Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Percy Jackson. That belongs to Rick Riordan. I'm just playing in his world.
Author's Note: Hey everyone, Asmodeus here. Welcome to my new story, A Job Done Too Well. As you probably saw from the tags, this is a Percy Jackson/Reyna Ramírez-Arellano story. It is also going to feature Dark!Percy and Dark!Reyna, so if you don't want to read any of that, feel free to stop reading now.
The inspiration for this came from a fic that I'm pretty sure is now abandoned — achieving elysium's "Lines and Lies: Degenerate." The main concepts I took inspiration from this fic for are Reyna serving Gaea (or, as you'll see, Terra) and the basic idea of it being a Dark Preyna fic. Lines and Lies never got past two chapters, so we never got to see how that would have played out, but I will finish this story, no matter how long it takes.
Additionally, unlike my past stories, this story is going to be told in the Third Person, centered around whoever's POV it is. I feel like this is simply the best way for this story, and likely my future stories as well, to flow.
Finally, I'd like to extend my immense gratitude to my wonderful Beta Reader, Athena, for her work on this chapter.
Self-Promotion: I have a Discord Server where you can talk with me and other readers for free. Also as part of the server, you get early access to all of my chapters. To join, paste the following link into a new tab and remove the spaces: discord . gg / Bfwywpf
Reyna POV:
'For Pluto's sake… why did Hylla have to leave?' Reyna grumbled to herself for the umpteenth time since she and her sister had abruptly parted ways.
As Reyna hiked north along the California coast, she thought back to how in the name of Pluto she had gotten herself into her current predicament.
After the Jackson boy and his friend destroyed her and Hylla's home — Circe's Island — they were stuck with the now-human Blackbeard and his crew. That was not a pleasant experience. As far as Reyna could tell, the only reasons she and Hylla were still alive were their physical beauty and the fact that their mother was a war goddess.
The pirates were extremely lecherous at times and it took everything Reyna had not to knee one in the groin. Even then, they barely escaped with their lives. The boat they had escaped the pirates in was not exactly the most seaworthy craft and fell apart shortly after landfall in Miami.
Fortunately for the pair, the beach they landed on was abandoned and they were easily able to leave the wreck without being spotted by mortals. It would later be chalked up to the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, Reyna assumed, thinking no further on the matter.
The pair hiked up the Florida coast for a few days before reaching a small town in the middle of nowhere where they could gain their bearings and some money before continuing on their journey to Gods know where.
The pair stayed in the town for a week before a Hydra caught up to them and they had to flee, taking the money they had earned and stolen with them — barely enough for two cross-country train tickets from Orlando to Los Angeles. The sisters were on the train for what felt like ages as it made the cross-country journey, traveling through major cities such as Atlanta, New Orleans, and Houston before arriving in Los Angeles.
As soon as they disembarked from the train, the pair fled to the outskirts of town to/and set up camp for the night. Reyna took the first watch that night before waking Hylla for the second watch, at which point the sisters began their trek northwards, following the visions they had received in their dreams upon reaching the Florida coast, telling them to seek out a wolf at the ruins of Jack London's Wolf House.
The Ramírez-Arellano sisters continued that same routine for two more nights before things changed.
One morning, the Fourth of July as the Fates would have it, Reyna woke up not to Hylla's face, but the midday sun — Hylla was gone. All that remained as evidence that a second person had been at their makeshift camp was a single letter tucked securely under a rock.
Reyna immediately snatched up the letter and began to read it,
My Dearest Reyna,
By the time you read this, I'll be long gone. I remember the night you told me the vision you had received and telling you I had received the same vision. I lied to you. Lo siento, mi bella hermanita, I never meant to hurt you like I'm sure I have. It would've broken my heart even further than it already is to tell you the truth. My vision was nothing like yours. I saw our mother, Reyna. She told me that she was proud of us and that my fate was to be different than yours. She told me to venture to Seattle, for that was where my future awaited—
Reyna read no further, infuriated that her sister didn't bother telling her that she was leaving. It was the least she could have done. It was at that moment that she thought to herself, 'Forget Hylla, I am Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, I will be greater than she will ever be.'
It was with that thought that Reyna set off back on her now-solitary journey to the Wolf House.
Now, two and a half days later, Reyna's demigod-sense — as she'd nicknamed the instinctual gut feeling she had guiding her towards her destination — was tingling. She was almost at the Wolf House.
