Praetor's legacy

Chapter 11

Percy could be slow at times, but he wasn't stupid. He saw the way Jason had glared at him with fury when he and Reyna told everyone about Aidan.

What he wanted to know was why. He hadn't done anything wrong to him. Sure, he took his position as praetor, but he said that they would decide upon who was to be praetor AFTER they fought Gaea. But as the days went by at Camp Half-Blood, he noticed Jason giving him dirty looks every single time he saw him.

Percy wasn't one to stand by and watch when someone had a problem with him. He was the take-action kind of guy. So when he again saw Jason glaring angrily at him, he decided to get to the bottom of it.

"Hey Jason, wait up!" Percy shouted after Jason as he walked away.

Jason slowly turned around to look at Percy. "What do you want, Jackson?"

"Just to talk. You obviously have a problem with me, and I want to fix it before we leave to war. I wouldn't be able to trust you to have my back if you have a chance of acting out of anger."

"You wanna talk? We'll talk. Let's start out with the obvious first. You can't have Reyna if you already have Annabeth. Reyna's mine. I've known her a lot longer than you have."

"I doubt Reyna agrees with being called yours. She is not a possession, and she doesn't deserve to be treated as one. Also, she told me you were only friends. You were only friends when you first disappeared, and you're still only friends now."

"Well then, what about Annabeth? You don't think she hasn't noticed you pulling away? You don't think that she's jealous of Reyna?"

"I have not been pulling away. And why would she be jealous of Reyna?"

"Are you seriously that dim-witted?"

"I don't need you to question my intelligence, thanks very much. I am dating Annabeth, not Reyna."

"This isn't about who you're dating! It's about who you're hurting! And trust me, you're hurting a lot of people."

"And you're not? What about Piper, huh? You don't think you're hurting her. Piper doesn't deserve that. She's sweet and kind and young. You call me the dim-witted one?"

"Do not bring Piper into this."

"Well guess what? She is involved in this! Do not play this all off on me, Jason! You're at fault too."

"You just crossed the line, Jackson! I'm done talking about this!" And with that, he stormed off, throwing a dirty look at Percy before moving out of sight.

Percy sat down on the green grass, trying to calm down. I'm not purposely trying to hurt anybody. Then again, I never try but I still end up hurting people. He sighed in despair.

He felt people plunk down on either side of him. He looked left to find Thalia looking at him with pity, and then he turned his head right to find Piper looking at him with concern.

Thalia broke the silence. "We heard everything. Are you okay?"

He grunted. "Not really, no."

Piper layed her head on Percy's shoulder. "I heard you stick up for me. Thank you."

"I'd do it again if I had to," was Percy's reply.

She smiled at his response. Thalia spoke up, "Sometimes, I'm sorry to call that boy my brother."

"But Thalia he was right! It is my fault!"

"I don't buy that," said Piper.

"You're better than him Percy. You're a better person than Jason," reassured Thalia.

"Everywhere I go, hurt and pain follow. How does that make me better?" Percy asked.

"Percy, you've stood up for me and have cared for me way more than Jason ever has, and I've only known you for a few days! You are the better man, Percy," announced Piper.

He sighed. "I wish I could believe you guys. But right now, I can't. I have to go. I'll talk to you guys later."

He stood up and walked away, leaving Piper and Thalia sitting on the ground, watching him walk away with concern.