"Looking at the stars
Admiring from afar"

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Song: we fell in love in october, girl in red

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XVIII - Unnatural

Ten Minutes Earlier

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Thalia was lonely.

She had woken up late and arrived at the great hall just as her friends were leaving. They promised to meet up with her once classes were over, but that was hours from now. She had classes with some of them, but talking was always prohibited.

Silently, she walked out to the lake, not very hungry and choosing to skip lunch. She found a tall and sturdy tree, and sat at the base of it, closing her eyes as she let the cooling winds rustle her hair and clothes.

She felt the current of the wind around her, tugging and begging her to reach out and take them in her hand. She almost did, almost gave in to it, but she resisted remembering every time she had tried. The wind hand taken her, lifted her, and every time she had sworn she would get over this dumb fear, but it never worked.

Resisting the urge to scratch at the bandages on her hand, the unwilling marring of her flesh by a demon wrapped in pink chiffon, a cruel taunt. I will be tame . Telling a child of one of the three kings to be tame was like asking a lion to not hunt.

Unnatural.

Thalia froze. Unnatural.

Lions.

Tame .

Maybe the witch had seen more than she let on. Seen the ferocity of her and Jason, seen the flash of Percy's eyes. The mysticalness and manipulation of Hazel and the mist she bent to her. The screaming souls in Nico's blade. Seen the monstrous.

Wanted to clamp it down.

Thalia, suddenly cold, wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as she looked out on the castle grounds. She tried to push the troubling thoughts away. The winds around her, unbeknownst to her, chilled and strengthened, reacting to her and her mood.

Thalia leaned back, pressing close to the tree. The absence of the silver on her brow weighed heavy, although she was lighter. Freed of burden but wishing it back. Her only familiar comfort was the shield at her wrist, the twisted face of a protector or temptress, depending on the poet.

She heard the crunch of leaves to her left and looked up to see Reyna, her black and blue robes trailing behind her, an echo of her Praetor robes and the blood-red cape. The only thing missing was her dogs.

Lovely Reyna. Lovely Reyna and her big grins. Lovely Reyna and the nights spent hunting with her, running through the forest. Silver and gold dogs, glimmering under the moonlight. Fireside kisses and teasing jabs of other hunters, Artemis onlooking.

"Why aren't you eating Lunch?" Reyna said, sitting next to her.

"Wasn't hungry," Thalia told her, leaning on her shoulder.

Reyna wrapped her arm around her as they watched the leaves of the tree they were leaning against fall in dizzy circles. They stayed like that for a few minutes, broken when Thalia smiled.

"What?" Reyna asked.

"October..." Thalia said, having remembered something.

"Huh?" Reyna said, not quite getting it.

Thalia smiled before starting to softly sing,

"Smoking Cigarettes on the roof,"

"Thals it's still September," Reyna said. Thalia ignored her.

"You look so pretty and I love this view,

That's why I love fall

Looking at the stars

Admiring from afar

My girl, my girl, my girl,

You will be my girl..." Slowly, Reyna joined in, their soft voices barely carrying beyond them.

"Reyna!" A shout broke through their singing.

They both looked up to see Frank running to them, a letter clenched in his fist. He reached them only moments later, and with her hand tightly gripping her girlfriends, Thalia spoke, "What's going on?"

He held out the letter, eyes tearing up.

They gingerly took it, and read.

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XIX - Poisonous Poise

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Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano had always prided herself on her composure. She never dropped her poker face, never betrayed a weakness.

But right now, she was going to be sick.

Her head kept on repeating the contents of the letter, written by a centurion in the know of the wizarding world, over and over again, a broken record.

Camp Jupiter Attacked.

Wizards.

Called themselves death eaters.

Amazons attacked.

Camp Half-Blood attacked.

Three hundred dead.

Hundreds more injured.

Hylla in critical care.

She wiped the tears away, muttering curses under her breath. She was not going to let her home be attacked, not let her city fall to the whims of some delusion drove wizard. He had sealed his fate now.

When she was done, when the might of Rome was turned against him, all that would be left was red.

This man had declared a war, a new kind of war. He'd brought something into the fray he never should have, and no matter how small their forces were now, the might of Olympus was now narrowed unto one point, him.

She could feel the press of Thalia's shoulders at her side, warm and home. Home, home, home, she reminded herself.

An image came to her head, unbidden. New Rome, her city, her home, on fire. The screaming of dying heroes and children. She saw her beloved Skippy in the flames.

