CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Devil's Don't Fly
Reyna paused before holding her hands up in a form of surrender, not taking her eyes off the gun. "I'm not playing games, Ivy," Reyna mused. "You're willing to take a human life for the sake of money!"
Ivy paused. There was a flash of regret on her face before she smirked. She opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again, looking down, hanging her head in shame. Reyna knew not to trust her, but she couldn't help but hope that she got through to her. "You can have the foot," she said, looking up and meeting Reyna's eye.
"Really?" Reyna asked in disbelief.
"For 95 million dollars," Ivy grinned.
Reyna rolled her eyes. "Cute," she said. "So you don't care about taking lives at all? Maybe I should be more afraid of that gun… you're a murderer as well as a thief then, Vivian?"
"A great murderer," Ivy said. "And I suppose you think being a Demigod is much better? A bunch of revenge-driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved? All for Mommy and Daddy's approval?"
"Well aren't you a glass half full," Reyna commented.
"We're all going to The Fields of Punishment," she said. "Might as well enjoy the ride."
Reyna paused before smirking herself. When she raised her hands, it wasn't to surrender, it was to get them closer to the gun. While she had Ivy distracted, she reached out a grabbed the barrel as fast as she could. As fast as she would move if she was dropping something hot. She moved the gun from the line of fire so it wasn't aiming at her, holding on as tight as she could as she was literally holding on for her life. Then she disarmed. She twisted the gun towards Ivy's thumb. Reyna's other hand reached out to push Ivy's wrist in the opposite direction. Reyna held the gun with both hands and pointed it at Ivy.
To anybody else the move would have been virtually impossible. It was all incredibly quick – less than a second, and it looked like Reyna was just snatching the gun. But it was the honest way to get a gun from someone, and as a daughter of Bellona, it was easy for Reyna.
"How the hell did you do that?" Ivy asked, looking shocked. "You're just some college student."
"I was the praetor of New Rome," Reyna said. "I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian." She swung her leg around to trip Ivy up, and the woman dropped to her knees. Reyna then swung the gun around and hit Ivy over the head, knocking her out.
"Decent," came a comment from the door. Reyna turned to Percy, who was leaning against the door frame, grinning. He didn't seem to have a scratch on him from the fight outside, but his knuckles were red.
Reyna cracked her neck. "Pretty good if I do say so myself." Before Percy good reply Reyna felt a strong punch from behind, where her neck met her head. Before even thinking she turned and pushed her elbow up into the nose of her attacker – one security guard that Percy had not taken out. Whilst Reyna's arm was up the guard grabbed her waist and tackled her, knocking her head into the worktop of the kitchen.
Reyna dropped the gun and the man picked it up, aiming it at Percy. "Hand it over or the girl dies," the guard growled.
Percy paused. "That is one cliché line," he mused. "But I don't think I can cooperate. See your boss isn't the only one with sticky fingers." He opened his fist to show the rabbit's foot dangling from the keychain around his middle finger. Reyna half wanted to yell at him for touching the damn thing, but it was hard to when he pulled her to her feet and stood in front of her.
She started towards the door and Percy blocked any bullets from hitting her. The guard aimed at him but missed every time, the bullets ricocheting off every glass surface. "See you!" Percy called, running to the door behind Reyna.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Annabeth was running as fast as she could through New Rome, trying to get to the dingy apartments they first found Carl and Jim in. Annabeth's senses were on high alert and she was lead there by tiny drops of blood living a barely noticeable trail. She was stopped in her tracks, however, by a familiar face.
"Nico?!" she watched as he stepped out of a shadow at the side of a building. She took the opportunity to stop and catch her breath. She was not dressed for running that day. "What are you doing here, I thought you were in New York?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but I couldn't stay away for long," he mused. "Evidently trouble starts without me. What in Hades happened?"
Annabeth sighed, panting as she gave him a quick overview of everything he missed. "I wish you returned like, half an hour ago," she said. "That would have been a real help."
"Well I'm here now," he said. "Now where's Jason?"
Annabeth paused. "Have enough juice for another shadow travel?"
