obsidian black ● jason grace

you

 "Let me get this straight," Reyna said. "Camp Half-Blood is preparing for war, your father told you that we're being hunted by Orion, and now there are wolves after us?"

They were eating at a cafe for dinner, after bringing food to Coach Hedge who watched over the statue. The park was within eyesight, and Nico felt better without the Coach's megaphone spouting random drills at them. Plus, he had Reyna's dogs to protect him if he needed them, and those things were much scarier than Mrs. O'Leary.

After their last jump to Portugal (by which Nico meant he meant to aim for Spain but his ambitions exceeded him once again), he'd passed out for 24 hours, according to Coach Hedge. But he still didn't know if he had enough energy for their next jump, across the Atlantic. Assuming nothing went wrong while they were in Portugal.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"Your camp stands no chance," Reyna said matter-of-factly. He liked that about her, among other things. He had never spent more than five minutes talking to Reyna without Daria's interference, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

"It's not my camp," he corrected. "I've probably spent the same amount of time at Camp Jupiter."

"Yeah," Reyna said sarcastically, playing with her braided hair. "You've got that sense of Roman loyalty to you."

He paused. "You're right though, I've seen both camps fight. The Greeks don't stand a chance, and I'm a Greek."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "I thought it wasn't your camp." She spread her hands, gracefully stopping just short of her coffee cup in a way that Nico wouldn't have. "But I've told Octavian to stand down....we'll see if he follows the order."

"He can't be that angry at Daria," Nico argued weakly. "Is he?"

"At any given moment, I can't predict what goes through Octavian's head," she said. "Regardless, all we can do from here is hope. The wolves may be our more immediate problem."

"I thought wolves were friends of Rome."

"Most of them are," Reyna agreed. "Though, Lupa hasn't shown her presence much as of late. I think Jason fought alongside her on his quest, and I can't imagine that she would turn against us."

There was no animosity in her face when she spoke about Jason. Nico thought of the son of Jupiter as Reyna's Annabeth. Reyna had a crush on Daria, that much was obvious to anyone who saw the two interact, just like Nico used to have a crush on Percy. Maybe they were more similar than Nico realized.

"Prophecies are never clear," Nico reminded her. "Neither are gods. We can't take everything my father said literally."

"Still we should be ready for an attack," she sipped her drink. "Especially with that hunter after us...."

"Orion," Nico remembered. "What do you know about him?"

"I," for a fleeting moment Reyna looked embarrassed. Nico didn't think she was capable of that. "Jason's the one that knows mythology."

"Right," he played with his pasta. "You were the warrior."

"I suppose," she hesitated, like there was anything about Daria Jackson that Nico didn't know. "Though, they never really needed me. Daria's more of a warrior than either of us."

"Of course they needed you," Nico stated. It was a fact, the three of them never did anything without each other, except for maybe this. "They adore you."

"I'm not upset about it," she smiled, softer than Nico had ever seen her, but genuine. "Daria likes to quote literature. She once said I reminded her of a quote by...oh, I forget the author. It goes, 'I prefer nothing, unless it is true.' Do not pity me Nico di Angelo. I have made my peace with the world in a way that you have not."