CHAPTER XVIII

REYNA

Reyna hated ghosts.

It was ridiculous, really. She'd been in the Legion for almost five years. The Lares at Camp Jupiter didn't really understand the concept of personal space. She should have been used to spirits of the dead by now.

For a brief moment when the ghosts had surged towards her, she froze, unable to think of anything but the spirits in the balcony of her old home in San Juan.

Al had sliced the first ghost into dust with her sword. That had snapped her out of her thoughts. After that, her mind had gone on autopilot, slash, parry, jab, duck.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Al getting knocked out and carried away. She cursed under her breath. Getting separated in the Labyrinth was not an ideal situation.

All her attention had become focused on the ghosts in front of her. She backed into a corner; hopefully no one would be able to get the slip on her. The crowd of ghosts was nearly endless. She could feel herself tiring out, and the ghosts just kept coming.

She didn't really know how long she had been fighting. The crowd had thinned out, and she counted roughly two dozen ghosts. Without warning, a door opened from the opposite end, and Al stumbled out a few moments later. Reyna stabbed another ghost in the gut and looked over at her. She didn't look good. Her face was pale and sweating, her hand tightly gripping a sword, and… were her hands on fire? And was the fire black?

Al crossed over to her corner and sliced through half a dozen ghosts with the new sword. The ghosts simply seemed to melt into the sword, like they were dissolving into it, like Nico's blade. A few ghosts broke away and tried to circle around Al, who backed into a corner.

Reyna turned and slammed her sword into a ghost's armor, kicking his weapon away as her sword turned back into a javelin, stabbing him through a crack in his armor. She turned to face the last ghost in front of her. Just as she was stabbing it, she noticed a dagger spinning through the air toward her. It hit the wall just above her shoulder, a blast of air blowing from behind as a sword clattered to the ground in front of her. She stabbed the last ghost and tried to catch her breath. Al probably just saved her life with a carnival trick. Al seemed to read her mind; she did a flourish and a showman's bow. Reyna rolled her eyes at her antics, but she couldn't help but smile.

She looked at the sword in her hand. "Is that-"

"Juno's sword? Yeah. It's totally cool."

Reyna sighed. "You know we have to give it to Juno, right?"

Al shrugged. She seemed to be more interested in who her godly parent was rather than the actual quest. Reyna had to admit that her powers were slightly strange. She had only seen children of Trivia do something like this, but anything they touched didn't automatically turn to nothing. She wasn't sure even Hazel or Nico could do something like this. Besides no way there was a child of the Big Three the same age as Percy and Jason who went unnoticed.

They walked for some distance in silence. They didn't really know where they were going, and it didn't really matter. They just needed to find an exit, wherever it happened to be.

Apparently, silence wasn't really Al's forte, because she turned, walking backwards. "Want to see a magic trick?"

Reyna sighed. "No."

"Aw, come on. I'm feeling bored. Out of my mind. Bad things happen around me when I'm bored."

"Bad things happen around you, period."

"Hey!"

Reyna grinned. It felt good to be the person poking others once in a while, instead of the one supposed to act like an adult. Al fell silent for a few seconds.

"I just destroyed a full room, and I don't even know how I did it." Al looked serious for once.

Reyna frowned. "What do you mean?"

Al rubbed her thumb against the hilt of the sword. "I don't really know. It just… happened I guess. One moment this snake had me in a tight grip, and the next moment it lets me go and my hands are on fire. Then I attacked, and some poison got on my shoulder, and I lost control. I think I passed out. When I woke up, the place was gone. Just gone. And this sword was there." She glanced at Reyna. "What's going on, Reyna?"

Reyna bit her lip. "I'm not really sure. I think you're a daughter of Mercury and perhaps a legacy of Trivia. That's the only explanation I can come up with."

"Trivia? You mean I'm descended from a quiz?

Reyna rolled her eyes. "The goddess Trivia, as in the Roman form of Hecate."

Al smiled. "And Mercury because…"

"You look like trouble."

"Hey!" Al protested. "I'm not that bad!"

Reyna snickered and turned into another corridor. It was comparatively modern, with cement walls and floor, like an underground subway tunnel.

She lost her smile as soon as she saw the ghost. One that made her freeze in her tracks. Suddenly she felt like a ten-year old, realizing that her life was never going to be the same again.

"Papa?"

This couldn't be real. This couldn't be happening. Her father was dead. Had been dead long before she lifted her sword against him, nearly seven years ago in San Juan. She could feel panic overwhelming her. Her father was glowering down at her, dressed military-style, looking like he always did whenever she and Hylla were in trouble. He looked furious, and she felt as though everything about her was being stripped away, the quest to return the Athena Parthenos, the Giant War, the years at Camp Jupiter, the months on the pirate ship, the time at Circe's island, leaving behind only the scared ten-year old she had been.

She couldn't face her father. She couldn't. She turned to look at Al. Al's eyes were also fixed in front of her, emotions running through her face transparently. Guilt, grief, anger, like the person in front of her haunted her dreams. And yet… and yet something was wrong.

