"Blackjack, I will give you two sugar cubes, if you tell me where Reyna went. Wait, I'll give you three. How about that?" Percy asked. He was kneeling in front of the Pegasus and holding nothing in his hands. Blackjack was giving Percy a look of either anger or annoyance. "You drive a hard bargain. Four."

Nico shook his head and looked away from the scene. It had been nineteen hours since he had last seen Reyna. It was at eight the night before that Reyna told Nico she was going to the Ares cabin. She had been there for a couple of minutes, and then, she had gone to the Big House. From there, only the Pegasus knew.

"Frank hasn't seen her at Camp Jupiter," Piper reported. Nico turned around to watch the daughter of Aphrodite walk towards them. Piper gave him a small smile. "Her dogs are still there and apparently chasing down mice. They don't seem upset."

"I already talked to Hylla, and she hasn't seen or heard anything from Reyna. She said that if Reyna shows up, she might send a message," Nico added. He crossed his arms and looked back at Blackjack. Percy was up to seven sugar cubes now. "Where else could Reyna have gone?"

"Did you two get into an argument?" Piper asked. Nico shook his head but stopped to think about it. He didn't think the two had gotten into a fight, unless Reyna took him seriously when he said that he would join Annabeth's team in capture the flag if she woke him up at six in the morning again. Reyna had laughed, so all should have been good.

"Not that I know of," Nico finally answered. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. If he had to make a guess, he would say that Chiron was the last one to see Reyna, and they had yet to speak to him. Maybe, he would know where Reyna had went. "Did Lupa summon her? It would explain why she left in the middle of the night."

"I would think that she would have gone back to Camp Jupiter," Piper answered. Nico nodded and sighed again. He looked at Percy, who had not made any progress. Whatever Reyna had bribed the Pegasus with was much more than Percy could match. "Percy, please stop."

"If I bring it to thirteen, Blackjack will break," Percy promised. Nico rolled his eyes and looked around. How did Reyna just disappear in the middle of the night? He was concerned about Reyna. She had a habit of getting herself into trouble.

Nico took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He tried to tell himself that Reyna was fine, but he couldn't convince himself. No one knew where Reyna was. If she was in trouble, no one would be able to help her. Nico couldn't lose his best friend.

"I'll try to send a message to Jason and see if he knows anything," Piper said. She gave Nico a gentle smile and walked away. Nico closed his eyes and took a few more deep breaths. He could still hear Percy slowly raising the amount of sugar cubes, but Blackjack had an iron will.

"Nico," Annabeth said. A noise of surprise escaped Nico, and he slowly turned to look at Annabeth. She had just appeared at his side, and it took Nico a few moments to calm his racing heart. He looked up at Annabeth. "Have you found out where Reyna went?"

"No," Nico answered. He sighed and looked up at Annabeth. She had bags under her eyes and seemed to be stifling a yawn. "You look exhausted. Did you spend all night reading that book that you found yesterday?"

"I think this is my fault," Annabeth said. She looked down and rubbed her eyes. "Reyna and I got into an argument last night. She left the Big House, and that's the last time anyone saw her. I thought she had stepped outside to calm down, but I guess she just left.

Nico stared at Annabeth. He couldn't even remember the last time that Annabeth had gotten into a serious argument with anyone, and he was pretty sure that Reyna and Annabeth had no reason to be arguing. Did it have something to do with capture the flag?

"What was it about?" Nico began. Annabeth shook her head and crossed her arms. Nico nodded and knew it would be best to respect Annabeth's privacy. Besides, he could get all the details from Reyna, once he found her. "I'm sure it's not your fault. I think Lupa summoned Reyna."

"Hopefully," Annabeth mumbled. She glanced up at Percy and then looked back at Nico. "I'm sure she'll show up soon, probably ready to make you run five more miles."

Just the thought of running made Nico's lung hurt. He wasn't out of shape or anything, but Reyna was a freak of nature. She didn't seem to tire out during exercise, and Nico didn't know if it was from being at Camp Jupiter for so long or being a daughter of Bellona.

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" Percy asked. He was staring at Blackjack but quickly turned to look at them. "Do you guys want to know what Blackjack just asked me? He's wondering why we're asking where Reyna is when she's at the Big House."

As soon as Nico processed the words, he took off towards the Big House. Maybe, Reyna had just gone for a long walk, or she had gone out to cool down and was back. As Nico saw the Big House, he broke out into a run. He jumped the stairs in one leap, stumbled forward, and opened the door.

