CHAPTER 11: Ambush

REYNA POV:

I watched as Hylla and her Amazon followers drove away from the valley. A twinge of sadness stoked at my heart as I watched the black vehicles speed away from the Berkeley Hills, towards north. I'd hugged my sister goodbye and she promised we would meet again soon, but I wasn't feeling wholly optimistic.

''You okay?'' Nico asked. I mustered a wee smile, despite the crappy circumstances.

''I'm fine. I just wished I'd got to spend more time with her'' I admitted.

''You will'' Nico assured. I nodded with little enthusiasm, though I found it endearing that Nico was trying to comfort me.

''The sooner this stupid situation is dealt with the better'' I decided. Turning to walk away, I didn't notice the look of abject guilt on Nico's face. ''I'm going to go to my cabin for a while. See you at dinner?'' I asked.

Nico looked distracted, as if thinking about something else. ''Yeah'' he said, nodding. ''See you there.'' I turned to leave.

''Reyna'' he called. I turned around. ''It was really fun being with you today'' he admitted. Stepping forward a little, rubbing his elbows nervously, he added, ''You know, despite the situation we're in, being with you helps take my mind off it and everything else that's happened. So…thanks for that.''

That's kind of sweet… I thought. Smiling, I told him, ''Thanks, I know things have been a bit crazy these days-''

''When are they not?'' Nico asked rhetorically.

''Ha, true. But…despite that, I enjoy being with you too, Nico'' I said, curling a strand of hair behind my ear and feeling my heart begin a tap dance routine.

Nico smiled. ''Thanks.''

We looked at each other a bit too long and I coughed into my fist. ''I should get going now'' I said. Nico's expression once again turned grim. ''Yeah…I should too'' he absently.

In the back of my mind, I wondered what made his mood shift all of a sudden. Thinking nothing about it, I turned and walked to my cabin, feeling Nico's eyes on me as I walked, glad he couldn't see the oh-so stupid smile on my face I tried desperately to evaporate.

Around dinner time, I strolled over to the dining area. I found myself scanning the sofas and couches for the son of Hades, with no luck. He'll probably be here any moment, I thought to myself.

''Hey Reyna!'' Piper waved to me across the hall. I went and sat next to the daughter of Aphrodite and we just chatted over dinner. She looked good in her white Hello-Kitty tank top and denim shorts, her hair choppy and adorned with little braids woven into them and adorned with an eagle feather. I talked about my time with the Hunters of Diana and she talked about her life in Camp Half-Blood, visiting her father in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and how the past two years had been after the war with the Triumvirate.

As I was recounting my adventure with the Hunters hunting and killing the Teumessian fox, I noticed Piper focusing on something else. I followed her gaze and sure enough, there sat the son of Jupiter, looking back at her. He was sitting with Percy and Frank.

''So…'' I ventured, noticing the dreamy look on her face. ''How are you and Jason doing?'' I asked.

Piper snapped to attention. ''What do you mean?'' she asked. I stirred my straw in my orange juice. ''Oh, you know…'' I said, smiling a little.

Piper's face turned a thin veil of red. ''Reyna…me and Jason had broken up. We're just friends now.''

I scoffed. ''Please'' I retorted, rolling my eyes. ''The two of you have been staring at each other and getting all touchy-feely ever since he came back from the dead. Just admit it, Mclean. I can tell you're still into him.''

Piper looked away a little and smiled a bit. There was a time when I wanted to strangle the daughter of Aphrodite. Both of us had been competing over the same boy, but those days were over. I hoped she and Jason would get back together again. Piper was a good friend. I remember fighting alongside her in the final battle against Gaia and her being the first person I told about the curse of Venus.

The curse of Venus. Once again, I scanned the room, searching for Nico. There was no trace of him. Odd…

''Speaking of touchy-feel…you and Nico, hm?'' Piper queried, leaning her chin on her palm and giving me a teasing smile.

Alarms in my head went off. My defensive walls went up. ''Piper…we're just friends'' I told her carefully.

She scoffed. ''Oh honey, after what I saw in the arena this afternoon and what I've been noticing for some time now, I disagree.''

