Did Leo's plan work? Well, not really. Did Reyna expect it to work? Not at all. It was a plan that Leo made after all, and while he was good at creating physical things, he wasn't so good at the mental stuff, like making good plans. There was a small part that Reyna hoped the plan would work, until she stepped outside.
The Sirens used magic to enhance the volume of their voices and to carry it across the camp. Leo's voice was coming through preset speakers around the camp, and as his voice started to become louder, the Sirens sang louder as well. It caused an instant effect as most of the Greeks had collapsed to the ground and were gripping their heads.
Percy and Annabeth also seemed effected. Annabeth fell against the porch and gripped her head. Percy fell to his knees. Reyna slowly looked at them. The wax didn't seem to be helping, or the volume was so loud that it was now ineffective. A string of curses left Reyna's mouth, and she looked around.
This was really going to be all up to Reyna. She didn't know where the Fauns were or where any other help was. Before leaving the Big House, Percy told her that they had been hard at work disrupting the altar, freeing a few more demigods, and making their plan with the speakers. Reyna sighed and focused ahead. She knew the three Sirens could not be killed by normal means, but the blood of the goddess burned them.
Reyna had two options. The first was to fight Brizo, subdue her, and take her blood. Brizo was a goddess though, and even if Reyna was in a perfect shape, she wasn't going to defeat the goddess in hand to hand combat. Ambushing her didn't seem like it would work.
That left Reyna with option two: silence the Sirens. She wasn't going to be able to kill them, but would the Sirens be able to sing with a broken jaw or a removed tongue? Reyna was going to find out. She reached around for her weapon but realized it wasn't on her. She didn't have any weapons.
"Sorry Percy," Reyna said. She reached into Percy's pocket and pulled out his pen. Reyna uncapped the pen and watched it transform into a sword. "Hope this doesn't disappear if I drop it."
Reyna looked around at the roof of the cabins. When she saw a Siren on one, she jogged towards it. Reyna gripped the sword in her hand and came to a stop near the cabin. She lifted the sword like a javelin and threw it directly at the Siren. It hit her right in the shoulder, and she fell off of the cabin.
Reyna moved to the Siren's side and grabbed the sword. She pulled it out of the Siren's shoulder and slammed it down once again. As the head rolled from the body, Reyna punted the head like she would a soccer ball. It took her a moment to stumble backwards and place a hand to her mouth. That was not an image she was going to get out of her head anytime soon.
As if her life wasn't terrible or weird enough, the body of the Siren stood. Reyna stared and watched the body slowly start to move towards the head. She let out a solid string of curses and cut out one of the legs of the Siren. Reyna watched the blood trickle out and felt sick to her stomach. If she had anything to eat, she would be throwing it up.
Reyna was use to violence. She could handle seeing broken bones, open wounds, and even things like entrails. This was a different level though. She had decapitated two demigods before, both times because she had no other option. Those images still haunted her and kept her from sleeping sometimes. It wasn't like Reyna went around and hacked off limbs for fun.
The Siren was now a monster, but she had been a mortal. She had suffered for so long, and this was only going to make things worse. Reyna closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. She needed to calm down. She just needed to breath and do the job at hand.
"I'm sorry," Reyna whispered. She opened her eyes and quickly cut off the Siren's remaining leg. As the Siren started to use her arms to crawl, Reyna let out another curse. She cut off both of the Siren's arms at the elbow. As she kicked the limbs away, she collapsed against the cabin and slowly slid down it.
Reyna rested her head on her knees and tried to breath. She inhaled, counted to ten, and then exhaled After repeating it a few more times, she slowly looked up. Each of the Siren's limbs was flopping around like a fish. Reyna's gut twisted once again, and she slowly made it to her feet.
That was one down and two more to go. Then, she would have to confront Brizo. Reyna took a few steps backwards and forced her eyes away from the destruction that she had caused. Reyna took a few deep breaths and kept walking backwards.
Reyna slowly walked through the camp, moving past the Greeks who were immobilized on the ground. Their ears seemed to be bleeding, which was proof that Leo was a terrible singer. This plan was still stupid, but Reyna just had to roll with it. She could yell at Leo later, if they all survived.
As Reyna caught sight of the altar, she stepped behind a cabin. The altar looked like it had been rebuilt, but the base wasn't even finished yet. Any Greeks near it were curled up in a small ball. It was like the magic of the Sirens and Leo's singing had them at some kind of standstill. As Reyna focused on Leo's singing, she recognized a female singer as well: Piper. Charmspeak had to be lacing her words, which was probably why the Greeks were immobilized. Their brains couldn't handle both the power of the Sirens and charmspeak trying to tell them what to do.
