Reyna woke up that night…. Yet again. Ugh. She sat up, realizing all too soon that she had fallen asleep on Micah's shoulder… again.

'This needs to stop. Now.' she commanded herself.

' Boys just bring trouble. He's no different. He's just some little girl's crush. Gods, I'm acting like a child. I don't need a boyfriend. I've been happily single 18 years now, no need to blotch my perfect track record. Geez, get your crap together!!' she chided herself. She had made up her mind…

'... but he's super cute. And kind, and funny, and caring. He's let me see him at his weakest, and confided in me.' her soft side argued. She felt an odd tugging in her stomach that she hadn't ever felt before. It felt like someone was tickling her… but on the inside.

'Cut the BS Reyna! You don't love him!' stubborn Reyna battled vociferously. She stole a glance at his peacefully sleeping form.

'...do you??' she gulped at the prospect. As a friend, of course she loved him. She would even go so far as to say she loved him as a best friend. But…. Love him, like, romantically? She couldn't… could she? She shook her head in frustration. She couldn't understand these feelings.

'Ok, so that's a lie. I just don't understand why I feel this way about HIM. I've only known him for, like, what… a month? This is getting ridiculous. I cannot let this keep eating me alive, I've got to deal with this. I'm a Roman. We have hearts of steel, and souls of titanium. I don't need a crush, I don't need a boyfriend. I'm perfectly fine with being his best friend. Right? Right.'

Just then, he started mumbling. Reyna looked over to see his face contorting in a mixture of confusion and pain, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. She shook him gently.

"Hey… hey Mikey, wake up." she whispered kindly. He sat up on his elbows, looking around confusedly, until his dark grey eyes locked onto her.

"Oh, hey. 'Morning." he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He yawned and sat up.

"Its like 2:00am...Bad dreams?" she asked. He nodded slowly.

"Was it about your mom?" Reyna prodded further. He looked over at her in shock.

"How did you…" he started.

"You were mumbling in your sleep. You said something about your mom, and how it couldn't be true." she explained. He rested his head in his hands, sighing.

"Its… its complicated, Rey." he explained. She looked at him quizzically.

"When we were at Mount Olympus, Mercury told us that same thing… he said you'd tell us when you were ready… is it something about your mom?" she asked so quietly and genuinely that Micah just sighed sadly. He couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"I can see this is hurting you, Mike. And… and it hurts me when I see you hurting. I'm sorry I can't help you." she finished quietly. He turned to face her in shock, and took her hands in his, staring into her eyes.

"Don't you dare say you're sorry, Reyna. You've already helped me so much… probably more than you'll ever know. It's just… I..I don't want you to think any different of me." he ended barely above a whisper. She squeezed his hands lightly.

"Nothing you say or do will ever change the way I think of you, Mike. You're my best friend, and I only met you, like, a month ago. You can tell me anything." She finished confidently. He closed his eyes and looked away. Then, something amazing happened. She can only describe it as timelessness, because she suddenly… appeared next to Micah on a park bench, the sun barely peeking above some city's skyline as it sunk.

"Whoa. Where…." she started.

"Tokyo, Japan. One of my favorite thinking spots." Micah informed. Then he sighed, running his hands through his messy light brown locks.

"Reyna, what I'm about to tell you… it's gonna be a lot to take in. You… you may not be able to fully understand, believe me, I don't even pretend to. Just… just promise me you'll try not to freak out, ok?" he cautioned her. Reyna instantly felt her heart beating faster. This must be huge. She reached over and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I promise." she swore. He smiled slightly, then swallowed hard.

