Reyna spat blood. "Gah! Len, move around to their flank! Grayson fall back and shoot!" Reyna commanded, sword prepared to take down the gorgon attacking her. "Miles, Nando, hold center. Messoria!"

Messoria glanced down from a spot in one of the trees. "No, no, I'm just here to do my own thing. I'm not involved. Pretend I'm not here!"

"If you don't help us, you'll never find out if I stole the capes!" Reyna shouted. "I know you're much more powerful than these pathetic monsters. Now get down here!"

Messoria rolled her eyes and stepped down, landing between Reyna and the gorgon. Her wings flashed up and the gorgon stumbled backwards. In her hands a staff of black iron formed with the flick of her wrist. She sent it upwards, catching the gorgon in the jaw and sending it backwards into its fellows before it disintegrated.

Reyna watched in shock as she whipped around to face two more gorgons, in a second they had disintegrated. "Cursed shall be the Traitor of Death!" One of the gorgons screamed as one of Grayson's arrows pierced its throat. Reyna pitched forward, taking on another gorgon herself.

It took several minutes, but they had finally finished off the group of monsters. Reducing them to a huge pile of ashes. Messoria's staff disappeared and she fixed Reyna with a disapproving glare. "Don't expect that every time you guys run into a problem. I'm just here to observe."

Reyna rolled her eyes and shrugged with one shoulder, moving her jaw around to stretch it out. "I could care less. If you're going to follow us around you're going to chip in when we need it. Think of it as compensation for us having to put up with you."

"Where are we anyway?" Messoria questioned, looking around. They had landed in some suburban neighborhood. "I hate the suburbs. Everything is so routine."

Reyna looked to Grayson. "Did you see any signs while we descended?"

Miles spoke up. "We're in New York. Camp Half Blood is only a few miles from here."

Grayson clenched his bow. "Of course, our Pegasi spooked."

Reyna groaned. "Camp Half Blood is surrounded by monsters, it's too dangerous for a few Probatios to fight their way through. Nico told me to get us through via air or water."

Messoria rolled her eyes. "Have you tried shadow travel?"

"Does it look like any of us can shadow travel?" Grayson snapped.

"If you had those invisibility capes you'd get in fine. Any comment Praetor?"

Reyna glared. "You can shadow travel?"

"One of my many skills." Messoria boasted with a smirk.

"Great, you can get us in." Nando grumbled.

"Ah," Messoria laughed. "I can't, you see, technically, I'm a monster. I can't get within Camp Half Blood's perimeter unless I'm invited."

Reyna could feel the migraine coming. "Grayson, Iris Message Piper McLean, tell her to invite Messoria, Daughter of Thanatos, into Camp Half Blood's perimeter. Tell her our Pegasi spooked and we'll be coming in via shadow travel." Grayson nodded, sent Messoria a filthy look, and stalked off towards one of the houses, turning on a hose.

Reyna glared at Messoria. "You are possibly the worst thing to happen to us on this quest."

Messoria smirked. "I'm feeling the appreciation for that awesome gorgon victory right about now."

Len growled. "Can I run her through?"

Messoria laughed and walked away, taking off into the sky. "Don't worry Reyna, I'll scout out the area for you." She taunted.

They appeared before the Big House, where Piper, Jason, and Nico awaited their arrival. Nico was the first to greet Reyna with a hug, something that still caught her off guard. Nico had really come out of his shell in the last year. Jason came second, and finally Piper greeted her as an old friend. Reyna could tell that Jason still shifted uncomfortably when the two girls greeted each other.

Reyna introduced her group, and finally she came to Messoria. "And this is Messoria." She couldn't help but to glare at her yet again.

"Hey, I've done much more for you than I should have, you should stop the glaring and thank me." Messoria scoffed.

"You are absolutely insufferable."

"Oh you hurt me so."

"Anyway, there's some things I need to discuss with Dare."

"So I've heard." Rachel Elizabeth Dare came forward from behind, obviously having come down from her cave. She walked beside Chiron, who greeted Reyna warmly and diplomatically. He immediately brought his eyes to Messoria.

"A Reaper?" He looked greatly concerned.

