obsidian black ● jason grace

face

If Rome was a marble countertop, then Greece was like a toddler scribbled on the walls with crayon.

It was golden and cracked temples intertwined with the shrubbery below. The color of the trees that surrounded the city reminded Jason of Daria's eyes. They were dark, but still green. That day, the color reminded Jason of Daria's eyes the night before, when he asked her to marry him.

When she had blushed, stared at her hands, and said no.

Granted, the proposal hadn't been legitimate. It was just Jason thinking out loud. He knew they were 17, and it wasn't realistic, but still, she didn't have to reject him that harshly, the firm set of her lips telling Jason that she didn't want to discuss it further.

"You ready for this?" Percy asked him. They stood on the deck as the others trickled in. Everyone wore battle-ready frowns on their faces.

"Couple of giants," Jason shook himself out of his thoughts, there were better days and better topics to worry about. "No sweat." Percy gave him a crooked grin.

Daria appeared at his shoulder, a cup of hot chocolate in her hand, topped with too much whipped cream. Her expression hadn't changed all that much from last night, calm, serious, and not thinking about trivial things like Jason.

She gazed at the city below them. Everyone was wrapped in their one conversations as Leo landed the ship, but they all seemed to be waiting for someone to take charge. For Daria, specifically, to give them a game plan.

"There's going to be one giant for each of you," she said, holding the attention of nearly everyone. "And a god on your side, hopefully. But there's going to be other monsters, apart from the giants. I'll take those."

"Daria," Percy said, voicing what most of them were thinking. "There'll be hundreds of them."

"Killing the giants is more important," she insisted. Her hair was tied out of her face today, and Jason could see the freckles that dotted from the bridge of her nose to her ears. "And harder."

"She's right," Annabeth sighed. "We can't afford to be distracted."

"So that's settled," Hazel said. "But how do we even get to the Acropolis?"

Annabeth started talking about the history of Athens, which only she was qualified to do since she was the daughter of Athena and all. And they didn't teach much about Greek mythology at Camp Jupiter.

Jason snaked his arm around Daria's shoulder, pulling her closer to him so that no one else could hear. "Are you sure about this?"

Daria gave him a wry smile, leaning into his touch. He could almost believe that yesterday hadn't happened. "I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you. You've got to fight Porphyrion."

"Yeah," Jason's throat tightened as he remembered the last time he had come face to face with the giant. "Hopefully dad will come through."

"As he always does," she said lightly. "Hot chocolate?"

"-you'll need someone else," Piper said as Jason took one sip of the too sweet drink and immediately regretted it. "I know you'll be able to mask your scent but they're still expecting you. I'll come with you."

"It makes sense," Daria agreed, because of course she had managed to listen to two conversations at once. "Then you guys can disable the guard forces and we'll drop in."

"We've landed," Frank announced, though it was sort of obvious. He and Leo walked over as Hazel began to explain the plan to them. Percy, Annabeth, and Piper would go in first, try to lower their defenses, then the Argo II would come in. Now that Jason thought about it, it was a lot like Rome.

"You guys should start now," Daria suggested to the trio. "Who knows how long this will take?" She moved away from him to shake Annabeth's hand, muttering some low words to each other. Advice.

Jason gave Piper a hug. He slapped Percy on the back. "See you at the Acropolis, man."

"Right back at you, bro," he returned. All animosity gone. Jason turned back to Piper, squeezing her in a bear hug. He couldn't imagine this quest without her. "Pipes..." He started.

She snorted. "Jesus, I'm not going to die, Jason." She paused. "Probably."

"Not 'probably'," Daria came over to them. She smiled at the other girl, and gave her a warm hug. "See you in a bit, Piper Mclean."

Leo told them it would be about an hour until they made their entrance.

Jason and Daria opted to stay on deck while Hazel helped Frank pick out the best arrows from the armory. It was trivial stuff, but Jason understood. If the world was ending in an hour, there was nowhere else he'd rather be than by Daria's side.

Daria leaned against the railing, neatly tucked under Jason's arm as she had been before. His shoulder was fine again, another stupid thing he never should have hid from her, and his lungs had rid themselves of the Tartarus air. Whatever fight they were about to experience, Jason couldn't be more ready for it.

It occurred to him then that they had never talked about the days after Tartarus. Their nightmares were still present, but they were few and in between, whatever friction had kept the two of them frustrated and snappish had dissipated.

"Hey," he murmured, low enough that Leo couldn't hear. "I never said thank you, for putting up with me."

Daria blinked. "Putting up with you?" She echoed. She tilted his head towards her to kiss him, standing on her tiptoes. She smelled like the earth and paper and all of Jason's favorite things. "Take a hint, Jay, I've been in love with you since I was a kid."

"Yeah, well I've been in love with you since I knew what love was," he countered. "So I win."

She kicked his shin in protest. "It's not a contest! But if it was, you wouldn't win."

"How would I not win?"

"Do you not remember all the stunts you pulled when we were younger?" She argued. "Plus, you're a guy!"

Jason was offended. "Oh, because you have great social skills."

"I'm sorry praetor optimus," Jason could tell she was trying not to giggle. "I forgot I was talking to the guy who got in trouble for painting the flag hot pink."

"It was purple."

"No it wasn't!" This time Jason had succeeded in making her laugh. "You just pretended to be color blind for a year so Mitch wouldn't make you clean the stables."

Jason wanted to hear that laugh again. He opened his mouth to remind her of something else stupid he'd done at Camp Jupiter when BOOM.

Daria's expression faltered. "The Acropolis."

"5 minutes!" Leo called from the head. "Hazel, Frank! Get your butts up here!"

"Daria," Jason muttered. "If anything happens today-"

"-don't, Jason," she waved him off, determined not to talk about it. But he had to tell her. She was about to walk towards the front of the ship, but her eyes caught on his and she paused.

"If anything happens today," he repeated, anxiety clutching at his heart. "I hope you know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Jason had known for a long time that they showed their love in different ways. Now, if Daria had professed her unconditional love to him, he would have doubted its sincerity. But she didn't do that.

With a clarity that he would think about for the rest of his life, she simply said. "I am so proud of you, Jason Grace."

Below them, the sounds of a battle drew closer. Jason squeezed Daria's hand, and together, they leapt into the Acropolis.