A cry of pain caught Reyna's attention. She focused back on the altar and saw that Brizo was pinning Rachel to the ground with her foot. The goddess had Rachel's arm outstretched, and there was a nasty gash in her arm that was gushing blood into the box. Reyna had to interfere. Now.
"Leave her alone!" Reyna yelled. She walked towards Brizo. Reyna didn't see the other two Sirens, which was good. This was going to be a fight between the two of them. "Brizo, this plan is insane. Why don't you just stop and look around? You hate the Greeks for something that happened so long ago. These campers don't have anything to do with it."
Brizo sneered and let go of Rachel's arm. She closed her black box and walked towards Reyna. Rachel curled up on her side and pressed her arm to her shirt. The goddess walked towards Reyna and spoke, "Do you not understand that they are merely a vessel for suffering?"
"You are going to kill demigods who do not deserve to suffer," Reyna snapped. She gripped the sword in her hand. "It is just like those three women that you tried to save."
"I tried to show those women mercy, and I was stopped," Brizo said. She studied Reyna for a long moment, and a grin came to her face. "You speak of mercy, but you yourself are a killer. I see your past."
"I'm not a killer," Reyna said. She took a step backwards and lowered the sword. Her gut twisted, and she looked down at the ground. Brizo was just trying to throw her off of her game. The gaze was no longer pulling her in, so Brizo was trying other ways of manipulation.
"You know all about hate," Brizo whispered. She moved closer to Reyna. Before Reyna could pull backwards, her arm was grabbed. "You know that it twist your soul and poisons your heart. It makes you become something that you do not want to become. I did not want to become the goddess that I am today, but those three women deserve justice. They deserve someone to fight for them."
"You're going to kill all of these Greeks just to avenge three mortals?" Reyna asked. Brizo moved closer to her, and Reyna found herself starting to get lost in those eyes once again. She tried to pull away, but Brizo grabbed her arms and pulled her into a deep kiss.
Reyna closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, she was standing in a small temple. Reyna slowly looked around and stared as she saw a small girl kneeling at an altar. The altar clearly belonged to Brizo, but Reyna didn't recognize the small girl. She could have only been ten or eleven.
"Please protect us," the young girl begged. A man walked into the temple. He wore the armor of a Greek soldier, but there was no blood or sweat on him. The girl flinched at the sound of his footsteps. "Father. Please."
"I told you to leave this place," the man snapped. He grabbed the young girl and slapped her across the face. The girl fell backwards. "Your whore of a mother prayed to that goddess and look where that got her. I will teach you some respect."
"Please don't," the girl begged. The man slammed her into the altar. Reyna looked away and covered her ears. It wasn't long before the screams of the girl filled the temple. Reyna closed her eyes tightly and tried to block out the sounds. After a few minutes, the noise stopped.
"You act as if I only did all of this for three women," Brizo whispered. Reyna slowly opened her eyes and looked at the goddess. They were standing on water, but there was nothing else around them. Shackles seemed to be on Brizo's arms and legs, keeping her trapped on the water. "I did this for their children, their grandchildren, and all of the poor victims of the gods."
"Those three women were just one example of the gods turning their backs on the people who beg for their mercy," Brizo continued. The shackles fell from her arms, and she slowly grabbed Reyna's face. "Who is to protect the innocent mortals that suffer for no reason?"
"The other minor gods understand," Brizo whispered. She looked up at the sky. "They tried to work with Kronos to storm Olympus and destroy the gods. Demigods stopped them. I believe that destroying all of the children here will not hurt the gods. No. The pain will only come when they realize that there is no one left to save them."
"You are insane," Reyna whispered. Brizo studied her for a very long time and then growled softly. The goddess shoved her away. Reyna fell backwards and blinked a few times. She found herself back at Camp Half-Blood. "Brizo, stop and think!"
"The Oracle told me that you were a slave to the Greeks, but I think she was lying. I have nothing to lose and no one to anger by killing you," Brizo said. A trident appeared in her hands. Reyna rolled out of the way of an attack and tried to stand. Something blunt and heavy slammed into her leg wound.