I felt my face heat up. ''We were just sparring…besides, what makes you so sure?'' I countered defensively.

Piper's multicoloured eyes sparkled. ''I'm the daughter of Aphrodite. I can just tell these things. I mean, the amount of sexual tension between you two when you were fighting was just- ''

''Piper, stop!'' I said, looking away now.

''RA-RA, it's okay'' she said, laughing a little. ''I see how you look at him. Admit it, you like him!'' Piper teased.

I wanted to protest but I stopped myself, knowing in this case, there was little point in denying it. This was Piper's wheelhouse. Besides, I could trust her with things like these.

I sighed, leaning in close. ''Alright, I…I like Nico Di Angelo…'' I admitted. It felt like I'd just opened the flood gates of a dam.

Piper squealed excitedly and clapped her hands. ''Oh my gods, I knew it! You two would look so cute together!''

''Sheesh, calm down! Why don't you just announce it to the whole camp!'' I hissed, though I was blushing like anything. The beans had finally been spilled.

''Yeah sorry, sometimes my inner Aphrodite comes out. Look, on a serious note I think you two would make a great couple and from what I sense, Nico is interested in you too'' she told me.

I perked up. ''You really think so?'' I asked. ''But isn't he, you know, gay?''

''From what I can tell, he's bisexual. Also, I can sense he's going through some serious heartache right now. Jason told me about his breakup with Will. From what I can tell, you are too…'' Piper said, searching my face carefully for a reaction.

I sighed. ''For the longest time, I've struggled with the curse of Venus. I'm sick of the constant heart-ache, Piper.''

Piper clasped my hand, giving me a kind smile. ''Hey now, like I said, you're an incredible person. You deserve love too. You should tell him how you feel, Reyna.'' Her words warmed my heart.

''Thank you'' I told her, smiling. The thought of telling Nico Di Angelo how I felt sent butterflies fluttering around in my tummy.

''By the way, where is Nico?'' Piper asked.

I frowned. ''He should have been here by now…'' A cold, nagging feeling suddenly took hold of me. ''I'm going to go look for him.''

I got up and walked to his cabin. He probably just overslept. It's been a long day. You're overthinking it. But I had a bad feeling. Nico had told me he'd be there for dinner. His mind seemed elsewhere when he said it. My heart pounded as I quickened my pace over to his building. I knocked on the door.

''Nico?'' I called. I knocked again. Only silence greeted me. A whirlpool of worry swirled around my gut and I gently opened the door. The room was empty. I walked over to Nico's bed. Panic seized me. Where is he?

''Nico'' I called. No answer. My eyes fell upon a piece of paper on the bedside table. It had something written on it. As I read it, my mouth hung open in shock, my insides churning in worry, heart freezing over with dread. It read:

Dear Reyna or Hazel,

I've gone to look for Eric on my own. I figure he'll stop causing trouble for you and everyone else if I face him myself. This is the only way the rest of you won't be at risk. I can't stand the thought of him hurting anyone I care about. Don't follow me, no one else has to get hurt. If I don't return, I'll die knowing the rest of you are safe. It's me that he wants.

Nico.

I dropped the letter. It fluttered slowly to the wood floor. ''No…'' I whispered.

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NICO POV:

After waiting at a local cemetery for half an hour with no answer from Eric, I decided to wait at a local nearby pub. Of course, I wasn't drinking alcohol, but settled for the Coca-Cola. It was a small, town-side bar on the side of a gas station, truckers and bikers milling around; chatting and drinking. A woman sat on a chair on the stage, strumming a guitar, singing Creep by Radiohead in a mid-western accent; she had a nice voice. A shabby old man sat next to me, whispering into his shot of gin.

I couldn't help but feel a little guilty leaving my friends to go face the eidolon on my own, but I knew this was the only way no one else would have to get hurt. After the close call in the Labyrinth, I did not want Reyna to face that pain and danger if I could avoid it. Plus, there was no way in Hades would any of my friends ever let me find him on my own. Everyone else must be worried sick, I thought to myself and once again I felt a pang of guilt. Come on, Nico. You've faced worse odds before. You can do this on your own. Besides, when have you not been on your own? Almost every adversity in your life you've had to face on your own. What's so different now? I sipped the cold, black liquid, the iced drink chilling my throat to an almost painful degree.