The only thing Nico heard was the sound of a door slamming shut. He tensed and slowly walked towards the door that had been slammed shut. It was the room that Chiron took everyone to when he wanted to have a private talk, so it was the least private room in the entire camp.

Nico moved to the right of the door and turned a corner. He stood on the couch that was against the middle of the wall. It took him a few moments to line his eye up with the hole in the wall. The hole had been originally created by the Stolls a few months ago and was the worst kept secret of the camp. Originally, Chiron had tried to patch the holes, but once more kept appearing, he gave up.

The only problem with the hole was that it didn't show the entire room. All Nico could see was the door and the first half of the table. Luckily, Chiron was sitting by the front of the table. Reyna was standing by the door and was staring at Chiron. There was a tense silence in the air.

Nico pressed his ear to the wall to listen in on the conversation. His eyes focused on his best friend. Reyna wasn't wearing any armor, other than a dirty and bloodied breastplate. There was blood staining her arms and hand. Nico wanted to know what injuries Reyna had, but he didn't see any.

There was a small backpack hanging from Reyna's left shoulder. She threw the backpack on the table and opened it. Chiron was clearly surprised by Reyna and seemed to be at a loss for words. Reyna pulled a dagger out of the backpack, and Nico felt himself tense. What was going on with Reyna?

"You were wrong," Reyna said. She threw something directly at Chiron, and it hit him right in the chest. Chiron looked down at the necklace that fell into his lap. Reyna stabbed the dagger into the table. "Why did you think you could keep that from us? From me? I know all the happenings of Camp Jupiter, Chiron."

"Lupa told me to," Chiron began. He looked down at the necklace in his lap. Nico couldn't make out any exact details, but he could tell it was a necklace that the campers at Camp Half-Blood received. He could also see the dried blood that was on it. "She made me swear to not tell you or Frank."

"Look at the hilt," Reyna ordered. Her voice had steel to it that Nico had never heard before. It scared him a little. It wasn't the angry tone that Nico usually associated Reyna with. Instead, Reyna's voice was a deadly calm. Every word sent shivers down his spine, and all he could do was stare at the scene in front of him.

"Mars' symbol," Chiron said. Reyna pulled the dagger out of the table and tossed it towards Chiron with lightning speed. Thankfully, Chiron caught the dagger by the hilt. He studied the dagger and slowly placed it onto the table. "Frank was the target?"

"Yes," Reyna answered. She looked down at the necklace."Just imagine it. Frank Zhang is by himself doing a mound of paperwork that suddenly came in. He hears footsteps, sees a knife, and is granted a release from this life. Any witnesses will say that a demigod from Camp Half-Blood was the last one asking where Zhang was, and they were the last to see him alive. If this had happened, there would have been war."

"I assume that I don't need to send an Iris message to warn of this assassination?" Chiron asked. His eyes moved to the blood on Reyna's armor, and he slowly looked back down at the necklace. "Did they suffer?"

"Yes," Reyna answered. She turned towards the door and stared at it. "The game that you and Lupa played almost cost a praetor their life. I have already talked to Lupa about this, but I will tell you as well. If there is an incident that involves the leadership at Camp Jupiter, you will tell me. You will not endanger another camper's life, and you will keep your campers under control."

Nico couldn't stop staring at Reyna, and he couldn't process anything. It sounded like Reyna had killed a camper from Camp Half-Blood, and it didn't sound like it was a quick process. Was the camper trying to kill Frank though? None of it made sense to Nico.

"Praetor," Chiron began, but he sounded unsure of himself. Reyna turned back around, and a small, evil smile came to her face. Understanding dawned on Chiron's face, and he nodded slightly. "Bellona, I didn't think I would see you here again."

"This matter required my immediate attention," Reyna said, but Nico now realized the steel in her voice was influenced by Bellona. Nico slowly glanced down at Annabeth. She was crouched down looking through one of the holes, but he could see how shocked she was. Percy was laying on the ground trying to see through his hole.

"Bellona, we did make a mistake," Chiron began. "Lupa and I believed that your daughter was the target, so we staged the paintball fight to get Reyna away from Camp Jupiter. I knew she would be safe behind the camp's barrier. We didn't believe that Frank would be the target, and we didn't take any precautions for him."

"Fool me once, shame on you," Reyna said. She glanced towards the hole and met Nico's eyes. Her eyes shot down and look at Annabeth's. She finally looked back at Chiron. "This is not the first time Roman blood was almost shed by one of your campers in the last year. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, we go to war."

A heavy silence settled over the room. Reyna spoke, "If you cannot control your campers Chiron, I will do it for you. The other Olympians may not be in agreement with me, but I know what is best for Rome. I will do was I must for its survival, and my daughters will do the same."

