"I need to speak to the queen of the Amazons," Thalia said. Her gaze focused on the Amazon at the front desk. The Amazon looked at her for a small moment and seemed to tense. "It is an emergency. Tell her that the lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis needs to speak with her."
The Amazon eyed her for a few moments and finally placed a hand to her ear. That was something new. On Thalia's first visit, she had almost been jumped by the Amazon at the front counter, and the next few visits involved her being threatened by whoever was at the front desk, in what Hylla called a bit of fun.
"The lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis wishes to speak to Queen Hylla," the Amazon said. There was silence for a few moments, and she finally nodded. Her gaze moved to Thalia. "Can I take a message?"
"It is an emergency," Thalia began. The Amazon nodded and grabbed a pen. She started writing onto a notepad. Thalia gritted her teeth. "This is an actual emergency! I need to speak to Queen Hylla now. It is about her sister."
The Amazon's eyes flickered up, and she placed her hand back to the earpiece. She spoke, "The lieutenant says it is about the queen's sister."
It didn't take long for the Amazon to nod once again and lower her hand. She spoke, "Take a seat. It will be a few minutes."
The last thing Thalia wanted to do was a take a seat, but she slowly turned to look at the chairs in the front office. There was only five chairs, but Thalia felt like each of them had some kind of horrific device attached to them. It was the Amazons after all.
When they worked together, the Amazons always teased the Hunters of Artemis for being barbaric because they slept outside and didn't allow boys to join. Considering the Amazons kept boys as slaves, Thalia didn't really hold their opinions too high.
True to the Amazon's word, a door opened after a few minutes. Two Amazons, both wearing armor and with weapons at their side, walked into the room. One held a black bag in their hands. Thalia rolled her eyes but kept sitting. She leaned back in the seat. The two Amazons walked towards her.
"I know the drill," Thalia said. She stood and handed her weapons over to the Amazon that didn't have anything in her hands. The other Amazon gave the black bag to Thalia. It took a moment for Thalia to put the bag over her head. "I thought the queen could trust me by now."
"Amazon protocol," one of the Amazons said. Thalia rolled her eyes and started to walk. The two Amazons stayed right at her side and led her down the hallways. Thalia could hear the sounds of people rushing around and working. She wasn't too concerned by it though. All she did was focus on putting one foot in front of the other and not allow the two Amazons to run her into a wall. It had happened once before, and she was determined to not let it happen again.
Before Thalia knew it, she felt one of the Amazons stop her. Another knocked on the door and spoke in Latin. A response was given, and a door opened. Thalia felt the Amazon lead her forward once again. They came to a stop once again, and the hand disappeared from her shoulder.
Thalia heard the door behind her close, and she slowly took the bag off of her head. Her gaze focused on Hylla. The queen of the Amazons was sitting in her desk and had her legs propped up on the desk. Hylla studied Thalia and didn't say a word. The two of them had worked together, and they had a business relationship. Thalia wouldn't go as far as to call them friends though.
"An emergency that involves my sister," Hylla muttered. Her arms were crossed, but she was tapping one of her fingers on her arm. "What's going on, lieutenant?"
"My tree, well the tree, at Camp Half-Blood that powers their barrier was poisoned, and the Golden Fleece was taken. Reyna did those things, but she was being influenced by a goddess that had been called upon for vengeance," Thalia explained. Hylla's face remained expressionless, but she did push her legs off of the desk and lean forward. "It was all orchestrated by a girl named Junia, and we think you know where she is. We need to stop her."
"I don't know anyone named Junia," Hylla said. She studied the desk for a few moments, and her eyes flickered up to Thalia. "What of my sister?"
"Reyna was poisoned," Thalia answered. She crossed her arms. "She is stabilized but in bad shape. We can get the cure for the poison, if we can find Junia. Reyna said it was someone on Blackbeard's ship. Her sister died and was thrown overboard. She jumped in after her."
After a few moments, Hylla closed her eyes. She spoke, "I never knew the girl's name, but I remember when that happened. Blackbeard said it was dead weight thrown off of the ship, and I thought they were going to die on that island. There was no other ships around."
"She's not dead," Thalia said. Hylla remained silent and took a single deep breath. "Hylla, you are the only hope we have of finding her. We don't know where she can be, but she thought Reyna did. That's why Reyna was attacked."
Hylla opened her eyes and stood. She walked towards the opposite side of her office and pulled open a drawer. Hylla pulled out a book and slowly flipped through the pages. Thalia walked towards Hylla and stared down at the book. It was full of maps that were drawn by hand and then stapled to the pages of the book.
Hylla flipped through the book and cursed softly. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then, she opened her eyes and flipped through the book once again. Hylla stopped on one of the pages and stared down at it. After a moment, she folded the top of the page and kept flipping through. Hylla folded a few of the pages as she went.
The queen of the Amazons picked up the book and handed it to Thalia. She then pulled out a large folded up piece of paper. Hylla unfolded the paper, which was a large map, and she laid it out on the desk. Hylla took the book back from Thalia and started to mark spots.
Thalia wasn't quite sure what Hylla was doing, but she didn't want to ask and break her concentration. Thalia slowly looked around the office. There was reports scattered all around the room, along with notebooks and binders. It looked like chaos, but Hylla knew where everything was. She had always been on top of answering any questions that Thalia had.
"I narrowed it down the best I could," Hylla said. Thalia walked towards the map and stared down at it. Hylla had marked a few different islands that were in line. "Blackbeard wanted to chart the Sea of Monsters and the area around it. We had barely gotten out of that damned place when Junia's sister died."
"It's a start. Thank you," Thalia said. She leaned on the desk and stared down at the map. Five islands were marked, but the biggest problem would be getting to the islands. They could take a ship, if they could find one. How fast would that be though? Would Artemis just be able to take them to the islands?
"How much trouble is Reyna in?" Hylla asked. Thalia looked at her and shook her head. She didn't know the answer to that question, but she could take a guess. Hylla studied her for a few moment and then looked down. "I should go to Camp Jupiter."
"You don't want to complicate the situation more than it already is," Thalia warned. Hylla slowly looked up at her. "Reyna poisoned Camp Half-Blood. She poisoned her fellow Romans. She tortured Annabeth. There has to be consequences."
"Take those and leave," Hylla said. She sat back in the seat and glared at the desk. Thalia slowly grabbed the map and then the book of smaller maps. She wanted to tell Hylla that she would return them, but it would be best to keep her mouth shut. There was a dangerous gleam in Hylla's eyes. Thalia turned and left the room.
Two Amazons immediately flanked her, and one handed her a black bag. Thalia rolled her eyes but put it on. The two Amazons grabbed her arms and guided her through the building once again. When they made it into the lobby, the bag was pulled from her hands, and her weapons were handed back to her.
Thalia stared down at maps and let out a deep breath. She walked out of the Amazon base and was immediately joined by Artemis. The goddess studied the maps as well.
"Hylla marked five islands. Hopefully, one of them leads us to the Golden Fleece," Thalia said. She already regretted the visit. Hylla was clearly agitated by the news of her sister, and the last thing they needed was for Hylla to rush to Camp Jupiter and make things even worse.
"We should start checking the islands then," Artemis said. Thalia nodded and closed her eyes. All she could do was hope that they found the Golden Fleece was found, before it was too late.
