*All rights belong to Rick Riordan*
Chapter 6: So We Begin.
(Reyna)
Wait, is he hugging me? I thought to myself.
The reason I said yes was quite complicated actually. I could just say that I could not refuse an opportunity for more battle and action. That is true, I love being in combat, I am the daughter of war, combat is in my blood. But it is not the entire truth, I have always had a crush on Percy. But I respected his relationship with Annabeth, anyone could see that they were crazy for each other so I was forced to accept and just like him from afar. When I heard the news that he ran away last year I was very confused, he had Annabeth, we had just won, why would he run away? I and a few legionnaires visited Camp Half-Blood every month as to check in with each other, those days was filled talking with Annabeth and asking how she has been. You could really see the effect of his disappearance on her. I began feeling sorry for the pain my friend was going through and began hating Percy. When Annabeth joined the hunt, we all felt happy for her, and now she looks better than she ever has. Her plans and designs for the new camp have been going well and looks very promising. She looks genuinely happier and has finally put all her sadness and heartbreak behind her.
As I was reflecting this, I failed to realize that Percy has stopped hugging me a few seconds ago and was looking at me nervously.
"Errrr… sorry about that I got carried away." He said embarrassed.
I continued to stare at him like a retard before I eventually regained my composure.
"Oh it's fine you were happy." I said plainly wanting to move on from this awkwardness. That doesn't mean I did not enjoy it. I have never really had any physical contact with another person aside from my sister when we used to hug each other as kids, so having someone I had a crush on hug me gave me euphoria.
"So, what's our first mission?" I asked, pretending that awkward situation never happened
.
"Well first we have to inform the Titans, then I will just ask Apollo or Artemis to inform the Olympians. Then we head to New Rome and you will inform the senate of your leave of absence."
"Okay when do we start?"
"Well I can gather the titans now as they don't really have much to do, then after I can Iris message Apollo and inform his as well. Then I guess we head back to Camp Jupiter for your senate meeting and start packing."
"Well then let's get to it." I said excitedly as I walked to the door and opened it only to come face to face with a blond haired well-defined tanned man. Were it not for the fact that he was literally glowing, tan, and his hair seems to be golden blonde, I would have had mistaken him for Jason.
"Uhhhhhhhh." I said speechless
"Thanks." He told me while grinning
"Ah Apollo perfect timing as always." Said Percy behind me.
"Hey cuz, what are you and the Praetor doing in your room all alone?" Apollo asked mischievously, "If Bellona finds out about this, she'll be out for your head you know?" he finished grinning.
The next few seconds was hilarious for Apollo as me and Percy simultaneously blushed harder than possible, thank the gods we could not see each other.
"Oh…No no it's not like that Apollo." Percy said stuttering, trying to regain some level of composure.
"Sure Perce, whatever you say." Said Apollo smiling.
"Anyway, I was gonna ask you to inform the Olympians that me and Reyna here are ready to begin the next phase of the mission." Percy said, trying to move on from the embarrassment a few seconds ago.
"Sure no problem, just don't get carried away just cause you two are alone alright?" He said while winking.
For the countless time today, I found myself blushing again.
"I'll go ahead and gather the titans, Reyna you coming?" Percy asked me, trying to rush out before Apollo could say.
"Yeah sure." I said in a hurry as well, both of us then swiftly exited the room and headed over to the council chamber. To our surprise the titans were already there talking amongst themselves. Percy and I stood in the center of the chamber when he began to speak.
(Percy)
"My friends, Reyna has accepted to become my partner for the missions that we will soon face. The duration is unknown as we will still have to hunt various groups of monsters that have recently resurfaced. However, if we would require backup, I trust that I can call any on any one of you and you would send at least someone to our aid?" I finished
"Indeed we will Percy, you are not only our ally but our dear friend as well." Said Themis, hearing this made me feel happy of what I have had accomplished throughout the one year that I have stayed here.
"Thank you, we will be heading out soon to Camp Jupiter for Reyna to inform the senators and to pack any necessities. After that we will begin hunting."
