Reyna's eyes drifted open, and she stared at the darkened sky above her. Rain fell from the sky in a trickle, and she blinked rapidly as some of it hit her face. Reyna closed her eyes and tried to get her bearings. It felt like she was soaking wet, and she heard waves near her. There was sand beneath her skin.
As she came back to her senses, she felt a burning pain in her chest and stomach. Reyna almost yelled as it felt like her flesh was moving to close the wounds. She brought both hands to her face and tried to calm down. The pain got worse and worse, and she slammed her feet into the ground repeatedly.
The pain wouldn't stop. It got worse, and she rolled onto her stomach. Reyna buried her face in the sand and yelled in agony. She moved both hands to her chest and gripped her shirt. It felt like her shirt was soaking wet, and she was scared to know if it was blood or rain.
As the pain mercifully stopped, Reyna allowed herself to relax against the sand. Her eyes drifted close, and if she passed out or not, she didn't know. Reyna found the strength to open her eyes sometime later, and she lifted her head. It took her a moment to wipe the sand from her face, and she made it to her hands and knees.
Reyna's arms shook from exhaustion, and she collapsed to the ground. A groan left her. There was a gnawing pit in her stomach, but she couldn't tell if it was from the dagger wound, vomiting horrendously, hunger, or a mixture of all three.
Since she had no other choice, Reyna relaxed against the sand. Her eyes moved to look at her surroundings. It seemed like she was on some kind of island, and there was no one around her. She wore the same clothes that she had during the attack. The only difference was that her weapons were gone.
Reyna reached her hands into her pockets, and she almost let out a cry of relief as she felt the two coins in her right hand. Her left hand closed around Scipio's whistle. Reyna blew into the whistle and closed her eyes. Wherever the Pegasus was, he would come. Now, Reyna just needed to conserve her strength.
Reyna needed to find out where she was. She would be able to get supplies and find a way back to the ship. There, Hylla would-
Wait.
Hylla.
Gods no. It had all been a dream, right?
It hadn't though.
Hylla was dead
No. No. No.
Hylla could not be dead. She couldn't be. This was all some kind of sick dream, and Reyna was going to wake up soon.
Reyna forced herself to her feet. She stumbled forward in the sand and almost collapsed back to the ground. Reyna stayed on her feet and slowly walked towards the water. She stared down at it and tried to get rid of nausea that she felt in her stomach.
Reyna collapsed to her knees as she remembered everything that had happened. Both hands moved to her chest. It became hard to breathe, and it felt like she was going to have another breakdown. Instead, she just stared at the water that she was in.
Her reflection stared back at her, and she looked like hell. Her face had bruises and cuts all over it, with the worst being near her temple. Reyna placed two fingers to the side of her head and felt the wound that Marcus had given her. Kendall had reopened the wound when she slammed the rod into Reyna's head multiple times.
Reyna's hand shot to her belt. A loud curse left her as she realized the rod was gone. Kendall must have taken it. Reyna stared at the water and slowly placed her hands in it. She threw water in her face and tried to calm down.
"Fuck," Reyna whispered. She slammed her fists into the water. "Fuck!"
Reyna slowly stood and stumbled towards the shore. She collapsed to the ground and rolled onto her back. Her eyes stared at the falling rain. Reyna had no weapons, no armor, no medicine, no supplies, and no clue where she was. She felt panic in her chest but tried to quell it.
Reyna shakily grabbed Scipio's whistle and blew it again. She lowered the whistle and laid her head back against the sand. She reached into her pocket and slowly withdrew her two coins. Reyna studied the silver and gold coins. Could she attempt to send an Iris message with one of them? But, would it destroy the coin? Reyna couldn't take that chance.
It took her a few moments to place the coins back into her pocket. She stared numbly at the sky. Reyna felt like she should be in the middle of a breakdown. She should be crying her heart out. Instead, she felt numb. Nothing felt right. Was Hylla really dead, or was this some kind of fucked up dream?
The only way to answer that was to get back to the ship. Reyna didn't know how she was going to find the ship, but she would. If the Mistveil was there, that would just make her job easier. Reyna allowed her eyes to close. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but as she heard the flapping of wings, she forced her eyes open.
"Scipio," Reyna whispered. Her Pegasus landed next to her and nuzzled her face. Reyna slowly grabbed Scipio's saddle and tried to pull herself to her feet. When that didn't work, she gently placed a hand to her Pegasus' face. "Hey, buddy. Can I get some help?"
Scipio nudged her face again. Reyna slowly wrapped both arms around his neck. He stood up straight, and Reyna was slowly able to get to her feet. She collapsed against Scipio and took shaky breaths. Reyna pulled herself onto the Pegasus and nearly passed out on the saddle.
