Reyna examined herself in the mirror. For a few moments, she examined the new scars on her back. Her attention then turned to the tattoo that had been given to her by Quirinus. Even with the scars, it didn't look any different.
She stared ahead for a few moments. Then, Reyna grabbed her shirt and slowly managed to slip it on. Her attention turned to her armor. Arcadia had delivered it completely repaired and polished. The goddess was waiting outside the room.
It took Reyna a few minutes to put her armor on. It was extremely difficult with an injured arm. She couldn't really bend her arm or move it. Her knee supported her weight enough to walk, but it still hurt. Reyna took a deep breath. There was only a dull ache.
Reyna finished putting on her armor. She examined the helmet that had been given to her. It was a standard Roman helmet, and that sent relief through her. Reyna tucked the helmet underneath her arm. There was a knock on the door.
"The meeting starts soon," Arcadia said through the door. "I would love to skip it, but apparently, all of the leaders need to be there."
"I'm coming," Reyna promised. She looked at herself one more time in the mirror. It had been a day since Atropos told her that Leo and Hazel had been spared.
After Atropos left, it took two hours for Reyna to even begin telling Martha about the war. Reyna couldn't even tell the full story, but she told Martha about the temple of Fates. It had been harder than she imagined.
Reyna shook her head and turned around. She opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom. Arcadia and Martha were waiting for her.
"Don't forget to visit," Martha said. Her eyes studied Reyna for a long moment. A smile came to her face. "I look forward to it."
"I won't forget," Reyna promised after a moment. She clenched her fist and looked at Arcadia. "Ready?"
"Yes," Arcadia answered. She grabbed Reyna's left shoulder and gripped it tightly. For some reason, it felt like a protective gesture. "Close your eyes."
Reyna closed her eyes silently. She felt like they were spinning. When she opened her eyes, they were standing inside of a room. Reyna slowly looked around.
There was a large table in the middle of the room. Various reports were laying on it. Chairs were scattered about. Arcadia looked at her and waited.
"Do we just sit?" Reyna questioned. Arcadia nodded. It took a moment for Reyna to place her helmet down and take a seat near the edge of the table. Arcadia sat on her right.
"Have I missed anything important?" Reyna wondered. Arcadia glanced at her and seemed to think.
"Oh, one of the Arimaspi escaped," Arcadia answered. Reyna stared at her.
"Atticus escaped?" Reyna asked. They had the perfect opportunity to kill him, and the Greeks squandered it. It took her a few moments to calm herself. Atropos told her that she needed to keep her anger in check.
"Is that his name?" Arcadia wondered. Reyna nodded and bit her tongue. If she didn't talk, she couldn't lose her temper. "Then, yeah. He escaped. Some demititan scouts were slaughtered. May I speak honestly?"
Reyna froze. This was probably the first time a god or goddess had asked her for permission for anything. After a moment, she spoke, "Do you really need permission?"
"Well, your sister seems to hate my mouth," Arcadia responded. "And, Caesar always wanted me to ask his permission if we were not alone. Since anyone could walk in at anytime, I assume that this counts as not alone."
"You can speak honestly," Reyna said. She leaned back in her seat and mentally prepared herself. There was no telling what would come out of Arcadia's mouth. As Reyna waited, she fixed the sling on her right arm.
"This meeting is about what we are going to do next," Arcadia began. "I think they want to focus their attack on just one camp. We must divide our attention."
"Why?" Reyna asked. She shifted and winced. Arcadia raised an eyebrow. "I don't ask that because I am trying to start an argument. I am just trying to understand."
"We have about seven groups at our disposal. Three of them could siege Camp Half-Blood. The other three could siege Camp Jupiter. Demititans split themselves and help," Arcadia suggested.
Reyna thought about it for a few moments. She spoke, "What if we all attacked one? We could overtake the camp in a fell swoop."
