Reyna

When Reyna finally crashed onto a surface, she landed awkwardly on her back. Her arms immediately flailed to her vertebrae and felt she could really use one of those Life Alert devices they advertised 24/7 on the Camp Jupiter Network.

The weeds were still draped across her entire body, yet their pull had stopped. The shrill enchantment that rang through her ears had gone quiet. She questioned why Gaia didn't just drag her to the middle of the earth and scorch her into Ramírez-Arellano shish kabob. Part of it made her happy that Gaia didn't think she deserved a brutal molten lava death, yet the other part scared her more than she could possibly imagine-whatever Gaia had planned for her was going to be much more wicked than being engulfed into flames.

If her dogs could be summoned, they must've played the most untimely game of hide and seek ever. Reyna crawled to her spear that inconspicuously changed into a sword during her descent into the earth. She clung the sword against her flesh, the warmth of the Imperial Gold giving her a much needed reaffirmation. If she were to die, it would be with her weapon in hand; Bellona never goes out without a fight.

She stumbled to her knees and took a look at her surroundings. She guessed she was in an underground cavern and saw that it was dimly lit with assorted torches and weapons plastered against the walls. There was a faint gushing of water in the distant background. She glanced up where she had fallen from and only saw darkness. Reyna knew without a doubt that she wasn't coming back up that way.

As frightening as the place looked, it gave off a familiar ambience that almost made her homesick. The scene was very Roman. Approaching a place so sacred in her undergarments made her feel disgraceful. She remembered the day Mars had appeared to her in the principia, shortly after being elected praetor and now beginning to move her things. As custom, she pulled her spear on him.

"Hold it, praetor," He demanded. Reyna obliged yet summoned her dogs, wary of this godly being who had interrupted her me-time.

Reyna bore into his eyes, which were shielded by night vision goggles. She quickly realized that this was a staring contest she was not going to win. "State your purpose, quickly. Or I'll get my legion on you."

The god smiled: not the 'oh I'm so happy to see you' smile but more of the one a madman gives right before going into mania. "You've got spunk kiddo. I'll give you that."

He stepped closer and Reyna could see the gleam of his olive coat, decorated with badges and ribbons of the US army, in the faint light of the room. He wore a combat uniform with a garrison cap that appeared to be of an older time—World War 2 Reyna had guessed. Over his shoulder slung an M1 carbine, drenched in blood. His stature, ten feet high, intimidated her, but Reyna held her ground.

"I remember telling Romulus the same thing," he recalled, moving past her to sit in one of the two praetor chairs. He laughed psychotically, as if he was reminiscing a fond memory. Reyna turned to face him and raised her spear once again.

"Okay, not funny anymore. Drop the act," The god ordered. Reyna didn't budge.

"Mars. God of war, Rome and annoying military recruiters. Now please, sit," Mars yapped as he gestured towards the other praetor chair. Reyna sat, wondering if this was some test that the legion had put her up to. She didn't want to lose her job without ever getting to do it.

"No, this isn't a test," he answered, reading her mind. "You are a special girl, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. You will lead New Rome to heights it's never seen, though it will come at a cost."

The sound of her name sent a chill so far down her spine she fumbled in her seat. His voice was shrewd and roaring, like a military sergeant, yet oddly comforting.

"I've watched over you for a long time," Mars continued. "From your days at San Juan, to the sorcerer's island and the struggles of fighting your way to the top of the pirate crew. If Bellona herself didn't claim you, you would be very serviceable at my side. I see many triumphs in your future, which will be especially bloody."

Reyna didn't like the bloody part. She noticed the feelings of confidence and loyalty that radiated from him now running amok in her. She did not want to let him or the legion down.

"Do not embarrass Legio XII Fulminata," he warned. "You come from a line of some of the mightiest fighters that have ever graced the Earth. Harsh sacrifices await. A great restoration will come at your hands. Carry yourself strong, this will not be your final chapter. And next time I see you, I expect you to kneel in my presence."

Reyna's brain felt like it had slammed its gas pedal trying to decipher what Mars had prophesied. Sacrifice. Restoration. Final Chapter. Reyna had been optimistic about taking the praetor position but now could barely move at the questionable fortune Mars was giving her. After all she had suffered through, how much worse did the gods want her life to get?

Mars stood up and took a look across the room. His expression darkened when he noticed the missing legion standard. He started to say something but then groaned like someone had flicked something at his head.

"I must go. The gods have taken a special interest in you. I'd hate for you to end up a failure," he admitted, lifting his rifle to show off its gore.

She didn't like the thought of immortal beings super invested in her like a Netflix show they all decided to binge. "Thank you for the encouragement, Lord Mars."

