To answer a guest's question, the end game is Reyna/Annabeth.
Reyna stared at the laptop in front of her with a small frown etched into her face. There was an earbud in her ear, and she was watching a video on how to make excel files. It was no secret that Reyna didn't do that well in high school, and there were a few classes that she barely passed. College was something she never really thought about. Now, she really didn't want to think about it.
This was the third day that Reyna was doing office work with Lupa. The first day had been spent setting up her laptop and learning how everything worked. The second day was spent learning a bunch of procedures and things that made her head throb. Today was going slightly better.
"You okay?" Lupa asked. Reyna slowly looked up at her mentor. Lupa was sitting at her desk and looking through some financial documents.
"Yeah," Reyna answered as she paused her video. She glanced at Lupa and then quickly averted her gaze. "I just feel a little dumb because none of this makes sense."
"What are you having issues with?" Lupa questioned as she placed the documents down. Reyna kept her line of sight pointed away and felt her cheeks heat up. "I can help you."
"It's just everything," Reyna admitted. She looked back at Lupa. "None of it makes any sense to me. It's not clicking."
"It will take time," Lupa said gently. She stood from her desk and walked towards the couch at the other end of the room. Reyna was sitting against the couch and had a small table that her laptop rested on. She had fallen asleep once or twice, and while she felt guilty, Lupa told her it was perfectly fine. "You're still concussed, and I've been throwing a lot of information at you. I'm sorry."
"I'm just sorry that I'm not picking it up," Reyna confessed. Lupa gently smiled at her and placed a hand to her shoulder.
"You're doing a good job, Reyna. It took Octavian months to understand all of this," Lupa praised. She squeezed Reyna's shoulder as gently as she could. "You will get it in time. For the rest of today, I want you to advise the others on their training. Especially Annabeth."
Reyna nodded. She closed the laptop and pulled out her earbud. Annabeth's fight was in four days, and she had been intensifying her training. If that was even possible. Lupa walked towards her mini fridge and opened it. She grabbed two soda cans and placed one on her desk. The other was given to Reyna.
"Thanks," Reyna said. She heard the phone ring, and Lupa walked towards it. Lupa answered the phone. After a moment, a smile came to her face.
"Go ahead and bring them up. We were about to go on break," Lupa said. Reyna raised an eyebrow as Lupa hung up the phone.
"What was that?" Reyna asked as she adjusted how she was sitting. Reyna slowly grabbed her gym bag and pulled out her pill bottle. She grabbed her bottle of water and took her medicine. Lupa had a small smile on her face and didn't answer. "Lupa?"
"You have a visitor," Lupa answered. Reyna nodded and figured it was Thalia, even if things between the two of them felt awkward. Reyna wasn't sure what it was. They made up after their argument during the phone call, but ever since a few days ago, things felt different.
Reyna wasn't quite sure what it was. Did Jason say something to Thalia that was causing her to doubt her relationship with Reyna? Annabeth had been acting weird not just that day but all week. She wouldn't make eye contact with Reyna and barely talked to her, averting her gaze any time they were near.
Annabeth could have been super focused on the fight, but Reyna didn't think that was what it was. She couldn't put her finger on it, though. Piper did say that Jason was worried about Thalia and Reyna, but how would that make Annabeth act weird?
Unless it had something to do with Reyna's car wreck. She didn't remember anything from the time that she was driving to waking up in the hospital. Reyna had been told that she called Annabeth, and Annabeth was the one who found her and called the ambulance.
Had Reyna said something embarrassing or dumb? Did she tell Annabeth that she couldn't stop thinking about their kiss at Christmas? It had been in the back of her mind, but she had been trying to ignore it. Why wasn't Annabeth acting weird in the hospital, though?
It didn't make sense to Reyna, and her brain pounded in her skull too much to really put any thought into it. There was a knock on the door, and Reyna looked up as it opened. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Kinzie step through.