"We risk the chance of reinforcements coming, and that could screw us," Arcadia countered. "We could attack one camp, and while they are distracted, we send a group to the other camp. They would have to be able to hold out though."
"Okay, we could send a strike team followed by reinforcements," Reyna added. Arcadia nodded. As she opened her mouth, someone stepped into the room.
Reyna turned her head and stared. It became very hard to swallow. Hylla stared back at her. After a moment, Reyna was on her feet and hugging her sister as tightly as she could with one arm.
"I am so sorry about what I said," Reyna whispered. Hylla hugged her back without hesitation. "I am so sorry. I want to take it all back."
"We have a lot to talk about," Hylla said in her ear. "We'll do that later. How are you?"
"I'm not okay," Reyna answered quietly. "But, I'm doing the best that I can."
Hylla rubbed her back and nodded. They both stood their for a few moments until Hylla pulled away. She gently placed a hand to Reyna's face and examined her eyes.
Reyna examined the faint scar on Hylla's neck. All she could remember was the words that she said. She regretted every single word.
Hylla finally let go and watched her.. She spoke, "You are a walking armory."
"I try my best," Reyna said with a small smirk. She looked down at herself. There was only her sword and rod on belt. There was also about five daggers attached to her armor. Reyna wouldn't consider herself a walking armory.
Reyna closed her eyes as she heard more footsteps. It could only go downhill from there. The best case scenario was that a demititan would walk through the door. The worst case was anyone else.
"What is she doing here?" Hank demanded. Reyna gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. A glance at Arcadia showed the goddess was about to open her mouth. Reyna gave her a look that said not to.
"We need the leader of the Sixth Legion," Hylla responded. "Arcadia is only a second in command."
"A centurion," Arcadia corrected. "And, I have been doing this for around five hundred years. You are a Senator, yes?"
"I am," Hank responded. Arcadia laughed like she found something funny, but she tried to cover it with a cough. "Is there something wrong?"
"There's something hilarious," Arcadia muttered. "Where is the rest of the Senate? And, you have a praetor, do you not?"
"Our praetor is coming," Hank answered. "It was decided that I would be here as well. Larry and I agreed on it."
"Hmm. Two emperors do not make a good empire," Arcadia commented. "Of course, you two are just Senators, right?"
Hank glared at Arcadia and sat as far away as he could. Reyna silently grabbed a report and started to read it. She was halfway through it when more people started to file in. It took all of her willpower to keep her eyes on the report.
Reyna could feel someone's eyes glaring into her. A glance up showed it was Frank. In a moment, she decided that would be the first person she talked to. Reyna sat the report on the table.
"Frank, can we talk before the meeting begins?" Reyna asked. She kept her tone emotionless. Frank looked at her for a long moment, and he finally nodded.
A hand grabbed her knee and squeezed it. Reyna met her sister's eyes and gave her a small nod. After that, she stood and limped out of the room. Reyna ran right into Annabeth.
The two stared at each other for a long moment. Annabeth opened her mouth, but she seemed to notice Frank. The daughter of Athena gave Frank a look, and she stepped back.
Reyna stepped out of the room. She bit the inside of her cheek as she realized that Annabeth would be joining the conversation. Reyna walked into a room that was filled with boxes.
The daughter of Bellona turned and waited. Her mind was racing about what to say. Reyna still didn't know what she would say as Frank and Annabeth walked in. It was hard to read their expressions.
"What do you want?" Frank questioned. He crossed his arms. Reyna studied Frank. It seemed like the only thing he wanted to do was protect Hazel, and she could respect that.
"My legion can do whatever you need," Reyna began. "And, Atropos will spare Leo and Hazel."
"What about every other Greek and Roman she might want you to kill?"Annabeth questioned. Her tone was suspicious. Frank's eyes were wide, and he seemed to still be processing the information.
"Spared," Reyna answered. "We should get to the meeting."
Reyna went to walk past them. Annabeth grabbed her arm and spoke, "What did you have to do to convince her?"