''NICO DI ANGELO!''

I nearly spat my coke out in surprise. What in Hades was she doing here? I turned to see a furious looking Reyna stomping over to me. Uh oh…

I'd faced many horrible monsters and titans over the years, but seeing a steaming Reyna Ramirez marching towards me made me want to dissolve into shadows, though at the same time I was kind of glad she was here. In her jeans and green tank top, it gave her kind of a commando look, which I found kind of hot.

''What in Pluto's name, are you doing here!?'' she demanded angrily.

''Reyna? What, how-how did you find me?'' I demanded, flabbergasted.

''I went to Mrs. O'Leary and asked her to take me to you. She shadow travelled me here. Nico, I saw your note, everyone is worried sick!'' she told me.

I frowned. ''I told you not to follow me'' I reminded her.

Reyna narrowed her eyes. Her fists clenched. ''You lied to me, Nico.'' Her voice had a dangerous edge to it. I wasn't sure if she was on the verge of tears or on the verge to knock my lights out, but I told her, ''Yeah, I lied to you. I did it to protect you-''

''You think I need any protection?'' she demanded.

''No! No, you don't but…Reyna…'' I looked down. ''After what happened in the Labyrinth, I can't…I can't stand to see him hurt you. In any way'' I admitted, feeling a snake coil around my chest. ''I can't stand the thought of anyone else important to me being taken away…''

Reyna closed her eyes and sighed deeply. ''I know, but you had me worried to death there. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you. I care about you too…'' she told me. ''You're not alone, Nico. You have friends, family, people who love and care for you.''

I looked at her, beginning to drown in remorse. ''I'm sorry, Reyna.'' I told her. Reyna then did something that surprised me. She pulled me into a hug and I felt the snake loosen its grip around my chest.

''Just promise me, whatever we face, we face together'' she said.

''I promise'' I affirmed, patting her back.

''A lovely promise'' a voice said. I stiffened and let go of Reyna. We looked around ourselves. Reyna appeared alarmed, her dark eyes alert for any danger, darting here and there cautiously.

''Who said that?'' Reyna asked. I suddenly felt like I was trapped in the bronze jar again. I felt the presence of several undead entities in close vicinity.

''Eidolons'' I answered, eyeing our surroundings.

''Son of Hades, you of all people know the burden of broken promises. Not to worry, this will be a promise you shall honour. Both of you will face death together!'' It sounded like multiple raspy voices talking at once.

All around us, several customers slowly turned their heads towards us at once, each of them with new golden eyes. The lady on the stage with the guitar spoke, her voice raspy and thin, cold as a glacier.

''Lord Ericthickton, the true Ghost King, was expecting you to arrive on your own. He expected the Roman girl to show up as well. You have walked right into our ambush! His orders are to kill the Roman and the false king!''

''Not likely'' I growled. No way in Tartarus was I going to let them hurt Reyna.

''Nico, I thought you could sense if ghosts were near'' Reyna said.

One of the possessed customers turned their palms. ''Lord Ericthickton is also a son of Hades. He kept us concealed from you until the time was right.'' All at once, they began to slowly march towards us. We were cornered. There was no other option but to fight out of this.

''We can't use weapons on them. They're mortals. We're going to have to knock them out'' I told Reyna. She nodded grimly, raising her fists up. I felt two arms grab me from behind. Reyna grabbed them and pulled the possessed bartender off, throwing him onto the wood. He snarled, his eyes glassy and gold and got up, only to get a knee to the face from me. He collapsed to the ground. The others slowly marched forward, some were holding bottles, cattle prods and others were brandishing knives. The woman on the stage held her guitar like a baseball bat.

I chugged the last of my coke down and raised my fists. ''Come and get it then!''

They rushed forward and bedlam broke loose. The surrounding mortals began to fight amongst themselves as well. Some of them ran, others just continued drinking like nothing was happening. Through the Mist, they probably saw this as just another bar fight. On one of the speakers, some country song began playing.

