Camp Half-Blood was one of the most beautiful sights that Piper had seen. A smile lit up her face as she saw the strawberry fields and campers that were milling around. Most of them seemed to notice Festus, and they all started to gather.
"I can't believe you held up buddy," Leo said as he rubbed Festus' neck. Calypso whipped around and looked at him. She had been tending to Nico. The son of Hades had not stirred since they dragged him off of the island. He looked almost see-through.
"You promised that he would hold up," Calypso said. She glared at Leo, and he held up his hands.
"And he did. I was right!" Leo exclaimed. He turned to look back at the camp and directed Festus to land. "And, we made it home. Safe and sound!"
"For the most part," Jason commented. He exchanged looks with Piper. Her hand went to her neck. There was a small cut from where Isabella had decided to give her a warning. Piper felt like she shouldn't be able to believe the pirates would betray them, but at the same time, pirates were pirates. Demigods or not.
Reyna had been so desperate to destroy the island and keep it out of the hands of the Mistveil. That was why she betrayed them and almost killed Nico. Piper still wasn't going to leave the pirates to die though. A small part of her understood Reyna's point If Piper had lost her father or Jason, she would do everything in her power to ruin the life of the person who ruined hers.
Grief didn't excuse it though. Piper understood, but she wouldn't forgive Reyna. She wasn't going to forgive the pirates for nearly killing her friend and then them. A small sigh left Piper, and she closed her eyes.
Was this how their journey with the pirates was going to end? Would the pirates ask for their second half of the payment? Piper could see Reyna having enough gall to march up to Chiron and ask for the money. Piper shook her head and felt Festus land.
Piper wasn't the one who needed closure with the pirates though. Nico needed to be able to talk to Reyna and to confront her about what she did. Otherwise, he would spend many nights tossing and turning and wondering why someone he had grown close to would betray him like that.
As Festus came to a full landing, Piper opened her eyes. She saw most of the campers had gathered around their landing zone, and Chiron was at the front. Leo jumped off of Festus and helped Calypso step off.
Someone pushed their way to the front of the crowd, and Will looked up at them. His eyes narrowed, and he scrambled up the dragon. Will looked at Nico and spoke, "What happened?"
"It's a long story," Jason began. "But, he was forced to use more shadow travel than he should have and something like magic."
"Make room and someone get a stretcher!" Will yelled as he turned back towards the crowd. "Someone find Coach Hedge and send him to the infirmary. Now!"
Will turned towards them and pointed at Jason. He spoke, "You're going to help me get Nico on the stretcher. Piper, I need to know everything that Nico did involving shadow travel. He looks worse now than he did when he delivered the statue."
"I know," Piper whispered. "I should tell Chiron too. In case the pirates come back."
"Was it that bad?" Will asked. He relaxed slightly and gently poured nectar into Nico's mouth. Piper nodded. "I'm sorry."
Piper smiled slightly and saw two children of Apollo run towards them. She closed her eyes tiredly. They had been traveling almost nonstop since they left the island. They only stopped long enough to get food. The worse part was that Nico had yet to wake up. They didn't know how bad the damage was.
Piper opened her eyes after a few moments and saw Will and Jason carefully loading Nico onto the stretcher. The two lifted it, and Piper helped them. Leo carefully grabbed onto the remaining side, and together, the four of them lowered the stretcher to the ground.
Two children of Apollo carried the stretcher towards the infirmary. Piper climbed down Festus. She turned and looked at Chiron. He had a neutral look on his face, but there was worry in his eyes.
"Things did not go well," Chiron assumed.
"The pirates betrayed us," Leo said. He glanced at Calypso. She was walking around and looked like she was in awe. A small smile came to Piper's face. This was a whole new world for Calypso, and even with Nico's injuries, this quest had all been worth it.
"They attacked you?" Chiron asked.
"In a way. It's complicated," Jason began.
"It's not complicated. We didn't have the rod, and that sky pirate forced Nico to use shadow travel," Leo said.
"It seems like you have quite a tale to share," Chiron said. "We will get some food for you and check on Nico. Then, you can tell me the story."
"Stupid demigods," Isabella muttered as she lowered her beer. She took a puff of her cigarette and slowly blew the smoke out. "Idiots wouldn't work with us. So, we had to take drastic measures."
"I'm just glad you made it back safely," Filinore commented. She moved towards the bed in the corner. Reyna was laying on the bed asleep. She had gone from laying on her back to laying on her side with one arm hanging off of the bed. The girl needed her rest, especially if she was going to run a fleet.
Isabella's crew was still on the ocean. She trusted them enough to make their way back to the base while only stopping at a strip club or two. Isabella had used Reyna's whistle to call her Pegasus and then rode on that stupid Pegasus with Reyna to keep the younger girl from falling off. Isabella hated heights.
"Mostly," Isabella commented. She sighed and took another drag of her cigarette.