When Nico shadow travelled for a second time in the last five minutes, he almost collapsed. Annabeth felt bad asking almost immediately. They were in a dingy bathroom in the back of an equally dirty apartment and Annabeth sat Nico down on the side of the bathroom and checked his pupils for any kind of illness. "I'm so sorry, Nico," she said, feeling his temperature with her hand. After deducing he was just pretty drowsy, she moved over to the door of the bathroom and pressed her ear against it.
"Do you know how hard it was to find you?" grumbled a voice that sounded like he smoked way, way too much. "Hard. You weren't at college, at home, with your girlfriend or your best friends. You know how I found you in the end?"
That was Jim. He must have been talking to Jason. Annabeth looked around the bathroom for any kind of weapon, knowing that Jim had a gun ready. Terminus was magic, able to sense any weapon when people entered the city. But he's been around for more than enough centuries for people to find loopholes. Assassins, mostly, going against the praetors. She had done research on the Statue when she moved to New Rome, and knew that no spell was bulletproof.
She knew how to disarm a gun, but that only worked if they were close together, which she knew they weren't. Annabeth heard a mumble come from the next room. Jason. He wasn't replying, so he must have been gagged or something. Or in too much pain to speak.
"I was walking down a street, trying to brainstorm places you could be," Jim continued. "When I saw a curtain ripped down and you flailing around on fire." She heard a barrel click and burst out of the room, holding her hands up.
"Don't shoot!" Annabeth exclaimed. The gun was pointed at Jason and the finger was on the trigger, but Jim paused when he saw Annabeth. If she burst in any later, she guessed Jason would be dead. "You don't have to do this," she said, lamely.
Jim just paused, looking at her as if she was an idiot. "Did you honestly think that was going to work?" Jason was glaring at Annabeth, and she knew the look in his eyes was telling her to run, but she couldn't.
"No, but I was hoping this would," she said. She reached left and grabbed a nearby lamp, pulling it from the wall as she swung it around Jim's face, knocking him backward. His grip on the gun loosened and Annabeth tried to grab it, kicking him in the groin.
Before she could disarm him, he grabbed her neck and tackled her to the floor, squeezing until she was gasping for breath. "Say your prayers, bitch."
"To which War God?" she asked, grabbing the hands around her neck and twisting them until he let go. She punched him in the face, successfully breaking his nose. "My mother, maybe?" He was still on top of her and he aimed the gun at her head.
"How about the God of the dead?" he mused. "They're on my side, little girl. How do you think I was lucky enough to find Jason? Have you pinned down? It's all destiny!"
"Nope, not destiny," came a voice at the front door. Annabeth craned her neck to see Percy, and Reyna ran inside from behind him, untying Jason from the chair. "Just a rabbit's foot." Jim turned to Percy, pointing his gun at him as well.
"I'd stop that girl if I were you," Jim said to Percy, nodding to Reyna. "Or you'll be scraping brain off the floor."
Percy nodded, winking to Annabeth. "I noticed you're preparing to kill my girlfriend," Percy nodded. "Nothing I haven't wanted to do before. But if you touch one hair on her annoying head, I will destroy you."
"Sweet," Annabeth commented. "Why'd you have to ruin it by calling me annoying?"
Jim ignored her. "How do you plan on doing that?" Jim asked Percy, turning and pointing his gun at him instead.
"There's one thing you don't know about me," Percy grinned, picking up a pen from a small table next to the door. Reyna had Jason untied and was checking him over for injuries. Nico appeared at the bathroom door and was watching the group with a worried expression on his face. "It's my lucky day."
Percy tossed the pen and it landed, luckily, in the barrel of the gun, blocking it. Nico and Jason laughed slightly in shock. Jim got away from Annabeth and Reyna ran over, helping her to her feet. Jim was inspecting the gun in disbelief. "Oh my Gods, did you see that shot?" Percy grinned.
"I'm amazing," Percy said, picking up a TV remote and throwing it at Jim's head so hard he was knocked out. Then he turned to Jason. "I'm Batman."
Jason just rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he said, sarcastically. "You're Batman."