"We wish you the best of luck Percy and Reyna, remember you are not alone, we are only an iris message away should you need our assistance." Iapetus told us.
"Thank you my friend." I said smiling
"Thank you Lord Iapetus." Said Reyna respectfully.
"Very well Perseus, you may leave whenever you are ready." Rhea told me and Reyna with a smile.
"Thank you Lady Rhea, we will make our leave now."
"Thank you milady." Reyna also said from beside me.
With that me and Reyna went over to my room for one last time for me to gather the stuff I need. After packing we headed out of the palace and met Blackjack at the same area he dropped us off.
"Going back already boss?"
"Yep, are you in or out?" I said asking him. I already informed him of the missions yesterday and he told me he wants to think about it. "I need to know now as we are starting as soon as we leave New Rome."
"Im in boss, can't let you and the pretty girl be alone now can I?" He told me cheekily. Great, now my horse acts like Apollo too.
"Yeah yeah whatever glad to have you on board Black."
"He's coming with us?" Reyna asked.
"Yeah, unless you wanna keep walking, Blackjack here is all we've got."
To my surprise she walked forward and placed her hand on his mane again and whispered something I could not hear. Blackjack then nodded and Reyna mounted him.
"Come on! You might want to hold on tight as it would be a bit of a long ride." She said trying not to laugh. Meanwhile Blackjack was full out laughing at the current situation. Haha very funny. I grabbed her hand, mounted Blackjack, and carefully held her by the waist. Thank the gods she could not see me as I was blushing very hard.
"You know the way Blackjack go ahead." I told him
A few seconds later we were in the sky headed towards Camp Jupiter. When the gods gave me this mission I was afraid that I would have to go through it all alone. Now I could not be more excited as I had Reyna and Blackjack with me, whatever we have to face we will do so together. I just hope we could gather enough information to give us the advantage in the upcoming war.
And I pray that the fates have mercy because after this, I do not want any sort of conflict anymore. I have sacrificed so much of my life for the world. Now this is going to be my third war and I had to sacrifice a life with my friends and family. And most of all I had to sacrifice my life with Annabeth. The life that was so close yet so far. And now we are facing possibly the biggest war yet, but somehow I feel more optimistic with our odds compared to the last two wars. I have managed to win the titans as allies and now I am on my way to a very dangerous mission, but I am not alone. I have Reyna with me, and I would rather have no one else with me. She is the perfect person to keep me company and most importantly, watch my back as I watch hers as well.
And I am starting to fall in love with her as well.
Time Skip (2 weeks later)
(Reyna)
I have to admit, it may seem weird but I am having a lot of fun with these missions that we've been doing for the past two weeks. The majority of the time is spent hunting and tracking the small monster groups that are spread across the country. Once we found them we would then swiftly ambush them flawlessly, Percy would then try to interrogate those who we could understand at least. At night we would set up camp that consists of two tents, a small campfire, and a few hidden traps around our perimeter to alarm us if anyone is following us. During this time it allowed me to think and reflect about what has happened ever since I left. I found that me and Percy complement each other well in battle. I also find him to be the most skilled swordsman I have seen as well, easily surpassing those in the legion and even me and Jason. The time spent together has allowed us to bond more, I've learned a bit about what he has been doing for the past year in Othrys and in exchange I told him about my childhood and my time in Circe's Island.
At day Percy would call on Blackjack who is usually nearby and we would begin tracking our next group of monsters based on the information we would get from the other groups we had interrogated. This would usually take a day or two as it usually depends on how far they are located and where we should begin looking for them. That has been our cycle for more or less the past two weeks.
It was night time now and I was in my tent taking a break, we spent today tracking a small group of 30 or so monsters that is currently being led by an empousai named Kelly. According to Percy, he met Kelli the first time in school when she nearly killed him and Rachel the oracle. He then met her again during him and Annabeth's fall to Tartarus. He usually doesn't open up much about what happened down there and talking about Annabeth still seems to affect his mood a bit. This is why I generally avoid those subjects to not ruin or distract him from our missions.