She suddenly lurched forward, clutching her stomach. She tried to scream, tried to sob, but it was all caught in her throat. Thalia's gentle hand was on her back, and the sound of soothing words and love carried to her ears.

"Shhh, shhh, I love you-"

"Hylla-"

"I know, I know-"

" I can't lose her- "

"It's okay, you won't. You won't lose her. Let's go, we have to find them."

Reyna stiffly nodded, and Thalia helped her up. Reyna was turning to run, but Thalia grabbed her face first. She planted a kiss, short and passionate, to her lips. When they broke apart, Thalia pressed her forehead to hers, and a little smile was on her face. "We've got this."

They broke apart and ran to the castle. They found themselves in the main entrance, right in front of the great hall when, "Miss Ramírez-Arellano," a familiar sickly sweet voice called, stopping Reyna dead in her tracks, "What are you doing in the halls?"

Reyna turned to see Umbridge, a sneer disguised as a smile on her face. Reyna lifted her chin, trying to ignore the tears still staining her cheeks. "I am dealing with a personal emergency, Professor, so if you would excuse me-"

"Oh, a personal emergency, you say?" Umbridge tilted her head, "What happened?."

Reyna regarded her, turning her face to stone. She had been the Praetor of New Rome, for god's sake. Her sister was the Queen of the Amazons! She was a child of war . This woman would not try this, not now, not if Reyna had anything to say about it, "I am not going to disclose it to you, Professor. You have no business knowing the business of New Rome-" Reyna caught her mistake a second too late.

"New Rome?" Umbridge asked.

Reyna resisted the urge to stab the woman. An idea. A rash, a beyond dumb idea, was forming. She gave a poisonous grin, causing the teacher's own grin to falter, "Why yes, New Rome. The city I live in. The city with an active army, of which I have been in control of and have close ties to the current leaders." She leaned forward until her face was inches from the toads.

"My name is Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano," She crooned, as Umbridge paled.

The tears on her face were damned. She was alive and powerful.

"I am the high inquisitor-" Umbridge stammered out, but Reyna held up a hand, silencing her.

Was she really going to do this? Reveal the gods? Chiron had not wanted her too, but right now, this was all she could do. She briefly met Thalia's eye. Her beloved, her lieutenant, her shining star, gave the barest flicker of a grin.

Go on , it said, write the epic.

"My name is Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano," Reyna repeated. "Daughter of Bellona, Roman Goddess of War. I am the ex-Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. I serve the Goddess Artemis, the Huntress. You will not stop me. You will never speak of this, or" Reyna pulled her knife out, the steel glinting in the candlelight as it came to rest under Umbridge's chin. Reyna lifted it a bit, Umbridge's head moving with it.

"I will slit that throat of yours and let you bleed out here. I'll make sure your boss, The Mister, sees a photo of you, dead on the floor." Her eyes glimmered, "You will never speak of this, do you hear me?"

Power and pride in her veins. Love and song, prose and passion, the glimmer of the moon and lightning in her eyes were what strengthened the Queen.

Umbridge scowled, "You filthy Half-Breed-"

She stopped as Reyna took the blade off her throat, choosing instead to make a little mark on the side of her pale face, "That was the first cut," Reyna hissed, "I will make more if I need too. I don't care. I do not repent for the lives I have taken. Demigods are bred to kill monsters, and I am sure you are one."

She heard footsteps, seeing the rest of her group rushing to them. Annabeth looked impressed by the scene, Umbridge's red cheek, Reyna's murderous face, and the bloody knife in her hand.

Then Umbridge screamed.

The group exchanged glances. In seconds they scattered, Hazel and Nico each taking at least four people with them as they disappeared into the shadows. The only ones left was Annabeth, who fished out her cap, and Frank, who turned into a bird, flying to the rafters to watch from above.

They hadn't gone far though.

They were merely in the shadows, around the corners, watching as students and teachers alike ran to her, the great hall doors causing a gust of wind. "What happened?" McGonagall said stiffly.

"The transfers attacked me! One of them said she was half-god! Where are they?" Whispers erupted.

They were all silenced though when a thud was heard. A knife, pure black, and radiating death no matter how far away you stood, landed mere inches from her feet. Umbridge blanched, staring at the knife as it caught in the light.

Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, and Piper McLean appeared from the crowd after a minute of silence.

"There!" Umbridge screamed, pointing a pudgy finger at them. "They attacked me!"

McGonagall turned to them, "We did see you run out of the hall." Her eyes were narrow, but they seemed to hold a knowledge of something more in them.