-0-0-0-0-0-
The group stood outside the building as the authorities dragged Jim back to jail. Terminus was fuming and put the city on an even stricter lockdown than usual. All kitchen knives were banned, most forks, two spoons. Every lamp. They all had to fill out a statement but Percy was more concerned about the growing bruise around Annabeth's neck, from where Jim had strangled her.
"It's fine," she croaked. "It's small." It was a faint bruise but it was enough to make Percy look murderous.
Jason had barely been hurt, but Reyna was still worried. Jason was also worried about the bump on the back of Reyna's head from the kitchen counter at Ivy's house. Reyna was more worried about Nico having shadow travelled so much in one day, but he managed to convince her he was fine. Reyna still considered using her power on Annabeth and Nico, but they both refused.
"I think I know how to break the curse," Annabeth said as the five of them sat on a wall. It was mid to late afternoon, but the day had been so long it felt like night time. "And I think we're going to need to work fast. Tonight."
Percy just grinned at the foot in his hands. "I think we have time."
"Jason could die any second," Annabeth reminded him, scowling. "We need to end this as soon as possible. Before you lose the foot."
"How do we destroy it?" Nico asked.
"We burn it," Annabeth answered. "In a graveyard at midnight."
Jason shrugged. "Well that sounds easy enough." He bit his tongue when he spoke and Reyna remembered his super bad luck.
"It has to be a special fire," Annabeth continued. "I'm not sure what, but I know there's a special ingredient we need for it to work. But I know who does know. Michael." Everybody turned to Reyna. "We know you've been visiting him. Will you go today?"
Reyna paused. She suddenly regretted telling any other them about her visits to Michael. Instead of answering, she got to her feet and left them, walking away without a word. Everybody left behind turned to Jason.
"She visits Michael because she cares about him," Jason sighed. "Not because she wants to use him to get information. It hurts her to see him like that."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Reyna went. She was planning to anyway. She had gone at least once a week, so the doctors knew her and allowed her access. She silently paced his room for the first twenty minutes of the visit. He was sat on the bed like he always was, looking pale and physically sick as well at mentally. "The doctor said you may not remember this," Reyna sighed, sitting down next to him. "But I've been visiting you over the last couple of months."
No response. No acknowledgement of her presence. Just a blank stare at the wall. During her visits she would usually talk to him, often explaining the doctors plans for him. She would read to him sometimes, often the good reviews of his own book. She was known for trying to play board games with him.
"I need to ask you something," she sighed. "I know you never respond, but this is a matter of life or death. Look, I come here because I know there's a person still in there! So please, help me!" He didn't respond so she explained the problem, saying it was her who picked up the foot and not Jason.
There was no answer, no response. "I know you've been hurt, but so have I," she said, beginning to get emotional. "And I still am." Still nothing. "Have you heard from Camille?" she asked, lightly. "She's eight months pregnant. She's planning a baptism, which I think is a little premature. What if it's not born human?"
Nothing. "Has Camille visited you?" she asked. There was a pause. Reyna moved the hands she was leaning on and put them in a sort of prayer position over her mouth. She felt her eyes well up at the thought she voiced next. "Has anyone come to visit you besides me?"
Michael didn't move a muscle at what she said, but Reyna noticed a very slight look of sadness in his eyes. "Stop ignoring me," she demanded, choking slightly. "You owe me, Michael!" She got to her feet and cried angrily: "You have made my life a nightmare, okay? You owe me!" Michael didn't respond so Reyna picked up the chair she was sat on and threw it at the wall next to his bed.
Still nothing. It took her five minutes of pacing to calm down. She was still shaking, but she picked up the chair and took a few deep breaths. "Other than angry outbursts," Reyna sighed, "the doctors say my visits have been helping. So if you want…" she sat down at the end of his bed. "I can keep coming back. Is that something you want?"
Finally. Finally, after a long pause, Michael looked up and into her eyes. Reyna's face fell in shock and she wondered if she should say something. He just smiled lightly at her. "Don't be dumb," he commented.
Reyna didn't reply immediately, wondering what he meant by that. "Can you help me?" she asked.
"Reyna in great harm. Tell him Annabeth's not dead," he said. "Vivian's Ivy. Can they isolate me?" Reyna narrowed her eyebrows, wondering if his ramblings had any meaning, or if they were pointless observations. "Because literature offended our dead."