"After my mother… vanished… after I was told by the harpy that it had hired some monster to take her away… I was a wreck. I was running from scores of monsters and demons. All of them were looking for the fabled Light, and all of them knew I was somehow connected. I kept running, always one step ahead, always careful...until I save you and your sister. Something changed in me that day, some… dark instinct arose from the very depth of my soul. I knew exactly what I wanted: vengeance. It was in that alley, bleeding out, that I realized my mother's killer was still out there somewhere. Someone out there knew what had happened to my mom, who that crazy old witch that tried to kill me had hired to… make my mom disappear. Rage flowed through my veins as I died, and I remember closing my eyes thinking I'd never know. Then, the strangest thing happened: I woke up. I was on a table, in a hospital gown, with some doctor staring at me in awe. I sat up, recalling all that anger and hate I had harbored, and knew exactly what I had to do. I was done running. I had just been given a rare second chance at life, and I wasn't going to waste it. I decided that the only way to find out the truth about my mother was to run towards danger, work my way through the monsters until I could find someone willing to give me the truth. So I did. I became an assassin; A monster bounty hunter for hire, taking down any beast for the right price. I even had my own custom made hybrid Stygian Iron sword, but I lost it in a bet…. A story for another time. Needless to say, even at the age of 11, I was feared the world over for my monster-slaying skills. But no one

knew my true agenda: find out just what truly happened to my mother. I never expected what I found. For 2 whole years I searched,inching ever closer to the truth. Then, one day I'm at a ship port in Mexico, waiting on my next client who was having problems with a Manticore, he showed up. Mercury. At first, I thought he was my father, what with our similar appearance. He told me I was his son, but that he was not my father. He… he told me I needed to stop looking for my mother, that she was gone. When I asked him why, he… he told me the truth." Micah paused, and snuck a glance up at a transfixed Reyna.

"He told me that thousands of years ago, when Olympus was being built, that they found something hidden deep within the ancient mountain: a sphere. They were all baffled by its radiating power, and kept it in their palace for safe-keeping. For thousands of years, it lay dormant. Then, 18 years ago, a voice spoke from within. He told me it instructed the Olympians to each bless the orb, and that it would use their combined essence to create their savior. It told them a dark force was awakening, and that their only chance was to listen and trust it. So they did. They each blessed the orb with a portion of their power. But, the orb instructed them to dedicate the savior to one of the Olympians, so it could take form. Apparently, Mercury had just found out that his son would end up killing himself to stop some Titan, so to console him the Olympians decided to dedicate their creation to Mercury." Micah said painfully. Reyna was confused, until suddenly it clicked. She looked at him in shock.

"You… you're their creation. You're the orb." she whispered astonishing. He winced and clenched his fist.

"My… my mom wasn't real… she was just a nymph sent to portray her, and to keep me out of harm's way until I was needed. I have no mother… no father. I was created, Reyna, not born. I'm… I'm nothing but a freak. I spent years trying to find out where my mother was… and what had happened to her… only to find out… I'm a monster … just like the ones I hunted." Micah finished, wiping away tears with the palm of his hand before they could fall. Reyna felt her eyes getting moist as well. Micah stood up, facing away from her with his head downcast.

"Now you know the truth, Rey." he said shakily. Reyna couldn't take it anymore. She pushed Roman Reyna deep down and turned Micah around, hugging him like her life depended on it.

"Oh, Mikey … you're not a monster… you're not…" she soothed, rocking him back and forth. She felt his body tremble as he cried, years of pain and anguish being released. Reyna couldn't help but cry too, as she saw his facade crumble, revealing a broken boy who felt like a monster. After a while, he stopped, his eyes bloodshot. He took in a shaky breath, running his hand through his hair.

"You're the only one who knows, Rey." he whispered. She impulsively reached out and took his hand.

"I'll keep it that way." she vowed. Then, Micah did something unexpected. He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek, sending Reyna's cheeks up in flames.

"Thank you for being such a good friend, Rey." he whispered.

"No.. no probs." she stuttered, still getting over the butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't help but squeal a little as he picked her up bridal style, smirking like a little boy.

"Come on, Warrior Princess, let's get back to the van." he chuckled. Just as quickly as they left, they suddenly reappeared into the van. Micah laid down onto the seat, then ornerily smirked up at Reyna, patting the seat next to him. She rolled her eyes, then laid down next to him.

"What? Your conditioner's smell helps me sleep." Micah shrugged innocently. He rested his chin gently on her head, breathing in deeply.

"Goodnight, Reyna… and thank you." he whispered genuinely. That night, Reyna fell asleep in the arms of her best friend.

'Reyna… we talked about this!' Roman Reyna screamed

'OH SHUT UP!!!' Soft Reyna snapped.

'You and I both know… there's no place we'd rather be.' she decided as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.