Jason and Percy if they were reading this. Jason: Go on you two- you're doing great!
Percy: Oh for fuck sake just kiss already! You're in love, c'mon you two! KISSSSSSS!
Replies:
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: I won't be doing the TOA series I'm afraid.
Guest: Canon Percy is actually pretty observant a lot of the time, I think he has self esteem issues that make him not see it. This Percy is a lil better. And I don't know if it's canon or not but platonic or romantic, Zoe loved Artemis and I will stand by that statement.
Two days passed- Bianca had spent a lot of that time sleeping, after her talk with Reyna and the interruption she'd eaten and napped.
When she'd woken up she'd been inside of the tent that the Hunters had given them, which Reyna had set up in a grove of trees about thirty yards back from the road.
It was shortly after Calypso and Hedge returned form one of their supply runs that Reyna spoke up suddenly- which was slightly odd as the daughter of Bellona hadn't exactly done much talking lately.
Since their emotionally charged conversation and the poorly timed interruption things had turned awkward.
In any case, Reyna was sat cross legged at the entrance of the tent staring at the memorial obelisk, and Bianca was sat a short distance away. She was trying out weaving- Calypso did it to calm herself when she was stressed, and Bianca could do with something like that to help her clear her head when she needed it. So the daughter of Atlas had started to teach her.
But she put it down when Reyna spoke. "I figured it out." and Bianca blinked. She'd figured what out?
"What historical site this is?" that came from Hedge. "Good, 'cause it's been driving me crazy."
"The Battle of Waxhaws," she said.
"Ah, right…" Hedge nodded sagely. "That was a vicious little smackdown."
And Bianca's brows furrowed at that. She couldn't sense any restless spirits in the area- but then again she wasn't as good at it as Nico. Still, she could usually sense it on battlegrounds. "Are you sure?"
"In 1780," Reyna said. "The American Revolution. Most of the Colonial leaders were Greek demigods. The British generals were Roman demigods."
"You know. At this rate I'm just guessing that every war in history was caused by either big three kids, or Romans VS Greeks." Bianca pulled a face. "I'm tired of wars."
"I think I know why we landed here. It's my fault." and that caught Bianca's attention.
"Reyna." Calypso shook his head, "I have no doubt that this is not your fault."
"During the Revolution, four hundred Americans got overtaken here by British cavalry. The Colonial troops tried to surrender, but the British were out for blood. They massacred the Americans even after they threw down their weapons. Only a few survived."
"It sounds horrible." Bianca said slowly, "But I don't see how you can blame yourself for something that happened over two hundred years ago." she hated the idea of Bianca blaming herself for that. It was ridiculous.
"The British commander was Banastre Tarleton."
Hedge snorted. "I've heard of him. Crazy dude. They called him Benny the Butcher."
"Yes..." Reyna took a shaky breath. "He was a son of Bellona."
"And you think there's some sort of connection." Bianca shuffled towards Reyna- at least they were talking again. That was something. She hated the awkwardness that had fallen between them. "Like in San Juan?"
"I don't want to talk about San Juan." Reyna was holding a plastic bouquet- one of the many scattered around the memorial obelisk.
"You don't have to." Bianca hesitated, "But- when I talked to Jason it helped me." she admitted, "So maybe talking to me could help you." it was ironic coming from her she knew, but- Reyna already knew more than most ever did.
"Would you want to talk?"
"If you talk to me maybe I'll be brave enough to talk to you." Bianca offered.
And she noticed Calypso hissing something into Hedges' ear and dragging the Satyr a short distance away.
"They were my ancestors." Reyna said eventually, "The ghosts I mean. The Ramírez-Arellano family goes back a long way," Reyna continued. "I don't know the whole story. My ancestors lived in Spain when it was a Roman province. My great-great-something-something-grandfather was a conquistador. He came over to Puerto Rico with Ponce de León."
"One of the ghosts on the balcony was wearing conquistador armour," Bianca said slowly.
"That's him."
"Huh. That can't be common right. Is your whole family descended from Bellona then? But you're a demigod-"
"I'm her daughter." Reyna nodded. "Hylla and I were the first actual children of Bellona in the "Ramírez-Arellano family. And Bellona has always favoured our clan. Millennia ago, she decreed that we would play pivotal roles in many battles."
"Seems she's right." Bianca smiled faintly, "You're pretty pivotal. You might bring peace to the two camps."
That made Reyna flush slightly. "Perhaps you're right. Some of my ancestors have been heroes. Some have been villains. You saw the ghost with the gunshot wounds in the chest?"
"A pirate?" Bianca felt a smile twitching her lips. Thinking of pirates brought back memories of Nico- when he'd been so very small. He'd always wanted to be a pirate. Before he'd grown up at least. Now she wasn't sure she even had the right to claim she knew him.
"The most famous in Puerto Rican history. He was known as the Pirate Cofresí, but his family name was Ramírez de Arellano. Our house, the family villa, was built with money from treasure that he buried."
"Well as much as pirates aren't good people- you have to admit it is cooler than being related to Mussolini and Hitler- though Hitler was more like my great great grand nephew-"
"What?" Reyna's eyes widened and a laugh slipped past her lips despite herself. "You can't be serious-"
"Deadly." Bianca nodded, "Believe me I wish I wasn't."
"Okay, okay so your relatives might be just as bad as mine." Reyna looked like she was trying to force down her laughter- but there was a light in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Bianca hoped that she could make that light stay. It was very pretty. But then so was Reyna.
"Exactly. So, tell me more about the other ghosts."
"Okay." Reyna nodded, "The guy in the U.S. Navy uniform … he's my great-great-uncle from World War Two, the first Latino submarine commander. You get the idea. A lot of warriors. Bellona was our patron goddess for generations."
