kaleidoscope gold ● jason grace

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 In twelve minutes, Daria went through several stages of emotions.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins in the form of anger. The panels slid open, she could see their friends fighting a giant creature; though it looked like they were winning, she wanted to jump in anyway. She wanted the familiarity of a sword in her grip and fear in her enemies' eyes. And she would have gotten it, if Jason didn't collapse as soon as he stepped out of the doors.

Jason, her calming solace, always there to reign her in even if it meant passing out of the dirt floor. The fight continued around them as she dug into her pockets for their last measly cube of ambrosia from Damasen's swamp.

He groaned, blinking a few times before trying to sit up. "Where-?"

"Epirus, Jason," she couldn't help the grin on her face as she crouched over him. "We survived. We did it."

Relief washed over him and he sat back, hand over his eyes. It was a few moments before he responded, but he had the strength to shakily get to his feet and wrap his arms around her. Her anger dissipated like the current of a river. All she wanted then, was for him to never let go.

"You look in the wrong place for gratitude," A woman's voice said. It was hard to tell whether Daria was hearing things right or not without the constant sound of misery that they had left in Tartarus, but she sounded like an immortal. A powerful one. Daria wondered what she wanted with Hazel. "As for 'good work', that remains to be seen."

Daria turned, one arm still steadying Jason, to check it out. "Hekate," Jason whispered in her ear.

The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered. "The House of Hades is unstable," Hekate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again."

"She's friendly," Jason muttered.

Everyone turned towards them, as if just realizing they were there. Daria chalked it up to the fact that the couple had made their entrance in the midst of a battle.

"Dude!" Leo whooped. He raced over to give Jason a bear hug; the others weren't far behind, about to give them the same treatment. Daria prepared herself to get knocked over – Hazel looked a lot stronger than she had when they left.

What she wasn't expecting was Piper kissing Daria messily on her cheek. Daria didn't mind; they were all excited, and Daria owed her life to Piper's leadership skills.

She laughed, "you lead everyone to Epirus. You did it, Piper!"

Piper hugged her again. "Daria, you idiot, we both did it." Daria heard the ringing of friendship in the air and was beginning to realize that she quite liked the sound.

"Move over," she heard Hazel say. "I want a turn."

A few others made their way over before Daria got a chance to breathe. Nico kissed her forehead – as strange and brotherly as always. Surprisingly, Leo patted her on the shoulder, telling her that he was glad she was okay.

Then there was Percy. He stood a few feet away next to Annabeth with his hands shoved into his pockets and was refusing to make eye contact with her. She didn't blame him – the last time they had exchanged words, Daria hadn't been very courteous.

But at the same time, she didn't regret it. Percy had hurt her, he didn't just get to assume that everything would be fine. Right?

She saw Annabeth nudge him in Daria's direction; his feet were planted on the floor so he stumbled towards her, unprepared to make forced conversation. They stared at each other for a moment, then something compelled her forward and Percy's arms were waiting.