"When do we burn the Mistveil to the ground?" Hill asked. He was sitting across from Isabella. They were playing a game of poker, but their hearts weren't in it. Gillsworth gnawed on his cigar, and Isabella was always concerned when he pulled it out of his mouth with missing chunks.
"I don't know," Isabella answered. "Reyna's going to need time to heal. She shared her strength to help that stupid son of Hades. Not to mention what the Mistveil did to her."
"We can still prepare for war," Gillsworth muttered.
"With or without giving the Mistveil a heads up?" Filinore questioned. She placed a hand on Reyna's forehead.
"They have to know we want revenge. Let's just get ready and kick down their door when our captain wakes," Hill said.
"That's how you get killed. We need to make a plan," Isabella said. She glanced over at Reyna. Part of her had been worried that the other captains wouldn't accept Reyna when the time came, but it seemed like they were more than ready to now. They all had respected Hylla, and that same respect was being given to her little sister.
"We can still prepare the ships," Filinore said. "We will need supplies, medicine, and enough ammo to shake the gates of Hades. We'll need to call in some favors from the Amazons."
"Shit. No one told the queen, did they?" Isabella asked. The room fell silent. Everyone knew about Hylla's relationship with the queen of the Amazons. They were almost as close to each other as Hylla and Reyna had been.
"Not it," Hill began.
"Not it," Gillsworth added a second behind.
"Sorry. Not it," Filinore said. Isabella gave her fellow captains a look. She cursed under her breath and stood.
"I'll do it, but one of you is paying the drachma," Isabella said. She held her hand out. Before she could blink, three drachmas were placed in her hand. Isabella clenched her fist around the coins and let out a deep breath.
Isabella turned and left the room. When one of their pirates died, the captain of the ship they served on would be the one who made the call to the family. If that pirate was close to their family. Isabella's family was long dead, which was something she was grateful for. When she died, the only thing she wanted was for her captain to drop her corpse at the nearest shore and put a beer in one hand and lit cigarette in the other.
Isabella stopped outside of Hylla's office. She placed a hand to the door, but it felt wrong. Walking in here would be like desecrating hallowed ground. It wasn't her right anyway. This room belonged to the captain, and they were all in agreement that Reyna would take her sister's place. As much shit as they gave the girl, they did want her to succeed.
The coins clinked together, and she continued to walk. Isabella made it towards Reyna's office and pushed open the door. She tossed the coin towards the fountain and spoke, "Oh Iris, goddess of rainbows. Show me Queen Kinzie at the Amazon base."
Isabella's stomach twisted as she watched the mist form the image of Kinzie. The Queen of the Amazons was sitting at a desk. There was a mound of paperwork on her right side and a few packages on her left. There was a laptop in front of her that seemed to have all of her attention.
"Queen Kinzie," Isabella greeted. She bowed her head. Upon looking back up, Kinzie was staring directly at her. There was a small frown on her face.
"Captain Isabella," Kinzie said, finally returning the greeting. "What's wrong?"
Isabella tried to keep the tears out of her eyes. She tried to keep her lower lip from quivering. As she met the gaze of Kinzie, the other woman seemed to understand. Her shoulders visibly deflated, and she looked down
"Hylla?" Kinzie slowly asked.
"Killed," Isabella answered. She painfully cleared her throat and then wiped her eyes. "By the Mistveil. Hylla and Reyna were in the middle of helping the demigods with their quest, and they were attacked."
"And Reyna?" Kinzie asked. Her face was emotionless, but her eyes told the entire story. Kinzie blinked rapidly as she tried to keep tears out of them. Isabella averted her eyes for a few moments so the Amazon could pull herself together.
"Alive. Barely," Isabella said. A sad sigh left her. "I know that you and Hylla were extremely close. I wanted to tell you to your face instead of some letter."
Kinzie looked like she was lost in a mixture of thought and grief. She finally looked down at her desk. Isabella started to raise her hand to end the message, but Kinzie stopped her, "What are you going to do about the Mistveil?"
"We don't have an exact plan yet, but the consensus is that we are going to wipe the Mistveil off the face of the earth. We're just waiting for Reyna to wake up and recover," Isabella answered.
"I can't offer Amazons, but I can offer you any supplies you need. All the ammunition that you need to blow their base sky-high is yours. Just send me a message and give us a day or two to gather the supplies," Kinzie said.
"Thank you, Queen Kinzie," Isabella said with a bow. "I will let Reyna know of your offer."
"Tell her that I want to see her after all of this is over," Kinzie said. Isabella nodded and watched Kinzie end the message. Then, she stared at the ground. The offer from Kinzie was a blessing, and they would make the most of it.
Despite the pain in her heart, a small smile came to Isabella's face. The Mistveil didn't know it, but they were at the end of their days. The idiots decided to piss off the greatest pirate crew in history, and they would learn that soon. The Mistveil would fall, and their blood would soak the water.
