Darkness and Duty

Nothing

Reyna hated the fact that she was still jealous.

No, she wasn't jealous of Annabeth or Piper, but the fact that they had found somebody they could be happy with, and she still hadn't. She was jealous that they had somebody who loved them the way she wanted to love--fiercely, protectively, happily.

Piper barreled into her with a hug, which surprised Reyna. She hadn't grown an inch, and Reyna was still taller than her although she hadn't grown at all either. Reyna noticed she accepted and embraced her beauty a bit more: gone was the choppy hair, which had been replaced by glossy tresses the color of chocolate. Those messy braids were still threaded through, though, and Reyna inwardly smiled at the fact that Piper would never really become anything like Drew. In fact, there was still no trace of makeup on her face, although it wasn't like she needed any.

Reyna very awkwardly hugged her back. She wasn't used to signs of affection. "It's, uh, good to see you, too, Piper."

Piper chuckled, and was replaced by Jason, who smiled at her warmly. She allowed him to draw her into his arms, and when she glanced over at Piper she saw Jason's girlfriend beaming at the two of them.

Reyna grinned. She no longer was in love with Jason, or what she had thought was love back then, and she was glad to see all was well between her and the feisty daughter of Aphrodite.

When Jason released her, with a wink--oh, how dare he--she moved on to the next person. It almost felt like one of those factory lines.

Leo didn't hug her. He was just as awkward around other people as Reyna was, if not more so. Instead, he offered her his hand and his customary impish grin. She took it with a smile of her own and let him pump her arm up and down a couple times.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Annabeth tap Piper on the shoulder, who whirled around and gave her a giant hug. Reyna broke away from Leo, amused, as Jason and Percy gave each other "man-hugs", called each other "dude" and proceeded to look as manly next to the other as possible. Piper and Annabeth brought her heads together and giggled.

Leo caught Reyna's eye and they both laughed. She felt better than she had felt in a while.

"Reyna," Leo said proudly, "there's someone I would like for you to meet."

It must be Calypso.

It was. Reyna cast a critical eye over her--she was  beautiful, with creamy skin and full lips, but there was strength in her caramel eyes and a certain grace in how she moved her hands. Reyna could see why Leo liked her, and she looked like the type of girl that would keep Leo in line. Yes, she was just fine.

"I'm Reyna," she said a bit gruffly. Okay, she really needed to work on her people skills.

"Calypso," the girl said, smiling. It lit up her face. "I've heard a lot about you. String Bean says you're fierce." Leo made a face.

"String Bean is correct," Reyna replied simply.

"OK, A) That is a horrible nickname, and B) what the heck is Frank doing?"

Leo's question made them both turn their heads and Reyna gasped when she saw Frank flickering between his human self and an... elephant.

"I think he's just really excited to see you guys," Hazel said. Her curls bounced as she rushed to give Leo a hug. So many hugs. "Or... something."

Calypso laughed. "I've heard a about him, too," she commented. "Isn't he the one whose life depends on a stick? That's why you needed that fire-proof pouch, right, Leo?"

"Yup," Leo said smugly. "I'm a genius, for coming up with that."

Reyna and Calypso rolled eyes in unison. Reyna's respect for her grew.

But all this aside, the person she really wanted to see was Nico. Sure, he often popped up here and there in camp when she least expected it, leading to late-night conversations and a happy mood that lasted for a while--but he always left the next morning, without even saying goodbye. Reyna didn't know what to feel about him, exactly, but she couldn't deny that she trusted him, probably more than anybody else that she knew.

So when she caught a glimpse of him, she cursed herself for her heart thudding in her chest.

He looked different. Better, yes, but darker somehow, like he was drawing the light that surrounded into him, like he needed more of it to stay here and not flicker into nothing. Reyna remembered how he had become almost like a ghost when he had exhausted himself shadow-traveling, two years ago during the war. It couldn't have been happening again, because he had no reason to do so much. Sure, there were sporadic monster attacks that both the camps had to deal with, but that was a fact of demigod nature and not something that could never be avoided.

Reyna's brows furrowed as he approached her. Leo and Calypso melted away into the happy crowd, a babble of conversation as a constant hum in the background.

Suddenly she couldn't look at Nico, instead focusing on the undersides of the leaves above her head. The sun shone, dappled, through the cracks, warming her face, but it wasn't enough to shake her uneasy feeling.

Nico drew closer, not smiling. The last time she had seen him, three months ago when they had shared two cups of coffee each and talked about everything but what they were doing in camp, he had been just as tall as her. Now he had shot up, at least three inches taller than her. It disoriented her, because he was two years younger than her. And that darkness around him chilled her to the bone.

"Reyna," he said as a greeting. He still wasn't smiling, and she wasn't afraid, no, not of Nico.

"Nico," she said, clearing her throat, "What happened?" Reyna winced. She hadn't meant to ask him that. But it had slipped out, and now she would face his answer.

Anger flashed in Nico's eyes, so quick she might have imagined it. "Nothing. What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she parroted back. "Absolutely nothing."

[A/N: Thanks for sticking with me so far! More coming soon, I promise.]