"You went to Dad's house? Sheesh, what happened between you and Jason?" Gwen asked me, while we walked through the fifth cohort barracks.

The morning sun beamed harshly through the windows above. The barracks roof were designed to let in as much light as possible in morning, to make sure legionnaires got as much sun as possible to wake up.

We were going between bunks. Today was our monthly sweep through the barracks, to make sure legionnaires weren't hiding weapons that haven't been accounted for in the armory. It's a system Jason implemented, as our stock was at an all time low.

I dropped the mattress of the nearest bunk, searching half heartedly. "I don't want to talk about it."

Gwen scoffed, scribbling notes on her clipboard. "You think that sudden thunder storm went unnoticed yesterday? Everyone knows you were the last one out of there."

I climbed up another bunk and searched beneath the bed. I grabbed a nasty pair of brown underwear.

Gwen shook her head. "Put that down. That's Billy Bob's lucky white underwear."

I gagged and dropped the underwear. "Does he ever clean it? .... Did you say white?"

Gwen covered her mouth. "Yep, he said that it was white when he first got it."

I dropped down, trying not to throw up. "Hand sanitizer?"

Gwen turned around and pointed her butt in my direction. "In my back pocket. Let me finish writing this down."

I dug my hand in her back pocket and pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitizer. "Oh my gods, Rey. Take me on a date first." Gwen gasped.

After putting on some hand sanitizer, I put it back and slapped her butt. "Shut up baby. You know I'm your Wo-MAN." I said in a deep voice.

We laughed, which helped me feel good for a moment.

"Your so stupid Rey. And you know what else is stupid?"

I checked underneath another bunk. "What?"

"You not telling me what happened yesterday." She asked once again.

I dropped the bunk. "I said I don't want to talk about it."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Okay, let me ask you this, did Jason say your conversation yesterday was classified?"

I scrunched my eyebrows together. "No? Why would he- Gwen, no! You better not-"

"Pull rank on you?" She breathed hot air in her right hand and rubbed her centurion medal obnoxiously. "I'm totally pulling rank on you. As your centurion, I order you to to disclose the nature of your conversation."

I groaned. "Please no. I've already been punished. What more could you punish me with?"

Gwen titled her head. "Hmmm. Well, due to your disobedience, i can schedule and personal meeting between Jason, you and I. Let me go do that right -"

"NO!" I screeched. "Please, gods no. Fine I'll tell you. Your such an abusive leader."

Gwen laughed manically. "Hahaha. Yes my minion. You will do my bidding, starting with telling me what happened last night."

I told her, everything. What I said to him all those months ago. The argument we had yesterday and my time with Mr. Parker.

Gwen looked so disappointed. "That's what you told him? That's terrible Rey." 

I nodded, feeling ashamed of myself and angry at him. "I know I know. It's just I was.... It was embarrassing! He swooped in and just-"

"And that justifies you telling him that?" Gwen said, her hands at her hips.

I stuttered, unsure on how I felt. "I didn't mean.... I wasn't trying to...... It's not like I hit him or called him something terrible. It was just something I said in the moment."

Gwen crossed her arms. "And? Rey, how do you feel about him throwing that back at you?"

I shrugged. "Terrible. Look I already talked to Dad. He gave me the same talk. Your wasting your time."

Gwen exhaled sharply. "Well, clearly he did a poor job. Because your actively trying to avoid this topic. When are you going to make this right?"

I tried changing the subject. "I'm......Look..... He said the same thing, okay! Besides, Dad and I had a real heart to heart about Ben, okay. We kind of got side tracked. But it doesn't matter, I don't know why your acting surprised about all this. Since you see Jason every night."

Gwen eyes widen at the mention of Ben. "He talked about Ben." But she squinted. "We'll table that for later, but the focus is on this current situation between Jason and you. And what do you mean I see Jason every night?"

"Your going to see him tonight, right?" I responded. crossing my arms. "You see him every night during the centurion meetings."

