Only a year after the defeat of Gaia, the Roman camp had still yet to appoint the next male praetor. Reyna had been constantly looking for someone to take the place of Jason and Percy, but as of yet no one stood out to her. Yes, there were many capable people in the Roman camp, but she also knew that none of them had what it takes to be a leader. Let alone a Praetor. To be a Praetor you had to have the trust and respect of everyone at the camp, not just your closest friends. Since she knew that everyone at the camp had at least one enemy, she was hesitant to think of any of them as having what it would take to be Praetor.
"This is going to be bad if I can't find someone." She admitted to Annabeth. Over the Past few months since the Gods had set up a rail line going between the camps Reyna had slowly gotten to know, and become friends with, the daughter of Athena. "I'm sure someone will come along soon Reyna. You just have to give it time." Annabeth said with a smile. "You never really know what the gods are going to drop on us until it happens right?"
"I just wish that they would drop him in sooner rather than later if you know what I mean." Reyna hated waiting, especially with the monsters slowly growing smarter and more devious. With each new attack Reyna was beginning to see that not only were they beginning to single her out as the leader, they were also starting to understand that it was more effective to attack on more sides. She couldn't be everywhere at once. "Have you been getting much sleep lately?" asked Annabeth.
"No I haven't. Can you tell?" Annabeth nodded, "You look like you haven't had a good night's rest in weeks Reyna. Your cheeks are a little bit sunken in and you have bags under your eyes. It's kind of hard not to notice." Reyna winced at that, she knew she wasn't getting enough sleep but she didn't know it was that bad. "I just want a break, the nightmares have been growing worse and it's getting hard to focus at all. I think even the troops are beginning to see it." Annabeth grew concerned. She knew Reyna was a strong girl but sooner or later she was going to collapse and that would be bad for everyone. "Is it Gaia?" she asked."Yeah," Reyna replied "every night it seems she sends me another nightmare. They're mostly of the camp getting overrun and everyone dying, but sometimes I get ones of my sister and the amazons calling for help and I can do nothing for them."
"It's basically the same for me though, but I do have Percy and that always helps." Said Annabeth, "Sorry, that's not helping is it?" she asked. "No, but don't worry about me, I'm tougher than I look I promise." As she said this she gave Annabeth a lopsided smile, but Annabeth could see that it was only halfheartedly. If Reyna was going to get a good night's sleep she was going to need more than some NyQuil to get the job done. They sat there together in a comfortable silence as the sun went down until the call for dinner called out across the camp. "Will you stay for the campfire tonight? I'm sure there will be some good music." Asked Annabeth
"No," replied Reyna "I must get back to camp. They will need me for the games this weekend and I want to try to at least get SOME rest before that happens." As they said their goodbyes Annabeth could only marvel at how strong willed Reyna was. If it was for her camp the girl would endure anything to make sure her campers did not falter in their training. Reyna made her way to the tram that would take her home and considered visiting Jason to say goodbye, but decided against it. It would only make things awkward for both of them, and she could always visit another time. "I wonder if I can get any sleep on the train?" she asked to no one in particular.
Reyna reached the platform for the Solar Express (since it was supplied by Apollo he got to name it don't blame me) just as the last train was about to depart. When she boarded she immediately smelled something that made her feel wonderful yet extremely sad at the same time. Images of Jason and Percy immediately filled her mind and it took her long moments to clear it of them. When she looked up she saw a woman who could only be described as drop dead gorgeous sitting in front of her. "Venus?" she immediately guessed. "No child but you are very close, come and sit." Replied the goddess, as Reyna sat down she continued "I am the Greek counterpart Aphrodite, and I have some news for you." Reyna was immediately wary of what she was about to say next. Anything that could make the goddess of love herself come to see her probably didn't mean anything good.
"Do not be wary Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano I am not here to give you bad tidings." "Please do not use my full name." Replied Reyna, "I do not like it when people use it." "My apologies," said the goddess, "this is about your camp. I believe you have been looking for a Praetor yes?" Reyna's eyes widened at hearing this, if the goddess was about to inform her about the next Praetor she was all ears. "That is correct." She said, "Well then. It would be my pleasure to inform you that I believe there is someone coming who can help with that situation. It is up for you to decide but I think that he would fill the role nicely."
"B-but who is he? What is his name?" Reyna asked. "That my dear you will have to wait for. While I am a goddess I should not spill all of the gods' secrets. The reason I came to tell you myself was because I wanted to inform you that you have became a very interesting prospect to me. You are a beautiful young girl who has yet to find a man she can be involved with and I would love to help you out in this area." When the goddess said this Reyna got angry and stood, she did not need some goddess meddling in her love life while she was trying to keep a camp from falling apart. As she was about to respond she checked herself, anger against a goddess would bring nothing good about. "I'm sorry my lady but I will have to respectfully decline." She said through gritted teeth, "I do not have time to be in a relationship when my camp is under attack from monsters." With this she sat back down a few seats from the goddess and crossed her arms. The goddess merely sat there with a delighted grin upon her face. "You do not have to want it my dear, but just know this. I have taken an interest in your love life and when that happens sometimes it is not always the worst thing in the world." And with that the goddess disappeared only leaving behind a smell that can be described as pure beauty and elegance.