That line scared Reyna. Literature. Like the book Michael wrote, the one that offended her. He said Reyna was in great harm, and then a commented about his book offending the dead? She got to her feet.
"Reyna in great harm," he repeated, softly. Almost like a melody. "Tell him Annabeth's not dead."
"Who?" Reyna asked. "Tell who?"
"Vivian's Ivy," Michael said. Reyna wanted to exclaim that they knew that, but he spoke before she could. "Can they isolate me?" Reyna wondered if that was him asking her not to visit anymore. "Because literature offended our dead."
"I don't understand what-" she exclaimed before realising it was pointless. As far as she could tell, Michael was asking not to be seen by her anymore, and making comments about her being dead. She got to her feet, walking quickly to the door and wondering if she was actually in danger. She grabbed her back but Michael spoke at she opened the door.
"Don't," he said, slowly and carefully. "Be. Dumb." He emphasized each word, drilling them into her mind, as if she was being thick. "It is a good memory," he commented. Then he let her leave.
-0-0-0-0-0-
It was only when she was walking out the building that she finally understood it. A code. Michael was talking about it when he was still her… friend. When they dated. They never actually put a label on it. When Reyna got back to the apartment, she told the others.
"You take the first letter of every word," she said. "It was so he could tell me things without anyone else knowing. It was just some cheesy tradition we had." Jason looked uncomfortable at that statement.
"Michael just fed you a code?" Percy asked. "Why? Why couldn't he just say it?"
"Because it's Michael," Reyna sighed.
"What exactly did he say?" Annabeth asked.
Reyna sucked her teeth, trying to remember. "Reyna in great harm. Tell him Annabeth's not dead." The group cringed at the use of the names, but Annabeth put the pieces together.
"Right hand," she said. The group turned to look at her and she shrugged. "It's not that complicated. Is one of us supposed to chop of a hand?" She said it sarcastically but Reyna figured she would do it to save Percy's life.
"Vivian's Ivy. Can they isolate me?" Reyna continued. "At first, I thought he was trying to get me to stop visiting him."
"Victim," Nico mused, beating Annabeth to the punch.
"Because literature offends our dead," Reyna recalled.
"That sounds like a threat," Jason said. "Because his literature offended you."
Reyna shrugged, remembering how that was her exact thought in the beginning. "It spells blood. Right hand victim blood. I'm assuming the victim means you and Percy, so you just have to cut open your right hand and spill your blood on the fire."
Annabeth tied her hair up and spoke to Reyna. "Is that all Michael said?"
Reyna paused. He told her not to be dumb. She assumed that had to do with her understanding the riddles. He also told her that it was a good memory, and she was hoping that meant the night he told her about his riddle. "Everything that you need to know," Reyna answered.
Annabeth narrowed her eyes and sent the boys out the apartment. They were heading to the city's graveyard to get this over and done with, but Annabeth pulled Reyna back. "Look, I know I pissed you off when I asked you to visit Michael earlier," she said. "But we're good, right?"
Reyna paused before sighing. "Yeah, we're good," she promised.
Annabeth nodded. "And if you need someone to talk to about Michael, or anything, you know I'm here, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Reyna smiled, hugging Annabeth before they went to go and follow the boys. "Now let's go and break this damn curse."
A/N: REMINDER: Instead of Gossip Girl, this last dilemma is going to be based off of my favourite episode of Supernatural.
The way Reyna disarmed Ivy is apparently how you're actually supposed to get a gun off people. I did research into it before writing it, and I didn't believe it at first because it seemed pretty unrealistic, but the guy in the video explained it better than I did. Look up fightTIPS on You-Tube (I had to put the dash in so it doesn't cut it out) and watch their video about disarming guns. Interesting af.
This is not the last chapter, Chapter 40 will be the last chapter. And can people stop asking for Solangelo? I don't ship it, so I can't write it. Sorry.
This is the last thing I'm supposed to be doing right. I have a week full of exams next week and I'm supposed to write an entire chapter for another story by tomorrow, but here I am. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, that'll be helpful when writing the last chapter. Which I hope you guys will like.
Please review! -Izzy