"It's nothing I can't handle," Reyna responded. She didn't tell them them that she had just asked. There was no way to tell what they would think. It might even make the situation worse.
"I am sorry," Reyna continued. "I know that words aren't going to magically fix everything, but I thought you should know."
Annabeth and Frank both studied her for a long time. Their gazes made Reyna want to squirm, but she stayed focused by staring ahead. After a moment, she spoke, "Shall we return to the meeting?"
Reyna didn't wait for an answer. She just walked out of the room and back into the meeting room. Upon catching Sarah's eyes, the demititan nodded to her. Reyna nodded back.
While she was gone, Larry had also joined and was sitting next to Hank. It angered Reyna just to see him. She looked away and met Percy's eyes. He glared. Almost everyone in the room seemed to hate her.
Reyna finally decided to stare at the table as more people filed in. All she wanted was for the meeting to be over. Someone grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it tightly. It took about two seconds for the grip to become painful.
"After this, we must talk," a voice hissed in her ear. Reyna found it hard to swallow. She knew the voice belonged to Artemis. The tight grip disappeared, and Artemis walked around the table. Everyone had their eyes on her.
Artemis sat across from Reyna and stared into her eyes. The goddess did not seem to be in a good mood. Reyna could not meet her eyes. All she did was stare at the table.
Behind her, a door slammed into a wall. Reyna flinched and slowly looked at the source of the noise. Clarisse was standing at the doorway. Her face was extremely red, and there was tears in her eyes.
"Why did no one tell me?" Clarisse yelled. She marched towards Annabeth and hit the table in anger. "Did you know about Chris?"
"Clarisse, this isn't the time," Annabeth began. Clarisse hit the table again.
"Why did no one tell me that Chris worked for the Arimaspi?" Clarisse yelled. "Did it not seem important? He was my boyfriend! And, no one thought they should tell me what happened!"
"This meeting is funner than I thought it would be," Arcadia commented under her breath. Reyna shot her a look. She looked back at Clarisse.
"I am sorry, but I didn't know how to break the news. Can we talk about this later?" Annabeth questioned.
"No," Clarisse responded. "We are not playing this game, princess. You cannot always have your way. I'm sick and tired of it."
"We thought it would be best to withhold the information," Percy began. Clarisse slammed her hand into the table, and it buckled from the force of her hit.
"You two are not as smart as you think," Clarisse hissed. "Annabeth thought it would be best to reveal Reyna's patricide, and that got Reyna exiled. That caused a large crack in the Romans, and everyone refuses to acknowledge it. The Romans now have a praetor with no power and two idiot Senators."
"Wait a minute," Hank interrupted. He stood and opened his mouth. "You do not have the right to talk to me like that."
"You have the right to shut up," Clarisse snapped as she turned on him. "Everyone can see that you are incompetent, but we are stuck with you. The barbarians and Arimaspi are going to kick our asses, and I know exactly who to blame for that."
Clarisse stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. The force knocked the door clean off of its hinges. No one said a word for a few moments.
"Well, I like her," Arcadia commented. Reyna shot her a look. They really didn't need anyone else angry at them.
"We need to postpone the meeting," Percy said as he stood. He glanced at Annabeth. "I will go after Clarisse."
Reyna watched Annabeth also stand. They both exited the room. Then, Artemis' eyes settled on Reyna. The goddess spoke, "Reaper, we are going to talk alone."
Everyone else took that as their sign to leave. They all stood and started to walk out. The only ones to stay were Hylla and Arcadia.
"Alone," Artemis repeated. Arcadia glanced at Reyna, and the daughter of Bellona nodded. It took a few moments for Arcadia to stand. She grabbed onto Hylla's shoulder and pulled her out of the room.
Reyna watched them go, and she swallowed painfully. It took her a moment to look back at Artemis. The goddess watched her closely. Reyna had a feeling she was in big trouble.