Al was staring at the same person, but something about her gaze was strange, like the person she was seeing was about four feet tall.

Julian Ramirez-Arellano was definitely not four feet tall.

Reyna took a deep breath. She heard Hylla's voice telling her to stay strong as she opened the trapdoor from the Amazon base into their home. She heard Nico reassuring her that her father was dead way before that fateful night in Puerto Rico. She glanced at Al, who was still frozen in place.

Something was wrong here. Al had never met her father. Then why was she looking like she had been stabbed?

She pushed thoughts of her father away from her mind and looked at his ghost again. For once, she tried to remember Circe's training. Focus. She tried to see it from Al's perspective. The image of her father flickered and another ghost took its place.

For a second, a wild idea of clones and de-aging ran through her head, because that ghost was Al. Or what Al must have looked about ten years ago. She had the same dark brown-black hair, the same deep brown eyes, the same facial structure.

Al's sister. She looked so much like Al. The only difference between them was that Al's hair was cropped short like a boy's and curly, while her sister's was longer, about shoulder length and straighter.

Al took a couple of steps forward, almost like she was in a trance. Reyna grabbed Al's hand, pulling her back. Something was very wrong here.

Al gave her a confused look and snatched her arm away. She took a step forward and said something in a language Reyna didn't understand. Portuguese, maybe? DaCosta was a Portuguese name. The only word she could distinguish was Amy. That must be her sister's name. Reyna took a deep breath and grabbed her javelin. The ghost flickered back into her father's form.

His voice was colder than anything she had heard before. "Murderer." He hissed. "Would you kill me again?"

Reyna gripped her javelin. She tried to remember what Nico had told her. You didn't kill your father. The man was already dead. You only dispelled a ghost. She raised her javelin. "You are not my father. You are no one's ghost." Her voice sounded shaky, even to herself.

"Coward. Traitor." He growled at her, glowing the same way he had when he threw the chair at Hylla. "Can't even accept your treachery." She closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. She swallowed the lump of emotions threatening to choke her. Not now. "You aren't really my father." Maybe it's time you stepped out of his shadow. Her grip on her javelin was firmer now. "You're just an imitation. And I stepped out of his shadow long ago."

She racked her brain, trying to name the problem in front of her. Ghosts. Something to do with ghosts. Regrets? Ghosts of… "You're Melinoe." She realized. "You're the goddess of the restless dead. What do you want?"

Al took another step forward and seemed to ask a question. Her voice was shaky, almost desperate, pleading in a way Reyna didn't think Al ever would. Her hands were shaking slightly, Juno's sword hanging loosely from them. Reyna grabbed her and pulled her back. As soon as she identified her, Melinoe had taken her real form.

Her right half was pale chalky white like she'd been drained of blood. Her left half was pitch black and hardened like mummy skin. She wore a golden dress and a golden shawl. Her eyes were empty black voids, like the deepest reaches of an abyss.

Reyna threw her javelin. Al seemed to guess what she was doing and sprang upon her with a roar. "NO!"

Reyna was painfully reminded of the fact that Al was slightly heavier and an about half an inch taller than her. What the Hades were her bones made of, bronze? Al's fist slammed into her nose, breaking it. Her eyes watered with the force of the punch. She stumbled because of Al's weight, knees slamming into her thighs. She cried as her back hit the ground. Al had a wild look in her eyes, full of rage. The javelin missed by inches, but Melinoe backed up, dark fog that Reyna hadn't even realized was there dissipating around them.

Al had the weight advantage, but Reyna had been training for years. She grabbed Al's throat and brought her elbows up into Al's chest. She grabbed her arms and used all her strength to switch places, pinning Al to the ground with her knee. She held Al's arms firmly and hoped her hands wouldn't burst into flames.

"Snap out of it." She growled at her. "It's an illusion. Melinoe's messing with your head." Al glared at her and tried to push her off. "For gods' sake, Al!" she snapped at her. "Your sister is dead. She isn't that ghoul you saw!"

It was harsh, but Al stopped struggling. The anger in her eyes slowly faded to defeat, fog clearing, hands shaking, and she rested her head on the ground. Reyna got off and stretched out a hand. After a long moment, Al took it and got to her feet.

A clapping sound came from behind them. Melinoe was leaning against a wall, looking amused. "Well, well, well. You know what they say. Our fears show us for what we truly are. A murderer and a failure. Quite a pair."

Al stepped forward, dark rage filling her eyes, like the thinnest layer of volcanic rock over bubbling lava, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. Reyna hadn't thought Al was capable of such fury. "You bastard." She practically snarled. "You fucking bastard. What did my sister ever do to you?"

Melinoe laughed. "You know, your sister was right. You are nothing but a façade of charm and laughter and tricks and jokes, and underneath it all you are just a hollow shell full of empty promises and lies and broken vows and half-truths." She sneered. "What was it that you promised her? That it would be fine? That you would figure it out? How many months was it until you buried her tiny little seven-year old body too? Wait, my apologies. You never buried your stepfather in the first place. Couldn't even find his body. You should just crawl into the shadows and hide until the storm blows over, little trickster. After all, isn't that all you're good at?"

