Drowning in the Siren's Song

Chapter 53

Reyna raised her head and Percy lowered his. They were looking at each other without words. Percy's eyes were rimmed red and hers were growing redder.

Reyna glared blindly at him, eyes barely holding back floods of tears. She was curled on the ground with her knees to her chest. Her legs were about to go numb but his appearance made her too distracted to remember it.

"Come." Percy beckoned. She blinked to clear her vision and got up, allowing herself to be pulled into his arms. It was the first in a long time that she had consented to such a blatant act of affection. 

He stroked her head softly, snapping the last string of her forced composure. She finally let herself go, melting into his embrace. Percy tightened his arms, securely holding her weight. She was now completely leaning on him, her cheek pressed against the wet spots on his shirt. 

He had cried too, she realized.
In the duration where she was blindly wandering the forest, he was with Jason, a person who would be even more impacted by his decision than her. Compared to Jason, she was acting unreasonable, but it seemed like reason had left her the moment she left them.

"I'm sorry," Percy felt the rough calluses on her arms and felt even worse. 

"Why're you sorry, huh? You leave when you want." Reyna mumbled. She had bruised her ribs in training the day before and her torso was screaming in pain, and yet she couldn't bear to ask Percy to move. It reminded her of the time he'd  held her on the wolf and how she'd attacked him. 

It wasn't long back but felt like forever. 

"When are you coming back?" She instinctively knew that when he spoke about leaving, he didn't mean that he was going to Camp Jupiter. The mood wouldn't be sorrowful if that were the case. 

"I don't know." Percy was honest. Reyna was only a year younger, but Percy always wanted to baby her, but he knew in all honesty that her mind was mature enough to be hit with the full truth. Answers like 'someday' or 'soon' would have hurt both him and her. 

Reyna's voice trembled a little as she acknowledged him. "I see." 

She separated from him, the calm conversation steadying the fierce emotions battling within her. She took a few steps back, creating the distance she was used to. Percy was an affectionate person by nature but didn't show it openly. This level of intimacy was new to her, having experienced it last only with her sister. 

"Remember me." She looked at his doll-like visual. His hair was untied and tangled and his nose was red.

"Don't forget me." She whispered, "I don't want to be forgotten." 

Percy was a really important person to her. She knew herself to be rational but couldn't help but view him in a dramatic light. He was the one who'd truly helped her the way she needed when she was alone. 

She'd been separated from her sister, starved on the streets, chased by monsters and thrown into a new world. And as she was coping with the difficulties in her life, he'd come and shown her that it was so easy for him. 

He'd swiftly killed the monsters she was struggling against for so long. Facing those harpies had seemed like the end of the world to her and the goal she had aspired to reach at that time was to just live another day.

But after meeting Percy, she became capable of another dream. She longed for the independence he had. Her destination had become where he stood. She wanted to be as strong as him so that she too would never have to rely on anybody else. 

Funnily, the rivalry and jealously Reyna had felt barely lasted a few days. He made it almost impossible for her to hold him in a negative light. 

He was the embodiment of what she'd never seen. Surrounded by boisterous pirate men, his quiet confused her. After being close to perfection around Circe, his casual attitude left her baffled. Him sleeping in trees awed her. The arrogance she expected from meeting someone with more power was nowhere to be found near him. 

Instead of clashing with him, she'd ended up on the other side, listening attentively as he shared with her his ideas and advice. Learning from him were the first steps she'd taken towards her new dream, even though he had no idea.

He was a friend, brother and teacher to her and even if they never met again, she didn't want him to ever forget her.
And even if he did, she would never forget him.