Chapter 14
Reyna
Reyna entered her office and shut the door. Still holding the door knob she turned, almost expecting Jason to be there as he always had been. Instead of him sitting in the chair however, it was only dust. She sighed, letting her whole body slump, leaning against the wall. Why wouldn't Lupa let them look for him? All the wolf had said was something about it being dangerous with others roaming the country. Reyna had asked her what she had meant, all the she-wolf had told her was that she wasn't allowed to say.
Walking to her desk, Reyna ran her fingers along the edge of her desk, feeling the smooth mahogany underneath. It was only from habit. When Jason had been in the room it was always to discuss tactics and share a few swift yet clinging kisses. Now however, her doing this only bought back memories. It was a comforting gesture, nothing more. Reyna dropped into her chair. It was a one of those chairs that could spin around. The fabric was a soft worn color that was somewhere between orange and brown. On somedays, it was nice to spin in the chair and let all the pain and fear go. Today was not one of them.
Mars's daughter leaned forward onto her desk. She lay her head down the way students do in class when they want to sleep, but instead she looked at the pictures that formed a circle on her desk. They were all of her with someone close to her, though some were family photos she got from her mother every Christmas.
Starting at the left was a five-year-old Reyna and a woman with full, chocolate-colored hair and deep brown eyes. She would've been pretty if it were not for the several scars and bruises visible in the picture alone. Her heavily muscled body also gave the impression more that she was tough and would punch you, than that she would be a great, gentle, caring woman. Reyna knew for a fact she was both, for the woman in the photo was her mom, Raven McHenry.
Reyna looked up to her mother, who was a legend at her high school for being as good as any NFL player. In fact, only reason she hadn't gone to college was that no football scholarships were offered to females. Raven had also had 4 older brothers, who had continuously tried to beat her up(or so Grandma Thorn had said) only to have Raven defended herself as well as any warrior from any time period, which Reyna knew to be true. Raven now worked as a martial arts teacher in her home town raising Reyna's 5 little brothers and sisters, who Reyna heard from often through letters.
The picture next to it was Reyna at age six with her step-father, Dave. He was pretty much a normal guy, sandy brown hair, dull brown eyes, etc. etc. At least he had a sense of humor which was more than could be said for most people Reyna knew now a days. The people at camp were very hard or scared except for those who were leaders and the Mercury kids. Otherwise, all of the demigods were workers. None of them had a trace of childhood left in them. Dave knew how to laugh.
After that it was all just pictures of her with camp friends. Her with Lupa, Kelly, Dakota, Brian, Jason . . . She looked down at her desk. For the first time she realized a fine piece of parchment lay on it. Sitting up, Reyna examined it.
The writing was in a fancy script, the kind you see in fairy tale books. Fighting her dyslexia, Reyna struggled to read the writing.
Msr. McHenry
There is a quest that will be strated sono. It is necessary that yu go on the pest. Otherwise ti is doomed to fali. Don't show ths to Lupa, twill only frighten the old god. Thank em later.
A friend
After deciphering what she could see, Reyna sat back. Who was this friend? Why shouldn't she tell Lupa? The girl shook her head. She really should stop asking so many questions. It wasn't proper for a girl of Mars's descent. It was probably just Jason's . . . Ugh, she really needed to stop thinking about him. It would only cause her to cry. That wouldn't be good considering she now had to go out and convince the whole camp she needed to go on this quest.
It would take a lot of convincing, particularly after her last one.