"Thalia Grace: older sister of Jason Grace, daughter of Beryl Grace. Their mother died when they were young. She worked at a bar before leaving town one day with her brother and friends," Reyna recounted as she read the file in front of her. It was handwritten by Nico himself.
Reyna laid her head back against the car seat and looked at her phone. She studied the camera footage of the six vigilantes that were trying to take over her city. Jason and Thalia Grace were the only ones that she knew the name of, as Clarisse wasn't there.
The little group stood by the podium. The two leaders stood next to each other. Their role was made obvious by how everyone looked up to them. A blonde woman with gray eyes, and a black haired man with eyes green like the sea. Those were the two that foiled her plans the most.
The blonde haired, blue eyed man named Jason. Thalia in all her beauty stood next to him, talking with him. Then, there were the two newcomers. One was a young woman with skin the color of chocolate, eyes that were almost gold, and black hair. A tall, muscular man had his arm wrapped around her. He had black hair and brown eyes.
"What to do about these new ones," Reyna muttered to herself. She placed her phone down and looked out the window. Reyna was going to make a plan to wipe these vigilantes out once and for all, securing her kingdom. Then, she would handle Octavian. First, she needed to figure out what the hell she was feeling for Thalia, and to do that, she had to go to someone who understood her fucked up feelings. Someone who knew her better than she knew herself.
The car stopped, and Reyna's eyes moved forward. The driver got out of the car and opened the door for her. Reyna slowly got out and gripped her crutches. She nodded to the driver and slowly made her way through the parking lot. There were only a few cars around.
Reyna gritted her teeth and continued to make her way forward. Walking wasn't easy, but what in her life was easy? The parking lot was still damn long, and by the time she made it inside, she was starting to sweat. Reyna made it to the front counter and looked at the guard inside.
"I'm here to visit Hylla Ramirez-Arellano," Reyna began. The guard tensed, and he quickly nodded. Reyna smirked. "And, tell her to come to me this time."
Reyna leaned on the counter to take as much pressure off of her leg as she could. Walking was still difficult, but she was determined to get stronger. Her knee would get stronger and back to how it had been. Better than how it had been.
Reyna continued to lean on the counter as the guard turned away and spoke into a radio. A few moments later, he looked at her and said, "Your sister says for you to come to her."
"She can get off her lazy ass and do it herself," Reyna countered. "Tell her that."
The guard glared at her and didn't say a word. Reyna raised an eyebrow, "Are the guards that scared of a prisoner?"
"More like the person in charge," a new voice chimed in. Reyna turned her head. She expected to see her sister. Instead, she saw another woman she had never seen before. This woman had auburn hair, and her eyes were hiding behind sunglasses. "And, you must be her sister."
"Who the hell are you?" Reyna asked. She gripped her crutches. The woman looked her up and down.
"Follow me," the woman invited, and she turned on her heel. Reyna slowly pushed herself off of the counter and started to walk with the crutches. The woman kept a slow pace for her, but that only angered Reyna. She gritted her teeth and continued to follow.
They made it through the twists and turns of the prison, moving past guards who only averted their eyes. They eventually made it to the warden's office, and Reyna was exhausted by the time they made it. The woman held the door open for her, and Reyna stepped into the office.
"Little sister," Hylla greeted. She was sitting at the warden's desk and thankfully by herself. Her legs were propped up on the desk. She wore a white tanktop and black pants. Not the prison orange like everyone else. Hylla looked Reyna up and down. "What fucked you up?"
"A vigilante," Reyna muttered. She slowly sat in a chair. "The fucking bitch jumped me by surprise using her super speed. Fucking handcuffed me and beat me."
"Oh, little sister. Have you learned nothing?" Hylla asked teasingly. She grinned. "Why don't you have the city under your thumb?"
"I do," Reyna argued. "I control everything."
"Except for this vigilante that beat you to a pulp," Hylla commented. Reyna glared at her. "Everyone in that city, from the oldest of people to the youngest of babes should know your name. They should fear you and what you are. That way any visitor will learn what you have done and will not fuck with you."
Reyna remained silent. She rested her head back against the chair. Hylla smirked, "You look troubled today. Why? That mad about getting your ass handed to you?"
"There's this woman. Another vigilante," Reyna started. She shook her head. Hylla didn't seem to have the problem with emotions that Reyna had. Hylla seemed to understand everything that she felt. She just managed to turn off her emotions somehow. "I...I want her."
"Want her how?" Hylla questioned as she sat forward.
"I don't know," Reyna admitted, looking down. "When her group of vigilantes rolled in, they stopped a few of my plans. Well, a lot of them. But, I let them. I just wanted to see that woman: Thalia Grace."
"Thalia Grace," Hylla repeated. Reyna nodded. "So, you made all these dumbass plans that would fail just to see her?"
"Yeah," Reyna muttered. "We would always flirt, and when she managed to beat me, she would have me arrested. I would be back on the streets hours later. We had this routine going: fighting and flirting. Then, we were going to fuck."
"You captured her?" Hylla asked. Reyna shook her head. "What happened then?"