Stars danced in her vision from the sheer effort. Reyna knew she was in no shape to go anywhere but back to safety. She had to do something though. Anything. Reyna spoke softly, "We have to go to the ship."
Reyna carefully slipped her arms around Scipio and rested her head against his mane. Her eyes closed without her permission, and she slipped into unconsciousness once more.
Reyna's eyes drifted open, and she stared down at her Pegasus. It looked like Scipio had landed somewhere. Reyna blinked a few times and slowly sat up. Somehow, she felt even worse than she had earlier. Reyna tried to dismount her Pegasus, and she fell flat on her face.
A groan left her, and she blinked a few times. Her eyes focused on the deck beneath her face. It was stained in blood, and she was hit with the smell of dead and rotting corpses a moment later. Reyna slowly looked around and tried to focus.
Her eyes moved to the corpse that was across the ship. Reyna slowly made it to her feet and stumbled towards the body. She collapsed to her knees next to her sister. Her eyes moved to the rest of the bodies around the deck. Reyna felt the anger and grief tearing through her again.
"I'm going to kill you, Damon. All of you," Reyna swore. She forced herself to her feet, and she walked towards the stairs. Reyna slowly made her way below deck and checked on each of the rooms. Some of the rooms had her crew in it, but their throats had been slit open. It was a massacre, and they never saw it coming.
Reyna searched each of the rooms. She wasn't sure what she wanted to find, but the only thing that she did find was dead bodies and destroyed rooms. Reyna slowly made her way to her office and found it ransacked and destroyed. She moved on to her cabin and stepped inside.
The entire room had been destroyed as well. Her dresser had been overturned, and her bed had been flipped upside down. Reyna's pillow was near her feet, and she carefully reached down to grab it. Reyna grabbed the small book from inside the pillowcase. It was the same one that she had taken from the Mistveil pirates that attacked her and Piper on the beach. Reyna tucked the book into her pocket.
After leaving the room, Reyna made her way towards Hylla's office. She knew that the office would have been ransacked and everything important taken out of it. Reyna didn't care about that though. She stepped into the office and searched Hylla's desk for a coin. When she didn't find one, a growl of anger left her.
Reyna collapsed to her knees and dug through the half-torn papers on the ground. She carefully picked through the remains until she found a destroyed picture frame. Reyna gently removed the picture from the frame and stared at it.
Reyna and Hylla were bloody messes in the picture, but they were happy. And together. Did Hylla know that she would die soon? Did the Reyna in that picture know that her life was going to be destroyed? Reyna carefully stood and cradled the picture. She tucked it into her pocket and made her way back up to the top deck.
As she stepped onto the deck, Reyna stared at all of the bodies. She took a shaky breath. Reyna slowly walked towards Scipio and spoke, "You need to take me to shore, okay? I need food and supplies."
Reyna would also need fuel and oil to burn the ship. She wouldn't just allow it to float on the sea as some kind of unmarked grave. The Mistveil left the ship there to show off their conquest. That would not stand with her. Reyna let go of the saddle and looked at Hylla's body.
It took a moment for Reyna to swallow painfully and walk towards the body of her sister. She carefully knelt by Hylla and spoke, "I'm so sorry, Hylla. I am so sorry that this happened. I miss you so much, Hylla. I'm going to avenge you."
"I love you so much," Reyna said. She collapsed to a sitting position as the grief hit her like a wave. She found it hard to breathe again, and she rocked back and forth. Tears came to her eyes. Reyna couldn't break down now, but there wouldn't be another time for her to properly break down. After she left this ship, she had to focus on her revenge.
"I will kill them all," Reyna promised. She carefully grabbed one of Hylla's fallen knives. Her cutlasses were gone, probably at the bottom of the sea or taken as trophies. Hylla's other knife was missing as well. The only thing Reyna had left of her sister was this single knife, and she was going to stab it through Damon's heart.
Reyna tucked the knife into her waistband and stayed by her sister's side. She buried her face in her hands, and terrible cries wracked her body. Reyna knew there were five stages of grief, but she didn't think she would ever get out of this mixture of anger and depression that she felt. The only thing that would make her feel better would be to rip out the heart of Damon and feed it to Kendall.
Reyna let the cries of misery wrack her body, and she stayed by her sister's side. It didn't matter what Reyna had to do. She would kill the Mistveil and fulfill her vow. It didn't matter who stood in her way. They would move out of the way or be crushed under her heel. At the end of all this, Reyna swore that the Mistveil would feel every bit of pain and suffering they had put her through. That she would swear on the River Styx.
