"It's always been my wish to become a pirate captain, and it's going to become a reality soon," Reyna said softly. She stared out at the rising sun. It was a new day, and she felt happy. The nightmares hadn't bothered her for days now, and her quartermaster duties had been going well. They were halfway to the island. Reyna's hand moved to the rod on her belt. "There's a lot of reasons, but I really want to make Hylla proud."
"Why did it take so long for Hylla to make you a captain?" Nico asked. He was the only one that Reyna had told. She just enjoyed being around Nico, and they had spent the last two days just hanging out. It was nice and relaxing.
"I guess she wanted me to earn it, and she was afraid of letting me go," Reyna answered. "There are other ways for me to become captain. If Hylla was incapacitated with an injury."
"Or killed?" Nico asked quietly. Reyna nodded and looked down.
"Yeah. If a captain dies while out at sea, the quartermaster takes over. For a while, I thought I would have to wait till Hylla died at seventy from some heart attack that I gave her to get my own ship. All I have to do now is be done with this quest," Reyna said. She looked at Nico. "No offense."
"None taken," Nico said. His eyes grew distant, and he looked down. "I lost my older sister years ago."
Reyna looked at Nico with wide eyes. She sat back against the crow's nest and remained silent. Nico continued, "We went to Camp Half-Blood, and I thought we were somewhere safe. She ended up joining the Hunters of Artemis and going on a quest to rescue the goddess they hunt for. My sister, Bianca, died along the way. She gave her life to save everyone else."
"I'm sorry," Reyna said after a few moments. She gripped Nico's shoulder and looked out in the distance. Reyna couldn't imagine what she would do if she lost Hylla. She didn't think that she would be able to live with herself. Nico looked down and closed his eyes.
Reyna wanted to say something that would comfort him. Instead, she looked down and spoke, "I'll leave you alone."
Nico didn't protest, so Reyna took that as her cue to leave. She stood and climbed down from the crow's nest. Reyna made her way below deck. While she knew that Nico and her were getting closer, she didn't realize that he trusted her enough to tell her something like that. And instead of comforting him, she just walked away. Not her best choice.
Reyna walked towards her office and grabbed the metal rod from her belt. She ran her hand over it. When they began their final voyage for the island, Reyna had slipped the rod onto her belt and didn't move it from there. Upon making it into her office, she found Kendall standing there. Kendall was drinking a bottle of wine.
"It's a little early to drink," Reyna commented. Kendall looked at her and smiled slightly. She sat on Reyna's desk. "What's the occasion?"
"Celebrating," Kendall answered. She poured a glass and offered it to Reyna. A small smirk came to Reyna's face, but she shook her head.
"It's a little too early to celebrate a successful job done," Reyna said. Kendall shrugged and looked down. Reyna frowned. "Something seems wrong."
"I was also thinking about what I said to you: my confession. I get it," Kendall said. "You don't let anyone get close to you. It's a defense mechanism since you never know who you can trust. Well, other than your sister.
"You're always there to protect her," Kendall said softly. Reyna moved closer to Kendall and focused on her. "You two are invincible together. No one would dare touch you. But, you haven't really been together recently, have you?"
"We just argue a lot," Reyna said with a shrug. "We've been talking more recently though. Everything is fine."
"But it wasn't for some time. And, that made you two easy to manipulate," Kendall said. Reyna looked at Kendall in confusion, and the wine bottle slammed into her temple. Reyna stumbled and someone grabbed her shoulders. Her temple was slammed into the corner of her desk, and the world went dark for a few moments.
When Reyna came to, she was laying on the ground. A heavy weight was settled on her stomach. She slowly looked up and saw Kendall. Reyna blinked a few times and felt blood trickle into her eyes. An attempt to move her arms was unsuccessful, and she realized that Kendall had her arms pinned above her head. She heard a clicking noise a moment later.
Reyna felt something cold around her wrist, like handcuffs. She slowly spoke, "What are you doing?"
Kendall didn't answer. Instead, she kissed Reyna roughly. Reyna tried to pull away, but Kendall didn't let her. Kendall forced her tongue into Reyna's mouth and ran her tongue across Reyna's teeth. After a few moments, Kendall pulled away and spoke, "Do you feel the missing piece of my tongue?"
"You were tortured," Reyna began. Kendall laughed, and Reyna focused on the missing piece of Kendall's tongue. The realization hit her, and she felt sick to her stomach. "You are part of the Mistveil."
"And, I will spare you, if you bow to me," Kendall said. One of her hands moved from Reyna's wrists, and she grabbed onto Reyna's belt. "You'll be my toy and will finally let me do all of the things I have been wanting to do to you."
Reyna stared up at Kendall and heard the sounds of fighting and yelling. She turned her head to look at the hallway. Kendall spoke, "Don't worry. I helped Maurice make breakfast today. But, you didn't have any, did you? Neither did those stupid Greeks or your sister. That doesn't matter though. The majority of your crew did. I believe they are still sleeping and won't ever wake."
"You betrayed us," Reyna whispered. She stared up at Kendall, and she felt Kendall loosening her belt.
"We were going to burn your ship down earlier, but you stole the Greek fire from me and almost killed Damon with it. You burned down what was going to be my ship," Kendall said.
