Reyna looked around the dark room she was in. There was a desk in front of her that had a candle that was practically gone. It gave off a small amount of light. Reyna closed her eyes tightly.
She had no clue where she was. The good thing was that she wasn't in pain. That meant she was having a dream. Reyna opened her eyes and jumped. Atropos was sitting right in front of her.
"Reaper," Atropos greeted. Reyna stared at her.
"Where am I?" Reyna questioned. She stood and tried to get use to the dark.
"Do you remember what Metis told you so long ago?" Atropos wondered. "She approached you in a dream that took place in a library."
"It feels like it has been awhile," Reyna admitted. She looked around the library and tried to think. "I don't remember honestly."
"Knowledge is power," Atropos said. She stood and started to walk away. "Come."
"Where are we going?" Reyna questioned as she took a step towards the Fate.
"To get you some power," Atropos responded. She left the room. After a moment, Reyna stepped out of the room. She had a million questions running through her mind.
"Where are we?" Reyna asked. Atropos didn't respond and walked down a long, dark hallway. It seemed like the candles had been burning for hours.
Reyna stopped as she reached a wide open room. All breath left her. There was four men standing in front of her. Three of them wore robes like they were bishops. The fourth one was shirtless.
One of the bishops held a dagger in his hands. Reyna felt a panic attack coming. It was the same one that Akil had stabbed her with. The sight of it made her sick to her stomach.
"Take a deep breath," Atropos said. "You must pay attention to this."
"This plague is spreading, and we can do nothing," the bishop with the knife hissed. "This is a punishment from God. He needs for us to atone for our sins."
"And, you are crazy," another bishop hissed. "We cannot save the world by destroying it!"
"That is what God wants us to do," the first promised. "We atone for our sins by wiping out all sin. This is how we make up for man's folly."
"This dagger is a myth from the ancient times," the third interrupted. He was the smallest and most frail.
"Does this look like a myth?" the first demanded as he waved the dagger around. He turned and stabbed it into the man's chest. The man gasped in agony and closed his eyes tightly.
The two other bishops ran forward in shock. The first tore the dagger out and waved it around. Reyna noticed that the dagger had lost all of its color.
"The dagger that you had been stabbed with looked like that. You would not have seen it though,"
Atropos commented.
"I know," Reyna muttered. She remembered the pain for a moment and had to swallow painfully to avoid throwing up. "I remember every second of it."
Reyna looked back at the man. He was taking deep breaths. The man stood, and the other bishops gasped as if they couldn't believe he was alive.
"We can do this ritual," the first bishop insisted. "His spirit is strong enough to handle it. We can bring back Chaos. It will cleanse the world of sin, and those who are pure will start anew."
"Chaos," Reyna repeated as she looked back at Atropos. "They want Chaos back?"
"These bishops were unsuccessful only because the Black Death got to them first. That dagger is a test, but man has always twisted devices to their means. You must understand that," Atropos answered.
"The dagger is a test to see if someone can survive Chaos using them as a vessel?" Reyna questioned. She closed her eyes feeling ready to throw up. Reyna saw all of the pieces falling into place. She laid her head against the wall and took deep breaths.
"Metis wants me as a vessel," Reyna whispered. She closed her eyes.
"When you survived Kronos using you as a vessel and even removed his soul from your body, Metis knew she had made the right choice. The dagger was simply a paranoid woman's final test," Atropos responded. "If Chaos uses you as a vessel, it is the end of the world."
Reyna shook her head. She slowly opened her eyes and sat against the wall. Reyna buried her head in her hands. There was nothing she could do.
"You must fight," Atropos said. "They cannot get their hands on you. Metis cannot have her way."
"Does Thoon want this as well?" Reyna questioned.
"No," Atropos replied. "Only Metis."
Reyna lifted her head and stared ahead. She needed to stay focused. That was all she could do at this point. Reyna spoke in a bitter tone, "Anything else I should know about?"
"There is a dragon that will soon attack the demititans' base," Atropos stated. Reyna stared at her and found herself at a loss for words. Atropos watched her and snapped her fingers.
Reyna gasped as she opened her eyes. Her hand shot forward, but someone grabbed her arm and pinned it. She was in too much pain to even think properly.
"Calm down,"a voice whispered. "Just calm down and try to breath. The medicine will kick in soon."
It took all of Reyna's strength just to turn her head. She met Annabeth's eyes. After a moment, Reyna could feel how badly Annabeth's hand was shaking. The daughter of Athena looked like she was going to have a panic attack.
"You scared the crap out of me," Annabeth whispered. Reyna tensed as she felt someone grab her injured leg. Everything turned red for a few moments. "Stay with me."
"How long?" Reyna whispered. Her voice was barely there. She was using almost all of her strength to stay conscious.
"Save your strength," Annabeth ordered. "You've only been unconscious for a hour. We had to restart your heart. That's what woke you up."
Reyna closed her eyes tightly. If they had to restart her heart, that meant she was clinically dead. She remembered what Atropos had said though. Someone would die in her place. With her injuries, there was a good chance it would be multiple people.
"We need more blood," another voice said. Reyna forced her eyes open, but she could only see Annabeth's face.
"If we're matches, you can take mine," Annabeth offered. Reyna wanted to protest, but she didn't have the strength. There was only one reason that she was conscious.
