This isn't real – this is a dream and you have to wake up." He grasped her shoulders and she tensed, her eyes flickering to the Other Jason.
Jason felt his foothold in Reyna's dream begin to slip – this was his last chance to get Reyna back.
She was still looking back at the Other Jason when he shook Reyna roughly, "Listen to me!" He shouted; her gaze slowly returned to him. "This is a dream created by Gaia – it's all a dream! You have to come with me now, you have to wake up or we'll lose you forever!" His voice softened slightly, but the urgency and desperation was still there, "I can't lose you again, Reyna. I-I can't." He stammered.

She regarded him like she should know him, but Jason was terrified that she wouldn't wake up with him as he was pulled from her dream.