"There was this construction happening near my place. It would always freak out my dogs and make them cry," Reyna explained. Hylla held up her hand.
"Aurum and Argentum? When are you going to bring those furry bastards to visit?" Hylla asked with a grin.
"When are you going to just walk out of here?" Reyna shot back. "No one can stop you. It's clear that you own this place."
"It's not always about me," Hylla answered. Reyna frowned. She knew that Hylla could snap her fingers and walk out of the prison, erasing her record. But, something was holding her back, and if it wasn't always about her, who was it about? "Now, keep explaining."
"I decided to teach them a lesson and blow up their building. Made sure it was empty and had my men search it," Reyna explained. "As they were finishing up, Thalia came. We fought, and I won. Blew up the building. Then, I talked to Thalia."
"I'm guessing she was pissed you killed all those people," Hylla guessed.
"I made sure the building was cleared out," Reyna said with a wave of her hand. Hylla's eyes narrowed slightly.
"How... merciful," Hylla commented after a moment. Reyna shrugged.
"We were talking. Flirting, I guess. I had her pinned and told her to handcuff her hands behind her back. She did, and we almost had sex. We were interrupted by another vigilante," Reyna explained. She shook her head. "The same fucking one that beat me to death."
"You look good for a dead person," Hylla said sarcastically. A small smirk came to Reyna's face. "So, you got fucked up because the vigilantes don't know the consequences of fucking with you. The solution seems simple."
"I can handle the vigilantes, but I cannot handle this feeling in my chest. I don't know what the fuck I am supposed to do or what the fuck it is that I am feeling," Reyna ranted. "I just don't get this."
Hylla studied Reyna. It was hard to read the look on her face, and forget trying to think what she was feeling. Hylla finally spoke, "How does she make you feel?"
"I don't know," Reyna admitted. "How do you just know what you're feeling?"
"I just do," Hylla replied with a smirk. A teasing smirk. A cocky stupid grin on her face. Reyna glared at her sister. Hylla's smirk widened. "Mad that you don't know how to? Or, can you even tell if you're mad?"
"The last thing I wanted when I came here was to get taunted," Reyna hissed. She leaned forward and glared. Hylla just chuckled. "I thought you could give me advice."
"Come on, Reyna. It's not that hard. Does she make you feel happy? Mad? Horny? Come on," Hylla egged on with a wave of her hand. Reyna glared harder as she was being taunted by her sister. They always did this. A normal conversation could turn into teasing and taunts by her older sister. Reyna never understood why.
"Go fuck yourself," Reyna muttered. She started to stand. Hylla stood before she could and knocked the crutches to the ground. Reyna glared at her sister again. She would either have to sit back in the chair or stand using the desk, and something told her that Hylla would just knock her arm away.
"What is the one thing you want to do right now?" Hylla questioned. "Is it to be with her?"
After a moment, Reyna nodded. She looked down. Hylla continued, "Have you tried talking to her since you two almost had sex?"
"She saved me. From the vigilante who tried to kill me," Reyna muttered. "I've spent over a month in the hospital, and she visited me last week. I told her to leave me the fuck alone and pulled a gun on her."
"Do you regret doing that? Do you wish that you didn't?" Hylla wondered. Reyna nodded. She hated how Hylla seemed to be able to read her mind, to rile her up one moment and then help her work through her feelings the next. Reyna just didn't get it. "How hard did you fall for this woman?"
"I've never had this feeling before," Reyna began. She rubbed her forehead and groaned. "Nico said I was in love. But, I don't understand what that means. Because I know I love you. You're my sister after all, but Bianca said that kind of love is different."
"You want to be with her right now. Do you want to get to know her more? To spend as much time with her as possible? Do you feel butterflies in your stomach when you're talking to her? When you're thinking about her?" Hylla questioned.
"Yes. To everything," Reyna answered.
"I would call that a crush," Hylla decided. "I doubt you've had one before, so I wouldn't call this you being in love. Just intense feelings."
"How do I solve it? I'm sure I already fucked it up," Reyna muttered. She laid her head back against the chair and sighed in annoyance. "I told her to leave me the fuck alone. How do I even come back from that?"
Hylla studied Reyna. She finally walked around the desk and picked up the crutches. Hylla handed them to Reyna and spoke, "You need to find a way to get Thalia alone and talk to her. Just be careful. I know you want revenge on the person who did this to you, but that is really going to fuck up any chances that you have of getting with Thalia. So, what is more important to you?"
Reyna grabbed her crutches and didn't answer. She stared down at the ground. Reyna slowly stood and spoke, "I don't want to lose my control of this city to the vigilantes, but I cannot get this woman out of my head."
"Learn to compromise," Hylla said. She grabbed Reyna's shoulder. "And, don't make me have to step in for you. How embarrassing would that be?"
"Considering you can't even leave this prison, I think I'm safe," Reyna retorted. Hylla glared at her, and the grip on Reyna's shoulder tightened until it became painful.
"For now," Hylla said softly. Then, she smiled and let go of Reyna. "I'll see you later, little sister. Don't forget to bring the dogs next time. If not, you might not leave this prison alive."