Mars smiled at her sarcasm. He looked straight into the whites of her eyes and Reyna did her best not to cower from the harshness of his expression—his face bore the grief and anguish of soldiers who had lost many yet willed themselves to carry on. "Keep your toga clean, praetor. And be careful of that golden hair boy."

Mars disappeared in a bright light before he could notice the reddening of Reyna's face.

Keep your toga clean, Mars had advised. She looked at her bra and brushed some dirt off her panties. She chirped a brief prayer to Mars, begging for forgiveness, and rose to her feet. If this was a Netflix show, Reyna could tell she was entering the juicy climax at the end of the season.

A step at a time she trudged forth, making sure not to mistakenly step on something that would send her to the Tartarus quicker than she needed. The murmur of a couple of voices within a stone's throw brought her to a halt.

"Who goes there?" she barked, gripping her sword tighter. She felt a voice too close into her vicinity and sidestepped out of its way, grabbing a gladius that had been conveniently tapered to the wall. She stabbed in the direction of the chatter and heard an instant crumbling, dust now covering her boots. She brandished her dual swords, threatening anyone to come close. "Show yourself, coward!"

Someone barked an order in Latin and the cavern's lights brightened. Reyna noticed the stalagmites from above, the destroyed Roman architecture in the view and, most importantly, the army of earthen brutes—she assumed that because of their translucency they would most likely be characterized as ghosts—and zombies that surrounded her in a semicircle against the wall. At the crux of the group, stood a figure that must've been their leader: a ghastly male with a transparent complexion who wore a regal purple toga engraved with the symbol of Rome, the SPQR insignia. She got an awful sense of deja vu from his presence-this type of spirit was definitely something she had encountered before. In his left hand he wielded a dagger. In his right, he held a collection of parchment scrolls. He may have been a handsome person ages ago but his face was terribly unshaven and unkept. He gave Reyna a look of bewilderment.

"APOLLO?" He yelled, his thunderous voice shaking the entire cavern. "A MISTRESS?"

Before she could even speak, her face repulsed at the terrible stench of the scene. It wasn't the best way to greet Roman authority, but with the hundreds of zombies and earthen ghosts giving her the evil eye, how she presented herself was the last of her priority.

"Excuse me?" she stammered, trying her best to hide the grimace her face wore.

"Wretched god," he cursed, wailing his arms and throwing a fit that likened him to the prepubescents Reyna babysat during weekends back at New Rome. "You promised me blessings, undeniable glory, my own throne, yet you give me this creature?"

He pointed at her in absolute disgust. Reyna was not feeling his tone or how he referred to her as a creature. The spirit took a step toward her, one step too close into her comfort zone, and she swung her sword in an upright motion, knocking the dagger out of his hand. A couple of oohs and aahs followed from the crowd. The underground army began to close on her.

"Get back," She ordered. Her voice cracking in the tail-end of her command, yet she could see many zombies hesitate and step back. One earthen ghost failed to get the memo and lunged at her side, but his silly antics were no match for Reyna's years of training and combat experience. She crouched to dodge his attack, swept him off his feet with her right leg and then stabbed him as he fell. Some more oohs and aahs roared from the crowd as the ghost vaporized in their sight.

The leader spirit took a couple of steps back and looked at her in distraught. "Just who exactly do you think you are, harlot?"

"Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, child of Bellona. Praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata," she answered, the phrase so familiar to her that it flew effortlessly off her tongue like muscle memory. "And if you call me a harlot one more time, Aweonao, I'll castrate you in front of all your men to see."

Instead of her opponents cowering in fear like she expected, the crowd erupted in laughter. She shouted, trying to win back the attention but the cries and howling drowned out any noise. The main spirit had doubled over cackling, clutching his stomach. She held her swords to her ears trying to block out the sound and the adrenaline releasing in her system made her blush so hard, she struggled to hold back tears. She hadn't felt this embarrassed since the days she bunkered on Blackjack's ship with Hylla, where pirates harassed her day and night. She wanted to sink into the earth and disappear even further.

"You? A praetor? OF ROME?" the spirit wheezed, barely able to control himself. "Gods of Olympus, if this is the best Rome has to offer, Mars himself will be damned. Where are your clothes, prostitute?"

She lashed at him with an uncontrollable rage, which being outnumbered nearly two-hundred to one probably wasn't the smartest choice of action. A couple of zombies placed themselves between Reyna and the spirit and pounced, yet Reyna was unbelievably prepared. She pirouetted with the elegance of a ballet dancer, holding her swords out and slashing anything within reach. A ghost had tackled her which momentarily stumbled her, but Reyna quickly rose to her feet and stabbed him in the abdomen. She launched his carcass with uncanny strength at another group of zombies who closed in. She jabbed, sidestepped and somersaulted her way past an assortment of zombies and earth ghosts, the very last ghost particularity unfortunate. She dodged his thrust and swung widely upward, decapitating him in one swift strike.

