"I think this is dumb," Hylla said as she looked at Reyna. Her younger sister lowered her chopsticks and didn't say a word. Hylla pushed away their cartons of Chinese food and leaned on the counter. "Retrieving the labrys for Pluto and returning it to him is a suicide mission. You know that, right?"
"What choice do we have?" Reyna asked. She sighed and focused back on the Chinese food. "We've been going back and forth for a hour now. Hylla, I have to do this. Maybe, Pluto will remove these damn chains."
"And lose his leverage. There's is no way that he will," Hylla argued. Reyna gave her a look. Hylla sighed and looked away. "This is insane, Reyna. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Look, I know. I understand how risky it is, but do you know how much more of a risk it is to just ignore Pluto? What is it called? Catch twenty two?" Reyna asked.
"Yeah. Either steal the labrys for Pluto and be found out by Jupiter. Or ignore Pluto and have him hurt you in this life and the next. This is why we should have just kept running," Hylla muttered.
"They have found us everywhere, Hylla. There is no place to run to anymore,and I'm tired of running," Reyna muttered. "We thought Circe's island would be safe."
"And it was," Hylla snapped. "We were there for so long."
"And then the gods found us, and our home was destroyed," Reyna snapped back. She looked down and let out a sigh. "We were suppose to go to Camp Jupiter together."
"I am not going to be under the gaze of the gods," Hylla said. Reyna remained silent. Hylla gritted her teeth. She knew that she promised to go to Camp Jupiter with Reyna, but the truth was that Hylla didn't want to. She had no interest in serving in some legion. If anything, she wanted the power, the ability to control her own destiny. The Amazons gave her that.
"I'm going to do it, with or without your help," Reyna finally said. She shoved her food away and pushed herself off of the counter.
"With," Hylla said. She shook her head. "I don't agree with this, but I'm not going to let you do this again. Sit down, and we'll make a plan for how to do this safely."
Hylla's eyes slowly drifted open, and she stared at the ground in front of her. Pain burned in her hand, from where her mother had cut off her ring finger. Bellona hadn't said much to her. All she did was tell Hylla that she needed to remain calm. They would be reunited soon.
It took all of Hylla's willpower to keep from begging for her mother to keep Reyna out of this. Reyna had already suffered so much for Bellona's sins, more than Hylla had. The girl deserved a damn break. Instead, they were both stuck in this twisted game.
Hylla didn't know how long she had been a captive for. Her last solid memory was tailing Reyna to the museum to provide backup. She didn't know if her sister was going to run into trouble, but if she did, Hylla wanted to be there for her. Gods. How did it all go wrong? Hylla prayed that her sister was still far away.
As soon as her prayer was finished, a heavy door opened, and Hylla heard a gasp of pain. She should have known that the gods wouldn't listen. Hylla tensed as Reyna was thrown to the ground in front of her. Reyna rolled onto her back and gasped for breath. She looked like an absolute mess.
Reyna's wrists were chained in front of her by the chains of Pluto. Most of her exposed skin was covered in bruises or cuts. All she wore was pants and a shirt. There was no visible weapons on her. Reyna looked at Hylla and spoke, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I promise," Hylla said, which wasn't too far from a lie. Gods. She still remembered the bloodlust hitting her when she was trying to help Reyna. According to Bellona, Reyna had been left in a small pool of her own blood. How badly had Hylla hurt her sister?
"You're not fine," Reyna hissed. Her eyes focused on Hylla's hand, and guilt was clear on her face. Hylla wanted to break free from her bonds and hold her sister close. Instead, she tried squirming in the ropes that kept her trapped to the chair. Her belt was across the room and seemed to be mocking her.
"Reunited once again. Just like a family," Bellona said. She grabbed Reyna by the scruff of her neck and pulled her to a standing position. Hylla looked down. There was another chair against her back, and she knew that one was reserved for Reyna.
Reyna hissed in pain and went limp. Bellona growled and threw Reyna forward. Hylla winced as her sister collapsed to the ground in a heap and curled up on her side. Bellona spoke, "Why are you so weak? I have given you plenty of opportunities to prove yourself."
"Mother, how long have you been free?" Hylla asked. She needed to buy time for Reyna to recover. Bellona slowly looked at Hylla.
"Years now," Bellona finally answered, and she gave Hylla a wicked grin. Bellona walked towards the corner of the room and grabbed onto the weapon that had been left there. Hylla had heard many legendary weapons about the labrys, but upon looking at it, she felt disappointed.