Reyna collapsed to the ground and gripped her leg. She hit the ground in anger and took deep breaths. Her eyes focused on Percy's sword, which had fell from her hands when she had been shoved. It disappeared from sight. Of course. Stupid Percy. Stupid pen that turned into a sword.
Reyna slowly scooted backwards and felt her back hit something solid. She slowly looked back at the altar that she had hit. Then, her gaze moved to the imperial gold sword next to the altar. Reyna slowly reached out and grabbed her sword. She felt strength flood through her.
"I'm not going to let you hurt my friends anymore," Reyna said. She slowly stood. Brizo glared and darted forward with her trident. Reyna dodged to the side and took a few steps backwards, moving towards a cabin.
There was two more special abilities that officer's swords had. The first was that it could power the wielder in the most desperate of times, but when Reyna's sword left her hand again, all of the exhaustion and pain that it took away would come back full force. The second ability was that it seemed to do a little more damage to certain Roman enemies. It loved Greek blood, almost as much as Carthaginian blood.
Reyna backed up until she was close to a cabin. She spoke, "How do you plan on killing all the Greeks when you're beaten by a speaker?"
Brizo snarled something in another language, but it did not sound like she was happy about what Reyna said. Brizo lunged forward, and Reyna deflected the attack. She flipped her sword in her hand and slammed the hilt of her sword directly into Brizo's jaw.
Reyna would have like to turn her sword into a javelin, but that would be the same as her sword leaving her hand. All of the exhaustion would hit her like a rock, which wasn't an ideal thing to happen in the middle of a fight. Reyna stabbed her sword upwards, aiming for the goddess' throat.
Brizo barely dodged and stumbled away. She looked stunned by the fact that Reyna had hit her. Reyna stabbed forward with her sword. Brizo used her trident to knock the blow away. The force of Brizo's deflect caused Reyna to turn around almost completely, so she used her momentum to spin in a circle and lash out again.
Golden ichor flew from Brizo's throat, and she stumbled backwards. Reyna saw her opportunity. The goddess was off balance, and Reyna could hopefully injure her enough to force her away. A heavy weight suddenly slammed into Reyna from the side.
Reyna yelled in pain as she landed on her injured shoulder. She almost lost her sword but gripped it tightly. A Siren stood and stumbled to Brizo's side. She spoke, "My lady, they are breaking our spell."
"Where are they singing from?" Brizo hissed. She forced her trident against Reyna's jugular. "Answer me. Now!"
"I don't know. I was unconscious," Reyna snapped. While she didn't particularly like the thought of dying, she wasn't going to sell out the Greeks anymore than she already had. Granted, she didn't even know where Piper and Leo were, but it wasn't like Brizo was going to believe her.
A bright light appeared behind Brizo. Reyna felt her mouth go dry. Didn't they say that you saw a bright light when you died? Was this really going to be how Reyna went out? In a stupid Greek camp. On a stupid vacation she didn't ask to go on. And, she didn't even get to apologize to Frank. Or destroy the Greeks in capture the flag.
"Brizo," a voice growled. Brizo glared and lowered her trident. She turned around. Reyna scooted backwards and stared at the pudgy god that stood behind Brizo. Bacchus slowly looked around the camp. "You have crossed the line."
"You're suppose to still be away," Brizo snapped. She stood protectively in front of her Siren. "You don't even care about this camp anyway!"
"I don't," Bacchus said. His eyes shot around and seemed the study the individual campers. A small frown came to his face. "But, you sent a mortal to beat my high score. That is unforgivable. After I send you back to your prison, I will destroy that mortal's score."
"Praetor, handle the Sirens," Bacchus ordered. Brizo barked something in another language. The Siren turned and fled. Reyna stared up at Bacchus. Exactly how was she going run after the Siren with a broken collarbone and injured leg?
Reyna watched the god and goddess go to war. Bacchus caused vines to rise, and Brizo danced past them. Despite the moves she made, she kept herself in front of the black box. Reyna didn't know why the black box was important, but she knew it was obviously important enough if Brizo was defending it.
Reyna slowly made it to her feet and gripped her sword. She stumbled towards the box. Brizo tried to stop her, but Bacchus shoved her back. Reyna slowly grabbed the sword with her other hand. Putting a sword in the same hand attached to her injured shoulder probably wasn't the smartest thing she could do, but she had no choice. She scooped up the box and turned and ran away. The run was more of a hobble, but there wasn't much she could do about that.