Despite this, Reyna knew she would be overpowered quickly. As she stabbed a zombie that grabbed at her boots someone knocked her off balance from behind. While she attempted to get to her feet, a ghost picked her up by the wrists and others landed several blows to her body. She kicked and screamed, but the clench of the earthen ghost was too much to overpower.

The spirit reappeared, who had taken refuge behind his army. "The prostitute of the Twelfth Legion, oh how Rome has fallen."

Reyna spat in his face. The move was so impulsive, so unexpected that nobody moved for a brief moment. She capitalized on this by slamming her feet in the abdomen of the earthen ghost who detained her, knocking him onto his knees. Before he could recover, she freed her hands and drove both swords into his chest, a one way trip to the Tartarus, courtesy of the daughter of Bellona.

Reyna brandished her weapons once again, turning slowly three-hundred sixty degrees to see that she was fully encircled. She fought the impulse to lash out once again, as her body was literally screaming at her to stop. Her back was thoroughly bruised and she barely had enough energy to continue. No matter how much she killed, more would take their place. Her next best strategy was to appear as intimidating as possible and pray no one attacked her before she actually thought of a plan.

Mr. Spit Face gave Reyna a murderous look. The more she looked at him, the more familiar his face became, yet she could quite place a name on it.

"Insolent degenerate," The spirit taunted, wiping the saliva from his beard, and Reyna wondered how someone without actual flesh could even do that. "If you knew who I was, you'd know you just committed a sin against Rome itself. I am consul of the gods. Pontifex Maximus. Princeps Senatus of Rome. The first Octavian. Blessed by Apollo himself"

At the word, Octavian Reyna shuddered. Had her Octavian been here, he would've never let Reyna hear the end of it. Even without wireless connection, he would've found a way to let every single legion member on the planet know Reyna decided to enter the Mare Nostrum in matching polyester bra and panties. She knew that rejecting his plea for a Camp Jupiter Instagram account had been for the best.

On the more pressing issue, Reyna very much knew who the spirit in front of her was-one of the very first figures you learned in Roman Studies 1101-but she decided to play along, wanting to provoke him more. "Sorry, your honor. I remember the big names of Rome: Constantine, Nero, Caligula. Not any B-list emperor."

The crowd shrieked. Her plan of not having a plan was coming into fruition much sooner than she expected.

"B-List?" the spirit repeated. "You have the audacity to approach Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome, who you owe your entire life to, wearing that and now I'm the B-list leader? Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, you are no praetor of Rome and I will prove that to you personally."

He advanced towards Reyna, but this time she knew exactly what to do. She held up her arm, the SPQR tattoo glistening in the cavern light, and Augustus stopped in his tracks muttering, "She has the branding of the legion."

Some more oohs and aahs came from the crowd which Reyna was getting sick of. Several zombies had trembled backwards. Even some of the earthen ghosts illuminated with a lighter shade which Reyna took as a sign of weakness. She had the army reeling which egged her to continue.

"Augustus—if that's even your real name—you have no right to check me, C-list emperor," Reyna jeered, sounding astonishingly cocky for a girl in her lingerie facing hundreds of monsters underground. She couldn't manipulate like the Octavians or persuade like Annabeths of the world but if there's one thing she learned from living with pirates all those years, it was how to talk shit. "Look at yourself, peludo. You wouldn't know a good shave if clippers smacked you right in the face. And your whole freak show is whack, you call all these hordes of monsters a legion? I can see why Apollo doesn't honor your pact, you're running a circus."

"She knows of the pact!" a ghost cried from the crowd.

"Augustus...C-list emperor!" whimpered another.

"Freak show! Circus!" a third shouted.

More yelling and murmur ensued. A sharp growl followed. The monsters closed the gap around her, ready to unleash. Reyna held up her swords again, ready to fight possibly for the last time. Right as she prepared to take her first strike, Augustus willed his men to a halt. "Hold fire, legion."

Reyna gave him a sly grin. She knew the old emperor had too much pride in him to be insulted in front of his legionary. Most men with power were like that. There was no more laughing now, Reyna had got them right where she wanted them.

"You talk awfully undisciplined which isn't surprising of a girl dressed as you are," Augustus rebuked, his complexion turning an even more hideous shade of grey. "Praetor or not, you shall die like the other heroes who stood before us. We will line the streets with your blood and summon Apollo himself."

