Tired Of Sorry
Jason stepped off the ship. Leo had already gone off to talk to some girls, and Annabeth and Percy were having a passionate reunion. Piper was behind him.
"See anyone you know?" Piper asked.
He scanned the crowd. "Yeah." But not who he was looking for. Where was she?
"Jason." said a voice from his right. He turned to see Dakota looking back at him, Kool-Aid staining his top lip.
"Hey, Kota!" Jason said, and grasped Dakota's right fore-arm in a handshake.
"Jason!" Gwen cried from behind Dakota. "How are you?"
"Great!" Jason said as Gwen engulfed him in a hug.
"Gwen, stop strangling him." Dakota said with a laugh.
Gwen released Jason and looked at Dakota. "Jealous?"
Dakota turned red. Jason looked back and forth. "Are you two dating?"
"Yeah." Gwen grinned. "I guess she was right about praetors falling in love. Remember what Reyna..."
"Gwen. Not now." Dakota's face turned stony.
"Wait." Jason said. "Praetors?" They nodded. "Where's Reyna?"
Gwen glanced away. Dakota shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Guys. Where is Reyna?"
There was silence until Dakota sighed and said, "Come with me."
He turned and led Jason down the hill into the town. They walked until they reached a gate.
"Kota, why are we here?" Jason asked, but Dakota just kept walking. He stopped in front of one of the stones.
Jason looked at it and felt a cold hand clamp his heart. "No." he said, shaking his head and backing up. "No. It's not possible."
"Jason." Dakota's voice was quiet.
"No!" Jason yelled at him.
"Jason."
"No. No, no, no, no." Jason leaned his back against one of the gate posts and slid down until he was on the hard ground. Then he started sobbing.
"Jason." Dakota knelt in front of him. "I'm sorry."
Jason looked back at the stone, among the many others. "Why?"
"A hellhound. She saved Hazel."
The stones. The markers.
"She told me to tell you that…that she loved you. And she's sorry she didn't get to tell you in person."
Markers of the dead.
Jason drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them, and sobbed into his jeans. He felt a strong hand on his back, Dakota's.
"I'm sorry, Jason. She died protecting her camp. She died fighting. It's how she would have wanted it."
Jason looked at his best friend. "I know." he wiped his eyes. "I know."
"Jason." It was Piper's voice. "Jason."
"Maybe he went to that big building over there." Leo's voice said.
"You only want to go there because it says 'FOOD' on it." Jason knew that Piper hit him on the shoulder. "Jason!" she called again.
"Here." he said. His voice was quiet, but it carried.
"Jason. You okay?" Piper asked, coming around the corner.
He started to nod, then shook his head and broke down.
"Jason, what's wrong?" Leo asked, a concerned look on his face.
Instead of answering, Jason stood up and walked to the stone Dakota had showed him. Dakota looked on from the gateway.
He knelt in front of the gravestone.
Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion
Killed by a hell hound
Died protecting a fellow legionary
The words were carved into the stone. Jason traced her name with his finger.
"Jason? Was she important to you?" Piper asked quietly from behind him.
He nodded. "She was praetor with me. She…" He took a deep breath, "she could have been my girlfriend."
There was a pause. Then, "I'm sorry."
Sorry. That was all he ever got out of life. You have to go with this wolf and leave the only family you've ever known, sorry. I need to take your memories and leave you with nothing, sorry. That girl you woke up next to on the bus? She and everyone else have false memories of you, sorry. Oh, you're not Greek, you're Roman, sorry. Your almost girlfriend's dead, sorry.
He was tired of sorry.