"You don't happen to have any invisibility capes do you?" Messoria smirked.

"No I don't believe I do-"

"Ignore her." Reyna glared once more at Messoria. "She has business with the Romans and should keep her mouth shut from now on." She added as warning to the Reaper herself.

Dare smiled and shook Reyna's hand. "So you have some important things to ask me about."

Reyna glanced around. "We should keep this private. Grayson, Probatios, ready the Roman cabin for us to stay the night. I'll return when our business is concluded."

Grayson and the three Probatios saluted and trooped off. "Grayson huh?" Jason smirked.

"He's part of their cohort, and is tasked with training Probatios anyway. Now, Rachel," Reyna turned to Dare. "We need to find a private place to talk. This is a sensitive topic."

Dare nodded and led them off to her cave. Piper and Jason held hands as they walked, something that used to bother Reyna, but nowadays she hardly noticed. Messoria kept pace, ignoring the glares Reyna sent her way. She offered them seats around a table and Dare sat at the head.

"Okay, so what did you need to ask?"

"My first question Nico actually answered earlier. You've been having surges in monster attacks as well, correct?" The Greeks around the table nodded grimly. "Have any of the monsters been acting weirdly?"

Nico nodded. "They're organized, it's starting to get unnerving."

"Do any of you know anything about the Traitor of Death?"

Messoria beside her stiffened. "Traitor of Death. That definitely sounds like my business, Praetor."

Nico watched her carefully. "I have heard it during my visits to my father. But only grumblings, it's an undertone kind of thing."

Suddenly Dare slumped forward as green smoke plumed from her mouth. Her red hair made the green glow look even eerier. Her whole demeanor changed as she gave a prophecy:

Ancient evils threaten,

Recovered by Rome, and

Protected in destruction,

Freed, a risk Death shall take,

Will gain a power none can face,

The Traitor of Death doomed to loss,

Shall aid a new king to seize the throne,

And a new era shall dawn at the fall of a God.

The six witnesses stared as Dare recovered from her sudden psychosis. "First prophecy in months!" She gasped.

Reyna was visibly shaken. There was the Traitor of Death again. This time, a God shall fall.

Messoria paled. "That prophecy is about Thanatos isn't it? At least, part of it."

"Well there's the answers to my questions." Reyna mumbled sitting back. "I believe this calls for a quest. I, of course, volunteer myself and my questers."

Nico nodded. "I'll join in. If there's something going on with Death I could give you guys an upper hand."

"Well, I have orders to follow you around anyway." Messoria bumped Reyna's shoulder. "If it means helping my father I suppose it's my duty to help you in any way I can."

"Great, that's two experts on the underworld alongside you." Nico crossed his arms. "That's way more than three people though."

"Lately, the rule of three has been largely ignored in the questing." Chiron sighed. "But I suppose this quest requires working together between the two camps."

Reyna nodded. "We should have three Romans and three Greeks on this quest. At least we can preserve some semblance of the rule of three. I'll go myself, along with Grayson and Len."

"We should extend this to the rest of the Greeks." Chiron suggested. "We insist you join us for a feast tonight, and then at the campfire we'll ask for volunteers."

The seven of them stood and filed from the cave, a grave cloud hanging over each head. Messoria replaced her scowl with a cocky smirk. "Well hey, at least I won't be bored while I'm incriminating you."

"I didn't steal them!" Reyna growled whipping around to face Messoria.

"You think I should believe you?"

"Seeing as I'm telling the truth yes!"

"And how do I know that huh? You're the most likely to have stolen them. My father will have me executed if I go back without those capes. You think I'll risk my throat just because you're annoyed?" Messoria flashed with anger. "This Traitor of Death is the person who stole those capes and I'm sure of it. We find the person who stole the capes and I'll get off your back and perhaps you can stop those evils from being released!"

"You've been nothing but agitating the last two days, do you think I'll be sympathetic to your cause? Leave me be!" Reyna snarled.

Piper, Jason, and Nico watched the argument like a tennis game. None of them knowing what to do about the two bickering girls.

Messoria rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll give you the next few hours to yourself. You could really use an attitude check."

