what world is this
for Amanda- Percy Jackson Fanfiction Challenges
for Rrit- Percy Jackson Fanfiction Challenges

tick, tock. tick, tock.
it's this sick, twisted old cuckoo clock
that won't stop ticking
and every second i'm counting myself down back to you

She is Reyna. (Avila Ramirez-Arellano, not like anyone would know that.) She's Reyna, the queen, the brave, the bold. And, well, to be fair, she is not one to cry. No tears, Reyna, her sister would tell her. She was strong, and she was beautiful. That was what her father had told her, that she was strong, beautiful, and that she should always lift her chin up.

She does that now, scanning the faces of the legionnaires. Puts on a brave face. No tears, but no smiles. Lifts her chin up as she tells the Twelfth Legion that Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, praetor and person of titles she can't remember, is missing.

and i'm not breathing without you.
can't think, either. you were like
my lifeline
and now i'm drowning far from shore.

The pillow explodes in mid-air, feathers raining down like white streaks of light. It's completely stupid, and it's most definitely not fair. She sighs and lets go of her dagger.

She thinks of him as she sweeps up the feathers. It's 80% goose feathers and 20% pegasi down, soft as skin after one of Circe's treatments. She has not touched his things yet, has not cleaned his room or messed with his clothes. She keeps everything the way it is, because Jason Grace is going to come back, like he told her he always would. (And everything has to be perfect.)

how much longer will you take?
because i'm scared you won't come back
(you promised, though)
all roads lead to rome, dummy, not getting your podex kicked

There is a silence in which she can't- she just can't. There's nothing to do, really, but she just can't. Venus had warned her, that stupid, foolish love goddess, messing with her mind. Love is a dangerous thing, she realizes.

But she took the chance. She took the chance anyway, and here she is, a stupid, stupid girl who had believed in love. And Hylla was right, the Jupiter spawn hadn't been good for her. Well, he had been, up until now.

we would. . .we would hold hands, remember?
and you'd swing us higher
and higher
like you were aiming for the sky

Now, this is hate. In the past few days, she has decided she hates Jason Grace and his blue eyes, his golden hair. She hates him with every single fibre of her being, because who would you hate more than the one you love?

Hope is a relatively small thing, and hate is so much. But at the end of the day, playing back old memories, she notices that hope and hate together create love. So she falls back in love every day he's not there.

what am i supposed to say-
i love you,
i miss you?
or can i just kiss you like i love you, like i miss you?

Octavian is nagging for the praetor spot. He tells her he's been searching for Jason, that he's asked the gods a million times over- but how is she supposed to believe him? Her people are unsure, uncertain, for they've searched far and wide.

It's been five months already. And all she is seems to be tired, nowadays.

i'm no damsel in distress
i don't need you to
save me
from this tower, so stop trying and just open the door.

Lupa tells her, in secret, that she should not worry about Jason. He's fine. A little different, softer, but he is fine. She wonders how Lupa knows, but it is not her place to ask. After all, it is for her to respect and for her to be grateful, not to ask questions.

So she braids her hair a little neater, smooths out the little wrinkles in her dress, and lifts her chin up a little higher, like she's been taught. She will not break. After all, he's coming back into her arms.

i scream
only at night when no one can hear me.
i curse you a million times
because i can do nothing more.

She isn't surprised to hear a rumor of the Greeks. Of course, this rumor is only shared between those who can keep it; two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Well, more like, a legion can keep a secret if 99% are Lars. But she is surprised to hear of a name long dead. His name. She can keep Octavian off the chair a little longer.

sons of jupiter, sons of zeus
what would it matter
heartbreakers, they're called.
can't i just have a happy ending?

Percy Trouble Jackson. Ripping out the roads that lead to Rome and replace them with roads of trouble. Trouble follows him, and trouble hides in his shadow. It's no wonder there's a dude called Death, a huge battle, and more news.

Percy is exactly like Jason in so many ways. And that's where it hurts the most. Because even as one part of her starts to love Percy, starts to get over Jason, there's still a part of her that keeps him for Jason.

the wind whistles as it
blows, lifting my hair up and up
for a second, i'm annoyed,
but then i think of you.

There is this moment of silence in which she cannot think. Jason crosses his bare arms, and he looks better than she thought he would look. She's drinking him in, this hurricane of emotions all of a sudden rising up inside of her, where she's kept them all bottled up.

He looks at her, giving her that same, stupid grin he always does with the little scar all tight. She takes a step forward.

then i see you
i don't know how or
if you're even real, but then our eyes
meet.

And then she slams into him. The air is knocked out of her lungs- she can't breathe. He touches her, touches her neck, her hands, her face. She traces his jaw and wonders if demigods can spontaneously combust without consuming too much nectar and ambrosia.

This is the first time in a long time she's ever felt so. . . so whole.

i can't get enough
of you.
there is this dizzy feeling, like
i'm falling off the world.

When they kiss, she feels like the piece of her that has been missing has suddenly come back. She wraps her arms around her neck, tugging his hair, and he pulls her closer. They kiss for forever, it seems like. It is over too fast, so she presses their lips together again and again. Over and over. In the background, she hears applause, hears yells and catcalls, heres murmurs of surprise.

His eyes are as blue as she remembers them. He tucks her hand in a larger, sweaty one, and this is also the first time in a long time that she's smiled.

I... don't even know. I'm serious, now, having just finished this. Um, Amanda, I don't even know if you'll take this, but I've been playing around with format and such. Word count: 1, 338- a lot longer than I thought it would be. When I typed it yesterday, it was only about 500 words.

This is for the PJFC Anniversary on, well, PJFC, and it's also for the Happy Reyna Competition so go check that forum out! You'll see me posting a lot more, but go me because I'm done with my WCG on NaNoWriMo. Now I have to finish the novel...
I just love you guys so much.

Uh, if you liked this, please take just one minute to review. And if you're interested in this new style of fanfiction, go check out my profile- I mess with a lot of formats, like putting freeverse in with scenes, and I've even written one in complete dialogue.

Achieving Elysium (-m. o' mischief managed.)