Jace Irons: The Shard of Chaos

Chapter Twenty: One Chase After Another...

We put our heads together and agreed that because Phillip was wounded, that he and David should take Pete's car the rest of the way while Reyna and I flew on Scipio. Phillip saddled up with Reyna so she could fly him down to the car. She was going to come back up and fly David down, too, but he insisted that he jump and climb all the way down.

"You're not tired after that fight?" I asked.

"Cardio go hardio!!" he hollered while leaping off the cliff to scamper down a nearby rock face. I just laughed and paced around the cliff for a while, waiting for Reyna to get back. We had agreed to meet up at a campsite just outside Flagstaff, Arizona, which was near where the red X was on Artemis's map. I paced around the cliff, thinking about what would come next. I knew that our journey was close to over, Arizona was just southwest of where we were right now. It was only one state away. What would happen if I met my dad? I shook the thought out of my head. The guy had never bothered to show his face to me before, why should he now? Besides, if I did see him, I would probably punch him in the jaw. I was just gonna go there to grab the power core and get out before the Titans invaded Camp Half-Blood.

There was another thought that nagged me, though. Was I going to be able to see Reyna or Phillip after our mission was over? I sure hoped so. Phillip and I had actually grown to respect one another, even being kind-of friends since fighting Raymonectus the cyclops, plus it'd be cool to have a friend on the other side of the country. Then there was Reyna.

Damn, I knew that we both had to return to our own camps, and that we'd have to part ways when this mission was over, but with every day that passed, that seemed harder and harder to do. Reyna was a natural leader, which inspired me, and I was sure she led her camp well. She was strong, brave, and independent, which I knew intimidated a lot of other guys, but I found it attractive. On top of that, she was really damn pretty, and quite athletic as well. I was definitely catching feelings for her.

I strolled over to the edge of the cliff and picked up my broken sword blade and slid it into my backpack. I thought about what I could do. It wasn't like I could ask for her number, or slide into her DM's somehow, because demigods couldn't have social media, much less phones. Besides, we weren't even supposed to know about each other's camps. Even if I wanted to cross the country again to find her, just my presence at her camp might start a war between the Greeks and Romans. We already had a war going on, and it was both of our goals to end it, and save as many lives as possible.

My train of thought was broken as I heard the swooping of Scipio's wings coming up the side of the ciff. I turned around as she landed, smiling when I saw her face. I swear she got prettier every time I looked at her, her braid tumbling over her shoulder, her golden armor gleaming in the early morning sunlight. I smiled as I walked over to Scipio, jumping up on his back, taking my place behind her. I placed my hands on her waist, my metal fingers clanking gently against her armor, which I could barely feel at all.

She gently turned her head to the side and said "Just wanna say thanks again for saving me back there. You're very brave." Very curt and polite.

She wasn't making this easy.

She then turned back around and spurred Scipio into the sky, heading southwest, right towards Arizona. I looked down at the road below us, watching the little red Corolla hum along. I wondered who was driving. The sun was barely peeking up over the horizon, and I closed my eyes, feeling its warm rays on my face and shoulders. I noticed that the wind wasn't whipping us very hard this time when we flew, which would make hearing easier. Flagstaff was a ways away, so I decided to try to talk to Reyna.

"So what're you gonna do after this is over?" I asked her. My voice wasn't too hard to hear over the wind.

"Hm?" she asked.