Salutations my dear readers! Let's get on with the next chapter that may be able... shed some light on the new prophecy.
Enjoy!
Chapter 10
Reyna sat in her seat, waiting for the meeting to start. She had not slept well, and had woken up several times during the night. As a result, she had walked out of her villa irritated, only to find Victor holding a specially made cup of hot chocolate, complete with large puffy marshmallows and extra chocolate. He had been rewarded with a loving kiss and several moments in a blissful embrace. All too soon though, they both heard the call for the meeting, and Victor had walked her to the principia and departed with another brief kiss.
Reyna sighed as she sipped the now cooling beveridge, observing the people who came pouring in through the doors and filling up the seats. She eyed Piper warily as the pretty girl sat down in one of the Seven's seats. Catching Reyna's eye, she returned her cold glance before turning and waving to two tall figures strolling through the door: Leo and Jason. Glancing briefly at Leo, she quickly figured out that she was not the only one with a restless night. His disheveled clothing was not enhanced by his red eyes nor the stubble growing on his face. Her eyes traced his firm jaw line and roamed over the stubble, vaguely wondering what it would feel like if she ran her hand over it. She soon snapped out of these unusual thoughts by a loud *hem hem* as Octavian marched into the room.
Frank called the meeting to order, and then allowed Octavian to relay the prophecy twice before the augur decided to decode the message right there and then. It was obvious that the child of a war god and of the smith god were going to go somewhere and get the "most powerful gift ever given", collect the pieces and defeat bloodthirsty enemies without their own sight. Sounds like fun.
During Octavian's long-winded sermon, Leo was only paying half-attention. Sure, he'd really cared about the prophecy, but now that Octavian was going on a rant about what every little letter in the stupid thing meant, Leo felt his mind wander. And his eyes. He found himself studying Reyna as she struggled to maintain some sort of sign that she was listening. Her eyebrows were scrunched up slightly, her dark eyes seemed to be fighting not to glaze over, and she was twirling her long dark braid within her dainty fingers. Leo looked down at his own hands; long fingers and average palms, now covered with calluses and rough scars. He briefly wondered if her skin was as soft as it looked.
Leo was jolted out of his thoughts by Reyna finally telling Octavian to call it quits, and she took up the stand herself.
"Now, we know that there are two people involved. Any guesses?"
Percy flicked his hand up; Reyna nodded at him to share his thoughts.
"Normally, when we hear a prophecy, the people who are in it are the ones who asked. Leo asked the question, so we know that he is at least for sure in it-" Percy was cut off here.
"Hey man, we don't even know it is about me! I mean, the forge could mean anyone of Hephaestus' kids; I'm not the only one or the best by any means." Reyna smiled slightly at Leo's modesty; he was the best beyond a shadow of a doubt. Percy gave Leo a mild glare before continuing.
"But the fact is that whoever asks the question receives their future, and since you asked, it's yours." Percy said in a clear and dictating tone. Leo was now silent; he couldn't refute this argument as much as he wanted too; If anyone was the expert on prophecies, it was Percy Jackson.
"But now," Percy continued, "Who is the other? Who is the sword?" Everyone was silent for a while as different possibilities flashed through everyone's mind. Reyna noticed several people glance at her, including Leo, and did her best to appear deep in thought. She had felt it in her gut when the prediction was told: she was the other one. But she didn't want to be the sword anymore than Leo wanted to be the forge. And despite knowing that she couldn't deny it forever, Reyna decided to try.
Finally, Frank cleared his throat. "Well, it's obviously one of the war gods. And since Leo is Greek, and this quest seems to be about finding new sight, the other one is probably Roman." Reyna felt her heart speed up. How did Frank deduce this all so quickly? "It might be a child of Mars or Bellona, but I don't think it's me. Whatever cruel fate would put us together would probably not expect such a disaster." Frank ended with a good natured smile.
Leo snickered before saying, "We've done it before, haven't we?"
Frank gave a light laugh before speaking. "True, Valdez. But it didn't feel like it was me. What about you Reyna?" Reyna gave a slight jump, causing several people to give her a suspicious glance. Reyna took a slight breath to regain control; she needed to appear calm and collected in order to pull this off.
"I have no idea-"
"Now now, Reyna, lying doesn't suit you."
Everyone jolted to see a large figure stride through the door. There was a glowing aura around the being; almost heavenly… Several people stood to their feet as the golden glow of Apollo faded into a more neutral radiance. Reyna was beyond stunned to say the least, and with the bright and smiling god came a new sense of dread coursing through her; she wouldn't be able to get away with this.
