"Are you sure this is the right way?" Reyna asked. She pushed past another tree and sighed tiredly. The adrenaline had mostly left her, which meant Piper was getting a lot heavier on her shoulders, and the pain in her leg had come back full force. Currently, they were trying to figure out exactly where Bunker 9 was.
Reyna was paying attention when Leo led her towards the bunker, just not to Leo. Someone had to make sure that they weren't ambushed by anyone and that no one saw their new hiding spot. So, Reyna really didn't know where she needed to go, and she was relying on Piper to guide her. Piper wasn't being too helpful though.
"It is. Just keep going," Piper answered. Reyna gritted her teeth and stepped around another tree. She froze as she heard a voice. Reyna slipped behind a tree and did her best to glance out. A frown came to her face as she saw someone standing in front of the entrance to Bunker 9.
"Annabeth," Reyna whispered. She ducked behind the tree again and slowly laid Piper on the ground. "You stay here. I'm going to free Annabeth from their spell."
"I can try charmspeak," Piper began. Reyna shook her head and handed the small vial of fire to Piper. "Reyna, you can't do this by yourself."
"Save your strength," Reyna whispered. She glanced behind the tree, but Annabeth didn't seem to notice them. Her gaze was fully on Bunker 9. "I'm just going to take Annabeth out as quick as I can. In case anything happens, get in the bunker."
Reyna stood and slowly moved out from behind the tree. Her gaze stayed focused on Annabeth. Why was Annabeth away from the Sirens and studying Bunker 9? Was she sent to scout it out? Reyna kept one eye on the ground to make sure she didn't step on anything and alert Annabeth.
As Reyna made it behind Annabeth, she held her breath and wrapped one arm around Annabeth's throat. She kicked Annabeth in the back of her knee and saw that Annabeth was moving her hand to her thigh. Reyna grabbed Annabeth's hand. They were not going to have a repeat of Percy and his stupid pen.
"Annabeth, I am really sorry for any broken bones you end up with," Reyna said. She felt Annabeth's other hand trying to pry her arm away, but Reyna just tightened her grip. Reyna heard a branch snap behind her, and she swore. Before she could pull away, someone grabbed her by her armor straps.
Reyna was thrown backwards into a tree, and her head bounced hard off of it. A fist slammed into her mouth, knocking her back into the tree. The wooden shaft of a spear pressed into her throat and pinned her to the tree.
"Clarisse," Reyna choked out. Clarisse's spear, which had a large amount of tape wrapped around the middle, was forced against her jugular and choking the life out of her. Reyna's eyes shot around for Piper, but it looked like she had managed to slip away.
Reyna slowly looked at Clarisse. The daughter of Mars stared back with those green, possessed eyes. Annabeth joined Clarisse's side and grabbed Reyna's sword. She quickly stripped Reyna of all visible weapons and nodded to Clarisse.
Reyna hoped that Clarisse would pull the spear away, since Reyna was disarmed. Instead, the spear pressed even more into her throat. Everything was quickly going dark. Annabeth spoke, "Why would you interrupt the worship, and how did you resist the calling?"
Reyna knew that she couldn't answer the question and waste the precious oxygen that she had left. Her hands desperately grabbed onto the spear pressed into her throat, and she tried to push it away. Clarisse didn't let her, and Reyna found that the breath had completely left her.
Panic started to build in Reyna's chest. It didn't seem like Clarisse was going to pull away, and Reyna was going to pass out soon. She just didn't know if Clarisse would pull away before permanent damage, or worse, was done. Reyna's hand slowly fell from the spear. Her eyes closed, and the world faded away.
Reyna's eyes snapped open, and she quickly looked around. Her eyes slowly moved around to look at her surroundings. This was not Camp Half-Blood, so where was she? Reyna slowly stood and looked around. There was tents all squeezed into what looked like a small alley, and it was packed with people. They all wore modern clothes, but they weren't speaking English, Latin, or Spanish.
As someone walked through Reyna, she tensed. This was a dream. It was just a dream, and she needed to calm down. Unless this was some kind of strange punishment before Pluto took her, she was alive and just dreaming. Hopefully, Clarisse had finally pulled away and was no longer trying to kill her.
Two more people walked through Reyna, and she tensed once again. She then looked at the two to glare, but her heart almost stopped. The person on the right was wearing a jacket and pants. Her hood was thrown over her head, but Reyna would recognize the two knives on her belt anywhere. Hylla glanced behind her, as if she could sense that Reyna was seeing this.
The other person standing next to Hylla sent a shiver of fear down Reyna's spine. His face was covered in dirt and grime, as was his clothes. If Reyna could smell anything, she knew her senses would be assaulted by alcohol. Blackbeard wore a leather coat, and his cutlass hung at his side.
"Keep yer mouth shut," Blackbeard said. Hylla glanced at him and nodded. Reyna frowned and slowly followed the two. There was a few missions that Hylla had gone on with Blackbeard. Once Hylla had proved her worth, she had become invaluable to Blackbeard, until he thought Hylla was going to take over his ship.
Blackbeard walked down the alley, shoving people out of the way as he went. Hylla followed behind and was careful not to bump into anyone. Reyna followed the two through the winding alleyway, until it led out into a large street. Reyna looked around at all of the buildings, and Blackbeard made his way towards a building that had a small canal around it.
The building had pillars at the front entrance, and a few women were outside cleaning the pillars. Blackbeard pushed past the women and walked inside the building. Hylla took a deep breath and followed behind. Reyna let out a shaky breath and followed behind as well.
