Thank you to everyone for the support. I hope everyone enjoys the final chapter.
"And, Bellona helped us destroy Pallas," Annabeth finished. She focused on the members of the Senate. All of them were staring at her, and none of them said a word. They didn't even have any facial expressions. Annabeth wasn't sure if they believed her story.
Annabeth looked at the ground and tried to swallow the bile back down her throat. After everything that had happened, she almost forgot that Camp Jupiter believed that Bellona was a great goddess of war that cared for her country and was all about virtue and honor. No one else could know that Bellona was a bloodthirsty monster who tortured her fellow goddesses for fun.
A lot had happened in the last twenty four hours. The first half was spent in the Amazon base, with their doctors checking over them. Most of them seemed scared to touch Hylla or Reyna, until Hylla had given them permission to work without threat of being killed if they breathed wrong.
"Thank you for helping my fellow praetor with this quest," Frank said. Annabeth looked back at him and gave him a grateful look. The chair beside him was empty. Reyna had yet to wake and was suppose to be sleeping. If she was actually in bed or not was another story. "I think we can dismiss everyone."
The Senate started to file out, leaving Annabeth alone with Frank. Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw that Hazel was hanging back by the exit and debating. Then, she turned and moved back to their side. Annabeth smiled at her.
After seeing the Amazon doctors, Hylla pulled them aside and warned that they could not say a word about what actually happened. Everyone had to think that Bellona wasn't, in Hylla's words, a total piece of shit. The three spent about a hour making up a story.
In the story that they gave the Senate, the labrys had been stolen by Pallas. He used it to attack Bellona and almost destroy her. He then blew up Bellona's temple in an attempt to kill her daughter, but Bellona tried to keep the explosion contained. That was why she wrote avenge me on the ground.
Reyna, Annabeth, and Hazel went to help Bellona and retrieve the labrys. The Titan managed to get his hands on Reyna and tortured her. Bellona worked with the demigod to save her daughter, and she destroyed Pallas all on her own. The story made Annabeth sick to her stomach.
How could they just pretend that Bellona wasn't a monster. They couldn't pretend that she hadn't tortured and desecrated Athena. How was Annabeth suppose to pretend like she didn't know the truth? A soft sigh left her.
"You guys did great," Frank said softly. He seemed to know that they weren't telling the whole truth, but he wasn't pushing it. He leaned heavily on his crutches but didn't seemed deterred. "I'm gong to visit Reyna. Do you two want to come with?"
Annabeth nodded. Frank smiled slightly and turned. He started to walk, well in his case limp, away. Annabeth followed behind, but she still felt terrible. Giving Bellona any kind of credit disgusted her. The goddess deserved to rot in Tartarus. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Frank turned and started to walk towards Reyna's house. A small frown came to Annabeth's face. The praetor should have been in the infirmary, but she was sure that if Reyna had woken up at any point, she would have argued to be resting at her place.
The three of them walked in silence. Frank still looked like he wanted to question them, but he didn't say a word. Hazel was by Frank's side and had her hand over his. They somehow made it work with the crutch between them. If anyone else came too close, she would let go of Frank's hand and give him an inch of space. When they were in the clear, she went back to his side.
A small smile came to Annabeth's face, even if her heart did ache. She missed Percy. Part of her wished that she had gone with Percy, but she needed to see this quest out. And, Percy needed to go back to his family.
"Hey Annabeth, we're going to get something from my place. We'll be right back," Frank said. Annabeth looked at them and gave a nod. She turned towards Reyna's house and knocked gently on the door. There was no response, which wasn't surprising.
Annabeth glanced back at Frank and Hazel, but they were already gone. She debated it for a moment. Then, she pushed open the door of Reyna's house. The first thing she saw was Aurum and Argentum. The two dogs were resting on Reyna's couch, and it looked like they had never left.
"Hey," a weak voice said. Annabeth turned towards the kitchen and frowned.
"You're not suppose to be out of bed," Annabeth commented. She studied Reyna. There was dark circles under the praetor's eyes, like she hadn't gotten any sleep. She was leaning on the counter and was hunched over. Reyna sighed tiredly and let her head hang.
"I had a nightmare," Reyna said softly. Her voice shook in pain. She groaned and rested her head on the counter. Annabeth walked towards Reyna and gently grabbed her arm.
"Let me help you walk," Annabeth whispered. She gently wrapped Reyna's arm around her shoulder. This was part of the reason that she thought Reyna should be in the infirmary. The praetor couldn't escape with all of the doctors watching her, and she couldn't get out of bed.
"I can handle it," Reyna mumbled. Annabeth ignored her and helped her walk. Reyna leaned heavily on her almost immediately. "Did she hurt you?"
"Who?" Annabeth questioned. She made it to Reyna's room. Reyna practically collapsed onto her bed, and she curled up on her side. Annabeth helped her lay in the middle of the bed and gently laid a blanket over her.
"My mother," Reyna whispered. She blinked a few times and looked up at Annabeth. "In my nightmare, she hurt you badly."