Somehow, Gwen managed to look even more disappointed in me. "Reyna, I haven't talked to him in months , just like you. Last night I was finally able to catch up with him. When I go to those meetings I'm as quiet as a mouse. Because-"

I scoffed right back at her, cutting her off. "Max sits in on those meetings. He told me what they are like, they are literal shouting matches. It's the only way to get resources for each cohort, you have to plead your case."

Gwen squinted at me. "Max, I love him. But he is the biggest asshole in those meetings. I stay quiet in those meetings because I can only imagine the stress Jason is going through. And before you say anything. No, I don't talk to him on the side. I don't spend time with him afterwards to get resources for the cohort. Jason goes out of his way to make sure we get a piece of the pie without me saying a single thing to him."

She stepped closer to me. "But your avoiding the topic. How do you think he felt when you first told him that?"

I took a few steps back. "Look I'm sorry okay! I didn't hit him or call him a bad name, it was just... I just said it okay!"

Gwen crossed her arms. "You should not be apologizing to me. And what's with you? It doesn't matter if you didn't hit him or call him a 'bad name' or whatever. What you said hurt him!" Gwen responded back.

"If I hurt him, then he shouldn't care about me then! He should just stay away from me. Ja! No me importa!"

Gwen threw the clipboard on the floor. "No me importa? I don't care? Really? Isn't that what your dad used to say to you when he beat you! When he called you-"

I slapped her, hard. Immediately, regret started to ravage my mind. Which was quickly replaced by anger, then fear.

"Gwen I.... I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

Gwen wiped the left side of her cheek, her eyes were raw with tears. She looked me dead in the eye. "It's okay. I'm sorry Rey. That was low of me. But you need to think hard about how you plan to go about this. I talked to Jason last night. That-"

She started to tear up more. "That big lovable dork is suffering right now while your living your best life. He needs us. He's going to run himself to the ground. The least we can do is be there for him-"

"I'm not ranking up!" I shouted.

"It's not ABOUT YOU REYNA!" She shouted back. "What's-What's gotten into you? This is Jason we are talking about here. Our-"

I had enough. I stormed off, not saying another word.

Gwen tried to grab my arm, but I pushed her off. "Reyna! Your going to run away from this conversation? Like you always do!"

She grabbed my arm again. I spun, kicked her legs from under her and slammed my knee in her chest. Exactly how my dad showed me all those years ago. "Don't touch me!"

Gwen struggled to breathe. Horrified, i leaped off of her. My dads words echoing in my mind. "If you ever need to kill someone in short order, with enough force you can...."

Gwen caught her breath, her hand resting her chest.

"Gwen I'm. I'm...." I started running away, towards the exit.

Before I left, Gwen called out. "Reyna wait! Please we can-"

I didn't hear the rest, as I kept running. Straight to the land of the honorable dead.

****************************

"I figured you would be here."

My heart jumped. For a second I thought it was Jason. I turned to my right, looking up at the sky. But I was greeted with only dark clouds.

"Over here."

I looked to my left and saw Max. He was wearing a purple shirt with blue jeans. He was so tall, he casted a shadow over me and John's grave.

"They aren't going to bite me, right?" Max asked, regarding Aurum and Argentum.

The sliver and gold dogs ignored him. They remained under my arms, while I held them.

"Hey shor..... Reyna. Are you okay?" He asked me. He sat down crisscrossed next to John's grave, careful to not bump into it.

I wiped the tears out of my face and used my shirt to clean out the remaining boogers coming out of my nose. Luckily, the panic attack had passed and now I was recovering. Unfortunately, Max had to see me in this state, all snotty and wet with tears.

While I may have been a sight for sore eyes, I was happy to see Max. His hair hadn't grown back as quickly as Jason or Sam's (to make a long story short, Sam and Max cut their hair because Jason lost all of his). His hair was shaved on the sides while his curly hair grew back on top. He had a little patch of hair growing on his chin and a thin mustache. Max tried hard to grow his facial hair, but I told him it was lost cause, it looked like my armpit hair. He started call his facial hair his little Rey Rey's as a joke.

"Their a short as you." He told me once. The thought made me feel better.

