Reyna

Do seagulls even eat ice-cream?

Reyna asked herself the question when she saw a child's strawberry cone being stolen by a seagull. Alright, maybe. Right now, they were at end of Vizcaya Bridge in Spain. The Athena(was she supposed to call it Minerva?) Parthenos was standing vertically beside the right pole of the bridge. Nico had wanted to shadow travel straight across the Atlantic, but both Coach Hedge and her were not ready to oblige.

"We just have to cross all of Europe and take a huge jump at the end of America.", Nico collapsed against the metal railings of the bridge. He fell asleep.

Coach Hedge, on the other hand, was fast at work patrolling the small territory the three of them were standing on. "Too many mortals. I think we're safe from any attacks right now.", he furiously wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead. The satyr stationed his baseball bat on his shoulder. He looked as if he were in a serious thought. Then, he kept the bat to one side and grabbed his rucksack.

"I'll make us some food. You sleep. Both of you need rest.".

Reyna shook her head. Right now, they might've been safe, but who was to say that a monster might just sneak up behind her and say, "Peek-a-boooo" in the creepiest voice ever. She shuddered at the mere thought of that(don't ask. She jammed to Red Velvet way too much).

"Coach, the Mist will shield mortal eyes, but it can shield ours as well. With a threat like that, sleeping with a targeted forty-feet tall statue is not the best idea.".

"Definitely not.", Coach Hedge agreed, "But it's alright. You can count on me, and also, you two look sick.".

Reyna raised an eyebrow, "You? A faun?".

"Satyr!", he cried out and stomped his hooves.

Reyna smiled. She was grateful for travelling with a satyr and not a faun. A faun would've robbed her and possibly write 'Got Ya' on her forehead.

"Alright, coach. I'll keep that in mind.", she took a spot a few feet away from Nico and curled into a ball using her hands and braid as a pillow and her cloak as a blanket to cover her body. The Praetor went to sleep, hoping for an ordinary siesta.

Curse Tyche and her problems with demigods; her luck was bad.

For a moment, Reyna wanted to say, "Wow! What a huge grain field!".

Whoop-da-dee-fricking-doo, welcome trecherous nightmare which will be the end of me.

The fields rose, quiet literally. The plane curved like an upwards parabola, it towered over her like a sky-scraper. Many grains got crushed and squashed due to the impact. Insects crawled out of their holes trying to escape, but ultimately failing. The rising plain shaped itself into a dress made out of grass, wheat and mountains. Reyna craned her neck to see a beautiful feminine face on top. The face-like most of it's body-was green. A pair of green-tinged eyes peeking and glistening with tears. A drop of tear as big as a cloud fell, shaking the earth. The other tears shone on her face in Apollo's presence. She was crying. Terra, no Gaea was crying. The earth was crying.

Reyna stood frozen at her spot. She simply stared at the woman(could she call her woman?) in front of her. She might as well have her mouth open with flies swarming in it.

Gaea glared at her with through the large green eyes. Reyna stumbled, but she held her ground.

"Do you see what is reduced of me, daughter of Bellona? Do you see what you humans have done to me?".

Suddenly, her dress changed. It changed into mountains of dirt and trash and pits, and Reyna had the urge to puke. It was sickening to just look at the mess. The greenery left was so little that even her face was caked in dirt and dried, cracked mud. Her hair became a sickly shade of yellow. The lack of nitrogen in plants affected the earth as well. There were saplings, but those looked unstable and at the verge of breaking.

Gaia kept on glaring at Reyna.

"I will destroy you all. My lost glory will be reclaimed. I will heal the Earth. What was once lost, will now be restored.".

Reyna shivered. She looked around her. The grains were dying, the ground cracked. She felt unbearably hot. It was as if her skin was on fire. Gods, even the air felt toxic.

"Till then, little hero, enjoy your last.", Gaia's dress enlargened, and the ground under Reyna's feet opened, forming a chasm. With a mortifying thought, she realised that it was pulling her in. The ground was pulling her in. As her head went in, she heard Gaia laughing.

"You shall all perish.".

Reyna gasped. Her vision was aligned with black spots. At first, she thought there was an earthquake. After opening her eyes, she realised that Nico was shaking her.