"Kinzie?" Reyna questioned. She slowly stood and winced slightly. Her body was still sore in places, especially her arm and midsection. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought you lunch," Kinzie answered with a smile as she raised a bag of food. Reyna nodded slightly. "Hylla is here too. She stopped to talk to Nico."
"Why?" Reyna asked after a moment. Lupa gave both of them a nod and then left the office. Reyna kept her gaze on Kinzie.
"Hylla and I wanted to check on you," Kinzie answered. "And, we never did have a proper dinner when you brought food."
"Let me show you to our break room," Reyna offered. She winced as she led Kinzie out of the office. Down the hall, Hylla and Nico were talking. They both turned to look at her and seemed to be watching her closely. Reyna smiled at them.
Hylla walked towards them and gently pulled Reyna into a hug. Reyna hugged her sister back with one arm and spoke, "You two didn't have to get me anything."
"We wanted to. It was Kinzie's idea," Hylla said. "How are you doing with all of this office stuff?"
"It's confusing," Reyna admitted. Hylla chuckled and nodded her agreement.
"Hylla is helpless on a computer," Kinzie teased. Hylla rolled her eyes. Reyna led the two of them towards the breakroom. The others would still be sparring and training, but she also didn't think they would mind. "How are you feeling?"
"A little better. I'm still pretty sore," Reyna admitted. She walked into the breakroom and slowly opened the fridge. "Soda?"
"Just a water," Kinzie said. Hylla came up behind Reyna and gently grabbed her good shoulder. She led her towards the table and then turned back towards the fridge. She grabbed a water bottle and a can of soda. Reyna slowly sat down as Kinzie pulled food out and passed it around.
"You look better," Hylla noted as she examined Reyna. "How is the wrist?"
"Irritating," Reyna complained as she tried to open the plastic lid on top of her food. Her sister let her struggle for a few seconds before lifting the lid for her. Reyna's face heated up, but Hylla just gave her a gentle smile. "Because of things like that. Nico won't let me do anything around the apartment."
"You should be resting," Hylla commented. Reyna rolled her eyes. She ate a few fries and studied the burger that her sister had given her. "Do you remember what we talked about the day of your wreck?"
"About ruining the surprise?" Reyna asked as her face heated up a lot more. She tried to look up at her sister and Kinzie, but embarrassment kept her eyes to the floor.
"You didn't ruin anything," Kinzie said softly. Reyna shrugged. Hylla told her already that it was fine, but a proposal was supposed to be a surprise. Not ruined by Reyna and her big mouth. "Seriously, Hylla probably would have never found the confidence to ask."
"It was a mistake, Reyna. We don't blame you," Hylla added. She gently grabbed Reyna's arm. Reyna slowly looked at the ring on her sister's finger and then her sister.
"I'm still pretty mortified," Reyna muttered. She sighed and ate a few fries.
"Just know that we don't blame you," Kinzie promised. Reyna nodded and looked at Kinzie. The woman was going to be her sister-in-law soon, and Reyna didn't know anything about her. That had to be changed.
"Did you guys pick a date for the wedding yet?" Reyna asked.
"We haven't," Hylla answered. "We'll probably just do a small event unless we just go to the city hall and get it done."
"Would your parents want to attend the wedding?" Reyna questioned as she looked at Kinzie. Hylla frowned, and Kinzie's lips pursed. "Bad topic?"
"I don't talk to my father anymore," Kinzie finally said. "He never approved of any of my choices, and we had a big falling out. It was kind of like what your father did to the two of you, but it was much more verbal and mental than physical. My mother was a flight attendant turned pilot, so she was more focused on her career than me. We have an okay relationship, but we don't talk much."
"I'm sorry," Reyna said. She settled back in her seat and looked at the two of them. Reyna was doing her damnedest to open up to Hylla. It felt like they had pushed past that awkward wall of Reyna just not telling anything to her sister. At first, she hadn't even been able to tell Kinzie how her elbow felt, and while it took months, she felt like they were in a better place. There was something she still had to do, though.