"I do not need a god meddling in my personal affairs." Reyna grumbled as she reached her house. "It only brings frustration and hurt." But as she said these things she could not help but wonder, "what the heck is that crazy goddess going to do?" surely she could see that Reyna was having enough trouble as it was with the camp. If she brought someone into her life things would get too complicated. Sure she wanted a partner; she wished she had someone like Annabeth had Percy. But she just could not picture herself being in a relationship while she was running the camp. She would have too much to do and not enough time for her partner. All of these things were running though her mind as she got ready for what she knew would be a short and fitful sleep.
"REYNA!" the yell cut through her cabin as the sun began to rise, "REYNA, WE'VE GOT INCOMING FROM ACROSS THE TIBER!" as Reyna burst out of her cabin she was greeted by Frank Zhang and his girlfriend Hazel Levesque running up the hill. "I heard you Frank! What's going on!?" truth be told she had already been up and ready for a few hours. Another night of nightmares had helped with that. "The group guarding the entrance found a new recruit and they're bringing him in now, but they're under attack!" Frank exclaimed, "Four or five harpies and a large pack of hellhounds are giving chase, they already made it to the river but we don't have a lot of time!" "Alright let's go!" Reyna ordered as they rushed down the hill towards the Tiber. The lack of sleep was already starting to wear her down as they rushed. "May the gods help me not to pass out." She silently prayed.
When they arrived at the banks the first legion was already making formation. Reyna could see the group of five people making their way to them across the river. Her four guards were desperately trying to protect a person with what looked like a white hat on his head in the center as they were dive bombed by harpies. But the current was keeping them off balance making openings for the harpies to attack. "First legion!" she called, "Ready Pilum! Aim above the group and try to drive off the Harpies!" "Ready!" "FIRE!" as the first wave of Pilum sailed over the heads of the group only one Harpy was slow enough to get caught by the Javelins. As it turned to dust the others retreated but only to the banks where the huge group of hellhounds was already bounding into the water. The small party was only half way across the river and Reyna Knew they would not make it to the banks in time. "First Cohort! Advance and defend the Group!" called Reyna, by this time the second and third legions had lined up behind the first and were ready for action. "Second and Third! Ready Pilum and drive off the Harpies if they come in for another pass! If you can take out any hellhounds as well!" the hellhounds were making good time across the river and Reyna joined the first legion to go and get the Small group that was now making better time without the onslaught of the harpies to distract them, but something strange was happening to the water. Whenever the hellhounds looked as if they might reach the group the water seemed to grow solid and stop them in their tracks. When this happened the current suddenly found great strength and sucked them farther downriver avoiding the group altogether. Reyna knew that she should be looking into it but all that filled her mind was the safety of the small group making its way across the river. As they came in contact with the first legion everyone cheered. The first legion surrounded them and began to escort them to the riverbank, and that was when the Cyclops decided to show up.
Reyna barely had time to get a good look at the newcomer before she heard the call "CYCLOPS!" Turning around Reyna saw the biggest Cyclops she had ever seen. It reared a good 20 feet into the air, and on top of its head was a huge shock of black hair. Where it had come from and how it had gotten so close was a mystery but it was obvious to see that the first legion was in trouble, for in its two huge hands it held massive boulders that were obviously meant to be thrown. Reyna knew they were in trouble. They were still a good ten feet from the riverbank and if it threw those boulders the first legion would be finished. She turned and called "SECOND AND THIRD THROW YOUR PILA AT THE CYCLOPS NOW!" but she knew it was too late, because at that moment the giant yelled his war cry and threw the first boulder. Time seemed to slow as the great rock sailed towards them. Then something happened. Something that Reyna really couldn't describe. It looked as though the river rose to meet the boulder but when they connected all she could hear was what sounded like a thousand windows shattering at once. The huge wall of ice had not stopped the boulder but it had slowed it down enough to where it would fall short of the group. When the great rock hit the water right in front of them it made a huge wave that swept most of them onto the riverbank. Some were swept downstream but Reyna made it onto the shore.
All she remembered was having a huge headache and her vision swimming. Somewhere along the way her arm had hit something really hard and now it hurt like hell but she couldn't concentrate long enough to raise her head and look at it. Safe to say it was broken though, she could feel the drowsiness coming upon her as her consciousness slipped away. "NO!" she thought "YOU HAVE TO STAY AWAKE!" as she raised herself on one arm she immediately felt hands grab her shoulders and she heard a deep voice. "No, do not get up. Your arm is broken and you have a head wound." said the boy in front of her. She could make out a shapely face that was handsome in an odd sort of way. On one eyebrow he had a scar from long ago but it had slowly faded to just a white streak that broke the eyebrow in half. Upon his head was short cropped hair that stuck up at weird angles, but the most shocking thing was that it was pure white. His eyes were a turquoise that she had only seen once before in the ice of a millennia old glacier on the discovery channel. They looked to be moving too but she was fading already and knew she would soon be unconscious. "Please stay still." He said with a small smile and she immediately felt a sharp pain in her arm. Then as the pain faded she felt a cool chill run up her arm numbing it from the pain. "Rest for now. You can't fight on in this state." He stated. "But I must!" she replied, "You cannot. See? Your eyes are unfocused, you probably have a concussion. Please let me handle this." Then she saw an armor of pure ice cover him from head to toe. "who are-" "My name is Ash, but introductions will have to wait. Rest, and when you awaken then we shall talk." And with that he turned and formed a wall of pure ice to stop the next boulder flying at them. The last thing Reyna saw was a shower of ice shards and dirt before she succumbed to a deep black sleep.