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XIV

He followed Reyna towards the Fields of Mars. He watched her for any slight moves. She was acting... different from usual.
     She was this bubbly, ruler kind of person, but today, she was the opposite- she didn't appear or seem like a leader.
     Jason jogged beside her, and Reyna looked back as well fishes was afraid someone was following her. 'Not yet.' She said.
     'What?' Jason asked.
     'Soon. We'll talk soon.'
     One thing Jason learnt over the years as praetor with Reyna was never upset her, so he shut his mouth.

They sat atop a hill on the Fields of Mars, overlooking the camp. Reyna sat beside Jason, staring intensely at the others at the Mess. Jason could see Jake and Clarisse vaguely listening to Frank.
     'Frank's a weird one.' Reyna finally said.
     'You can say that again.' Jason agreed. 'He's one weird praetor.'
     'Yeah.'
     They stared at the Mess, not sure what to do with themselves.
     'So, the thing...' He asked.
     'Right.' Reyna sounded miserable, very unlike her. 'Bacchus said that you were coming here.'
     'How?' Jason asked. 'I thought he wasn't allowed to leave Camp Half-Blood. Was it an Iris message or something.'
     'Yes. And he said that I have the next part of your quest.'
     'Great!' Jason exclaimed. 'What is it?'
     'The thing is, uh, I don't know what it is.'
     Jason stared at her, not knowing what to do. He glimpsed down at camp. He wanted to encourage her to spill it. But he comforted her instead.
     'Do you know anything?' He asked.
     She shook her head.
     'Okay. What about...' he stiffed.
     Reyna looked surprised. 'Jason?'
     Jason cautiously looked behind them. He pulled out his gold coin and flipped it.
     'Jason?' What is it?' The praetor asked, glimpsing behind them.
     He didn't respond. He just stood up and walked into the hills.
     Reyna called to him and started running after him.
     'Stop!' He told her in a voice that wasn't his. 'This is my duty!'
     She stopped dead in her tracks. She had a confused expression. 'What do you mean?'
     Once again, he ignored her.
     He crept closer, aware of his surroundings. He looked behind him to check Reyna wasn't following.
     'Jason! What is it?' She begged. 'Tell me!'
     'No, He-' he caught himself.
     'He- what?' She asked.
     Jason looked shocked. 'Nothing. Now, as I was saying, I control my son's body. I protect him during his fight.'
     'Jupiter? What fight?'
     'This one.' Jason sprinted into the hills as a multi-headed dragon thing emerged. Reyna gasped. She didn't dare stop to count the heads. She drew her dagger, but Jason said in Jupiter's voice, 'Stay! You shall not help!'
     'What do you mean?'
     'I told you! This is Jason's fight.'
     Reyna looked surprised. 'What? Was this in the prophecy?' She knew that that was a dumb question.
     'No. This will help shape his future, Reyna.'
     Reyna knew what that meant. She watched Jason charge at the monster. He slashed at one head, cutting it off. Two more heads popped up. Jason thrust his sword down, splitting the neck. You can do this, son! Jupiter encouraged in his mind. Jason seemed hesitant on the word son.
     Without hesitation, Jason ran up close and cut one of its legs off, clean.
     He was vaguely aware of Reyna speaking in the distance. He wanted to turn back- or even answer back, for that matter- but Zeus has other plans. He couldn't talk, and he knew he would be dead meat if he looked back now.
     The dragon grabbed at Jason, slicing deep into his gut. This reminded him of when he had that horrible gut wound from some undead warriors. He jabbed back at it, narrowly hitting its side.
     The monster howled with pain.
     Jason once again jabbed at it, missing this time, ending with a claw to the chest. He jumped back, clenching his chest with his free hand. Using only one hand, he sliced another leg off. It fell forward, narrowly missing Jason. He ran back, careful of the dragons' fangs. He wasn't sure if it was one dragon or multi dragons.
     He lurked forward, thrusting his sword and the dragon, stabbing it right in the heart.
The dragon screamed in agony before Jason's vision turned black.