Frank stared at the door of the infirmary and tried to think of what exactly he was going to say. When they first got back to Camp Jupiter, he had checked on Reyna for a few seconds before passing around the message that they had been successful in finding the Golden Fleece. Then, he went on his walk around New Rome.

Livia's words ran through his head, and it made his gut twist. Frank took a deep breath and stepped into the infirmary. A small frown came to his face as he looked at the three demigods that were in the middle of a conversation. While he expected them to talk sooner or later, he thought a lot more time would pass.

"Hey, Frank. Hungry?" Percy asked. He offered a slice of pizza. Frank shook his head and studied Percy. The son of Neptune was sitting next to Annabeth and looked pretty content. His hair was a mess, like he had just woken up from a nap.

Annabeth looked much better. Her skin was no longer pale, and she wore a long sleeve shirt that covered the bandages on her arm. A small smile was on her face, and she was sitting in a chair next to Percy. Both of them were looking at Reyna.

Reyna was staring down at her plate of food. Her shoulders were drooped, but she looked well rested. The bandage on her temple was gone, replaced with a small scar. Frank could see a bandage peeking out from underneath her shirt. Reyna looked up at Frank and spoke, "Morning, Frank."

"How are you doing?" Frank asked. He walked towards the bed next to hers and sat down. There wasn't any tension in the air. Percy and Annabeth seemed relaxed. Reyna still looked like the guilt was crushing her, but that was to be expected.

"I feel terrible about what happened," Reyna answered. She closed her eyes for a few moment. "Physically, I feel worse than the first time I poisoned myself. Mentally, I don't even know where to begin."

"You can't blame yourself too much," Annabeth began. Reyna remained silent and didn't look at Annabeth. Her face was carefully neutral. "The goddess was inside my head too. She completely managed to manipulate me and convince me that you were going to kill Percy. That's why I stabbed you."

"It's still not as bad as what I did," Reyna muttered. She rubbed her face and sighed tiredly. "I poisoned the barrier of your camp. I tortured you. I attacked my fellow Roman. I poisoned my fellow praetor. There is nothing worse than what I did."

"We'll figure something out," Frank promised. Reyna shook her head and buried her face in her hands. "I promise that we will help you."

"Frank, I already admitted to what I did in front of the Senate. There is no way to deny my guilt. I have to face whatever my punishment is,"

"Livia told me that Halward wants to remove you from your position of praetor and then try to manipulate me," Frank said. He stared at Reyna for a few moments. "Do you think he could manipulate me?"

Reyna slowly looked up at him and seemed to think about it for a few moments. She finally spoke, "If the Senate does not believe in you, they will turn to Halward. I've already dug my own grave, and he's going to bury me in it."

"Not if we don't let him," Percy interrupted. Frank glanced at Percy. "I know that I said some things, but I was upset about what happened to Annabeth. She told me how the goddess got in her head and helped manipulate her. Annabeth would have never attacked anyone like that, if the goddess wasn't telling her to. I realized how strong that influence is."

"She didn't appear as my mother or anyone else, but it was like a voice in the back of my head," Annabeth said. She took a tired breath. "It was like another thought I was having, and it convinced me that you were going to hurt Percy. I'm sorry."

"Annabeth, I'm the one who should be apologizing," Reyna said. She swallowed painfully and cleared her throat. "I am so sorry for what I did. I don't know how to even begin making it up, and I won't even be able to. Halward is going to convince the Senate to punish me terribly. I'll be lucky to be alive tomorrow."

"I'm not about to let them crucify you," Frank said. He looked at Reyna. It made him sick to his stomach that something like crucifixion might happen to his friend. Why was that even an option? What was wrong with them? "We have a few hours until Diana comes back. We can figure something out."

Reyna didn't answer. She placed her plate down on the bedside table and then laid back on the bed. Her eyes stared up at the ceiling. Frank looked at the two Greeks. Annabeth was staring at the ground lost in thought, and Percy was looking around the room.

"Well, Artemis will want Reyna punished, but if we can convince her to not barge in the Senate and demand blood, that should help the case. Shouldn't it?" Percy asked. He nodded to himself. "If the Senate doesn't feel like they need to please the goddess, they might be more focused on making sure Camp Half-Blood isn't too upset. They'll just have to make it up to us."

"And, we won't ask too much of a price," Annabeth added.

"You guys can't make it seem like you're being merciful," Reyna muttered. "If the Senate thinks that you are doing this because we are friends or just being weak, they will take advantage of you later."

"Not if the praetors don't let them," Annabeth said.

"When we thought this was all because of Livia, I almost had the Senate convinced that Camp Half-Blood should be the ones who choose the punishment," Frank added. "Maybe, I can convince them that Camp Half-Blood should also choose yours."

"Halward's not going to accept that," Reyna said. "He wants my blood, and he will spill it to get control of New Rome and Camp Jupiter."

Frank laid back on the bed he was sitting on and sighed tiredly. He felt like they were stuck in the same spot and had no clue how to get out of it. The easiest thing would be for Camp Half-Blood to choose Reyna's punishment. After all, she did poison their barriers and torture Annabeth. Halward wouldn't see it the same way though.

Halward would point towards Reyna attacking Alfred and poisoning Frank for the reason that Camp Jupiter should be the one picking the punishment, but he would wrap all the crimes up into one neat little package to justify just how severely the punishment would be. Frank slowly spoke, "What if we split up the crimes. Two different punishments for two different crimes. Halward won't have as much ammunition to use."

"Camp Half-Blood was poisoned, and the Golden Fleece was taken from them. Annabeth was tortured. Those are the biggest crimes, and we can say that it is only fair that Camp Half-Blood decides on the punishment," Frank continued.

"Halward can only punish me for attacking two Romans then," Reyna muttered. Her tone was bitter, even though she was clearly trying to hide it. "I appreciate you guys trying to help. I don't deserve the help, and there is nothing you can do for me."

"What if we say that you didn't mean to poison me?" Frank asked. Reyna looked at him and shook her head. "We can just say that cups got mixed up, or they had to be repoured. I don't think I can do this without you to help me, Reyna. We can't let Halward gain influence."

Reyna stared at the ground for a very long time. She finally closed her eyes and nodded. Reyna spoke, "Whatever I have to do to atone. I am so sorry for what I did."

Annabeth grabbed Reyna's shoulder. They met eyes, and neither of them said a word. Reyna was the first to look away, and she buried her face in her hands. Annabeth stood and spoke, "We'll give you guys some time alone."

"Thank you," Frank said. He watched Annabeth and Percy leave the room. Reyna didn't lower her hands. She didn't even look at Frank. "You can't blame yourself for all of this. Annabeth even said that she understands."

"Annabeth understands, but she also didn't torture one of her friends and put both of the camps in danger," Reyna whispered. "There is no way that I walk away from the consequences, Frank. If you keep trying to help, it's only going to make it worse for you."

"I don't care," Frank said. "I don't give up on my friends, so that means I'm not giving up on you."

"Thank you," Reyna whispered. She slowly lowered her hands and turned on her side. Reyna stared at her pillow. "I don't know how to even begin making this up."

"We'll figure it out," Frank promised. Reyna nodded and closed her eyes. "You should probably message Hylla. I heard she was pretty agitated when she heard you were in trouble."

"I will. Thank you, Frank. I think I want to be alone for a little bit," Reyna whispered. Frank nodded and stood. He rubbed Reyna's back for a few moments and then left the infirmary. Frank tried to take a deep breath and focus on the meeting ahead. It would decide the fate of the two camps, and Frank hoped they were ready for it.