"We've got problems.", he said. He was holding his sword. It was evening. The bridge was empty, or at least she thought it was empty. On the other end of the bridge, dark silhouettes moved in a rapid and organised manner. Her eyes widened as she realised what it was...or more accurately, what they were.

"Nam amor Olympi!", she jumped to her feet and unsheathed her sword. Aurum and Argentum jumped to their hinds, snarling and biting the air.

"A horde of chimeras, blemmyae and dracanae.", Reyna glared at her companions, "And you wake me up, now.".

Coach Hedge threw his hands in the air, "Hold up! You were sleeping like a log!".

"Yeah, but-".

"Can you two cut it out.", Nico said in an annoyed voice, "We've got more than that. Look".

Reyna squinted her eyes to see exactly what he was pointing to. Behind the monsters, the ground moved and shifted. Bodies were rising from chasms. They weren't skeletons, but neither were they people. They were half-dead. Oh gods! Vrykolakai.

"Can you control them?", she asked Nico hoping for a positive answer, unfortunately Tyche was in a bad mood. He shook his head, "I have no idea how they're here. They're supposed to be in the Underworld tending to Hades' affairs. Something's terribly wrong. We need to stop the vrykolakai at least so that the mortals don't get harmed.".

Coach Hedge grabbed his bat, "Time to crack some skulls.".

"Curse the Fates.", Reyna muttered.

Soundlessly, the five of them ran into battle while, around them, all Hades broke loose.

Camp Half-Blood

Clarisse La Rue tried to comfort the pregnant cloud nymph who was thrashing around on the infirmary bed. Keyword: tried.

"It's alright, Mellie. Everything's alright.", Clarisse said in the softest voice she'd ever spoken in. The cloud nymph kept on screaming and kicking her legs. Mellie's dark hair was messy, and her brown eyes were puffy from crying.

"Nothing's alright!", she screamed, "Gaea is waking, and Gleeson's not here!". Her lower half started to turn into wisps of fog. Clarisse was re-thinking her decision on taking charge of Mellie and her baby's protection. Then, Mellie shrieked. She let out a blood curling scream and held her belly. The children of Apollo, god of healing, rushed forward towards her aid. They spoke of soothing and reassuring words which were ultimately useless as Mellie kept on screaming. She buried her face in her hands, crying as soft tears lined her red cheeks. She kept on muttering, "Gleeson", "child" and "gods".

From the back of the crowd surrounding Mellie, Will Solace emerged, "Guys! Not now!". He came to the front and held Mellie's hands. He sang a hymn to Apollo, and it calmed her down. For a moment, he kept quiet. Then, he said, "She's going into labour. Now.". He looked at Clarisse. When their eyes met, he said, "You'll need to stay outside.".

Clarisse huffed, "I am not leaving Mellie's side.".

Will cursed in ancient Greek.

"Do that and I force you to.", Clarisse glared at him.

"This is the infirmary, Clarisse. I have the power.", Clarisse did not move, "Please.".

"Fine.", she spoke, "But if anything happens to her.", she narrowed her eyes, "You're dead Solace.".

Will muttered something and told Kayla that they'd be having a surgery. He didn't look happy to deliver a child in the middle of a crisis like this, but knowing Will, Clarisse knew that everything would turn out smoothly.

Once Clarisse stepped out of the infirmary, they shut the door, and she was forced to wait outside, sitting by the lake. She couldn't help but feel tired. As a child of Ares, she couldn't show it, but she was. She took a pebble and flung it into the lake. A nereid stuck her head out of the water. She raised her hand and cursed at the war child in Greek and warned, "Don't you dare throw another stone in my water.".

For the first time, Clarisse wasn't in the mood for a fight, so she decided to not do anything. She missed the old days, that was true. She missed teasing and fighting with the other campers. She missed the times the Athena cabin went against the Ares cabin in Capture-The-Flag. She missed Silena and the Hunters of Artemis. She missed the two years when there were no quests, and the demigods could eat and sleep in peace. She missed going head-to-head with Percy Jackson, whom she often called Prissy. She missed the time her family was together and united. Clarisse La Rue missed her family and deeply wished for everything to go back to normal.

Practice was over long back, now it's real.

The real world is where the monsters are.

I wish I got a chance to fight the Minotaur.

How much they had changed? From children to warriors. Born for fighting, for protecting...but, they didn't want that. They wanted to be happy with their family. They wanted a happy ending. Why not? Doesn't everyone.