Apollo waved everyone to relax, and he took long-legged strides to the center of the principia. Giving everyone a dazzling and blinding smile, Apollo began to speak.
"Hey guys! I just happened to be driving the sun overhead and noticed this quaint little meeting going on. I also just happened to notice that our dear praetors were having some trouble deducing the little prophecy that my darling Oracle gave to you. So I came to offer my services! After all, who better to help than the god of prophecy?" Here, Apollo raised his arms, and the people applauded obediently. Now, he turned to Reyna with a deceitfully innocent smile. "So what was that again, fair Reyna?"
Reyna bit her lip and remained silent. Apollo raised a handsome eyebrow. "Dear dear, must I spell it out for you? Actually, this will make a great poem:
Fair Reyna, you can't
try to fool a god like me.
I am too awesome.
Yes, I rather like the sound of that one."
Reyna had been trying to fight off the growing blush of mortification that stung her cheeks. Now Apollo gave a cheeky smile and once again opened his mouth to recite a poem-
"Okay, we get it dude."
Everyone was shocked at the disrespectfully casual speech, and all heads turned to find Leo Valdez reclining in his seat, a slight frown upon his face. Apollo gave Leo a quizzical look before throwing his head back and laughing. "You've got some nerve, kid! You must get that from your mother, 'cuz ol' Hephaestus doesn't have half of your guts!" Leo was stunned, to say the least, that he wasn't being chastised.
Apollo continued to chortle until he finally noticed he was the only one laughing, and then cleared his throat. "So why don't you stop beating around the bush and tell them, Reyna?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Reyna forced out.
Apollo looked at her seriously. "If Valdez can accept his fate with all he's been through, you can too. Now tell us the truth."
Reyna looked like she was going to be sick; Leo's fists clenched slightly. Apollo kept smiling and looked patiently at the praetor. Reyna finally took a deep breath.
"I think… that I'm the sword. There, are you happy now?" There were no sudden gasps, no raised eyebrows; But there was on solitary applauder.
"Very good, Reyna. You've accepted your own fate, and now it's onward to the quest!"
"Is this the Roman side of you? I've never seen you so uptight and relaxed at the same time ." Percy questioned. Apollo turned with a small smile.
"Indeed it is, Perseus. My Roman side is more commonly known as Phoebus, and therefore I am more serious and disciplined than my Greek side. But I will still allow the name of Apollo for both forms. But we have more important things to do now! We need to organize this quest, and I have some information that you might be interested in."
"Such as?" inquired Frank.
"The gift you are looking for."
The room was dead silent. The sun god gave a small smirk and began to speak.
"Long ago," began Phoebus, using his godly powers to paint a smokey image into the sky, "Before the gods and even before the Titans, there was nothing. Nothing except the Earth and the Stars. Gaea, or Terra, and Ouranos, or Caelus. When they were joined in love, Caleus gave his new wife the most worthy gift he had to offer: one of his stars. But this star had special properties, you see: This little star, when pieced together, creates the most tool known to man and gods alike; the speculum de stellis, or the Looking Glass Star." Now came a smokey picture of four tiny shards; almost like little bits of opaque glass.
" It was given this name because when it is combined, it allows the being in possession of the speculum to know all; more than gods and titans combined. It can see all: people, locations, thoughts, feelings; past, present, and future. It was given so that Terra would know all things and beings that would walk on her. After Saturn, or Kronos, overthrew his father, Terra broke the speculum into four pieces in order to prevent one of the titans, and later the gods, from gaining it's tremendous power. But after dear Mother Earth's near destruction of any good in the world, it seems that this quest is completely necessary now."
"But Gaea's asleep now, she can't do any harm." protested Hazel.
Phoebus shook his head. "Did it ever occur to any of you that Terra, or Gaea I suppose, is only sleeping? Someday she will start to wake again, and there will be a new generation of demigods and legacies to deal with everything you went through, if not more horrible. Terra doesn't forget; and any mistakes she made this time that may have allowed us a victory… she won't make them again." The room was gravely silent as the smokey painting tinted a deep red, and the little shards became much more sinister looking as they vaguely shown like little blood droplets.
