New chapter! I made sure to finish it before the new year. I hope whoever is reading it is enjoying it. I suggest listening to "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift while reading this chapter (I do not own that song). Please review!
Something I should have told you last chapter: the words Artemis spoke in the last chapter (in order) were 'faster', 'arm farther back', and 'light on your feet'.
Not much happened in the next couple weeks. The gods agreed to allow Sally and Paul visit the Camp Half-Blood closer to the end of July for reasons that they wouldn't tell the demigods. The half-bloods didn't seem to care because they were trying to contain their excitement about seeing Sally again. Who knows what Jupiter would do if he found out she came to camp before?
In that couple weeks, Reyna and Apollo went on a date every other day. On one of the dates (when Apollo was in his Roman form), he noticed the way that Reyna was looking at him. It was completely different from when he was Greek. He asked the young praetor if she preferred him as a Roman. She tried to change the subject, but he persisted. Reyna bashfully admitted that she thought he was more handsome as a Roman, but liked him equally in either form. Apollo came to a compromise. Although he could not stay in his Roman form all the time (for he told his children he would switch periodically to be fair to all of them), he promised he would try to refrain from being the obnoxious and self-absorbed god he was in Greek form.
During one particular morning, all the campers were at the dining pavilion and the gods were sitting together at the head table where Mr. D and Chiron usually sit. The atmosphere was a bit depressing and tense, but none of the gods knew why. That is, until Apollo heard a quiet sob coming from his beloved.
He glanced at the particular direction the sound came from and saw a sight that made his heart crumble in sadness and sympathy.
Poor little Reyna had her head resting on Nico's shoulder with silent tears falling down her cheeks. Her dark eyes were bloodshot from the crying she must have been doing earlier. Her cheeks were pale and stained from previous tears. She had a miserable look on face as she stared blankly at her untouched plate of food.
Apollo stood from his chair, but his sister grabbed his arm before he could make his way to his Reyna. "Apollo, what are you doing?" Diana questioned in a whisper. "We agreed to sit here so the children will not get in trouble. If Father notices-"
"I do not care," Apollo insisted just as quietly. "I am not going to sit here while my beloved is upset."
The statement surprised the huntress, but she was surprised even more when watched her brother walk down the many rows of tables to kneel beside Reyna.
Reyna stared wide-eyed at the god the suddenly made his appearance. Moving her head to look at him, she hissed, "What are you doing? People are going to stare."
"I do not care," Apollo insisted once again as he held one of her hands. "I want to know why you are upset."
"I'm fine!" She argued even though she clearly was not fine. She wiped away her tears, "You should go before you cause a scene. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."
"Is something going on between you two?" Percy questioned because he and the rest of the people at the table were slightly confused.
The arguing couple turned to look at Hazel. She currently had a mouth full of cereal when she garbled, "What?"
"I thought you were going to tell everyone!" Reyna stated in a hush whisper.
Hazel shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot," Pluto's daughter apologized. "To be fair, I was going through my little issue at the time."
"Reyna and I are together," the god quickly explained to the group. "We have been in a relationship for over two weeks now," he glanced back at Reyna, "and I wish to know how to cheer you up."
Nico sighed. "It's July 18th, the anniversary day."
"'Anniversary'?" Apollo turned to her beloved and noticed something peculiar. Her eyes were full of despair once the date was mentioned. The tears that momentarily paused filled back in her eyes and already spilled over before she could even control it. Something clicked in Apollo's mind. "Today is Scipio's death day," he deduced.
Reyna nodded glumly as a sob escaped her lips. Apollo did the first thing that came to mind. He lifted the girl up long enough to take her spot on the bench and sat her on his lap. Kissing her forehead, he wrapped his arms around her petite figure as she laid her head on his shoulder. More people began to stare, but the couple didn't seem to care, so the group didn't say anything.
Nico decided to break the glum silence with a strange revelation. "If you two end up getting married, you're going to be my step-mother-in-law."
Reyna let out a laugh despite her sorrow. "I think it's a little early for you to think about marriage," she teased good-naturely. "You're only fifteen and have been dating Will for less than a year."
"See, you're already acting like a step-mother-in-law!" The son of Hades joked causing some of the table to laugh.
The praetor shook her head in amusement. "So much for me being your sorella."
