SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

103 - last day

BRIAR WISHED SHE could charm herself to sleep.

It may have worked on Gaia, but since getting back, she'd hardly slept a wink.

The day was fine. She liked being back with her friends Lacy and Mitchell and all the other Aphrodite kids. Even her bratty second-in-command, Drew Tanaka, seemed relieved, probably because Briar could run things and give Drew more time for gossip and in-cabin beauty treatments.

Briar kept busy helping Piper and Annabeth coordinate between the Greeks and Romans. To Briar's surprise, the other two girls valued her skills as a go-between to smooth over any conflicts, mostly because that was mostly her skill, though Piper was also well versed in that. There weren't many, but Briar did manage to return some Roman helmets that mysteriously made their way into the camp store. She also kept a fight from breaking out between the children of Mars and the children of Ares over the best way to kill a hydra.

On the morning the Romans were scheduled to leave, Briar was sitting on the pier at the canoe lake, trying to placate the naiads. Some of the lake spirits thought the Roman guys were so hot that they, too, wanted to leave for Camp Jupiter. Which, okay, but the girls, though. They were demanding a giant portable fish tank for the journey west. Briar had just concluded negotiations when Piper found her.

Her sister sat next to her on the dock. "Hard work?"

Briar blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "You know naiads can be challenging. I think we have a deal. If they still want to go at the end of the summer, we'll work out the details then. But naiads, uh, tend to forget things in about five seconds."

Piper traced her fingertips across the water. "Sometimes I wish I could forget things that quickly."

Briar studied her sister's face. Piper was one demigod who hadn't seemed to change during the war with the giants . . . at least not on the outside. She still had the same strong, unstoppable gaze, the same regal, beautiful face. She wore her armor and purple cloak as easily as most people would wear shorts and a T-shirt.

Briar knew better, though. She knew Piper, better than she knew herself. Maybe even better than Reyna. She knew the mental toll that the war had on Piper.

"You did so much," Briar said. "For both camps. Without you, none of it would've been possible."

"All of us played a part."

"Sure. But you . . . I just wish you got more credit."

Piper laughed. "Thanks, Bri. But I don't want attention. You know this."

Briar did. At that, they were polar opposites. Yet, Piper was the one who had risen to the top. She'd been the one to be crowned Praetor. Sure, Briar had been considered for the position, but Briar wouldn't have been as good a leader as Piper.

"You're always welcome here," Briar said. "If you need to take a break, get away — you're always stressed out, don't lie — you can come here. You've got Frank now – he could assume more responsibility for a while. It might do you good to make some time for yourself, when nobody is going to be looking at you as praetor."

Piper's eyebrows rose subtly. "Would I be expected to sing that odd song about how Grandma puts on her armor?"

"Not unless you really want to. I don't even do that. But if you need a break, call me. I'm always here for you. Through thick or thin."

Piper nodded. "Through thick or thin." She adjusted her sword, and for a moment Briar thought about Katoptris, which was now locked in her hope chest in her cabin. Ever since Athens, when she'd used the blade to stab the giant Enceladus, its visions had stopped completely.