"The speculum has the power to prevent another uprising; we can look into the future, see if anything will happen, and plan against it, be more prepared, and try not to let things get nearly as dire." The painting became clear once again as lighter color streaked across the once ominous canvas. Phoebus waved his hand and the whole thing vanished.
"So this could potentially prevent another uprising?" asked Annabeth. Phoebus nodded his head.
"Now you see the importance of this quest. But now I give a warning: the monster's and warriors that Terra set to guard the shards are the most ferocious and destructive beings to ever walk the earth, and are still loyal to her. However, they do not know about the existence of the other shards; they think they are the sole guardian of an important object. Moreover, since sweet Terra doesn't tolerate failure, she has attached the lifeforce of each of the creatures onto their piece, and so if someone ever did take it… well, let's just say they have a strong incentive to guard it."
Leo and Reyna were both getting paler by the minute; it took all of Leo's willpower not to burst into flames, or at least to start smoking. Reyna hid her shaking hands underneath the table and tried to breathe deeply to still her racing heart. This quest sounded like a suicide mission; no wonder nobody has attempted to get the pieces before. There was a slight rumble of thunder overhead; Phoebus glanced up at the ceiling.
"My time is almost up; do not expect this to be the last time you see a god or goddess. But to the two heroes on this quest, I give you these parting words: Do not seek the obvious, expect the unexpected." With a bright flash, the sun god vanished.
The entire room let out a breath, but it did nothing to ease the tension in the room. Until Piper spoke up.
"So, when will this quest happen?"
Leo and Reyna looked at each other and had a quick eye conversation, giving slight gestures and expressions. Then they both turned.
"In a couple of days. I'd like to see my friends for a little bit before I have to leave again." said Leo with a sad smile. Reyna nodded, biting her lip and looking downward.
There were another uncomfortable couple of minutes before Reyna cleared her throat. "The Senate and guests are dismissed, go about your business." she spoke in a tight voice. As Reyna spoke, people stood up quickly and filed out of the room without so much as a whisper. Leo made to go too, until Reyna's crisp voice spoke to him.
"Valdez, please stay back." Leo halted in his tracks and turned to face her. The entire room was empty now. Reyna waved him back into her office, and he shuffled obediently into the room. She closed the door and turned to face him. Reyna opened her mouth to speak, and was cut off.
"Look, I'm really sorry for any of the trouble I caused, and that I somehow dragged you into this mess. I would never want anyone to be forced into this suicidal mission with me, and especially not you. You have a life here at camp, with people who adore you." Leo took a shaky breath. "So if you decide to stay behind, or leave at anytime during the quest, I completely understand."
Reyna blinked as she felt her anger flare. Did he not think her capable of completing the quest? Did he think of her of some little girl who would be scared of going on a dangerous mission? But one look into his deep brown eyes determined that it was none of the above. Leo really did seem to be looking out for her; he wanted what was best, what would make her happy. But why would he not fight his own call? The answer came quickly: Calypso. Whatever Calypso had done, Leo now seemed to feel insignificant, as if it didn't matter if his life was lost. Reyna felt her anger rise again, but not at Leo. No, it was at this silly little girl who made him feel worthless, and she felt the sudden, overwhelming urge to give Leo a hug. Instead, she spoke.
"I'm not going try not to go , nor will I abandon you. We are both a part of this prophecy, and if we have any hope of getting through this alive, we need each other." Leo still looked unsure. She opened her mouth to dismiss him, and instead blurted out, "Besides, there is no one I'd rather have watching my back than you."
Leo raised his eyebrows but said nothing, looking at the ground and biting his lip. Reyna felt like she had been slapped; He didn't believe her. But then again, why should he? They barely know each other, and no matter what either of them felt during that dance, they were still almost complete strangers; allies at most. Reyna felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. There was a long, awkward silence, until Leo cleared his throat.
"Well then, I guess I'll see you in two days. Enjoy your time with Victor." There was a slight sneer on that last word. Reyna was slightly confused, until she decided that Leo was just a little hurt from what he thought was a fake compliment, and now a reminder of his broken heart. She felt a pain in her stomach as he started to walk out the door.
"Valdez," she started. He turned, looking passively at her. "I'll see you then, just be sure to get all of your stuff together in time." Reyna calmly stated, ignoring the building knots in her stomach.
Leo gave a stiff nod. "Of course, reina." And he was gone.
Ooooh Leyna drama! Reyna was just trying to be nice... but poor Leo! Anyways, what did you think? Please read and review, it helps me with my writing and I love hearing from you guys!