The Mark of Janus (Book 2)

Chapter 3

The Romans knew how to eat. There were low set couches surrounded by tables of food, and people chatting with each other.

Unfortunately, one's appetite after a month long coma is not very good. I weighed way less than I should have, but I couldn't find the appetite to put the weight back on.

And I'm sure the whole anxiety attack earlier wasn't helping.

Reyna had just made a quick toast, and now we were sharing each others stories.

Percy told the story of what happened after his disappearance-- but before coming to Camp Jupiter--and Jason started to tell the story of Hera's imprisonment.

It was not an easy story to talk about. I still felt like a horrible person for the things I did. My best friends were scared of me, and every time it came up, it was a giant reminder that I did those things. I had the power to do those things again.

I stared at Percy for a couple of minutes as Jason explained my powers. I was hoping to see a look of comfort, like he understood what it felt like. There was nothing. He didn't look scared, but he did look majorly confused.

Reyna, on the other hand, looked disgusted with me. At first she didn't seem to believe that this underweight, anxiety prone girl, curled up next to Jason, could have such immense powers, enough to make an immortal being fall to its knees. I didn't blame her. I wouldn't have believed it either. The only problem is that I wouldn't be able to prove it.

Jason finished off the story nonchalantly, about how we broke open the cage and Porphyrion ran away.

Piper had to open her sweet sweet mouth. "Hey, you forgot the best part." She grinned. "Jason died."

He sighed closing his eyes. "Thanks for reminding me." He stared at Reyna. "I died by looking at the queen of gods in her true form."

I chuckled. He sounded a little disappointed in himself. My small smirk quickly faded.

"Yeah, Pepper brought me back to life." He nodded, smiling at me.

Percy grinned. "You can bring people back to life? How does this power work?"

I hadn't really told anyone before, they just didn't speak of it again at camp.

I blushed. "Well, everyone had these red, like, auras around them. And I can just control that." I muttered. "I can't do it right now, though. I'm still recovering."

Jason shrugged. "Then we went home." He finished off the story.

Reyna looked uncomfortable when Jason called Camp Half-Blood home. He shifted in her seat and looked away. I felt almost guilty. Like I had taken Jason away from his family here. I sighed and gently took my hand out of his grasp.

Percy whistled appreciatively. "No wonder they made you Praetor."

Octavian whined. "Which means we now have 3 Praetors. Which is not allowed."

Percy snorted. "Good news is that both Jason and I can tell you to shut up."

There was a slight chuckle across the table. Even Reyna smiled a little.

"We'll figure that out later. Right now we have more pressing issues." Reyna stated.

Percy waved his hand nonchalantly. "I'd step aside for Jason. It's no biggie."

That prompted a response for Octavian. He went on a short tangent about the praetorship.

We all ignored him, and Percy turned to Jason. "I can't believe you're Thals' brother. You two look nothing alike."