Reyna was personally offended. "You are truly insufferable." But Messoria had already took to the air before Reyna could complain any further. Reyna turned to her three witnesses. "I hate her."

"We can tell." Piper smirked.

Reyna sat through the entirety of the campfire, putting up with the cheerful Apollo songs that Grayson so gallantly enjoyed himself with. She hadn't seen Messoria at all since their spat outside Dare's cave, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Towards the end, Chiron stood. He told the Greeks surrounding him of the prophecy and their desperate need for three Greek volunteers.

"I formally volunteer!" Nico immediately spoke up, sending Reyna a charming smile. His smiling still caught her off guard, though the Greeks seemed to be used to it by now. She made a mental note to visit him more often. "It'll be just like old times, no?"

"I volunteer as well!" A tall and handsome blonde boy stood, sending a shy smile to the Praetor. "I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo. Pleasure to quest with you."

"Thank you, Solace."

"Please, call me Will." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, glancing to Nico. Nico, on the other hand, looked pleasantly surprised, if not slightly embarrassed.

Finally, a tall, incredibly muscular girl stood from beneath the Ares banner. "I'll go." She smirked. "Clarisse,"

Reyna nodded. "Very well. We plan to leave the day after tomorrow. Be prepared."

As the campers scattered back towards their respective cabins, Reyna and her team filed back and entered the newly built Roman cabin. Reyna knew for a fact that Annabeth had designed the architecture for it and she found that she absolutely adored it. The cabin had a high dome with tasteful arches. It felt like she was walking into a building in New Rome.

Along the walls lined two rows of bunk beds on either side of the room. The cabin was originally unused, as she and Zhang had yet to put together an exchange and internship program with Camp Half Blood, Grayson and the Probatios had made the room as livable as they could. Reyna set down on one of the lower bunks near the door. Her team had chosen bunks near the back of the cabin. Messoria crouched on one of the top bunks like some sort of vulture or crow, her black wings spread out, ready to take flight at any moment.

As her fellow Romans slowly made their ways into bed, Reyna noticed the Reaper switch from crouching to sitting on the top bunk, staring into space with such an intensity that she may have been hunting something.

"Oh, uh, Messoria." Grayson spoke up before lights were turned out. "I thought I'd tip you off, but some of the Hermes kids have been boasting about their thievery. Maybe you should check up on them."

"The Romans are the ones who have been cheating Death." Messoria murmured, not taking her eyes off of the opposite wall.

"Perhaps the Roman equivalent then?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"The sooner you leave the better my life gets." Grayson replied flippantly. "Never mind."

The lights went out and the room fell into silence. Reyna's dreams were fitful, though nothing of any use appeared in her own dreams. It was a terrifying mixture of past events, ranging from her father in San Juan to the gorgons just today.

The next day Miles was claimed by his mother, Ceres. The Demeter children swamped him and took up most of his time with growing and gardening, something he didn't particularly mind. However, Reyna ordered him back to training after a few hours.

Grayson spent a lot of time with Will Solace, as the two were children of Apollo, they had a lot in common. Messoria, though she'd refuse to admit it, took up Grayson's advice and followed the Stoll brothers around, though they seemed to rather like her. She was irritating and charismatic, something both boys rather admired in others.

Reyna walked with Piper and Nico as they planned out her quest. They'd need to decide what this prophecy meant and then take action. "It sounds like it's just you Romans, Reyna," Nico sighed glumly.

"Yes, but Death is the same for both of us." Piper pointed out. "I think you need to be there Nico, it could be talking about either Thanatos or Hades."

"I don't know." Nico shook his head. "What about these ancient evils being unleashed?"

"There's too many evils in the world for me to distinguish which one we have to fight this time." Reyna rubbed her temples.

"Evils in the world, what if it's talking about Pandora's box?" Piper perked up. "That was one of my favorite stories! Zeus ordered for a woman to be made to punish man, and then she ended up opening the jar carrying all of the world's evils, plaguing mankind with horrors beyond imagine. Of course, she also released Hope."

Reyna nodded. "That makes sense, but I don't particularly want to recover a box full of evils with the prophecy talking about destruction and the falling of a God."

"So, are you going to try and retrieve Pandora's Box?" Piper asked.

