The Warrior | Heroes of Olympus

one

The Roman demigods parted for a girl with blonde curly hair as she walked through the forum. Some of us looked tense, some of us nervous. Most were bandaged from our recent battle with the giants, but no one was armed. No one attacked. 

The group of Greek demigods followed the girls lead. 

The Romans parted for Reyna. She was easy to pick out as our leader. Medals decorated her armor. She carried herself with such confidence the other demigods backed away and averted their gaze.

My caught on the blond boy with them. Jason Grace. He really had come. 

The two girls considered each other. The Greeks fanned out on either side of the girl with stormy grey eyes. The Romans murmured Jason's name, staring at him in awe.

The praetor Reyna straightened. With apparent reluctance, she turned toward Jason.

"Jason Grace, my former colleague..." She spoke the word colleague like it was a dangerous thing. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends—" The girl surged forward. Percy rushed toward her at the same time. The crowd tensed. 

I reached for a sword that wasn't there. 

Percy threw his arms around her. They kissed.

Percy pulled away and studied her face. "Gods, I never thought—"

The girl grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement. Romans cried out. I surged forward, but Reyna shouted, "Hold! Stand down!"

She put her knee on Percy's chest. She pushed her forearm against his throat. "If you ever leave me again," she said, her eyes stinging, "I swear to all the gods—"

Percy laughed. The girl seemed to calm down. 

"Consider me warned," Percy said. "I missed you, too."

The girl rose and helped him to his feet.

Jason cleared his throat. "So, yeah....It's good to be back."

He introduced Reyna to Piper, a pretty looking girl of Native American descent, she a muli colored eyes that seemed to attract everyone in the room to her despite the fact she seemed to be wanting the opposite, then to Leo, a mexican boy with curly hair who grinned and flashed a peace sign. 

"And this is Annabeth," Jason said. "Uh, normally she doesn't judo-flip people."

Reyna's eyes sparkled. "You sure you're not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?" 

Annabeth had blond curly hair and unusual grey eyes. She was pretty and the way her eyes moved over everyone told me she had to be highly intelligent. 

Annabeth held out her hand. "I only attack my boyfriend like that," she promised. "Pleased to meet you."

"Finally, this is Eliana. Daughter of Apollo." Jason said turning to a tall girl with sun kissed hair. She had bright green eyes and tan skin. She was a beautiful girl and the sunlight shined perfectly on her making her seem ten times more attractive than the average person. Or perhaps that was just me. 

No one else seemed to stare at this girl as much as I was. And then it clicked. Daughter of Apollo. I groaned. "As if Octavian wasn't enough." I muttered from behind Reyna. Reyna glanced at me and I bowed my head in a silent apology. 

Reyna clasped her hand firmly. "It seems we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!"

The Roman officers hustled forward. 

Reyna began giving us orders. "...tell the legion to stand down. Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. And, Octavian—"