'One more night, then this godsforsaken journey will be over. I'll be at the Wolf House and I will finally discover what my mother wanted me to go there for,' Reyna thought to herself as she set up camp for the night in a grove of ancient trees.
Normally, Reyna would stay awake watching over camp until she could no longer keep her eyes open. However, tonight she decided to do something different. She had noticed that the closer she got to the Wolf House, the fewer and fewer monsters she encountered. She had seen none that entire day and reasoned that she must be close enough to the Wolf House that the monsters dared not approach any closer to whatever force or entity was keeping them at bay.
Once Reyna had finished assembling her camp, which merely consisted of a fire and a sleeping bag, she cooked herself a meager dinner that, per usual, comprised of whatever edible herbs she could find around her and the grubs she scraped off nearby logs. It was by no means a satisfying or well-tasting meal, but it was enough to keep Reyna moving on her journey to the Wolf House. It didn't take long for Reyna to finish, at which point she allowed Morpheus to claim her.
The next thing Reyna knew, she was standing in the very clearing she had fallen asleep in. Across from her was a woman who stood about six feet tall with pale, quartz-colored skin, a dress woven out of what appeared to be blades of grass and long, brown tresses of hair that were all tangled together like roots. What struck Reyna as odd about the woman was that her eyes were closed, as if the woman was also dreaming but hadn't awoken within it.
"Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano," she spoke suddenly, startling Reyna.
"Who the hell are you?!" Reyna exclaimed loudly in shock, before adopting a more inquisitive tone. "And how do you know my name?"
"My name is Terra," the woman replied. "Although you might know me better as Mother Earth."
'Mother Earth?!'Reyna thought as the woman she now knew to be Terra introduced herself. 'I mean, yes, I can see it, but what does a primordial being want with me — the daughter her mother cast aside.'
"As for how I know your name, my dear Reyna, I know the name of every living being who walks upon my body."
'Ah, that's right,' Reyna remembered. 'Terra's body is said to be the entire surface of the Earth.'
"To answer the question that you're asking yourself, what I want with you is to talk."
"You can read my mind?" Reyna asked in shock.
"Never mind that. You asked yourself why I would want to talk to a demigod rejected by their godly parent. That is exactly why I want to talk to you."
Before Reyna could respond, Terra continued, "It's no secret that I despise the Olympians. After Jupiter overthrew my son, Saturn, he locked him and the other Titans in the deepest pits of Tartarus. It was no different than what Saturn did with the cyclopes and hecatoncheires — the hundred-handed ones — after he overthrew his father, Uranus. I cannot, in good conscience, support the Titans nor the Olympians in their bids to control Western Civilization. Furthermore, the Olympians — and even minor deities, such as your mother — abandon and neglect their own children to an astounding degree."
Reyna could help but agree with Terra's assessment. Tossing one's own relatives into the pits of what was essentially Hell was just extreme. Sure, the losers of a war should be incarcerated to avoid a revolution, but to be condemned to Hell for all eternity? That was too much.
"It is also no secret that I have tried to overthrow the Olympians in the past using the aid of my children with Tartarus, the Giants, to no avail. We failed because the Olympians had the support of the most powerful demigods of their age — Bacchus and Hercules. I have slept for millennia and now it is time for me to wake and establish a new world order."
Before Terra could continue monologuing, Reyna interjected, "That's great and all, but I don't see where I factor into all of this."
"I do not know who the strongest demigods of this age will be, nor do I believe I could guess them at this point in time. However, I have learned from my past failures. To overthrow the Olympians, I need the aid of demigods. You know as well as I do that the Olympians are unfit to rule. I wish for you to join me and help reshape the world into one where the corrupt and immoral beings that are the Olympians do not hold all the power."
Reyna pondered over Terra's offer, 'The Olympians are by no means the awe-inspiring, amazing rulers mythology makes them out to be. Just look at Bellona causing my sister to abandon me without warning. However, what's to say that Terra will be any better than them? After all, she was the one who started both Titan and Olympian revolutions.'
"I did start those wars, however, I started them for the same reason I wish to start this one. My husband, Uranus, and son, Saturn, were both drunk on power and unfit to rule. I wished to reestablish a competent ruler who would actually do a good job at leading Western Civilization. I thought both Saturn and Jupiter after him would be that ruler. Unfortunately, they both fell into solely lusting for power and being too paranoid to allow any potential rivals — even their own children — live," Terra interjected, clearly listening in on Reyna's thoughts.