Why was she having this dream? She needed to be awake. It didn't matter what happened to her, but Piper was hurt and defenseless. If Annabeth or Clarisse found her, nothing good would come from it. Reyna stopped walking and tried to think of Camp Jupiter. When that didn't work, she thought of the Garden of Bacchus. Her dream didn't shift, and Reyna opened her eyes. She would just have to play along.
Reyna stepped inside the building, and she realized it was a temple. Reyna looked around at the sea blue tiles on the ground that almost looked like water. After a few moments, she realized there was water running below it. A few fish were in the water as well.
There was a statue in the middle of the temple, and it almost looked familiar. The statue was of a woman holding a trident. She wore a cloak over what looked like Greek armor. The trident that rested in her hand was covered in something red that was actively dripping onto the ground, and there was a ladder near the statue. The altar had writing around it
Reyna shook her head and hurried to catch up to her sister and the pirate bastard. They were approaching a throne at the far end of the temple. A woman was sitting on the throne. She wore a simple white gown. Her blue eyes studied Hylla for a very long moment, and a frown came to her face as she saw Blackbeard. One hand toyed with her black hair. She looked familiar as well.
"My lady," Blackbeard said. He sauntered towards the woman and bowed. Two men, maybe servants, stood by the throne. They both eyed Blackbeard wearily and looked nervous. "I need ye blessing to cross the Sea of Monsters."
"Edward Teach," the woman said. She glanced at one of the men and nodded. The man quickly ran away. When he came back, he was holding onto a bundle of grapes. The man, definitely a servant, fed a grape to the women. "You know that I do not tolerate men who enter my lands without my permission."
"I have plenty to offer," Blackbeard said. "Young maidens on the ship. Freshly plucked, desperate for a home, and easy to manipulate. They are all yours."
Hylla visibly tensed, but she remained silent. The woman noticed it, and her frown deepened. Blackbeard spoke, "Do ye take my offer?"
The woman laughed. She spoke, "I do not deal with flesh anymore."
"Just the flesh of men," Blackbeard interrupted. The woman smiled coldly and didn't say a word. "Yes or no."
"I don't want your young girls," the woman answered. Her eyes focused on Hylla again. "But, there is something you can do to earn a safe passage into the Sea of Monsters. There is a black box that I want. It holds three very important items."
"Long ago, a man robbed my temple of that very important box and fled on his ship. I never found him, but I do know that his ship sank," the woman continued. She ate another grape. "Grab the files."
The other servant turned and ran as fast as he could. The woman spoke, "I will give you all of the information I have on his last position. Return the box to me, and you will have safe passage. It is a black box with gold writing around it."
"I will return it," Blackbeard vowed. The servant came back with a cardboard box that looked like it was filled to the brim with papers. He held it out, and Blackbeard motioned with his head. After a few moments, Hylla took the box. Reyna glanced inside the box. It was full of notebooks and maps.
"You know what happens if you double cross me," the woman warned. Blackbeard looked at her and smiled coldly. Reyna just stared down at the contents of the box and at one paper in particular. It had a drawing of a black box with gold writing around it. The box was the same one that Reyna found in the sunken ship. It was the same one that this woman wanted, and it was also the same one that Clarisse had brought back to Camp Half-Blood.
Reyna's eyes snapped open, and she immediately starting coughing. Thanks to the pain in her throat, she knew that she was awake. There was a rope wrapped tightly around her chest, keeping her pinned to a chair. Her arms were tied behind her and the chair as well.
Reyna slowly looked around the room she was in. Wooden walls were around her, and there was nothing else in the room. It looked too small to be a cabin, unless they were really shafting a minor god. Reyna tried to shift in the ropes, but she was expertly tied, clearly Annabeth's work.
The door in front of Reyna opened, and she slowly looked up. Her eyes focused on the woman that stood at the door. It was the same woman from her dream, but Reyna felt like that wasn't the only place she had seen the woman before.
"Who are you?" the woman asked. Reyna didn't respond. She just stared ahead. The woman was going to have to torture her for information. "Are you hurt?"
When Reyna didn't answer her, the woman just sighed. She left the room. As she came back in, Reyna tensed and waited to see what weapon the woman have. A frown came to her face as she saw a chair. The woman placed the chair down and sat across from Reyna.
"You're not Greek," the woman stated. Reyna glared at her. "That is what the daughter of Athena told me. She also told me you were hard to convince, but I think I can convince you."
"Convince me of what?" Reyna asked. Her throat ached, and she coughed miserably. The woman frowned once again.
"That the Greeks are evil," the woman answered. She closed her eyes for a few moments. "You must think that my three heroes and I are monster, but we are not. The Greek gods are, and they must pay. Before I untie you, I want you to hear me out."
Reyna looked at the ground. If she could somehow convince this woman that she would listen to her and if the woman freed her, Reyna could figure out how to permanently kill these Sirens or women or whatever in Bellona's name they were. Reyna spoke, "Tell me who you are."
"I will tell you my name, after you tell me yours," the woman said. Reyna frowned. From the dream, it seemed like this woman was some kind of royalty, and she acted like it. Reyna didn't know, and she really didn't care. Somehow, she would take this woman down.
Reyna didn't answer. The woman stared at her, and Reyna stared back. A couple minutes, or probably just a few seconds, of staring passed. Reyna realized that the woman wouldn't continue without her answering, and Reyna really needed to get out of there.
For a few moments, Reyna debated using a fake name, but if Annabeth was telling the woman things about her, this was probably just a test to see if Reyna was trustworthy or not. Reyna finally spoke, "My name is Reyna."
"My name is Brizo," the woman answered. She smiled sadly and looked away. It seemed like she was lost in thought for a few moments. "I hope you will listen to my story and keep an open mind. This tale is a tragic one, and by the end of it, I think you will understand how evil the Greeks are and why all of them must die."