A small boy stood next to priests. His attention wasn't on them though. He was focused on a helmet that was in his hands. It was clear that he had never seen a helmet like it before.

The helmet was of Roman design. It had no plume though. In fact, the helmet wouldn't become well known until the Roman's began their gladiator games. It was almost black, but the boy could have swore there was hints of red on it.

The boy moved his hand to touch the top of the helmet. Instead of the plume a normal helmet had, it was a metal ridge that was about two inches high. He lowered the helmet and looked up.

"Leave us alone for a few moments," a man said. The boy looked up at his father who watched the priests back away. His attention turned back to his son.

The boy raised the helmet. His father took it with a sad smile. He set it aside and grabbed the boy gently.

"Do you know what this is?" the man asked. The boy turned to examine the altar in front of him. It was a black sword that had been stabbed into a stone. There was writing on the sword in red, but no one knew what it meant.

"Your altar?" the boy asked. His father laughed amused.

"It has been in our family for generations. It grants luck to the warriors in our family. Are you ready to take your vow?" the man questioned. He knelt by the boy.

"For my vow?" the boy wondered. Light shined in his eyes. He stood up straighter. His father nodded. "I'm ready father."

"Good," the man muttered. He looked troubled. "First, do you still want to come with me?"

"Of course," the boy answered. He started shaking from excitement and happiness.

"Memores acti prudentes futuri," the man said. "It is a saying of our enemy. You must be mindful of what has been done, and you will be aware of what will happen. Do not forget their atrocities."

"I will teach you to fight," the man continued. "I will teach you how to take up my legacy. You just need to take your vow."

"I am ready," the boy promised. His father grabbed his hand and placed it to the sword. The boy did not cry out as the sword cut his skin open. His father guided his bloody finger to the stone.

The stone had gold lines every few centimeters. The boy moved his finger towards the bottom. He carefully made a straight line of blood.

"Do you swear to spend your entire life defending your country?" the man asked. "Do you swear that your loyalty will never falter?"

"I do," the boy said.

"Are you ready for the most important promise of all?" the man questioned. The boy nodded. "Do you swear that you will never be a friend to those bastards."

"I will not be a friend to them," the boy swore. The line of blood on the stone turned gold. "I swear that I will dedicate my entire life to destroying them. I will make sure the Romans fear the name Hannibal Barca."

Reyna woke to a knock on the door. She groaned tiredly and looked around the hotel room. From the look outside, it had to be two in the morning. Reyna slowly sat up and made a pained noise.

When Reyna had gotten back to the hotel, she spent all of time on Kinzie. After that, she sent a message to Hylla. The message only told her to come quickly, and it had the address of the hotel along with the room number.

Reyna then passed out on the bed too tired to take care of arm. She was regretting that now. The pain was terrible. Reyna gritted her teeth and stood.

She wanted to dwell on the dream. It was replaying in her mind, but she was too tired to really think about it. Reyna shook her head and walked to the door. She opened it.

Hylla stared down at her. She took in every detail of Reyna's appearance and hugged her tightly. Reyna made a tired and pained noise. Hylla spoke, "What happened? Why are you like this?"

"Come in," Reyna muttered. She pulled away. Hylla stepped into the room and stared as she saw Kinzie curled up on a bed. She looked back at Reyna and tried to speak.

Reyna managed a pained smile. She walked towards her duffel bag and pulled out a shirt. Reyna frowned as she realized it wasn't clean. There was dried blood on it. The next one she pulled out had mud stains all over it.

Reyna finally gave up and turned back towards her sister. Hylla was just staring at Kinzie. Her eyes were focused on all of the bandages Kinzie had. Bruises covered any exposed skin.

"What did they do to her?" Hylla demanded finally finding her voice. She turned towards Reyna.

"They've been beating the crap out of her ever since Circe handed them over," Reyna answered. "Luckily, it's only been a few weeks instead of months for her."

"Circe sold them out, and you are working for her?" Hylla demanded. "You got pissed when I worked with her!"

"It's different," Reyna muttered. "Circe worked with them at first to introduce them to America. She didn't want to torture the Amazons. They were just a bargaining chip. The men ended up betraying her."

It was clear that Hylla was torn about what to do. She looked ready to yell at Reyna about what she had done. She also looked ready to hug her and thank her.

"What happened to your arm?" Hylla questioned. Reyna looked down at her arm. It was swollen pretty badly, and there was blood all over it.

Reyna didn't answer. She just pressed her arm to her shirt and walked towards Kinzie. Reyna spoke, "She'll make a full recovery. I thought you would want to see her."

"Who did this?" Hylla asked in a softer voice. She closed the door and walked towards Reyna. Hylla grabbed her little sister and sat her down on the edge of the bed. She grabbed Reyna's arm as gently as she could.

"You wouldn't know them," Reyna answered. It wasn't a lie. She doubted that Hylla had even heard of the men even though they hated the Amazons.

"Humor me," Hylla muttered as she gently grabbed Reyna's hand and started to set her bones. Reyna bit her left hand to keep from crying out, and she closed her eyes tightly.

Reyna managed to slip out the word Arimaspi as Hylla grabbed onto her middle finger. She made a pained noise as Hylla's grip tightened. Reyna opened her eyes and blinked away tears of pain.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hylla demanded. Reyna was in too much pain to answer. She tried to pull away. Hylla tightened her grip. "Reyna! Why didn't you tell me?"

"You're crushing my hand," Reyna choked out. The grip only tightened. "I didn't think it was important."

Hylla let go of her hand. Reyna pulled away and took deep breaths. They both sat in a tense silence. For some reason, Hylla was seething in rage.

"Let me see your hand," Hylla muttered. Reyna didn't respond. She stood and walked towards a wall. Hylla stood to help her.