Since losing Ben, Max had also started working out to relieve stress. His tanned skinned rippled with muscles and veins. His shirts barely fit him anymore, some in the legion thought he should get larger shirt size, since his size intimidated others.

I didn't mind. He looked great has far as I was concerned. Especially when he did pull ups and his mid drif started-

Did I say that out loud?

"Did I worry you? For not being at sparing practice?" I asked him, my voice small.

Max eyes widen. "Pluto yeah." The comment made me chuckle. "Oh my gods, when Gwen told me about your argument and how you ran off, I was one of the first to go searching for you. What happened?"

I was hesitant to tell him, fearing the same reaction as Gwen.

Max seemingly sensed this. He leaned back and rested on his hands. "You don't have to tell me anything. I'm fine with just sitting in silence until your ready to go back. But if you do tell me, no judgement here."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, as I tested his promise. True to his word, Max didn't say anything.

Eventually, the silence began chipping away at me. I began to open up, starting with the initial argument between Jason and I a few months ago. Max already knew this part of the story,  but I felt I needed to tell him again after what happened last night. I described what Jason said to me and how Gwen reacted to the situation.

"That wasn't fair." Max said as I described Gwen's reaction. He cupped his mouth. "Oops, my bad, keep going."

"It's fine, maybe... maybe she's right. I just.... I don't know, I'm not good with like ........people." I said.

Max looked puzzled. "I don't know about that. The way you led those legionnaires in War Games says otherwise. I have an ache on my back to prove it."

I gave him a dry smile. "Thanks...... What did Gwen tell you about our argument?"

Max sat forward. "She didn't give me details. She just told me you ran off and nobody could find you. Gwen and Jason are going crazy looking for you."

I rolled my eyes and rested my head on my metal companions. "No doubt. They are probably ringing the alarm bells about... about how horrible I am."

Argentum licked my tears. Max readjusted himself. "Actually, it's quite the opposite."

My head poked out from behind Argentum and Aurum. "What do you mean?"

Max shook his head. "Those two are worried sick. I've never seen two people mobilize a camp so quickly. Jason even flew out and found Sam. HE FOUND SAM, can you believe it? You've been gone for hours"

I scrunched my eyebrows. I couldn't have been gone for that long, it felt like just an hour had past since I ran off.

"You can't run from me, Reyna."

My skin crawled, the familiar voice from my nightmares echoed through the graveyard.

Max and I shot up to our feet. "Shit. I didn't grab a sword." Max exclaimed.

I groaned. I dug into my pocket and dug out my.... Jason's coin.

I flipped the coin, grateful Jason wasn't using it, and caught his golden sword.

"You know, we are not supposed to have weapons on the premise." Max pointed out.

I rolled my eyes at the big dork. "Neither are titans. Stay on guard!"

"Guard what, child? I am the titan of time, little girl. I can speed up your life right now, so your nothing but shriveled bones. Or slow time down and make you feel every second of the pain in your heart. How did it feel? To suffocate under the weight of your failures?" The voice said.

"Show yourself! Coward!" I shouted. Argentum and Aurum scanned our surroundings, looking for a titan they could chew to death.

The voice laughed. A sound that reminded me of dull blades grinding together. "In time, little girl. The goddess of war's prodigy will come for you from the east. She will retain what was lost. What your legacy has stolen. And she will retain it in blood."

"What does that mean?" Max shouted.

I could feel the titans power dissipating. "In time, it will all make sense. Son of War, be wary of the voice that follows you. You know not it's intention."

Max's eyes glowed red with rage at the mention of this voice Saturn referred to. "Mind your business titan."

Saturn laughed manically, before his voice faded in the wind. "Just accept my..... words of wisdom."

For a count of ten, all that could be heard was the wind. Whatever Saturn had done to..... time, had finally caught up with us. A minute ago, it was day, now the moon had risen above the sky.

Soon, the wind began to smell like rain. Thunder boomed over head.

"I figure I would find you here." A voice said from above.

Max and I turned around to see Jason, floating above us, right behind John's grave.

And he did not look happy.