DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- two

A SEA OF HASTILY ASSEMBLED demigods parted for rose as she walked through the forum. some looked tense, some nervous. some were bandaged from their recent battle with the giants, but no one was armed. no one attacked.

entire families had gathered to see the newcomers. rose saw couples with babies, toddlers clinging to their parents' legs, even some elderly folks in a combination of roman robes and modern clothes. were all of them demigods? rose suspected so, though she'd never seen a place like this. at camp half-blood, most demigods were teens. if they survived long enough to graduate from high school, they either stayed on as counselors or left to start lives as best they could in the mortal world. here, it was an entire multigenerational community.

at the far end of the crowd, rose spotted tyson the cyclops and percy's hellhound, mrs. o'leary—who had been the first scouting party from camp half-blood to reach camp jupiter. they looked to be in good spirits. tyson waved and grinned. he was wearing an SPQR banner like a giant bib.

some part of rose mind registered how beautiful the city was—the smells from the bakeries, the gurgling fountains, the flowers blooming in the gardens. and the architecture... gods, the architecture—gilded marble columns, dazzling mosaics, monumental arches, and terraced villas. annabeth must've been having a field day.

in front of rose, the demigods made way for a girl in full roman armor and a purple cape. dark hair tumbled across her shoulders. her eyes were as black as obsidian.

reyna.

jason had described her well. even without that, rose would have singled her out as the leader. medals decorated her armor. she carried herself with such confidence the other demigods backed away and averted their gaze.

rose recognized something else in her face, too—in the hard set of her mouth and the deliberate way she raised her chin like she was ready to accept any challenge. reyna was forcing a look of courage, while holding back a mixture of hopefulness and worry and fear that she couldn't show in public.

rose knew that expression. she saw it every time she looked in a mirror.

the two girls considered each other. rose's friends fanned out on either side. the romans murmured jason's name, staring at him in awe.

then someone else appeared from the crowd, and rose's vision tunneled.

percy smiled at her—that sarcastic, troublemaker smile that drove her insane. his sea-green eyes were as gorgeous as she remembered. his dark hair was messy, like he'd just come from a walk on the beach. he looked even better than he had six months ago—tanner, leaner, and more muscular.

rose was too stunned to move. she felt that if she got any closer to him, all the molecules in her body might combust. they'd been a happy couple for four months—and then he'd disappeared.

during their separation, something had happened to rose's feelings. they'd grown painfully intense—like she'd been forced to withdraw from a life-saving medication. now she wasn't sure which was more excruciating—living with that horrible absence, or being with him again.

the praetor reyna straightened. with apparent reluctance, she turned toward jason.

"jason grace, my former colleague..." she spoke the word colleague like it was a dangerous thing. "i welcome you home. and these, your friends—"

rose didn't mean to, but she surged forward. percy rushed toward her at the same time. the crowd tensed. some reached for swords that weren't there.

percy threw his arms around her. they kissed, and for a moment nothing else mattered. an asteroid could have hit the planet and wiped out all life, and rose wouldn't have given a single shit.