Reyna glared at her, "Could you not read my thoughts?"
Without waiting for a response, Reyna picked up her train of thought again, 'She does make a good point, though. Both Saturn and Jupiter, at least, in the stories I've heard, grew corrupt with power over their reigns. Saturn swallowed Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Pluto, and Neptune, and would have swallowed Jupiter as well had Ops not tricked him, merely to avoid a prophecy that stated one of his children overthrowing him. Jupiter swallowed Metis to avoid a prophecy that stated her son would be stronger than his father. Like father, like son, I suppose.'
"I see you are indecisive," Terra interrupted, which was beginning to annoy Reyna. "Allow me to provide one more argument. You wish to surpass your sister, do you not?"
"My sister," Reyna snarled, "will be nothing compared to me."
Terra's mouth twisted into a smile, "My point, exactly. You wish to surpass your sister. I can aid you on your path to greatness. More than your mother or any of the other Gods — Olympians or not."
Reyna's eyes lit up as if a fire had begun burning within them, "In that case, count me in."
Terra's smile grew wider at that, "Welcome to the right side of this war, my dear Roman."
"What would you have me do, my lady?" Reyna asked, staring directly into Terra's eyes, the inferno still raging within her own.
"As you have likely guessed, you are near the Wolf House. Should you continue your current pace, I suspect the petty wolf goddess, Lupa, and her pack will find you not long after you awaken. Go with them. Pretend to become a loyal Roman and follow their ways. I wish for you to work as a spy of sorts. Gain the trust of the Gods and the Romans. When the time comes, you will lead them right to their demise."
"And what of my sister?" Reyna asked, the last word coming out with a slight growl to it.
"All in good time, all in good time."
Reyna was not satisfied with that response but dared not voice that dissatisfaction — even if Terra could simply read her thoughts to discover that. "Very well, my lady. I will do as you say."
Reyna then switched tracks and asked, "How will you contact me? I assume the same sort of protection from monsters that the Wolf House provides will affect wherever the rest of the Romans are. For that matter, how did you even contact me in the first place? Shouldn't the protections of the Wolf House have prevented it?"
"There is a grove of trees near where the rest of the Romans are that is sacred to me — not unlike the one you are in currently. Due to it being sacred to me, I can manifest my presence within it without restraint. That, as you can probably guess, also answers how we are communicating now."
Reyna was silent for a moment as she absorbed the information before asking another question, "How will I know where the grove is? It sounds as if it's not in the exact same location as the rest of the Romans. Speaking of the Romans, where exactly are the rest of them? You always refer to them as simply 'the rest of the Romans,' not their location."
Terra, mildly annoyed at Reyna's constant questioning, replied brusquely, "The grove will call to you, as it has an aura similar to this one. As for your second question, that's for our favorite wolf to tell you. Knowing what it is without any sort of explanation would be immediately suspicious."
Without even waiting for a response, Terra continued, "Our time draws to a close. Although it may not seem like it, morning is already upon you and the wolves are closing in. Farewell, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano."
With that, Reyna's dream ended abruptly and she awoke to a burned-out campfire and a cloudless sky. Off in the distance, Reyna heard the howls of wolves — Lupa's pack if Terra was to be believed. She quickly packed up what meager supplies remained at her camp and set off in the direction of the howls.
'I am Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. I serve Terra. The Gods will pay for what they've done.'
Author's Note: Well, that's the prologue for you, ladies and gents. The main story will pick up about 25 pages, give or take, into The Son of Neptune with Percy's arrival at Camp Jupiter. As the summary will have told you, and the title implied, Percy will be arriving with no memory of Annabeth. He will still have all of the other memories he had in canon upon his arrival at Camp Jupiter, though.
As for Reyna, her driving force in this fic won't be her loyalty to Rome, but rather her deep hatred for Hylla and Bellona. It is this hatred that caused her to agree to serve Terra. I've been extremely careful to use the Roman names of all deities in this fic, considering Reyna is a Roman demigoddess. The only one you might not recognize is Ops, although, from context clues (or the internet), you could probably figure out that that's Rhea's Roman form.
Lastly, before I go, if any of you out there are Harry Potter fans, the first chapter of my first multi-chapter Harry Potter fic will be releasing shortly. It will feature a Dark Harry Potter and will have a Harry/Katie Bell pairing. It would mean a lot to me if you all gave it a read and followed/favorited/reviewed it.
- Asmodeus Stahl