The Final Quest ψ; Blood of Olympus & Percy Jackson Fanfic༄

XII. JASON

Jason:

I slowly opened my eyes, still feeling tired after the longest rest I've had in a while. For the past few weeks, I was unable to sleep at night. First, being so worried about Leo, and finding Calypso, which I thought impossible. Then, Percy was gone, which really threw me off. He was my partner in battle, the one I could always count on.

Oh, and that whole "one will not return thing." That too.

But last night, I slept surprisingly well. We had Calypso, we were on our way to Mount Pelion, according to our quest, and we would hopefully find Percy.

Oh, and before we found him, one of us would probably die. That again.

I threw on a t-shirt and jeans, and entered the hallway, and was met by Piper, walking down to breakfast as well.

"Good morning, baby." I said, winding my fingers through her smaller ones.

"Baby?" She asked, crinkling her nose in that adorable way of hers.

"Honey?" I tried. "Beautiful?"

She leaned up to kiss me. "Piper." She said, smiling into our kiss.

The sound of an opening door broke us apart, and I turned to see Leo, pretending to gag. Leo, coming out of Calypso's room. In his pajamas.

Piper raised her eyebrows at me, and I smiled. I was so glad Leo had finally found someone. That someone appeared in the doorway behind him, slipping her arm around his, resting her head on his shoulder.

Calypso always looked so soft and vunerable, but she was strong too, and she made Leo happy, which was enough for me. Others on the ship were suspicious at first, what with her original alliance in the first war against Gaia, but after a few days, no one could help but trust her.

The four of us walked down into the main room, and were greeted by Annabeth, Nico, and Reyna, already wide awake. Annabeth was deep in concentration, bent over a map of what looked like Mount Pelion, and Nico and Reyna were in the corner, talking softly to each other.

I grab a muffin from the pantry, and walk by Nico and Reyna, just close enough to hear snippets of their conversation. "New rome... Forum... Octavian" That grabs my attention.

"Octavian?" I question, hovering near them.

Reyna sighs, and pushes her hair back with one hand, and for the first time I notice the circles under her eyes, how exhausted she looks. "When I left for this quest, I left Matt in charge." AnI nodded, approving. Matt was in charge of the second Legion, and he was strong and trustworthy.

I was just iris-messaging me. He was injured from a freak monster attack, and now he's going to have to heal in bed for the next few weeks. Apparantley now, Octavian is telling the entire forum that he was who I left in charge of New Rome. He's trying to again rally the legions against Camp Half-Blood. Saying its my orders."

A surge of anger rushed through me. Octavian, always messing everything up.

"So what do we do?" I asked, ready to do anything for both of our camps.

"I don't know what we can do," Reyna said. "Octavians blocking all my Iris-messages, he just cut off the one I had with Matt." Her voice was rising with anger now, and Annabeth turned her head.

"Whats going on?" She asked, bracing herself for bad news.

Reyna repeats everything to her, and her expression darkens with every word. There is a moment of silence after Reyna finishes, then Annabeth speaks. "That can't happen." She says with finality.

"If we fail in this quest, there will be a great war, one unlike ever before, ten times as chaotic as a war between camps.. If that time comes, we will need the camps united. They cannot be divided by Octavian." She eyed Reyna.

"The only soulution I can think of is returning to New Rome, and removing Octavian from any position he has. It's my fault for leaving New Rome, and I need to fix this before both of our camps pay."

"Reyna, traveling across the ocean like that, you could get yourself killed." I tried, but I had shared praetorship with Reyna long enough to know that once she got that stubborn look in her eye, there was nothing anyone could do to talk her out of it, especially if it involved the welfare of her camp. I loved that stuborness about her, but it was the thing that would endanger her life right now.

"It has to be done." She said, and by now everyone had woken up, and was gathered around the table, looking worried. "The sooner I leave, the better." Somehow, the tone in her voice let us know this was non debate-able. Reyna. I let out a heavy sigh.

We sat around, letting this sink in, when Hazel spoke up. "Uh, no offense, Reyna, but how are you getting back? We're kinda in the middle of Greece here."

Oops. I looked at Reyna, and she didn't look surprised at all. "Yeah, I thought about that. I can hitchhike to the coast, and probably sneak on a charter ship, ride that to New York. Once I'm there, I can just steal a car or something, or take a ride from one of the Pegasi at Camp Half-Blood. I can get to New Rome in just a few days on a Pegasus."

When she talked about flying, I can tell her voice is tinged with sadness. I remember her old pegasus, Scipio, and how much she loved him, and vice versa.

Suddenly, a quiet voice rang through the silence, one that had not been heard all morning.

"Take Astrea," Calypso said. "She can carry you across the ocean and back in a few days, she's enchanted for speed and strength by Aphrodite." She flashed a grin at Piper.

"Cal, are you sure?" Leo asked, his eyes full of concern, mirrored by Reynas.

She nodded. "Its the least I can do, what with you all risking your lives to free me."

It was set, then. Reyna was leaving. "You should probably head out soon, before night falls." I observed, "That way you can rest, then cross the ocean tommorow." She nodded, agreeing with my advice, and left the room to pack.

The rest of us ate breakfast, and I noticed Nico slip away out of the corner of my eye. A half hour later, all of us, except Nico, were gathered on the deck, ready to see Reyna off. Astrea was tacked and ready to go, eagerly pacing the deck, excited to fly again.

I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering where Nico was. "Be right back," I murmured to Piper, slipping away from the group. I slipped downstairs to find Nico, muttering to himself and furiosly stuffing clothing into one of Leo's magic backpacks. I rapped my knuckles on the inside of the door, "Uh, Nico?"

"What?" He snapped.

I lifted my hands in fake surrender, "Reyna's about to leave, just thought you might want to know." His head snapped up, and he zipped his backpack, threw it over his shoulder, and flew past me. "No problem, buddy." I said to an empty hallway.

By the time I walked back up to the deck, Nico was adressing everyone, that same stubborn look as Reyna so often had in his eyes. "She goes, I go with her." He finished.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, but nodded my head. I had guessed the two were very.. familiar, with each other after the trip. Actually, I hadn't, but Piper had, and I would assume Piper knew when it came to relationships. As Nico determindely mounted Astrea and swung his arms around Reyna, I thought I could make out the slightest of smiles on her face, before she flicked the reins, and they were flying away.