A possessed mortal charged me with a cattle prod. I caught his wrist as he jabbed his stick towards my chest, before redirecting it to an eidolon behind me, shocking him. The electrocuted eidolon fell to the ground and I jammed the cattle prod into the one in front of me and he collapsed, twitching on the floor. Flipping the cattle prod once in my hand, I launched it across the room, smacking another possessed customer on the head.

Reyna knocked the wind out of one attacker with a well-placed kick. She ducked under the slash of an attacker's knife, before upper-cutting her and elbowing her across the jaw.

Another eidolon rushed me with a knife. I dodged his wild slashes, his third missed strike resulting in accidentally stabbing his knife into the shoulder of a fellow eidolon. I grabbed his hand and head-butted him on the nose, before slamming him into the wall. Reyna kicked another dude in the crotch before judo-flipping another one, slamming him straight through the table. She ducked as a bottle flew over her head and smashed into little pieces on the wall.

Reyna swept the leg of another attacker, tripping him to the floor before axe kicking his head. I kicked another dude in the chest, backing him against the wall, following with a punch which sent him sliding unconscious down the wall. I weaved my head out of the way of a bottle throw.

I turned to see Reyna drop kick another eidolon over the bar counter like a pro-wrestler, before ducking under the slash of a knife and kneeing the dude in the groin, taking his knife and kneeing him again on the head which effectively put him out. She threw her knife across the room where it pinned a dude to the wall by his shirt. I tried not to get distracted by how beautiful she looked while kicking ass.

Stopping to take a quick sip of coke, I dodged a flying chair which crashed into another possessed eidolon. Smashing the glass over the head of the chair thrower, I turned just in time to see Reyna also break a beer bottle over an eidolon's head, before ducking under the punch of another, using his momentum to pick him up and slam him straight through another table.

I placed a snooker ball on a particular spot on the snooker table, waiting for the eidolon to attack. I caught his arm and slammed his head on the hard ball, knocking him senseless, before grabbing the metal triangle they use to arrange them and using it to intercept another eidolon's punch. He yelled out in pain as his fist connected with solid metal, stepping back to grab his hand. I smacked him on the forehead with the steel, before smacking another eidolon upside the head.

I looked behind me and saw Reyna nimbly weave out of the way of two wild knife strikes before landing a swift left hook to the jaw of her attacker, then twisting his arm to drop the knife, effectively breaking his arm. She pushed the screaming eidolon away. I caught her eye and we smiled at each other for a moment. Who knew a girl breaking a dude's arm could look so…sexy? I saw an eidolon sneak up behind her, beer bottle in hand.

''Reyna, duck!'' I warned, picking up a snooker ball. She listened and instantly crouched as the ball sailed over her head, pinging the eidolon on the skull. Reyna looked startled at the downed opponent and she gave me a smile.

''Thanks- LOOK OUT!'' she yelled. It was now her turn to save me as I turned to see an attacker raise a snooker stick over his head to hit me. I felt Reyna's hands clasp my shoulders and she planted her boot into the eidolon's head, sending him staggering to the ground. I watched, stunned as she side kicked another possessed mortal straight on the chin, sending spit flying out of her mouth, making her spin in a circle before collapsing.

''You okay?'' she asked.

''Uhh…yeah…'' By gods, she looks pretty…

The eidolon with the guitar snarled, snapping me out of my trance. I yanked the guitar from her and kicked her away, turning to break it over the head of another eidolon. The guitar eidolon scrambled to get up. I looked at Reyna.

''Care to have the honour to put the last one down?'' I asked, offering my hand.

She smiled. ''My pleasure'' she answered, grabbing my hand. I swung her to towards the eidolon and she spun toward her, executing a 360 degree tornado kick which would have made Coach Hedge proud, right to the jaw of the last eidolon, who spun on her heel from the impact, sliding off the bar counter to the floor unconscious.

The bar was in shambles. Chairs, bottles and tables were broken. Bodies were strewn across the floor, all groaning in pain or still unconscious. They appeared to be back to their normal selves. I looked at Reyna.