"Kinzie, I'm sorry," Reyna began as she looked at Kinzie. "I was really hostile when we first met, and it wasn't fair to treat you that way. I never really did apologize before, so I want to do that now. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you," Kinzie said. A smile came to her face. Reyna could see Hylla visibly relax.
"I have an apology to make too," Hylla added. She let out a sad sigh and studied Reyna. "I shouldn't have blown up at you about the money. I just don't want you to give me cash because you feel like you have to and then regret it."
Reyna returned her sister's gaze and then looked at her food. She played with a fry and felt the seconds ticking by. A frown came to Hylla's face. Reyna spoke after a minute of thought, "I do feel terrible about just leaving, Hylla. At the time, it felt like I was proving a point. Sticking up for myself."
"It's so stupid looking back on it, but at the time, I just... I don't know. I'm sorry, Hylla. I never should have stormed out and never come back. I shouldn't have cut you out of my life for so long, and I do want to make up for that. Giving you the money would make me feel a little better, but it's not like I'm trying to bury the guilt with money. I can't explain it, but just being able to give you this money would make it feel like I support you."
Reyna lost her voice for a moment and felt like she was ranting. A sigh left her, but she continued, "I know the money isn't that cheap, but I don't spend a lot of money. I have a lot saved up, and watching you guys live out your dream would make me feel better. Hell, I could help out too during my free time."
Hylla remained silent and seemed to be lost in thought. She finally turned toward Kinzie and spoke softly to her. Reyna let the two of them talk quietly and focused on eating her burger. She heard the door open, and Will walked into the room.
"Oh, sorry to interrupt," Will began. "Just grabbing a drink."
"You're not interrupting," Reyna promised. Will nodded and gave her a smile. He had already checked on her wrist earlier that day. They also spoke a little about Nico. At the moment, Will and Nico's relationship was going to stay quiet. Nico still wasn't comfortable enough to come out to anyone yet, and Will wasn't going to push him.
Reyna didn't mind keeping the relationship a secret, but she felt like Hazel would want to know. It was the kind of thing you should tell your sibling, partially related or not. But, Nico shut down the idea anytime Reyna brought it up. And the one time he was working up the confidence, she ruined it. Now, she just had to be patient and supportive.
"Make sure to take it easy," Will said. Reyna rolled her eyes but nodded. Will turned and left the room.
"Reyna," Hylla said softly. Reyna looked at her sister. "If you give us the money, I want you to share in some of the profits when it becomes profitable. I know you're going to decline, but please. I would feel terrible if you just gave us all of that money without anything in return."
Reyna opened her mouth to argue. Then, she hesitated. Reyna spoke, "You guys have a plan thought out, right? Like you just need the money and will be able to open the place?"
"Mostly," Kinzie answered. "We've seen a few buildings that we want to use, and we would still have to contact vendors. We know who we want to talk to, and we have a plan set. It's just being unable to move forward without the money."
"Okay," Reyna said. "I'll give the two of you money, and I will only take some of the profits when you guys have enough to pay yourselves and the workers. As long as the workers come first. Now, do you guys have a logo? One that we can throw onto a shirt that a famous fighter could wear during press conferences and interviews?"
A smile came to Hylla's face, and her eyes almost looked ready to water. Kinzie had a smile as well. Reyna continued, "I also know that Octavian's family owns some businesses, and while they have a lot of drama surrounding them, most of those businesses are successful. I can talk to him about helping the two of you."
"Thank you, Reyna. We couldn't do this without you," Hylla breathed a sigh of relief. She stood and pulled Reyna into a tight hug. A hiss of pain left Reyna, and her sister loosened her grip.
"Thank you," Kinzie added. "This is a dream both of us have had."
"I'm glad to help the two of you achieve it," Reyna said. She hugged Hylla back and grinned at Kinzie. Maybe, this business idea wouldn't work out, but she didn't care. Lupa helped her live out her dream, and Reyna wanted to do the same for her sister. "Now, let's finish eating."