"I suppose so." Reyna sighed. "I have no idea where it would be though, or who's seeking to take it. I think I have to defend it against someone who wants to open it, but I have no idea who will be after it. This Traitor of Death might know something. I'm not sure. This is a nightmare. There is nothing positive about this prophecy."

"Maybe we should focus on Pandora's Box." Nico comforted. "Then we'll move on from there."

She nodded and ruffled his hair. Nico smiled and Reyna, for the first time, noticed his dimples, and how tall he had gotten. He wasn't so skinny any more. He almost looked like he was gaining muscle. Nico was still as pale as ever, but the bags beneath his eyes had lessened a great deal. He looked happy. Or as happy as a kid who had gone through the things he did could look.

The three of them sighed and separated, Reyna leaving to find someone to spar. She ended up taking on a couple of Ares kids simultaneously. The end result was not pretty for them. She knew they were adapting their style to her Roman tactics, so she threw in a couple of moves that she saw Hylla pull on the pirate ship, catching them entirely off guard.

She hoped that the rest of the quest would go as smoothly. But she knew her hopes would most likely be in vain. Piper had warned her that Clarisse La Rue, while incredibly brave, talented, and strong, was also moody and harsh. Coupled with Messoria's tendency to grate on everyone's nerves, she was sure there would be internal strife in her team. Nico had informed her that Will was more of a battlefield medic than a warrior, which was good, because she had enough warriors on her team already. There were going to be injuries. She could guarantee that much.

Len was largely a mystery, though on the voyage thus far she had proven to be invaluable and resourceful. She could use that. Grayson as she had already known was loyal and capable, if not a little impulsive. She hoped that the two groups could mesh together. With three children of war, two kids straight out of the underworld and two sons of Apollo, she could only pray that they could pull together and work as a team.

Clarisse had been watching Reyna duel with her siblings with an intensity Reyna rarely saw in any Greek, usually they were laid back and calm, rather than harsh and strict. But after Reyna had taken them down, Clarisse approached her. "You're leading this quest correct?"

Reyna stood upright again, prepared to match Clarisse in attitude, though the other girl was taller than Reyna by about three inches. "Yes, I am."

Clarisse nodded. "I don't like taking orders, not from Romans, but I respect you. Don't think for a moment that I won't question your calls."

Reyna tilted her head. "By all means. Question them. If you can convince me that another plan of action is better, then I'll change them. But my orders are final. Failure to comply could result in death. And not just your own death."

Clarisse stared for another moment before she nodded. "Alright, Roman, I'll play your game. But I do want to know what the point of this quest is."

Reyna shook her head. "I'm not entirely positive, but Nico, Piper, and I are in good faith that we're required to retrieve Pandora's Box."

"That can only result in trouble."

Reyna cracked a smile. "I agree. But the prophecy isn't clear about it. I think we'll find answers in retrieving it and protecting it from the Traitor of Death, they seem to be trying to take down the gods. Specifically, either Thanatos or Pluto, Hades in your case."

"Pandora's Box, huh?" An aggravating voice sounded from nearby. Reyna turned to find Messoria strolling towards them. "That sounds like fun."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "She's coming too?"

"She has business with the Romans, and she actually may be very useful." Reyna explained, rubbing her temples.

"Hey, cheer up, soldiers. I'm happy to announce that I can help you with that. I happen to know where the box is generally located. But to get through there we'd have to run some errands first." Messoria smirked. "And good news! The Roman who stole the invisibility capes is, in fact, not the Traitor of Death."

The two daughters of war stared at the Reaper. "Explain." Clarisse demanded.

"Well, you see, it doesn't make much sense for a demigod to be the Traitor of Death. In order to be a traitor, you have to betray someone. You can't betray someone you were never on the same side with, you know? Demigods don't like death. You do everything you can not to die. So, how can a demigod, who doesn't want to die, betray death?" Messoria explained. "So, that's a good thing, but it does mean that once I find the thief, we still have to find the traitor."

Reyna nodded. "That's probably the least irritating thing you've said to me thus far."

Messoria smirked. "Oh wait a few minutes, I'm sure that'll change."