"She didn't," Annabeth promised. Reyna nodded and slowly placed a hand to her side. She shoved the blanket off and cursed softly. Her hand lifted her shirt, and Annabeth stared at the dark bruises that covered Reyna's rib cage. A few jagged cuts were on her side as well.
"What about Hylla?" Reyna whispered. She curled up and pressed both of her hands against her ribs. Annabeth sat by her and gently brushed hair out of her face. Reyna felt like she was burning up. Annabeth moved closer to her friend and helped her sit up. Reyna leaned on her.
"Hylla is back at the Amazon base. She wanted to bring you back here, but the doctors told her that she needed to rest. And, she didn't want to make it seem like she was involved," Annabeth explained. "She's going to visit you tomorrow."
"Her finger. Was that a dream?" Reyna whispered. She rested her head on Annabeth's shoulder.
"No. I'm sorry," Annabeth said. Reyna remained silent. "They couldn't do much for her hand, other than make sure that it didn't get infected."
Reyna pushed herself off of Annabeth and collapsed back against the bed. She curled up on her side and hissed in pain. Her eyes grew distant. Annabeth spoke, "It's okay."
"How did you find Hylla and I?" Reyna asked. She slowly looked at Annabeth. "How did you know where we were?"
"We found your house," Annabeth began. Reyna nodded, but a new look entered her eyes. It was a mix of fear and worry. Reyna looked down at her pillow and grabbed it. Her knuckles were white with how tightly she gripped the pillow.
"What did you find in the house?" Reyna slowly asked. She looked like she wanted to look up and meet Annabeth's eyes. Instead, she just stared at the pillow. It seemed like Reyna knew the answer to her question, but she needed to hear the words for herself.
Annabeth gently placed a hand to Reyna's back. For Reyna, it had to feel like all of her secrets had been revealed, and she didn't have a choice in any of it. Annabeth still felt that Reyna should have told her everything sooner, but she also understood that opening up was hard for the praetor. She was use to being on her own and only being able to trust herself.
Reyna having all of her secrets thrown out there had to make her feel vulnerable. Annabeth spoke, "We found the map resting on a table near the front door. We would have looked further, but we were on a time limit. I just wanted to find baby pictures."
A small, relieved smile came to Reyna's face. She sighed and rested her head back on the pillow. Annabeth was going to let Reyna keep the rest of her secrets. The praetor deserved that much. Reyna spoke softly, "What about Carmina?"
"Hylla is going to handle her, but I don't know how," Annabeth answered. She laid next to Reyna and placed a hand to her shoulder. "Everything is okay, Reyna. It's back to normal."
"Normal," Reyna muttered. She laughed painfully and then winced. "What is normal for us, Annabeth? We never had a normal. I've always had to lie about my mother and pretend that she isn't some kind of monster. That she didn't do all of those things."
"I'm sorry," Reyna whispered. She looked up at Annabeth. "I'm so sorry."
"You don't have anything to apologize for," Annabeth whispered. Reyna sighed and closed her eyes tightly. Annabeth gently rubbed her shoulder and then her back. The praetor was tense at first, but she slowly relaxed.
"Thank you Annabeth. For everything," Reyna whispered. Then, she closed her eyes. "I owe you."
"You don't owe me anything, because you're my friend, "Annabeth said softly. "You can trust your friends. We'll have your back, no matter what."
"I know that now. Thank you for helping me," Reyna said. She sighed. "I know that I wasn't helpful at all. In fact, I was probably the worst person to go on a quest with, but you didn't give up on me. So, thank you."
"Anytime Reyna. You're my friend," Annabeth said. A smile came to Reyna's face, and she completely relaxed. "Now, you need to get some rest. I don't want to get yelled at because you can't stay in bed for more than two minutes."
"Well, get ready to get yelled at," Reyna commented. Annabeth gave her a look, and Reyna let out a small laugh. She sighed and moved closer to Annabeth. Reyna rested her head on Annabeth's shoulder and then closed her eyes. "Thank you."
"Get some rest," Annabeth whispered. She studied Reyna. The praetor nodded and seemed to relax almost completely. Annabeth sighed and closed her eyes as well. It had been a long week, and she was ready for it to be over. The only bright side was that Reyna seemed to trust her more, and they had managed to destroy the goddess that did all those terrible things to Athena.
Annabeth opened her eyes and studied Reyna. The two of them were alike, and she knew how many arguments that was going to cause in the future. But they had proven they could work together. It would help strengthen the bond between the camps and the bond between the two daughters of war. All that mattered now was making sure that the bond stayed strong.
With them being demigods, Annabeth never knew what the future would hold, but she had her friends at her side, and hopefully in time, Reyna would feel like the secrets that she had shared with Annabeth weren't shameful things that she had to be ashamed of. Annabeth carefully got out of the bed and laid a blanket over Reyna.
"Get some sleep," Annabeth said softly. She studied the sleeping praetor one last time. "We all deserve it."