Two hours later, the infirmary door flung open and Will Solace walked out in a surgeon's outfit. He took off his face mask gave gave her a thumbs up.

"It's a satyr. She's happy, but she'll be under observation along with the baby for two nights, at least.", Clarisse nodded and dashed towards the infirmary. Behind her, she heard him shout, "JUST DON'T ASK ME TO DO THIS AGAIN!", but Clarisse didn't care. She was worried, both about Mellie and her family, which was now torn apart.

Will sighed and threw his face mask in a trash bin. He looked at his watch. It was 5:37 PM. He should've gone back in, but he wasn't in the mood. To be honest, no one was. His normal cheery nature was gone. His light was diminished. All these years, he thought acting happy would make him happy. Now that he was going to fight in another war whilst being a leader for his cabin was a weighing on his shoulder like a ton of bricks. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to take a stroll around the camp. More specifically, at the borders. 

He wasn't with what Apollo did, but he couldn't complain. Would the Fates change their decision if he did? No, they wouldn't. To him, the Fates were the most selfish and cruel beings in creation. He wanted to tell himself that everything was alright, but it wasn't. He wanted to cry. He wanted to cry and go back to Texas, away from this Greek mythology problem. He wanted to go back home, to his mother and see her warm smile again. It was what provided him hope and courage. 

He wondered if his cousin ever had the same thought when she lived with them. There were times when he couldn't help but hate her, especially after that mess in Boston, but there were also times when he was curious. She would be seventeen this year. Two years older than him. She was from a whole different race. They weren't demigods. What they were, he still couldn't wrap his mind around it.

"Psst.", Will looked to his right where a woman was standing behind a tree. She was adorned in a black cloak which went down till her ankles.

"William.", she said.

Will recognised the voice. Every demigod did. When he got nearer to her, she pulled down her hood. Her eyes burned and provided a warmth of home.

"Lady Hestia.", he dipped his head. The goddess was now a twenty-one year old woman who still held the warm the eight-year old child attending the campfire did. The goddess smiled.

"What brings you here?", he asked.

Hestia smiled. "As you know, my brother Zeus has forbade any god-demigod connection; however, you'll find that many of us are going against that rule.".

"Yeah. I can see that.", he replied.

"William.", she suddenly looked tensed, "I cannot be here for long. Zeus has begun to notice my absence.".

Will nodded.

"I need you to deliver a message to your dear cousin, who I'm pretty sure is very happy knowing that no god is interfering in her life.".

Will's back stiffened, "But...why me? Isn't she one of yours? Why not tell her yourself?".

Hestia let out a breath. She did not look happy to hear that.

"Yes, well. The embodiments have a really...I'd say unpredictable schedule, and Jennifer is by far, one of the toughest to deal with. Although, Sakura and Rie have also been difficult to handle. Always. Also, you should know that embodiments hate all gods.", Hestia furrowed her brow, "Maybe not all. I've seen them getting along with the twins, Aphrodite, Hades and Thanatos to an extent. Maybe a few more as well, but that's not the point.", she waved in a 'forget it' manner.

"You need to tell her that it's time the demigods and embodiments are finally revealed to each other. Tell her to recite the Prophecy of Doom.".

"The what?".

Hestia rolled her eyes, "The Prophecy of Doom, my child.".

Will took a minute to process all that before saying, "But how do I find her? I don't really remember the coordinates of that island.".

Hestia was about to say something, but lightning hit the tree they were hiding behind.

"I must go.", she said, "Remember William, you're a child of light. As long as there's light, you can do whatever you want. The two of you are connected by blood. Use it. A blood bond is very powerful. The Howling Wind does not turn away from family. Do what you must, William, the future of the world depends on this. Turn away.".

Will wanted to ask the goddess a few more questions, but when he faced her direction after assumed her godly form, she was gone. One of the weirdest questions he wanted to ask was "How is she?", but it seemed like even the Fates agreed that they're bond should be strained. Just as it had been all these years. As he walked back to the infirmary, all he could think about was how he still had to meet Jennifer Solace after all the problems the two of them had with each other.

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Dam, 2000+ words. That was the most I've ever written. Next chapter will give an introduction to the embodiments, and if you're wondering Jennifer is also bi. She's dating a girl.

Comment-Vote-Be crazy

-SAMAILA