Nico closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall. This had to be some kind of twisted nightmare. There was no way that Bellona could want them to go war, right? How did she want Chiron to keep Camp Half-Blood under control? Nico took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

The tension in the air lifted, and Reyna collapsed to her knees. Chiron caught her arm and helped her sit down in a chair. Reyna cured in Latin and buried her head in her hands. The two sat there in an awkward silence.

"How do you feel?" Chiron asked. Reyna didn't respond, and Nico could see how tense she was. He wasn't sure if she was in pain or just extremely upset. "Your mother's thoughts are not your own, Reyna. I don't hold any of this against you."

"It's been a long night," Reyna finally said. She sounded exhausted and almost like she was ready to cry. Nico pushed himself away from the wall and slowly sat on the couch. Annabeth joined him, after a moment of silence. Percy rolled onto his back and looked up at them.

Nico looked at the ground and tried to process everything that he had heard. Annabeth stood and looked at them. Instead of looking shocked, she seemed to be extremely upset. Annabeth spoke, "Reyna killed one of our campers."

"She had a good reason," Nico began. Annabeth turned a glare of fury onto him. Percy gave Nico a look that told Nico he should have kept his mouth shut. "They were going to kill Frank. Reyna was just protecting her friend."

"I can understand why Reyna did what she did," Annabeth said. She took a deep breath and was careful to keep her voice quiet. "I don't like that she did it, but I understand why. It still doesn't make it right for her to torture anyone."

"We don't know what Reyna did or didn't do," Percy interrupted. He grabbed Annabeth's knee and squeezed it gently. "All we know is the would be assassin suffered. Maybe, they bled out or something else happened. We don't know what happened, and do we really want to know?"

"No," Reyna answered. Nico's heart almost left his chest, and he quickly turned towards his best friend. Reyna leaned on the wall and watched them. She looked even worse up close. Her eyes were bloodshot, but there was also something dark in them.

"What did you do?" Annabeth demanded. She stood and walked towards Reyna. When Annabeth didn't receive an answer, she suddenly grabbed onto a piece of Reyna's shirt and pulled her close. "What did you do, Reyna? I know all of that blood isn't yours."

"Hey," Percy said. He quickly grabbed Annabeth and pulled her backwards. Percy stood in between the two daughters of war and glanced at Nico for help. Nico gently grabbed Reyna's arm and tried to pull her away. "Why don't you to go hang out in Nico's cabin?"

"Maybe, you should have watched your sibling a little more closely," Reyna said. Her voice was low and quiet. Reyna pulled away from Nico and started to walk out of the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico saw Annabeth's fist clench. Annabeth suddenly grabbed Reyna's shoulder and spun her around.

Annabeth kept her hand on Reyna's shoulder and stared into her eyes. Reyna kept her face emotionless and didn't say a word. Nico wasn't sure if he should pull the two apart or just wait to see what happened. Annabeth took a deep breath and spoke, "How do you know that they were planning on killing Frank?"

"The same way that you knew the necklace belonged to a child of Athena," Reyna answered. Annabeth shook her head and finally let go of Reyna. She turned and stormed out of the room. Percy gave them a look and then chased after his girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked. He looked at Reyna, and after a few moments of silence, Reyna shook her head. She walked towards the couch and collapsed onto it. Nico slowly sat on the ground by her. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No," Reyna muttered. She stared up at the ceiling. The two stayed in silence for minutes. Reyna finally sighed and closed her eyes. "I need to head back to Camp Jupiter. I get if you want to stay clear of me. I won't blame you."

"I don't care what you did," Nico said. He stood and looked down at Reyna. "You saw what I did to Bryce. You lived through my journey, and you didn't turn away from me. You haven't treated me like a monster. I have your back, just like you have mine."

Reyna stood and suddenly hugged Nico tightly. She buried her head into his shoulder. Nico gently hugged Reyna back, and the two stayed there for a few moments. Reyna was the first to pull away, and she slowly sat back down.

"I did what I had to do, but I'm not proud of it," Reyna whispered. She closed her eyes and sighed tiredly. "I don't want to talk about it Nico. I just want to go home and sleep for a day or two."

"You should shower first and get something to eat," Nico said. He sat by Reyna and glanced at her. Reyna nodded and closed her eyes. She laid her head back. Nico looked back at the wall in front of him. Maybe, he just had blind loyalty, but he wasn't going to turn on Reyna. She had his back so far, and he would do the same for her, no matter what.