Katoptris

Book 2~Part 2

Bi picked at her dinner. On a good night, she hardly ate, but on a bad night, like tonight, one where she made a fool of herself, there was no chance of eating. She stood up for the one person who could bring her downfall. The one person at her table who would not. Stop. Talking to her.

Or trying to anyway.

"So, Bianca, how long have you been at Camp Jupiter exactly?"

She stared at him from across the table. Though a couple years older, he looked much the same. Black hair. Same orange shirt. She hated that shirt.

"Bi-"

"That is right. Bi. Not Bianca. Bi. I have been in the Legion for three and a half years. I am a child of the Underworld. Jason is my cousin and one of my closest friends. Anything else you want to know?"

"Define close."

Bi really wanted to punch him in the face for that comment.

Instead, she stood up, along with the soldiers around her, ready for the war games.

"Trust me. Neither you nor Jason are my type."

Bi stormed out of the dining hall with Percy in tow.

"Come on, Bi, I didn't mean it like that."

She turned on him, making sure there was no one near to hear her words. "Your flirting did not work on me before, and it will not work on me now. Tell anyone what you think you remember about me, and I shall deny it, murder you, and make sure you receive the worst possible eternal punishment. Got it?"

He nodded but still continued to follow her. He was assigned to her, which is the only reason she allowed it.

He follows you like a love sick puppy. What would she think if she saw it?

Bi shuttered at her thoughts.

No, this is far worse than that.

"The war games are on tonight. Do you need a weapon?"

Bi watched as Percy removed a pen from his pocket. They had joined the rest of the third, fourth, and fifth cohorts on the Field of Mars, waiting as the centurions discussed strategies. She nearly smiled. "You are going to fight with a ball point pen?"

Percy flipped off the cap, revealing a sword. It was bronze, not gold like the Roman weapons, or silver like Bi's bow, but that was also a gift from a goddess. No, this was bronze like her best friend's knife. She hated bronze blades almost as much as she hated the color orange. They were marks of Greeks, of a life she could never have.

The other soldiers just had to point it out.

"It's bronze."

"Greek metal."

"Graceus."

"Son of Neptune."

One of them turned to Bi. "Didn't Megan have a bronze knife?"

Bianca felt like she had been punched. Someone just had to bring her up, and that set off another wave of whispers.

"Megan."

"Messenger."

"Deserter."

"Traitor."

"She has never betrayed Rome and never will! She will return!" Bi hated falling into this trap, but she could not help it. It would happen, time and again. No one really knew what happened to her, except for Bi. She watched it, and told bits to Jason and Octavian, who swore her to secrecy. She figured Reyna probably knew too, but she did not dare ask.