"Annabeth, we need to talk," Reyna whispered. Annabeth glanced at her and opened her mouth. "Stop. It's important."
"What is it?" Annabeth finally asked. She placed a hand to Reyna's head. "You're burning up."
"They need to leave the demititans' base," Reyna began.
"They?" Annabeth questioned. She laid a wet towel on Reyna's forehead. "Who needs to leave?"
"Everyone," Reyna whispered. She could feel the pain melting away. It was replaced by a numbness that she hoped belong to whatever medicine they had given her.
"Why does everyone need to leave?" Annabeth asked. Her tone sounded confused. Reyna tried keepign her eyes open, but they slowly closed. She finally just allowed herself to start drifting into unconsciousness. "Reyna, you have to stay with me for a few more moments."
"Dragon," Reyna mumbled.
"Drakon?" Annabeth questioned. "A drakon is going to attack?"
"Dragon," Reyna repeated. "The big, scary flying things."
"I don't think they exist," Annabeth said. "Are you sure?"
"Atropos told me," Reyna mumbled. "There's another base. Sarah might know. Prometheus would as well."
Reyna's eyes opened for a moment. She focused on Annabeth's face. Her eyes finally closed, and she slowly fell into another dream. She was on a boat this time.
Three people stood with her. One of them seemed to be a woman. It was impossible to see her face because she wore a balaclava. The woman also wore a jacket. Reyna knew that she had armor under it.
The man driving the boat was different. He wore the uniform of the Italian military. His hair was a cropped blond, and he had hazel eyes. Reyna studied him for a few moments.
The third one slipped on a balaclava before Reyna could catch their face. They nodded and dove into the water. As the woman turned, the man grabbed her arm and spoke, "Stay safe Arcadia."
"Tyre, you know that I always am," the woman muttered. She dove into the water. Reyna glanced at the boat that they were on. She watched it speed towards a cruise ship.
Tyre took a deep breath and stopped his boat in front of the cruise ship. Reyna glanced up and saw Percy and Gwen leaning against the railing. Their cruise ship suddenly stopped.
Gwen stared down at the man. She looked ready to throw up. Reyna winced as she remembered that Gwen had always been seasick.
Tyre stepped forward and spoke in rapid Italian. He started pointing to the cruise ship and making exaggerated hand motions. Gwen and Percy stared at Tyre, looked at each other, and just started staring again.
"We don't speak Italian," Percy said. Tyre stared at them and tilted his head. He seemed to be a pretty good actor. Tyre placed a hand to his earpiece and started to speak in Italian.
Reyna blinked, and she was suddenly standing on the ship. The first thing she saw was Arcadia holding daggers to Gwen's neck. One dagger rested against Gwen's trachea, and the other was behind her neck.
"What brings you here Greek?" Arcadia hissed. Her eyes were staring at Percy. "You have five second to answer, or I kill your friend."
Reyna wished she could do something to help them. All she could do was watch helplessly. Percy had his sword unsheathed. When Arcadia drew a small amount of blood by dragging her dagger across Gwen's neck, Percy lowered his sword.
"Here," Percy said. He dropped his sword and kicked it towards Arcadia. "Just let her go."
"Where is the daughter of Bellona?" Arcadia questioned.
"Not here," Gwen replied. "She was injured, so I came in her place."
Reyna saw Sally walking towards them. Behind her, the other person was leading Jacob and had a sword to his neck. Sally looked Percy in the eyes and nodded slightly as if to reassure him that she was fine.
"Are you the Legio VI Ferrata?" Gwen wondered.
"Yes," Arcadia answered. "Thebes will watch your ship while you four come with us."
Gwen nodded. She seemed to understand that they would pay with their lives if they disobeyed. Arcadia lowered her daggers and shoved Gwen towards the edge of the ship.
"So, what is the daughter of Bellona like?" the other figure asked. It sounded like a man but younger than the other two.
"I guess you're asking about Reyna and not Hylla," Jacob began. Arcadia had a hand on the railing. She quickly turned and stared at them.
"There are two of them?" Arcadia demanded. When Gwen nodded, Arcadia closed her eyes. "Children of Bellona are rare. They can make or break empires. Two daughters of Bellona at the same time is unfathomable. Do they have the same father?"
Reyna closed her eyes at the mention of her father. All she remembered was seeing him in the underworld. She forced her eyes open and watched the scene in front of her.
"Yes," Sally answered. Arcadia closed her eyes. She turned away and jumped off of the ship. Reyna looked at Sally and watched her.
"I guess we follow," Percy muttered protectively. He grabbed Sally's hand and walked towards the edge of the ship. Reyna stepped forward to follow them, but she felt a presence behind her.
"You can rest now," a new voice said. Reyna turned and looked at Bellona. Her mother grabbed her arm. "I won't be able to lend you anymore strength."
"Thank you for all that you gave me," Reyna said. She stared at her mother. "I wouldn't have been able to survive those wars without it."
"You would have," Bellona promised. She smiled slightly. "Now, you need to rest. You have a large challenge coming. For now, the others can handle everything else."
Reyna nodded. She suddenly hugged her mom. After a moment, Bellona hugged her back. Reyna closed her eyes as the dream slipped away.
