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

viii.

It was like getting the feeling back in your toes but slower. Painfully slow. But when she had set eyes on Jason - her Jason, not Gaia's – she took the front seat in her actions once more and screamed.

***

"She'd been thrashing for hours, and her nose hasn't stopped bleeding since yesterday,"
Jason nodded solemnly and set his eyes on the now deathly-still form of Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. He took her cold hand in his warm one and gently placed a kiss in her palm. Jason refused to accept that she wouldn't wake up – his Reyna would never do that to him, or the Camp.

He was half way through a prayer when she screamed. It was long and piercing – full of pain. A second, angry scream joined Reyna's and a green mist rose from her, like it was being expelled from Reyna as she screamed. On and on it went until it just –

Reyna's eyes flew open but they weren't the steady dark eyes he knew – they glowed bright green for a few seconds before returning to normal.

Reyna gasped for breath and coughed, spitting blood. She looked around, letting her eyes adjust as people called her name. "Jason?" Her voice was a hoarse croak as her eyes finally met his. A wave of panic hit her – was it really him? But she saw the sky blue – not Gaia's earth green – and felt herself calm. He fought his way past the small crowd of Campers and to her bedside. He hugged her tightly to him, not caring about the tears that were spilling from his eyes, mixing with the tears that poured from Reyna's eyes.

Piper kind of regretted making Jason let her join him at Camp Jupiter. She felt such an outsider – the Romans were polite, but avoided her. Everyone was in or around Reyna's Praeortal villa, but Piper had situated herself away from the 'Jeyna' reunion. She didn't want to take this away from either of them and it would be awkward as she wasn't even that close with Reyna – not that she didn't like her. What Piper didn't like was what she felt between Jason and Reyna. What she felt between them was almost like what Percy and Annabeth had – nothing like what there was between Jason and herself. What she and Jason 'had' was based off of a dream put in her head by a desperation-driven goddess. But Jason and Reyna...

It's for the best, she thought. When she searched deep down, Piper found that she didn't truly love Jason romantically, either. The daughter of Aphrodite smiled sadly and went to head back to Camp Half-Blood, alone.