The labrys itself was about six feet long. The double axe head was covered in ichor. One of the heads was imperial gold, and the other was celestial bronze. The long shaft was a black material that had carving all around it. Every so often, the light would catch onto the shaft, and it looked like lightning was running across it.
"Why do you want to be reunited now? Not earlier?" Hylla asked. She had to chose her words carefully. What she really wanted to do was ask why Bellona decided to kidnap and torture them now, but hopefully, their mother was in a good mood.
"You were holed up on that witch's island," Bellona said. She smiled coldly. "But, I took care of that. Who do you think helped those two demigods find Circe's island? And, I had to wait for you two to forget the lies that the witch told you. I waited for you two to gather strength, and you did! Both of you lead your own armies. Now, we will turn those armies on the world."
Reyna and Hylla made eye contact. They both knew that they couldn't allow Bellona to go through with any part of her plan, even if it killed them. Hylla gave a small nod to her sister, and Reyna rested her face against the ground. A shaky breath left her.
"I thought you wanted me to bring Hazel and Annabeth," Reyna muttered. She started to lift her head but ended up pressing her face back against the ground.
"I was thinking about it after observing you and your friends," Bellona said. "They are so loyal to you that they would do anything, even walk into the belly of the beast. They will come here for you, and I can't be blamed for what happens to them. After all, they walked into my territory uninvited. They were not tricked."
"I'm sorry," Reyna almost whimpered. She crawled towards Hylla. Bellona rolled her eyes and turned away. Reyna glanced behind her and then lunged towards Hylla. She grabbed a small knife from her leg and cut through the ropes that kept Hylla bound.
In the same movement, Reyna turned and jumped on their mother's back. She wrapped the chains of Pluto around Bellona's throat, choking her. The goddess made a noise of either excitement or pain. Reyna looked back and yelled, "Go!"
"I'm not leaving you," Hylla insisted. She tried to stand, but her knees were shaky. Hylla had barely been given enough food and water to keep herself going. Reyna tightened her chokehold. Hylla took a step forward but collapsed to her knees.
Bellona laughed. Then, she flipped the labrys in her hands and slammed the blunt end of the shaft into Reyna's side. A scream escaped Reyna, and she completely tensed. Hylla stared at the two. She knew the labrys held lightning inside, and all of that lightning was currently running through Reyna and by extension, Bellona.
"Hylla! Leave!" Reyna screamed. Hylla found herself frozen in fear. If she left, Bellona would kill Reyna. She would torture and kill her. Hylla would not allow that to happen. "Please!"
"I'm not leaving you," Hylla snapped. She made eye contact with her mother. Bellona pressed the labrys harder into Reyna's side, and Reyna's screams got louder. Bellona clearly felt every shock wave as well, but she just laughed through the pain.
Hylla cursed and forced herself to her feet. She stumbled forward and made it towards the door. Bellona spoke, "Stop. You know what its going to happen."
"I do know," Hylla said softly. Tears came to her eyes. There was no way that Hylla could turn her back on Reyna, but if she sat back down, everything that Reyna did would be for nothing. "Just stop. And, I'll do whatever you want."
"Then sit," Bellona growled. Hylla closed her eyes tightly.
"Please don't," Reyna whimpered. A small noise of pain left her, and the chains that had been wrapped around Bellona's throat loosened. Reyna tried to lift her head, but it lolled forward. Bellona smirked and let go of the labrys. She grabbed Reyna and threw her over her shoulder. Reyna slammed hard into the ground, and a moan of pain left her.
"Sit back down," Bellona ordered, and she turned towards Hylla. After a moment, Hylla forced herself to sit down. Her gaze focused on her sister. Reyna was limp and completely out of it. "Good."
Bellona grabbed the labrys with one hand and Reyna with the other. She dragged Reyna towards the chair that was at Hylla's back. Hylla spoke, "I did what you said. Just leave Reyna alone."
"I stopped, just like I said would. I never said that I would leave Reyna alone," Bellona sneered. Hylla turned her head and watched Bellona place a hand to Reyna's face. "Wake up, little one."
Reyna groaned softly, and Hylla felt adrenaline running through her system. Bellona put a hand to Hylla's shoulder as a silent warning. Reyna gasped and seemed to jolt awake. Bellona let go of Hylla and raised the labrys. She pressed it into Reyna's side, and all Hylla could do was tense as the screams of her younger sister filled the room.