"Professor, we were just dealing with something else. We were in a hallway, not even close to here!" Hazel said, waving her hand through the air as if dismissing the claims.

"Yes, and the bloody baron saw us!" Piper said, drawing attention to the ghost who had just appeared, her words feeling sweet and warm as they washed over the crowd, "Didn't you?"

The ghost blinked, scrunching up his face, "I do believe I did."

"See professor, we weren't nearby. We just arrived." Piper said.

"But the knife!" Umbridge cried.

Nico stepped forward, taking the knife. He tested the blade, and to everyone's surprise, it bent slightly. He gave a wry grin, "It's fake. No true blade could ever bend like this. Well sharpened, but likely just to scare you. There is nothing to worry about."

The crowd dispersed then, the rest of the exchanges pushing through to get to their group. Umbridge opened her mouth but was silenced when Reyna let the light catch on her hidden blade.

McGonagall sighed. "All of you, too my office."

"I will come too," Umbridge sniffed, raising up her chin.

"No you will not," McGonagall said sharply, "You are bleeding. You should go to the hospital wing." McGonagall then turned on her heel sharply, her emerald robes swishing around her.

The exchanges followed, leaving behind a shell shocked Umbridge. Reyna though, looked over her shoulder, giving a grin as she held up the blade, crimson blood still dripping from the tip.

A drop fell.

Staining ancient stone.

Umbridge hurried away.

The group filed into the room, and McGonagall sat in her chair, giving a deep sigh. Annabeth regarded her, "You know about us, don't you?"

The teacher nodded, "I do, Miss Chase."

The tension seemed to fly out of the room, the group letting out a collective sigh of relief as they sagged, dropping their defensives.

McGonagall folded her hands in front of her, "I understood why what you did had to be done," Reyna looked away, stopped by Thalia's hand coming to rest on her cheek, "And have been informed of the attack against your camps. I will be allowing you to take this day off, to discuss with those remaining. But I must warn you," Her face darkened.

"Umbridge will use this knowledge in whatever way she can. I understand that you may have scared her into not talking, but she believes that if she tells the Ministry and you are arrested before you can get to her, she will be safe. I do not know if this is true."

"She will not report immediately, however. She will wait until a slip up on your part, then tell Fudge," McGonagall's voice and face betrayed her utter disgust at the situation as she met all of their eyes before continuing, "You must be as careful as possible."

"What would count as a slip-up?" Hazel asked, her gold eyes trailing over the walls.

"Something even as minor as getting detention with another teacher would likely count. And I must say, Miss Levesque, your control of the mist earlier was very impressive." Hazel dipped her head in acknowledgement.

"That's going to be hard," Percy muttered.

"I know it will, Mr Jackson. But you must do this, or your world will find itself in the line of fire by the Ministry. I know you do not want to include yourself in this war, and I understand. If you want to keep that, you must be vigilant." McGonagall pressed.

"It's too late," Reyna said, her sharp voice cutting across the room. McGonagall gave her a curious look, "What do you know of the attack?"

"Only that you were attacked."

Reyna sighed, her dark eyes narrowing as she looked out the window, "It was Voldemort and his death eaters who instigated the attack. I do not know how they figured out where we were, but he has all but declared war at this point." Reyna fussed with one of the many rings on her hands.

McGonagall was pale, as Annabeth suddenly perked up, bringing attention to her. But she only spoke to Percy, "What did Sadie say, that one time, about high amounts of magic coming from Camp? And how they knew something was there, even before they met us?"

Percy swore, "Do you think it's like that?"

"I can't be sure, I'll have to talk to Sadie, but if yes, this poses a threat, even outside of what's going on right now." Percy nodded along.

"I would also warn them," He advised, "And Magnus too. They'll want to know."

Annabeth looked troubled, "He's already attacked one pantheon. What's two more? And there are probably hundreds of other ones out there, ones we haven't met!" She let loose a long stream of swears, her eyes wild, "This is so so bad." She moaned.

She looked at McGonagall, "Can I borrow some parchment? And a quill and ink?" The teacher handed the daughter of Athena what she needed, and Annabeth began to furiously write.

She wrote three letters; one to the Kanes, one to Magnus, and one to Chiron. In the one to Chiron, she begged him to get what information he could about any other Pantheons that may be running around.

Voldemort knew these pantheons proved threats to him. So he was playing a long game, trying to take them out as he went, cripple them so hard that when the fight came, they wouldn't have enough forces to defeat him.

It was a foolish idea, steeped in a deep and fundamental misunderstanding of what he was getting himself into. But it was an idea all the same.