After making it past a cabin, Reyna leaned on the wall. She just hoped that Bacchus could fight as well as he could play Pac-Man. Her eyes moved down to the box, and she slowly opened it. Reyna's gut twisted as she stared down at the blood in the box. It was a lot more blood that Rachel should have lost. As she moved the box, the blood didn't move or ripple, like the box was keeping it in place.
Brizo wanted to power her Sirens with blood from the box, but how was she going to do that? Would the Sirens take a sip from the box? Would they make a soup out of it? A small smirk came to Reyna's face as she laid her head back against the cabin. The restless sleep and lack of food was affecting her.
Reyna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to focus. Chiron told her that Brizo's blood could create and destroy. Brizo said that she created the Sirens with her blood, and Reyna vaguely remember asking why Brizo didn't just use her own blood. Instead of answering, the goddess had gotten even more hostile. When golden ichor had hit the Sirens, it burned them.
As the puzzle finally came together, Reyna pushed herself off of the cabin. She did a half run half hobble towards Neptune's cabin. Reyna pushed opened the door and poured the blood on the cabin floor. She walked towards the fountain and dipped the box inside. After shaking the water around, she dropped it on the ground once again. If Percy got mad, she would blame it on someone else. All she could do was hope that the box was cleaned up enough.
Her eyes stared down at the box. There was a mold of the hearts in the box. This box had been taken from Brizo and hidden away. When Reyna found it years ago, the hearts were still inside. Now, the hearts were out of the box, and she had a very bad feeling about where they were.
Reyna slowly stepped out of the cabin and looked around. Brizo and Bacchus were still locked in combat. The Greeks were still useless. Reyna slowly turned and walked back towards the cabin where she had left the dismembered Siren. She heard a yell, "Roman!"
Reyna turned her head and was beyond grateful to see Hedge. A frown came to her face as she saw that the Faun was dragging an unconscious Siren behind him. "I have an idea. I was talking to Grover and Juniper about the quest, and I remembered a line of the prophecy."
"Something about blood?" Reyna asked. She stared down at the box. Hedge nodded excitedly and pulled out a large hunting knife.
"Cursed singing only blood can free," Hedge recited. He looked down at the unconscious Siren. "I think we need to drain the Sirens of blood and have all of the affected campers drink it."
"No," Reyna said. She stared down at the box. Demigod blood would fill the box and power the Sirens, but if Brizo's blood was used or even touched the Sirens, it would hurt them. Or, it would kill them. Neptune stopped the Sirens, and he crafted the box. The hearts were put inside.
Brizo's blood hurt the Sirens, and maybe it would stop the cursed singing. Reyna looked down at the Siren and slowly placed the box down. She held the hand out for the hunting knife. Her sword would make her next task too difficult. After a moment, Hedge handed her the hunting knife. Reyna plunged the knife into the Siren's chest and started to carve around where the Siren' heart would be.
Reyna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She then opened her eyes and focused on the job ahead. She threw aside a piece of bone and slowly reached inside the Siren's chest. Reyna pulled out the still beating heart of the Siren and slowly placed it into the box.
"The other one ran," Reyna said. She knew how emotionless her tone was. "Find her."
"There's a third," Hedge began. He stared at Reyna and then down at the Siren. This Siren wasn't moving. It was like her heart was a battery for her body, which Reyna guessed was true of everyone.
"Not for long," Reyna said. She slowly placed the hunting knife in the box and picked the box up. She looked at Hedge. "Find the other Siren and bring her back. When we carve out her heart, we just have to get blood from the goddess."
"You make it sound easy," Hedge began. Reyna didn't answer. She turned away from the Faun and started walking. Reyna had to stay focused and shoved her emotions aside. If she faltered now, all of her hard work would go down the drain. "Roman."
"Now," Reyna snapped. She turned towards Hedge. He was staring at her with uncertainty. "We have to take their hearts, put them in the box, and soak them in blood. You have to trust me."
"I do," Hedge began. Reyna nodded and turned. She took a step forward and heard the splash of water. Reyna stared down at the puddle of water in the grass, and it started to form a person. Reyna cursed and tried to pull away, but the water wrapped around her leg like a chain. She stabbed forward expecting Brizo to form. Instead, she heard a yell of pain.
It took Reyna a moment to turn around. Brizo was standing behind Hedge, and her trident was stabbed right through his chest. Reyna stared as the blood of her friend trickled to the ground. Brizo looked at her and smiled evilly. The goddess spoke, "Hand over the box, or the Satyr dies."