''Nice job, RA-RA'' I told her. She placed her hands on her hips and looked at me, smirking with a raised eyebrow.

''You're not so bad yourself, Death Boy. You certainly know how to show a girl a good time'' she remarked, stretching her limbs.

It sounds weird but Reyna looked beautiful while fighting. In fact, she looked kind of hot… I felt my heart going bonkers; though I'm sure it wasn't just from the adrenaline. My chest ached and I wanted to kiss her badly then and there but the voice of the eidolon stopped me.

''You…will never succeed…Lord Ericthickton will destroy you all…'' the mid-western woman who was possessed by the eidolon said, struggling on the floor. I remembered the reason I was here. I towered over the defeated mid-westerner.

''Where is Eric then? You follow a coward who refuses to face me?'' I asked. The eidolon laughed.

''Fools…you are all fools…soon, you will die and the Roman camp will be in flames!'' the spirit warned.

Reyna took a step forward, her brows furrowed. ''What do you mean? What is Eric planning?''

I outstretched my hand. ''Answer her question, spirit!'' I commanded, unsheathing my Stygian iron axe. The eidolon's eyes widened in fear.

''Lord Ericthickton was a Greek prince! He was not happy to discover Rome's invasion of Greece. He and his army of earthen ghosts will wipe the Roman camp off the face of the earth tonight'' the eidolon said hastily.

''That's why he set up this ambush…he wanted me out of the picture. I get killed or captured while he destroys Camp Jupiter'' I realized.

''The bastard…we need to warn Hazel and Frank!'' Reyna told me.

The eidolon hissed. ''You have fallen right into his trap! He is the true Ghost King! It is over.''

He began to laugh hysterically. My fists clenched and anger surged through me. I put my finger to my lips and the spirit's mouth shut.

''No, it's not over!'' I stated coldly. I looked around the carnage of the bar. Raising my arms and closing my eyes, I felt the spirits of the eidolons around me.

''Eidolons'' I said, pouring all the authority I could into my voice. ''Rise.''

Around us, the mortals lying on the ground rose haphazardly, as though they were puppets attached on string. They all fixed their gold, supernatural eyes on me, awaiting instructions. Reyna shuddered next to me.

''By gods, that is creepy…'' she muttered.

''Return to the Underworld. Return to my father!'' I ordered and at once all of them crumpled to the floor. They began to shift, their eyes fluttering open, no more glassy and gold but back their normal colours.

I turned to Reyna. She looked at me uncertainly. Her eyes showed a little fear. Guilt instantly overtook me. I didn't want Reyna to be afraid of me and my powers.

''The eidolons are gone…I'm sorry about that if it-''

''Scared me? It is a little scary when you do that'' Reyna admitted. I hung my head, my heart feeling like lead.

''I'm sorry, i-''

Then she did something that surprised me. She gave me a kiss on the cheek.

''But it's also pretty cool when you do that'' she added, smiling warmly. I didn't know how to react. I'm pretty sure I looked like an idiot. I felt a blush overtake my cheeks and my brain felt like it might dissolve into shadows from being unable to process what had just happened. The spot where she kissed me tingled.

''Um…uh, thanks…'' I mustered, eyes wide. The blaring sirens of police cars, their red and blue flashing lights rippling through the windows broke me out of my flustered state. Reyna grabbed my wrist.

''We need to go, now'' she warned. We hurried over to the back exit, stepping over bodies, groaning and shifting in pain.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

First off, omg I'm so sorry for the huge delay. I've been super busy with exams and have had little time to develop this story. Thank you all for being patient and I am finally free from exams. Also, I like exploring the skill-sets of demigods outside of weapons; their hand to hand combat abilities.

Yoshi133: I feel as though Frank is like the Kronk of the PJO universe, lol! Sorry for the delay and enjoy the chapter! I can picture this being a meme:

Frank: Oh right, the posion! The poison for Octavian, the poison chosen specifically to kill Octavian, Octavian's poison…you know, that poison-

Reyna: Yes, Frank that poison!

REYNICO4EVA: Thank you, once again, my apologies for the delay and thanks for reading and reviewing!