Reyna silently placed a hand to her sword's hilt. After the incident with the hellhound and running into Sarah, nothing else could be left to chance. She had retrieved the sword from her duffel bag, and it was currently hanging from her belt. Reyna squeezed the sword's hilt and sighed.
North Dakota was their destination, but they didn't have a way to get there. Reyna could hotwire a car, but that would put them on the wrong side of the law. They couldn't afford that kind of altercation, so they would have to find another way to North Dakota. Thankfully, it was only the second day of the deadline.
Reyna glanced back at her companions. Her gaze focused on the Annabeth. The daughter of Athena was in a deep conversation with Piper about the next game of capture the flag. Athena's words ran through Reyna's head:protect my daughter.
Protecting people was something that Reyna could do, but it was much harder to do on a quest. There was so many things that could happen, and Reyna wouldn't be able to do much about it. Only Jupiter knew what kind of monsters could attack them. There would also be danger in confronting the person that had stolen the shield.
Annabeth was also more than capable of handling herself. If there was a bright side to the request, it was that Athena cared enough about her daughter to ask someone else to protect her. Some mothers weren't like that. It took Reyna a moment to shove the bitter thoughts aside. Later, there would be time to be angry, but first, they needed to get to the hotel.
As Reyna looked up, she saw the wrecked van in front of them. Something was wrong though. Reyna couldn't put her finger on it, but it caused her to go on edge. Her nerves were frayed enough by the encounter with Sarah. A twig suddenly snapped.
Reyna turned towards the noise and unsheathed a sword. Instincts caused her to throw herself backwards. Acid flew right over her head and hit the van. Reyna scrambled to her feet and saw that her friends had scattered.
"Hydra!" Annabeth called. She held her own sword in her right hand. The Hydra jumped in between the three of them. Most of the heads focused on Annabeth, since she was the last one to make any type of noise.
"Does anyone have fire?" Piper questioned. When no one answered, she grimaced. "That's what I though. Does anyone have any ideas on how to beat this?"
"We have to dodge it until we think of something," Reyna replied. A majority of the Hydra's heads turned towards her. Reyna glared angrily and waited for the Hydra to strike. She had left her lighter back at Camp Jupiter, and it was a stupid decision that she was regretting.
Annabeth and Piper nodded their agreement. The three demigods attacked the Hydra as one. The fight consisted of constantly attacking anything but the head and dodging everything else. It quickly became exhausting.
Surprisingly, it was Annabeth who made the first mistake. She was focused on the a majority of the Hydra's heads, and one took its attention from Piper. It knocked Annabeth's sword from her hand and lunged at her. Piper had no choice but to jump in and cut the Hydra's head off.
Reyna gripped her sword as two heads grew back. At this rate, they were not going to win the fight. They needed to run or find a way to get fire. Reyna parried a head and glanced around. Her focus fell on the van.
"Chase!" Reyna called. She glanced at Annabeth. The daughter of Athena picked her sword up from the ground and looked at Reyna. "Keep the Hydra distracted. I have an idea on how to get rid of it."
"We'll protect you," Annabeth promised. Reyna sheathed her sword and didn't hesitate. She turned and ran towards the van. Without hesitation, Reyna jumped towards the van and pulled herself up onto it. The van was still on its passenger side, which made her next move tricky.
Reyna unsheathed her dagger and moved towards the small door that protects the gas cap. She tried to open it, but nothing happened. Reyna used her sword to pry the small door open. It took her a few moments to think of what she needed to do.
A cry of pain caught her attention. Reyna turned to see Piper fall backwards. There was steam coming from her pant leg, and it seemed like some of the Hydra's acid had hit her leg. Annabeth stood in front of Piper.
"Look out!" Annabeth called. Reyna felt the Hydra slammed into the van. The force of the hit knocked Reyna off of the van, but she managed to roll through the fall. She watched the van slide a few inches before rolling onto its roof.
Reyna found herself separated from her friends, and the Hydra was turning on her. Piper and Annabeth were on the other side of the van. It was probably better that way. Reyna gripped her sword handle and took a deep breath.
"Get away from the van!" Reyna yelled. She rolled to the side as the Hydra spat acid at her. Reyna jumped to her feet and saw that the gas tank was facing towards her. After taking a deep breath, she flipped her sword into a spear.
All she could do was hope that Annabeth and Piper were far enough away from the van. Despite the fact that she was fighting the Hydra, Reyna risked closing her eyes. It had been five years since she attempted this. After a moment, she was able to channel all of her thoughts in one thing: fire.
The tip of her spear burst into flames. As soon as that happened, Reyna almost passed out. Using magic of any kind was extremely draining, if the person using it was not properly trained. The Hydra recoiled in what could have been fear, and it took a step backwards.
Reyna threw her spear. It flew by the Hydra's head and hit the van where the gas cap had been. There was a small moment of silence, and then, the van exploded. Reyna tried to throw her cloak over herself, but she wasn't fast enough.