"Why would you betray us?" Reyna questioned. She was still shocked, but the shock was starting to give way to anger. Kendall laughed and slipped her hand into Reyna's pants. Reyna growled in anger. Then, she tore her hands from Kendall's grasp and slammed both fists into Kendall's temple. The traitor collapsed to the side, and Reyna scrambled backward.
Reyna scrambled to her feet and rushed towards the door. She stumbled into the hallway and barely caught herself on the wall. Two pirates, Mistveil pirates, had their back towards her. One turned around and grinned. On their other side, Nico was standing in shock.
"Get to Arke!" Reyna yelled. She awkwardly unsheathed one of her cutlasses and deflected the attack of the Mistveil pirate. Nico attacked the other one, but Reyna put herself between the two. "Grab the rod and go!"
Reyna deflected another attack and tried to move closer to Nico. As Nico tried to grab the rod, the second pirate attacked him. Reyna shoved her attacker away and slammed the one dueling Nico into the wall. She yelled, "Just go. I'll give it to you later!"
"I'm not leaving," Nico argued. He stabbed one of the Mistveil pirates, but two more seemed to appear out of thin air.
"Go," Reyna yelled. Nico shook his head and continued to fight. "Nico. Go! Take your friends and leave with Arke! That is all that matters!"
Nico stared at her but backed away. He spoke, "Send us a message when you can."
Nico turned and ran down the hall. Reyna stabbed one of the Mistveil pirates that tried to pursue him. She slammed into another one and dodged the attack of a third. Someone tugged on her belt, and she looked down at the rod. The metal rod slammed into her jaw a moment later.
Reyna stumbled backward, and the rod slammed into her temple. She collapsed against the wall and felt a foot slam into her gut. Reyna doubled over and slowly looked up. Kendall smirked down at her and raise the rod.
"I have been waiting to do this for so long," Kendall whispered, and she slammed the rod into Reyna's stomach. Reyna collapsed wheezing for breath, and Kendall kicked her in the gut. Reyna gasped, and Kendall delivered a few more solid kicks to her gut. Reyna gasped for breath, and she watched Kendall raise the rod again. It slammed into Reyna's temple again, and everything went dark.
Reyna's eyes drifted open, and it took her a few moments to realize that she was lying face-first on the deck of the ship. Reyna tried to move, but two people grabbed her arms. She was pulled to her knees. Reyna blinked a few times and slowly looked around.
It seemed like they were surrounded by the Mistveil pirates. Reyna could see some of their crew, but there were a lot of faces missing. She assumed they were dead, and it made her sick to her stomach. Reyna tried to struggle with the two men, but it was no use. One of them grabbed her head and forced her to look up.
Reyna made eye contact with her sister. Hylla was being kept on her knees as well, and blood covered the bottom of her face. Her nose looked like it had been shattered, and it looked like she was in pain. Hylla met Reyna's eyes, and a look of guilt came to her face.
A mist slithered throughout the ship. It stopped in front of Reyna and started to form the image of a man. Reyna tensed and watched the mist form Damon. The captain of the Mistveil turned and studied her for a very long moment.
"I warned you," Damon finally said. "I gave you chance after chance to join us, and you refused each and every time."
"I'm not joining your band of freaks," Reyna snapped. She tried to stand but couldn't. Hylla's eyes widened. Reyna slowly moved her head to look behind her. Kendall knelt by her and grabbed her face. All Reyna could do was glare.
"Do you know what loyalty is?" Kendall asked. Reyna remained silent. "You see, I am very loyal, but I hold no loyalty to you. My mission was to infiltrate the great crew of Hylla Ramirez-Arellano and find out a way to destroy it."
"I was always a member of the Mistveil," Kendall continued. "When I first joined your crew, I used the Mist to hide the missing piece of my tongue, but I couldn't hold up the illusion forever. That is why I was kidnapped and tortured, but I am so loyal to this crew that I didn't say a word, even when it cost me my tongue."
Reyna looked away. How could she have not seen this coming? How did she not see the signs that Kendall was going to betray them? At the same time, there had never been any signs. Kendall had always seemed so loyal to them. It didn't make any sense.
"You are going to pay for this," Hylla snapped. Kendall smiled and stood. She grabbed Reyna's cutlass and slowly unsheathed it. Reyna tried to struggle, but she couldn't. Kendall placed the cutlass to Reyna's throat. "Kendall, leave her alone!"
"To kill the snake, you have to cut off the head," Damon whispered. He knelt by Reyna. "Your crew is the only thing that stands between us and the power of the island. We will rule the seas. Now, where is the goddess that knows where the island is?"
"Gone. I sent her and the demigods away," Reyna answered. She looked him in the eyes and waited for the end. Reyna waited for Kendall to bring the cutlass across her throat and end things once and for all. It didn't matter though. They would get the final laugh. Arke and the demigods were gone. There was no way for the Mistveil to find the island.
"Leave Reyna alone," Hylla said. Kendall turned towards Hylla and glared. Then, she looked back at Reyna.
Kendall moved the cutlass to Reyna's jugular. Reyna could see the irony in it all. She would be killed not only by her own weapon but by the weapon that her mother had gifted her. Reyna took a deep breath and met Kendall's eyes. Kendall smiled.
Then, Kendall turned and swung the cutlass. There was a sickening thud as Hylla's head hit the ground, followed by her body a moment later. Reyna stared at the decapitated body of her sister. All of the breath left her, and tears filled her eyes. Kendall knelt by Reyna and spoke, "Wish granted, captain."
