reflection ● jason grace

Redemption

 Mitch looked awful, but he looked alive, and that was all Daria cared about.

Though, when she looked at him for more than a moment, she felt sick. It seemed like every part of his body was bruised. He held his arm gingerly, like it was broken but an old injury, and he hadn't had the time to bind it. Daria's hands shook with a rapid speed, but this time it was out of anger.

They put him in a cage.

She shoved past Atticus's men, trusting that they wouldn't hurt her unless Atticus gave the order, even though Michael hissed at her like he'd just been punched. Her friends bristled behind her, but Atticus wouldn't harm Daria; she knew he wouldn't.

After all, wasn't he the one who saved her from the volcano?

Daria touched Mitch's good arm softly. His eyes seemed to be stuck half-closed. He was literally on the brink of death. "Can you hear me?"

Mitch groaned, struggling to speak. The air around them turned staticy. Daria looked back to see Jason shaking in fury – he knew he couldn't move past all the guards, but Mitch was his friend. They were just as close as Daria and Leila once had been.

"You can save him, you know." She heard Atticus's footsteps approaching. They hadn't trained together in years, obviously, but there were things that she couldn't forget. The light tread of his feet on the earth was one of them.

She whirled around, sword up, keeping him at a distance. "Don't come closer. Do not touch me, Atticus. We are not friends." Daria looked back at Mitch. "And you're right. We will save him, but I'm not joining your stupid army."

Of course, Atticus still held on to his pride. Without warning, the wind transformed into something like a fist made out of dense air, something Daria didn't know how to stop. Today was really, really sucky. She braced herself for an explosion of pain.

It never came.

Daria opened her eyes to see her friends with their weapons drawn being led by Jason, who had his right hand raised. His eyes were darker than she'd ever seen them, and they were trained on Atticus.

"She said," Jason made out through gritted teeth. "Not to touch her."

And then everything exploded.

In the midst of the fight, Daria grabbed Nathan by the shirt and pulled him to the cage. "Can you break the lock?" She demanded.

"Um," he fished around in his pocket, pulling out a piece of gum, hotel shampoo, and some denarii. "Yeah, probably, but-"

"Do it," she stood in front of him, arching her swords wide, threatening anyone to come closer. "I'll protect you."

She heard Jason baiting the monsters; it was a tactic he hadn't used in a while, and despite the situation, Daria wanted to smile.

"What does Krios even do?" He asked as he clashed swords with three enemies at once. "Control the stars?"

Daria wondered if Dakota knew the primadoral being's Zodiac sign. Reyna was fighting Atticus, but as Daria shared a grim look with Michael, she knew that they needed information. And the only way to get it, was through her.

"Rey!" She called. "I need you here!"

Daria watched as she retreated. Once she was in range to protect Nathan, Daria fought her way to the center. To him.

"Have you accepted that I won't join you yet?"

Atticus looked up at her lazily. "But I need you to."

Daria scoffed. Her swords were in a defensive position; Atticus's wasn't even drawn. He tossed a die in his hand – the one from Nathan's uncle's shop. When he landed on a picture, more monsters appeared. Daria shattered the metal before he could toss it again. So that was how he'd summoned all those monsters with a flick of his hand.

"Listen Daria," Atticus shrugged like he'd seen her fate and it was only a matter of time before it came into fruition. He didn't seem worried about the die; maybe he figured he didn't need it anymore. "Your legion is destined to fail. Prometheus predicted it. You've got a spy on the inside. Things aren't looking good."

Daria felt a ringing in her ears. She knew she should've taken Michael's offer of ambrosia after the last battle. "It's not my legion," she muttered, collapsing part of the cave where more monsters were entering from. "And what spy?"

"Oh yeah," he said sarcastically. "Because I'm just going to tell you. How cute."

"You say that like you have any free will," Daria shot back. "How's being controlled by a Titan going for you?"

"Pretty well," he snarked back. "Except I'm not being controlled. I lend him my strength, and in return I get world domination. It's a pretty good trade off, Dars."

"Don't call me that."

"And in the end, it doesn't matter," Atticus pointed out. "Because you don't have what it takes to kill me. Well, not just me, but any demigod. Don't you think I've noticed that you've been sparing them this entire time?"

"They're innocent," Daria muttered, blood pressure rising. "So far. You, however..."

A strange mixture of Ryan and Daniel's voice echoed in her head. Don't mess with fate. Atticus's time will come, but it is not now.

"Hey!" Jason exclaimed, making her whirl around. He didn't look as tired as he did a few minutes ago, the thrill of battle gleaming in his eyes. "I remember you! You swore me out in New Rome, asshole."

"Jason," Michael said in an urgent whisper. "He's like 7 feet tall."

Daria turned back to Atticus. "You've been taking our demigods," she accused him. In horror, she realized Randy wasn't the only familiar ex-legionnaire in the pack. Under helmets, she spotted Laura, and Paul, and Jake, and so many others. When had they left? And why hadn't anyone noticed?

"Your praetors left them for dead," Atticus said, reading her expression. "So they're not 'your demigods' anymore. They just want to fight for justice. They're fighting for their right to stay alive."

"Monsters are the ones killing them," Daria snapped back. "Don't act so high and mighty when you're working with the very things that killed your parents."

The silence would've been loud if the sounds of battle weren't raging around them. If she weren't so well trained, Daria would be overwhelmed, but she could see Nathan scrape away at the metal, almost done cutting it.

Michael and Reyna stood back to back, destroying any monster that dared cross their path. And Jason, well as the dust picked up around him, he almost looked like a mini-tornado. Rather than fight monsters, he fought other demigods – not to kill, but to make sure they thought twice about what they were doing.

She turned back to Atticus, raising her chin. "We're winning."

"You won't win until you kill me and Krios," he reminded her. "We're ready to fight the good fight, as long as it takes." Then he looked past her, and his face went slack. "No!"

Daria knew she'd been missing something. Or maybe she didn't, because there was nothing worse than hindsight, and they all made up white lies after the fact. Fear raced through her veins, but even then she couldn't predict what was about to happen. She turned, and...

Daria just had time to watch as Randy stabbed his knife into the son of Apollo's stomach.

H a h a

Michael: What's something you guys are better than Daria at?Nathan: Mario Kart.Jason: Yeah, video games.Clara: Emotional vulnerability.

-M