"Don't," Reyna snapped as she sat against the wall. She gritted her teeth as she finished setting her bones. Tears filled her vision as she worked. Reyna was only able to make it to her pinkie before she stopped. Her forearm still needed to be set.

"You don't understand about the Arimaspi. They are our sworn enemies," Hylla muttered. "I thought they were stuck in Greece. Why would Circe bring them to us?"

Reyna didn't answer. She tried to work on her forearm, but it was too much. Reyna watched fresh blood and golden ichor trickle from her wound. The golden ichor was because she had been made immortal by Atropos.

Hylla must have sensed how angry Reyna was. She looked at Kinzie and sat by her. Hylla pulled her close and just held her.

"Clotho has chosen her champion, but she hasn't revealed who it is," Reyna muttered after a few minutes of silence. Hylla looked at her.

"Do you have a guess?" Hylla questioned. Reyna shrugged. Hylla frowned. "You did say that it would probably be a demititan."

Reyna still didn't respond. She didn't feel talkative anymore. That had been happening ever since she was exiled. There was times when she just wanted to shut herself off from the world.

Hylla looked down. She sighed sadly. Reyna focused on the blood trickling from her arm. She finally spoke, "Why do the men hate you?"

"They hate the Amazons, but it wasn't us," Hylla began. Reyna looked up in confusion. Hylla studied her. "When Greece fell to Macedonia, there was a split in the Amazons."

"Some Amazons went further into the wilderness because they refused to believe what happened. The other Amazons kept on what they were doing. As power moved on in the world, they did as well," Hylla explained.

"The Amazons that went into the forest stayed there. They are the reason we have problems with the Arimaspi," Hylla continued.

"There are Amazons in Greece?" Reyna interrupted. Her sister nodded.

"They are hardcore. They kill men on sight. It's brutal," Hylla answered. She leaned back. "And, I need to get in contact with them."

"I'll go with," Reyna said without hesitation.

"No," Hylla muttered. She pulled away from Kinzie and gently laid her on the bed. Hylla stared down at her for a few moments before looking up at her sister.

"What do you mean no?" Reyna demanded. She tried to ignore the anger boiling in her chest, but it was no use. Anger and pain was the only thing she felt lately.

"I forbid you from getting involved with this," Hylla answered. She crossed her arms. "I don't care if you're Atropos' champion. You're still my baby sister, and you are not getting involved in this."

"I'm already involved in it," Reyna snapped. "You can't just shove me aside!"

"You're not going!" Hylla suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs. Reyna flinched in surprise. She was pulled to her feet a moment later. "You are not going! Understood?"

"I'm not a child," Reyna muttered. If there was one thing she could not stand, it was being yelled at. Hylla tightened the grip on her shirt. "I can go."

"Damn it Reyna! You are not going!" Hylla yelled. She was starting to shake from anger. "This isn't a question of you being a child. These Amazons are dangerous, and I don't have time to keep you out of trouble."

"I'll be fine!" Reyna yelled. "I took on the Arimaspi by myself!"

Hylla slammed her into a wall and leaned in close. Hylla spoke, "You should have waited for me. Look at what happened to you. I am sick and tired of you just throwing yourself out there and getting injured."

"So, you're pissed off because I saved your girlfriend?" Reyna demanded. She saw Hylla's eyes widen. They narrowed after a second.

"You should have waited," Hylla repeated. "You are not coming with me to meet the Amazons. You are not going to be involved in anything that has to do with the Arimaspi. If they attack you, the first thing you do is come to me."

"No," Reyna muttered.

"Don't be a child!" Hylla yelled at the top of her lungs. She shoved Reyna into the wall. "You are not as invincible as you think! You are not going to get involved in this. Am I understood?"

Reyna didn't respond as she slid down the wall into a sitting position. She had saved Kinzie's life. That wasn't good enough for Hylla. It was the same situation with the Senate. Saving the world wasn't good enough to avoid being exiled.

"You should lay off her," a voice interrupted. Hylla turned around and stared at Kinzie. She hugged her tightly.

"I thought you were dead," Hylla whispered. She rested her forehead against Kinzie's. "I'm so sorry."

Reyna stared at the ground. Dark thoughts were swarming around her head. She could hear Kinzie whispering to Hylla, but the words didn't register with Reyna. She looked up at someone knelt by her.

"I'm sorry," Hylla began. She sat by Reyna and gently grabbed her arm. Reyna couldn't stop the noise of pain that she made. Hylla shushed her and gently took care of her arm.

Reyna laid her head against the wall. Her eyes involuntarily closed. When they reopened, she was laying on the bed. Reyna looked down at her right arm which was in a splint. The stab wounds were bandaged.

"We're going to wake your sister up," Kinzie said in a quiet voice. She sounded only a few feet away.

"She's a heavy sleeper," Hylla muttered which was a complete lie. Reyna turned on back and watched the two kiss. Hylla was holding Kinzie up gently.

"You shouldn't engage in such physical activity if she's still injured," Reyna joked. It was the first joke she had made in a few days.

"We haven't done anything physical," Hylla said. She gently touched a bruise on Kinzie's face before kissing her neck. "Yet."

"You were suppose to help me shower," Kinzie complained. Hylla winked at Reyna. She helped Kinzie into the bathroom. Reyna laid her head back.

The dream ran through her mind. What did Hannibal Barca have to do with anything? He was a hated enemy of Rome, but there was no way he had come back when death was chained. Of course, it didn't matter. Camp Jupiter wasn't her problem anymore.

Reyna closed her eyes again. There was something about the sword though. The vow had to have some importance as well. Her mind was racing, but her body was exhausted. Even though Reyna tried to stay awake, she soon fell into a dreamless sleep.