The force of the explosion threw her into a tree. Her head cracked against the tree. Reyna fell to the ground and rolled onto her back. She stared up at the sky and blinked a few times. Her eyes slowly closed, as darkness overcame her.
"Do you still believe that the way of the sword is better?" Circe questioned. She stared down at the young attendant in front of her. Reyna slowly forced herself to look up. The daughter of Bellona nodded once, but the nod was met with a hard slap.
"Your sister has been very cooperative with me. She appreciates that I have given you two a home. I took you two in, when you had no where to go. You do not appreciate it," Circe lectured. She started to pace. "I have given you everything, but you want to throw it all away."
"I'm sorry," Reyna finally mumbled. She didn't mean it. Reyna never did. All she wanted was for Circe to stop lecturing her. Circe slapped her once again, but the force of this one caused the daughter of Bellona to stumble backwards.
"Magic cannot be embraced with your attitude. You rely on a weapon, but eventually, that weapon will become too dull or break. It can fail you. Magic will never let you down. If it does fail, it is because you were too weak to control it," Circe said. "Get out of my sight."
Reyna could only stare. This was the first time that Circe had cut a lesson short. In fact, she couldn't remember a time that Circe had cut a lesson short for any of her attendants. Reyna flinched as the witch raised her hand again, and she had no choice but to leave the room. As she walked, all she could hear was the sounds of woman gushing over the spa.
Magic was difficult for Reyna to grasp. There was so many variables that one had to consider. A weapon was much easier to use. All you had to do was rely on your own skill and training. It helped that she was a daughter of Bellona.
Reyna stopped outside of the room that she shared with her sister. It was a large room for two attendants to have, and there was space for Hylla's pet. Reyna didn't have any pets, and she didn't want any. Her mind drifted from pets to how Hylla was going to be disappointed in her for angering Circe.
As she grabbed the door handle, Reyna heard two voices. The first she recognized as Hylla, but the other was someone different. It sounded familiar, but it also sounded like a stranger. Reyna glanced at the door which was open slightly. She knelt by it and peeked inside.
The first person she saw was her sister. Hylla wasn't speaking, but she was moving her hands in an angry manner. Reyna studied the woman who stood across from her sister. The woman was wearing a full set of armor. She had black hair that was tied in a loose ponytail. Reyna felt a sense of familiarity.
"You both need to leave this spa," the woman said. "This is not a safe place for you two. The two of you should not have come here in the first place."
"This place is perfectly safe," Hylla argued. Her angry, hand motions became even angrier. "It is safer than Puerto Rico, and it is safer than being on the streets! We can't go to that little camp of yours."
"Circe is evil," the woman insisted. Reyna couldn't help but like this woman. She knew what she was talking about. Reyna adjusted herself to get a better look of the woman.
The woman was radiating some kind of power. It was comforting, and Reyna almost felt like she was at home. The power that the woman radiated was different from the power that Circe radiated, but Reyna couldn't pinpoint how, other than it being more comforting.
"All of a sudden, you care about us?" Hylla demanded. She clenched her fist and started to pace. "What about when Reyna was breaking down crying? What about when we were on the streets? What about when we needed a safe home, but all we had was an abusive father!"
The woman remained silent for a few moments. It seemed like she was angry and trying to keep her anger in. In a clipped tone, the woman spoke, "You know that I could not directly help you. I risk getting into trouble now, by talking to you."
"I don't care," Hylla snapped. "For family, you always find a way. If we leave where do you even want us to go?"
"Camp Jupiter," the woman replied. Hylla laughed like she found something funny. The woman grabbed her arm. "Reyna needs to go to Camp Jupiter. You must be there to protect her."
"I already told you the camp isn't safe," Hylla snapped. "If they knew what Reyna did, they would kill her! Circe told me all about them. The Amazons, if it came to it, would be a much better choice."
"You cannot go to the Amazons. You must go to Camp Jupiter," the woman insisted. She grabbed Hylla's face. "You must listen to me. I care greatly about you two."
"Really, you haven't shown it yet," Hylla said. Her voice was shaky, and it sounded like she was trying not to yell. "The only thing you care about is us doing what you want. You don't care about what is better for us. I can protect Reyna perfectly fine here!"
"A storm is coming to this spa," the woman said. From her tone, it didn't seem like an actual storm. "You two cannot be apart of it. You must go to Camp Jupiter."
"No," Hylla said defiantly. She took a deep breath. It was like she realized what she had just said."No. We are fine here."
"You are going to regret this," the woman warned. Her tone sounded angry, but it also sounded pained. "I just want what is best for you two. You must leave this spa and go to Camp Jupiter."
"We are not leaving! You claim to want to help us, but Circe is more of a mother than you!" Hylla snapped. Reyna stared at the two. Hylla turned and met her eyes. Before her older sister could say anything else, Reyna turned and ran away.
