Darkness's Flower: Pulling It Together

Chapter 16: Quick Visit

~Lilly~

Around one, Jason and I were in California. We were both exhausted from all of our hard work. He took me into Camp Jupiter and my jaw dropped.

"Oh my gods," I breathed.

"Amazing?" Jason asked.

"It's more than amazing! Jason, this is beautiful! I've never seen anything like it!"

He laughed and pulled me further into camp. A girl came towards us. She had on a purple cloak that made her dark hair stand out.

"Jason, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm doing alright. How about you, Reyna?" Jason asked in reply.

"I'm alright."

I looked at her. "So this is Reyna?"

"You must be Lilly. It's very nice to meet you," Reyna said.

She held her hand out and I shook it. Her and Jason showed me all around camp and there is one work to describe it: supercoolamazingawesomeness.

We ate dinner and that's when I saw Frank and Hazel. I sprinted across the mess hall and tackled Hazel in a hug.

"Hazel!" I squeaked.

She gasped. "Lilly! Oh my gods!"

Frank smiled and I even gave him a hug. "Hi, Lilly."

"We heard you were coming and we were super excited. Well, I was. I don't know about him, but..." Hazel said with a grin.

"Hey! I was excited! It's nice to see you, Lilly," Frank said.

"Come on, Zhang! Show some enthusiasm! Don't be so pouty," I said.

"Thanks. Hey, Jason!"

"Hey, guys! I know I was here not too long ago, but ya know. Piper told me that Lilly was gone and I needed to make sure they got her out of the Underworld," Jason said.

"Why don't you eat with us?" Hazel asked.

"Can we, Jason?" I pleaded.

He smiled. "Sure."

We ate and talked for about an hour. Then Jason and I went to bed in our cabins. I got to meet all of my Roman brothers and sisters. They were so welcoming and sweet. I went to sleep. When I woke up, I realized it was Sunday. Jason and I would be leaving today. I got dressed and ran out to find him.

"Jason!" I called.

He smiled and jogged over to me. "Hey! How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good. You?"

"Good."

"What time do we have to leave today?"

"Probably around five. We're going straight back to New York. No stops tonight, except maybe to get a snack or something."

"Ok."

We walked around camp for a while, telling stories about ourselves. I spent some time getting to know Reyna too. Then she turned and looked at me.

"Wait a second. Aren't you Nico's girlfriend?" Reyna asked me.

I paused. "Yeah. How do you know Nico?"

"The war. I had to help him. He's one of my really good friends. He's definitely been through a lot."

"Trust me. More has happened. When I turned sixteen, he, uh, he was killed. He came back when I turned eighteen. Then I lost my memory and we finally got that figured out. About two months ago, he took me through the Underworld and I ended up trapped there. I just got out a few days ago. So a lot has happened."

Reyna frowned. "That must've been terrible."

"It was, but everything is working out now. I honestly can't wait to get back to Camp Half-Blood to see him."

"Yeah, I bet. But I'm happy to hear he's doing well and obviously has a wonderful girlfriend."

"Thank you. That means a lot."

She smiled and Jason came up to us. "Lilly, it's almost time to go. Sorry we couldn't stay long, Reyna, but I promised we would be back by late tonight or very early tomorrow morning."

"It's fine. Just keep me posted for when I can come over to New York," Reyna said, looking at me.

"We will. Bye, Reyna," I said.

"Bye, Lilly. It was a pleasure meeting you."

I said bye to Hazel and Frank and Jason and I took off. He was starting it, arms around my waist and flying high. We switched on and off for a few hours. We made it back to Camp Half-Blood at one this morning, Monday.

I stopped Jason before he stepped inside. "We'll get torn to shreds. Take my hand."

He smiled and his fingers slipped through mine. Snow swirled around us and we ended up in his cabin.

"Thank you, Jason. It was a lot of fun," I whispered.

"It was fun. Thanks for coming with me."

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him hard for a moment. I pulled back. "I'll see you later."

I disappeared in whiteness and went to Nico's cabin. He wasn't there, so I quickly went to our secret place. I saw him curled up in bed, holding onto the pillow I use.