Al leapt at her with the sword, fully intent on murdering the goddess. Melinoe just gave one last chuckle and vanished, leaving Al to crash into an empty wall. Al didn't stand, just crouching there, forehead against the cold wall, shoulders shaking.

Reyna wasn't really sure what to do. She had never been good at comforting people. Al had told her that her sister was five years younger than her. If Amy had been seven, then Al had been twelve. If she had lost Hylla, she wouldn't have been able to function at that age. She still had nightmares where Orion's arrow found its mark, leaving another Amazon dead in his wake.

Al slowly stood up from the wall. "Let's go." Her voice was hard and unfeeling. "There's nothing of any good here." Her tone made it clear that any sympathy would not be appreciated. Her brown eyes were hard as basalt, and her hands were clenched tightly. Reyna couldn't really say anything. Her own way of dealing with problems was to clench her fists and swing her javelin in the training area until she calmed down. Al stomped down the corridor, not caring whether she was following.

Reyna silently adjusted her grip on her javelin and followed her.

Reyna glanced at the person sitting next to her in the train. They'd taken the first exit they could find, which had to open up on the opposite side of the country from where she wanted to be. Maine wasn't really on her bucket list, but she wished it was at a better time of the year. It wasn't quite fall, not quite winter during early November in Maine. It was brown and dreary because the leaves were gone but winter wasn't here yet. Al had simply been sitting staring out of the window all the time. She hadn't even said anything when they practically scraped her wallet clean to buy tickets to New York.

"So we just go up to the Empire State Building and hand this over to the goatskin lady?" Al suddenly asked. Reyna nodded. The stony anger in her eyes had faded away, but they still missed their usual mischievous twinkle, looking cold and emotionless. Without it, Al just looked sad and defeated.

"Sorry about the nose." Al winced. "I know firsthand that it hurts like hell."

"You never told me about your family." Reyna placed a hand over her nose. They'd managed to find a medical store and grabbed some bandages from there, setting her nose in place. She just wished she had nectar or ambrosia. Her voice sounded like she had a cold.

Al shrugged. "Not discussion material." She fingered the watch on her wrist. "So, what happens now? If I'm Greek, am I still allowed membership into the Legion?"

Reyna nodded. "Technically, you are. However, it's best that you go to the Greek camp if you're Greek. Roman magical boundaries tend to mess with Greek blessings. Percy lost the Achilles Curse as soon as he set foot in the Little Tiber."

"A blessing called a curse. Just wow." Al muttered under her breath. She ran a hand through her hair, which only made it curlier. "I'm twenty per cent sure I'm insane."

Reyna raised her eyebrows. "Only twenty?"

Al stuck her tongue out at her, and Reyna laughed. It felt good to have a friend by her side, not for help with the Legion or a comfort for loneliness, but someone there just because they wanted to be. It used to be this way before, when she, Jason, Dakota, Bobby and Gwen used to be thick as thieves. Then she became Praetor along with Jason, and if she spent too much time with her friends she was accused of favoritism. Then Jason disappeared, and Gwen left the Legion to go to college, and her only close friend left was Nico. "I guess this means you're coming with me?"

Al raised her chin in mock defiance. "This was my quest too." She grinned when Reyna rolled her eyes. "Besides, I don't really have much else going on in my life right now. Might as well enjoy the craziness. But if I start leaking blood from my eyeballs or something, I'm gonna come back and haunt you so hard."

Reyna glared at her. "No ghosts, please. I've had enough for a lifetime."

Al's eyes gleamed. "You know, if it wasn't so unethical, I'd totally blackmail you with this right? Like threaten to show you ghost movies, ya know, The Conjuring, The Nun, Annabelle?"

"Because you're a shining beacon of ethics, right?"

"Offended!"

Reyna laughed. She wondered when was the last time she had felt so light and carefree, not forced to wear a mask of calmness and control wherever she went. Al seemed to understand what she was thinking. "It's lonely at the top."

Reyna sighed. "Damn right it is."

Al leant back into the seat of the Amtrak. "Yesterday I was unhappy, tomorrow I may be unhappy again, but today I know I'm happy. I want to live on and on. I feel life isn't long enough to satisfy me." Al turned to her and smiled, and suddenly the merry twinkle was back in her eyes. She pulled out the deck of cards from her pocket. "Care to play, Praetor? I know every game you've ever heard of."

Just some crack and angst... because I need them to get out of the Labyrinth, really. And, WOOHOO! I updated on time! Al's last quote (not the cards part) is from Ruskin Bond's story 'The Crooked Tree' which I thought was beautiful and couldn't help but add. Trivia is the Roman name of Hecate, and I apologize if I called her Hecate earlier in Reyna's POV. I only know whatever mythology Rick's books taught me, and fanfics. Apart from that, there will be two more chapters to this fic, after which I'll post the second part, Blood for Blood within a week. Ciao!