𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐃 ━━ jason grace

01. cassie is worthy enough for a quest

[ ACT TWO , CHAPTER ONE ]
CASSIE IS WORTHY ENOUGH FOR A QUEST.

‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊

Marco had about a billion questions. He asked about Cassie's travels, or "vacation," as he liked to call it. He wouldn't even wait for an answer between questions, he would just continue talking as if he hadn't talked to a real person in ages. If Cassie was being completely honest, she didn't even pay attention to half the questions Marco asked.

She may have not been giving Marco her full attention, though his last question certainly grabbed it; "You must be excited to see Jason again." When Cassie didn't reply, Marco continued, "Aren't you?"

Cassie opened her mouth to answer, but she didn't know how. It was an extremely complicated situation. Cassie and Jason grew up at Camp Jupiter together; they were best friends. They had their plethora of inside jokes and tons of shared memories. They had gone through so much together that it was weird when Jason disappeared, no matter what the circumstance was.

Last summer, Cassie and Jason dated in secret for a few weeks, only a few of their friends knew. When she thought back to it, she didn't know why it was a secret – something about people minding their own business. When Jason broke up with Cassie, she was obviously sad about it.  But the worst part was that the next morning, Jason was gone. No explanation. Nothing.

The day after, Cassie left camp herself, hoping to find Jason and bring him back. Clearly, her attempt was futile. Now, Jason was on the way back to camp, with these Greek demigods. She wondered what was the point of leaving in the first place, if Jason was just going to return on his own.

When Cassie finally looked up from her shoes, Marco was looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. "Uh, yeah, sure," she managed. "Do you think we can get closer to the front?"

They swerved through the sea of people. Marco wanted to see exactly what was going on at the front as much as Cassie did. Every few steps, he'd call out "centurion coming through," and the crowd would part for Cassie and Marco to pass through. Just after they arrived at the front, another part of the crowd parted and four people stepped out.

First was Leo, whom Cassie recognized from the magic scroll he had sent that morning. Then two girls that Cassie didn't know; one with blond hair and the. other with. brown hair. Lastly, Jason emerged from the crowd.

There was something in the way that Jason carried himself that had changed, but Cassie couldn't place it. His face looked the same, and her was much more muscular. Before he disappeared, they were about the same height, but now, he was at least six feet tall. 

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Reyna to speak. She studied the new arrivals, then turned to face Jason, with apparent reluctance. "Jason Grace, my former colleague ... I welcome you home. And these, you friends–"

The way that Reyna said "friends" made it sound like she couldn't believe that Jason could have possibly made any friends outside of Camp Jupiter. And somehow, Cassie found herself feeling the same way. There was a fuzzy feeling in Cassie's chest that wouldn't let up. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was, so she decided to ignore it for now.

Hopefully there would be a window for Cassie to ask Percy if he knew anything about her dream. That way, she could get the answers she needed and get out of camp as soon as possible.

Everyone was already so on edge with these strangers in their forum, that when the blond girl and Percy rushed towards each other, the majority of the crowd expected an attack. Many reached for weapons that weren't there, as they weren't allowed in the city. Cassie subconsciously changed into a stance that she could easily fight in, given that the Greeks attacked.