ALEA IACTA EST ; GRACE

025.

AFTER DINNER PHILOMENA had hurried off to her barrack and changed into her armor; she preferred doing so alone. Especially since she recently has made it a habit to fix the straps in front of the mirror, to make sure not a single one was loose and when everyone was there, not a single mirror was free for her to use.

Then, with her bow strapped to her back and a gladius hanging from her side, which was shortened so it was easier to wield in close combat, Philomena walked away from the barracks, just as the rest of the legionnaires were returning from dinner.

With certain steps Philomena walked along the way she had walked so often over the past few months, all the way until she reached the stables where she would most certainly find Reyna.

"Reyna? Are you in here?" she asked into the room, only receiving a neigh in reply until a loud thud was heard and Reyna's head appeared from one of the boxes.

"Here," she shouted and her head disappeared again.

Philomena made her way over, walking past the many unicorns and other creatures kept in the stables. Once she reached the box Reyna was in, a smile lit up her face as she spotted Scipio, Reyna's pegasus.

"Hi Skippy," she said, stroking his brown snout. "Long time no see."

"Weren't you here yesterday?" Reyna asked, busy with braiding his hair. "And stop calling him Skippy, it reminds me of peanut butter."

Philomena looked over to her friend, taking a second to admire the beautiful braid Reyna was working on. "He loves being called Skippy. You do, right Skippy?"

"Enough of that, what's the matter with you, shouldn't you be in the barracks or with the fifth cohort?" Reyna asked, finally tying up the braid and walking up to Philomena.

"Probably, but it's stuffy in there and I wanted to see you before the War games," she admitted, her hand falling to her side and fiddling with her gladius.

"It's this new guy, he gets along with everybody, and the way he holds himself ... he reminds me of Jason for some reason," Philomena went on to explain, tears forming in her eyes as she thought of the missing praetor and her love. She bit on her tongue to stop the tears from falling.

Facing her, Reyna noticed her friend's watery eyes and even though she hated comforting people (since she wasn't good at it and Reyna hated being bad at something) she wrapped her arms around the daughter of Cupid, patting her back awkwardly as Philomena tried to bite back her tears in vain.

With tears flowing down her face, Philomena couldn't help but let out a laugh at the irony of it all.

Here, in the stables, she let herself cry for the first time after Alex had died in battle, in Jason's arms. And now, here she stood, once again crying but this time in Reyna's arms. However she was only crying because she missed Jason, not because she was mourning his death.

Philomena wouldn't accept his death till the moment in which they presented her with his corpse. Until then, she would hold on to the hope that somewhere, out in the world, Jason Grace was alive and well.

For a moment, the two remained in this position, then Philomena moved away from the hug, wiping away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

"Thanks."

"No worries," Reyna replied.

A short silence settled over them as they stared down at the floor, both unsure what to do next since they weren't all that good with emotions and comforting other people (especially Reyna).

"Anyway," Philomena interrupted the silence, her gaze setting on Reyna once again. "What do you think of Percy?"

Reyna sighed, "Not much. I have a feeling that he's ... different from us. All that's left is for us to figure out if that's a good or a bad thing."

Philomena nodded, deciding that she would keep the dream she had a secret. "And where do you know him from?"

Reyna's head snapped over to Philomena. She knew she was good at controlling her feelings, so how was it possible that the other girl knew this?

"Daughter of Cupid," Philomena, tapped her temple as if that would explain anything.

"From my past, but that isn't what's important right now," Reyna responded and opened the box's door. "Let's get going, wouldn't want you to be late for assembly."

"I can already imagine the punishment," Philomena shuddered as she walked out the box, Scipio and Reyna following after her. "I haven't been in the sewers for a long time, so maybe you could show me some mercy, mighty praetor, and keep it that way" she joked.

Reyna looked at her dead seriously. "If I were in your place, I wouldn't start giving me ideas."

"Come on, Reyna, you know you love me," Philomena said, wrapping an arm around Reyna's shoulder. "You would never force me to do anything like that."

"Watch me."

HOPE speaks!

hi everybody!

so I just noticed that we've almost reached 11k reads, like whaat???

I'm so incredibly thankful for every single one of you and the kind comments I get to read almost on the daily <3

I know this chapter's short but there will be some following it in the near future (hopefully) and maybe we'll even get to see Jason and what he's doing soon?

love you lots <3