"But you're still my sorella!" Hazel insisted cheerfully. "It doesn't matter what kind of weird family situation Nico is going to have with you because you and me will always be sorelle."
Reyna laughed again as a smile emerged on her lips and the tears stopped flowing. "Thanks for cheering me up." She turned to her immortal boyfriend and gave him a peck on the cheek. "And thank you for being a good boyfriend."
"Father is not going to like this," Apollo began, before he smirked, "but he can go shove his Master Bolt up his ass and get over it."
The whole table busted up in laughter, including the King of Olympus's children. Some of them didn't fail to notice Jupiter's face turn bright red out of anger or embarrassment, they weren't sure. They figured it was out of anger because the couple kissed during the laughter, causing the campers to stare even more out of shock.
Apollo didn't leave Reyna's side the entire day. After breakfast he changed into his Greek form for he figured he would have an easier time making her happy or cheerful in that form. The lovely couple spent the day with an arm wrapped around each other's waist or their hand in each other's.
However, around the time on the way to lunch, Lord Pegasus decided to make his appearance. The Greek and Roman campers actually didn't believe it was him. He looked nothing as Reyna and Nico had described.
Reyna said Pegasus was a massive stallion with a wingspan twice as wide as other pegasi. Pegasus's coat was rich brown, mottled with red and gold around the muzzle - which Hedge had claimed were marks where the stallion had emerged from the blood and ichor of his beheaded mother, Medusa. Pegasus's wings were the colors of an eagle's - gold, white, brown and rust - which made him look more handsome and regal. Reyna had noted that he is the color of all pegasi, representing all of his offspring.
In the way he looked now, Pegasus was completely white and seemed to glow by how pure the color was. It wasn't until Apollo informed her that he was indeed the true Pegasus did Reyna believe it.
"Now you wish to speak to me?" The praetor questioned in disbelief. "After almost three weeks, you finally decide to show yourself."
Pegasus neighed to which Apollo translated, "He apologizes and offers his condolences about your pegasus's-"
"Don't speak as though I owned him," Reyna snapped a little harshly toward the winged horse. "Scipio was my beloved friend till the very end. He was never my pet!"
Lord Pegasus bowed his head in shame and let out a whine. The god of the sun sighed, "He apologizes once again and wishes to speak about something in private."
The daughter of Bellona glared at Pegasus who cowered even lower in shame. "I do not wish to speak with you anymore while you are in this form," Reyna denied. "I will only speak to you in the form that we met; that way I will know that you are serious."
Before Pegasus could do anything, Reyna walked away to the dining pavilion with Apollo having an arm wrapped around her shoulders.
Later that night at the camp fire, Reyna still hadn't gotten over the anniversary and her mood actually affected all the demigods during the sing-a-long. One of the Roman campers suggested that Reyna sing on her own, since she did so every day when Scipio was alive.
Reluctantly, she decided to sing the song she sang to Scipio before she put him out of his misery:
I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said don't leave me here alone
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound
Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold onto this lullaby even when the musics gone, gone
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound
Just close your eyes, you'll be alright
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound
Reyna broke down at the end of her performance and cried her heart out into Apollo's shoulder (who held her tightly, kissed her forehead, and gave words of encouragement). A majority of the campers were brought to tears by the performance as well and some gave her a standing ovation. Even a couple gods stood to give her an applause out of sympathy.
After the applause finally died down, the demigods decided to retire to bed early. Apollo (being the good boyfriend he is) walked his beloved Reyna to the cabin she was staying at. He wished her a good night and sweet dreams (hoping she'd be so exhausted that she would finally sleep) before giving her a sweet peck on the forehead. Reyna retaliated by placing a hand on his cheek and kissed him on the lips. After a few seconds, she pulled away to proclaim, "I love you, Apollo."
Apollo smiled so bright that it could make anyone blind (perks of being the sun god). "I love you, my Queen," he confessed with every emotion contained in his immortal essence. "There is nothing that my father can do to make me change my mind or my feelings about you. I would give up my immortality for you."
The couple kissed one last time in the moonlight-
Not knowing that a god was spying on them from afar.
You will find out what 'sorella' and 'sorelle' means in a later chapter. If you do not want to wait, look it up on Google translate.