kaleidoscope gold ● jason grace

name

They all met on the deck for dinner as the sun set.

Piper took a bite out of her quesadilla; she wanted to make a joke about The Last Supper, but Jason, freshly showered and alive, was still jumpy. He had an arm around Daria but from the way he was leaning into her, Piper figured that she was supporting him more than the other way around.

Reyna was on Daria's other side, though she wasn't nearly as close to her as Jason. She picked at her food like she still felt that she didn't belong there. Piper thought about their conversation a week earlier – it seemed like she was still carrying the weight of the world.

Her eyes were no longer rimmed red though. After she came on board they had found out that Scipio, Reyna's pegasus, had been poisoned by a gryphon attack. She had put it out of its misery only a few moments before they had arrived. The pegasus must have meant something to everyone at camp, because Jason's eyes had a tint around them as well.

"Hey Jason," Percy spoke up. They had all been chattering in their little groups before, but now the Son of Poseidon commanded the attention of the ship. She could see Frank's relieved expression as Coach Hedge stopped lecturing him. "I gave the praetorship to Frank in the House of Hades, uh I think. Anyway, if you want to contest that...."

Jason glanced at Frank, who looked like he was trying his best not to cower. Piper could see why, Jason's stare was intimated at best. Daria elbowed him and he relented. "Nah. I never wanted to be praetor anyway."

"Oh my god," Piper heard Daria mutter. "If you say that one more time, I swear I'll punch you.."

Jason grinned, a smile only for Daria to see. Piper found it hard to believe that he was glaring at Frank only a few seconds ago.

"Great," Leo rubbed his hands together. "Now you can like, order Octavian to fall on his sword."

"No," Frank said immediately with a nervous glance at Reyna.

Reyna shrugged. "It's tempting." She leaned forward, checking him out. "So, praetor...."

"He was amazing, Reyna," Hazel said. "You should have seen him."

"I believe you," she replied. "I'm just trying to figure out how to convince the legion."

Hazel grimaced. "You two can think of that later. What about you guys?" She turned to Jason and Daria with a similar look of curiosity. "You have the real story."

Jason sat up, revealing his and Daria's interlaced fingers. "Maybe another day," he said. It was gentle and calm, but there was something about the way he looked at Nico, like he was impressed, and a little bit sad. "Tartarus was..."

"A lot," Daria finished. Admittedly, Piper still didn't know her that well, but Reyna looked concerned, and Piper could see that Daria's attention was elsewhere.

"But," she turned to Percy, who looked so apprehensive that Piper thought the pipes were going to explode again. "I think you have something of mine."

"Oh," he slipped the ring off his finger. "Uh, yeah. Here," he tossed it to her, but anyone could see the throw was going to go short. Frank, on the other side of Reyna, intercepted it.

He fiddled with it; Daria raised her eyebrow expectantly, either waiting for him to give it to her or say something. "Look," he started, with a quick glance at Percy who was shaking his head, "Daria-"

"Another day," she interrupted before the mood could rapidly spiral downwards. With a reluctant nod, Frank gave her the ring; she slipped it on without a second glance towards him.

"Listen," Annabeth said. "We need to talk about the next few days. Today is what?"

"July 18," Hazel offered.