"And she decided to bless your family by having you and Hylla."
"The goddess … she fell in love with my father, Julian. He was a soldier in Iraq. He was –" Reyna's voice broke. She tossed aside the plastic bouquet of flowers. "I can't do this. I can't talk about him."
A cloud passed overhead, blanketing the woods in shadows.
And Bianca stared at Reyna. Reyna who'd clearly suffered so much. And she didn't know how to help. She wasn't used to comforting others any more. Not these days. "Well you've talked about yourself." she said carefully. "I guess it's my turn."
"You don't have-"
"I do." Bianca ducked her head, "I do have to. You once told me I was a good sister- when you saw me with Hazel-"
"Of course I did. You clearly love her very much."
"I do." Bianca nodded, "But- I'm not a good sister. Or I wasn't always. You've met my baby brother. Nico-"
"Baby-" Reyna paused, "You were a hunter-"
"I was older than him. I'm not any more. I- after our mother died- killed because of the Great Prophecy, I was expected to care for him. We were both just children but I was older so I had to be responsible. So I took care for him. And I love him- I love him so much but I hated it. I hated how I was expected to make my life revolve around him. And- our father, to protect us he put us in this hotel. Time moved slower there. When he got us out years and years had passed and- Nico had met Percy once before. And dad trusted her. Honestly he probably trusts her more than me. But uh- Alecto told us that she'd take us somewhere safe. And- I knew it was selfish but as soon as I could I snuck away. Because Nico would be taken to wherever that safe place was and- and it was the only way I could think of to be free. I was selfish. I had no clue where she'd take him- and I didn't care. She could have been lying. But I just- I just ran. And I met Zoe and- I thought she was beautiful and- when I should have turned back to find Nico I didn't- I abandoned my brother-"
"Bianca-" Reyna's voice was faint, "You were just a child-"
"I was selfis-" she was cut off by Reyna pulling her into a tight hug- and Bianca blinked back her tears as she hesitantly hugged back.
Then Reyna pulled back, exhaling slowly. "I never knew my father in his better days. Hylla said he used to be gentler when she was very small, before I was born. He was a good soldier – fearless, disciplined, cool under fire. He was handsome. He could be very charming. Bellona blessed him, as she had with so many of my ancestors, but that wasn't enough for my dad. He wanted her for his wife."
"Ah." Bianca blinked, "Like Beryl Grace-" at Reyna's raised eyebrow Bianca waved a hand, "I'll tell you later."
"In any case, "My father dedicated himself completely to Bellona," Reyna continued. "It's one thing to respect the power of war. It's another thing to fall in love with it. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to win Bellona's heart. My sister was born just before he went to Iraq for his last tour of duty. He was honourably discharged, came home a hero. If… if he'd been able to adjust to civilian life, everything might have been all right."
"That didn't work out I guess."
Reyna shook her head. "Shortly after he got back, he had one last encounter with the goddess … that's the, um, reason I was born. Bellona gave him a glimpse of the future. She explained why our family was so important to her. She said the legacy of Rome would never fail as long as one of our bloodline remained, fighting to defend our homeland. Those words … I think she meant them to be reassuring, but my father became fixated on them."
"War leaves it's scars." Bianca muttered, her mind flashing to Percy- she was a prime example of that.
And Reyna drew her cloak tighter around herself, "Part of the problem was PTSD. He couldn't stop thinking about the war. And then there was the constant pain – a roadside bomb had left shrapnel in his shoulder and chest. But it was more than that. Over the years, as I was growing up, he… he changed. He became paranoid," Reyna said. "He thought Bellona's words were a warning that our bloodline would be exterminated and the legacy of Rome would fail. He saw enemies everywhere. He collected weapons. He turned our house into a fortress. At night, he would lock Hylla and me in our rooms. If we sneaked out, he would yell at us and throw furniture and … well, he terrified us. At times, he even thought we were the enemies. He became convinced we were spying on him, trying to undermine him. Then the ghosts started appearing. I guess they'd always been there, but they picked up on my father's agitation and began to manifest. They whispered to him, feeding his suspicions. Finally one day … I can't tell you for sure when, I realized he had ceased to be my father. He had become one of the ghosts."
Bianca winced. "He was a mania." she breathed out, her eyes wide. "Oh Reyna-" but Reyna didn't look like Bianca's words were helping.
"Whatever he was, he became impossible to live with. Hylla and I escaped the house as often as we could, but eventually we'd come … back … and face his rage. We didn't know what else to do. He was our only family. The last time we returned, he – he was so angry he was literally glowing. He couldn't physically touch things any more, but he could move them … like a poltergeist, I guess. He tore up the floor tiles. He ripped open the sofa. Finally he tossed a chair and it hit Hylla. She collapsed. She was only knocked unconscious, but I thought she was dead. She'd spent so many years protecting me … I just lost it. I grabbed the nearest weapon I could find – a family heirloom, the Pirate Confresí's sabre. I – I didn't know it was Imperial gold. I ran at my father's spirit and..."
"Reyna-" Bianca grabbed Reyna's hands, "Reyna you killed a monster. He wasn't your father-"
"He was-" and Reyna had tears pouring down her cheeks.
"No, no he was a ghost, a mania. You did what you had to do-"
"It doesn't matter!" Reyna sobbed. "If word of this got out at Camp Jupiter –"
"You'd be executed," said a new voice.
At the edge of the woods stood a Roman legionnaire in full armour, holding a pilum. A mop of brown hair hung in his eyes. His nose had obviously been broken at least once, which made his smile look even more sinister. "Thank you for your confession, former praetor. You've made my job much easier."