I could hear Percy by the campfire outside cooking some meet when a trap suddenly set off. I rushed out of the tent still in my armor with a sword in hand. The first thing I saw was Percy already standing with his sword in hand as well looking towards the area where the trap sprung. As I stood beside him ready just in case something else attacks us from the side or behind us, I could hear footsteps all around us. I was starting to get nervous until Percy started bursting out laughing. I looked at him very confused until I saw a flash of silver in front of us, that is when I saw the small figure of a twelve year old with auburn hair and silver eyes with a silver bow in hand.
"Who knew the goddess of the hunt still could not avoid such a basic trap." Percy said still laughing and on the floor.
"I did not fall for your lazily placed trap Percy, I just set it off as a distraction." Lady Artemis said smiling.
"Wait what?" Percy asked.
"Behind you." Lady Artemis said laughing.
As me and Percy looked behind us, there stood a girl with short black hair, electric blue eyes and a silver diadem on her head. Then came a very loud and very painful slap from her to Percy. What followed after was a speechless Percy sitting on his butt from the impact of the slap and a very mad daughter of Zeus.
"Hi Percy long time no see." Thalia Grace sarcastically said, you could tell that she was fuming based on the shade of red she was turning.
"Th-Thalia." Percy stuttered, still holding his red cheek.
Meanwhile Lady Artemis was busy laughing at the situation as the other hunters showed themselves and were smiling at the situation as well. I just stood there staring blankly. I guess someone has a lot of explanation to do. However, bearing in mind that the hunt is here, I still do not see a certain blonde daughter of Athena amongst them.
(Percy)
Well I was not expecting this. I had just been cooking my dinner in peace when a trap to my right suddenly sprung and I was on my feet sword in hand instantly. Reyna then appeared beside me a few seconds later when I spotted the reason why our trap sprung. To see Artemis out here was expected as camping and hunting was basically her specialty so we were bound to bump into each other at some point. But to meet like this where she sprung one of our traps was very hilarious. So I started laughing and fell on my knees as I heard her walking forward. When she told me it was a distraction I stopped laughing and looked at her confused, she told me to look behind me so I stood up and turned around only to be slapped very hard by Thalia. While my cheek was very red and my jaw most likely dislocated, I could only stare at her while she was turning a very dark shade of red.
"So are you going to start explaining or should I hit you again?" She asked me, getting very pissed off.
Before I could answer her, I quickly stood up and scanned the other hunters looking for Annabeth, when I could not find her I looked at Artemis who stopped laughing and noticed my confused face.
"She stayed at camp, she is busy designing the new camp so I allowed her to stay and work." Artemis answered for me.
"Oh you're looking for Annabeth now?!" Thalia yelled from behind me. "Well I can't wait to tell her that I finally found you and guess what? You're not alone as Reyna is here too. SO YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLANATION TO DO PERCY JACKSON!" She finished yelling very loud to the point where lightning and thunder appeared above us.
I quickly looked at Reyna who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here, behind me Artemis started laughing again to my annoyance. I looked at Thalia and smiled.
"I guess I better get started then, might as well get comfy." I told her and the other hunters. I then sat down by the camp fire and gestured for them to sit too. Well this was going to be a long night.
AN:
And that wraps up Chapter 6!
For those asking, if you read my profile then yes I am planning a Pertemis story but that is a very long time from now. I still want to get used to writing and balancing time between school, personal time, and writing time. Which is the purpose of this story. I still have quite a lot of improvement to go through so let's just focus on this story first before eventually writing Pertemis.
For those asking where I got the name of the Pertemis story, it is a famous piano piece call Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow) by Kreisler (Arranged by Rachmaninoff). So go ahead and listen to it, I just thought the name was a nice title.
Enough of that for now. Chapter 7 in around the next 2 days and Ill try to make it as long as this or longer if I can.
As always don't be shy to leave a question in the comments and I will reply to you as soon as I can. Don't forget to like and follow! And to those who already have, thank you as it is greatly appreciated!