Reyna had a hard time figuring out why such a revered figure like Augustus had turned so cold. She had been taught that though he was of a legacy of Venus by way of Aeneas, Augustus himself had been blessed by Apollo, who helped him win many crucial military victories. The spirit before her was a far cry from the person she idolized in her praetorship. Then she remembered the rumors that he had been allegedly poisoned by his wife…

"Do you wish to kill me as revenge?" Reyna pondered aloud, waving her swords at anyone in her proximity. "For Livia? A soul for a soul-"

"Silence!" Augustus commanded. "You shall speak nothing of that name. I've grown tired of your ridiculous games. Any person stupid enough to face a legion wearing their underwear is not worth of my time."

Augustus raised his dagger and Reyna could see the many ages of dried blood that stained it. With all the enemies closing in on her, she could only think how her blood would join the many heroes who stood in her spot and failed. In the middle of a flinch wild idea came to her and she parried the dagger and sidestepped out of the way.

"Hospitality!" Reyna wailed, feeling the many arms that attempted to detain her. "As emperor, as consul to Zeus Xenios himself, a leader of the legion must show hospitality towards a fellow Roman. Zeus be my witness!"

Reyna was usually opposed towards invoking the Greek form of Jupiter but she silently thanked the Greeks for their commitment to the protection of strangers. She could already hear the Roman gods who had taken interest in her Netflix show calling her graecus scum.

Augustus withdrew his dagger and cursed in Latin. The monsters had given her some space. For the moment, Reyna had bought herself some time.

"You devious bi-," the consul caught himself, his scowl nearly shaking Reyna out of her boots. "A fair request. How could I forget, where are our manners?"

"Before you kill me could you at least explain where exactly I'm at?" Reyna asked in her nicest tone. "I'd like to be able to tell the full story when I get to Elysium."

If it was possible for a maniac spirit to look more insane than it already did, Augustus was doing it. "Apollonia of Illyria, but I believe the mortals call this place...what was it Geb?"

One of the earthen ghosts stepped forward, his humanoid figure appearing more sophisticated than the rest. "Albania, my Lord."

"Right. Al-ba-ni-a," Augustus stammered, emphasizing each syllable. "A fine military post in the hey-day of the republic. Dedicated to Apollo, blah blah blah. It was here I underwent my studies in philosophy and it was here Apollo revealed to me I was going to be an important figure in the history of Rome. Shortly afterward my uncle, Julius Caesar, was brutally murdered which Apollo claimed he had nothing to do with."

Reyna listened carefully, moving past dozens of ghosts and zombies who didn't dare get in her way. "And then you formed the Triumvirate?"

"The second Triumvirate," Augustus corrected. "With that skirt chaser Marc Anthony and his whore lover Cleopatra. And that treacherous rebel Lepidus who sent his son to assassinate me."

The way Augustus hissed, Reyna could tell they weren't just friends who had a small falling out. She decided to stay as far away from the topic of his former political allies as possible. "And you made Rome into an empire. You took it to its greatest glory with Apollo."

At the word Apollo, Augustus soured. "I commanded the armies. I squashed our enemies. I restored order and civility to Rome. I commenced Pax Romana. I brought Apollo to Rome, before me he was a foreigner, an outsider. I rose temples in his name. Apollo does some measly bow and arrow magic and tacks on his name to my credits. I BUILT ROME."

When Reyna plummeted several kilometers into middle earth, the last thing she expected was to play the role of therapist between one of the greatest leaders in all of Rome and his immortal boyfriend. She almost wanted to tell them to get a room.

"So that's why you're mad at Apollo, he flaked on you," Reyna guessed, using the knowledge she learned back at Camp Jupiter and his story to piece together her conclusion. "He promised you immortality, a presence in Olympus like the greatest heroes of our time-Achilles, Odysseus, Aeneas, Hercules. But he abandoned you. He let Liv-I, mean your wife-poison you. The Senate declared you a god, yet it didn't work out."

Augustus looked at Reyna madly, yet nodded his head as if he was thoroughly impressed. "That is the way of the gods. They use you and cast you to the side. My spirit was never taken to Olympus. I turned into this...a mania. Driven to insanity due to my sheer hatred of the gods, a shell of my former self. I retreated to Apollonia and when the gods learned of my presence they destroyed most of the city with an earthquake."

He waved his hand and Reyna caught more details of the cavern she initially had missed. Two huge buildings stood parallel to each other that resembled the barracks at Camp Jupiter. On the surroundings a couple of artillery posts were situated. There had been walls around the fort but they mostly were destroyed. Several structures stood in between the two barracks that she could recognize from her Roman architecture classes: a couple of houses for the tribunes, a ditch furthest away from her filled with lumps she couldn't make out, a granary for food storage, a valetudinarian to take care for wounded soldiers. The most alarming was a pavilion most adjacent to her which was painted with puddles of dried blood. She realized the monsters had made a clearing for her that led directly to it.

"I've been plotting my revenge the last millennia, raising a legion of my own that shall outlive Rome itself," Augustus revealed, making his way towards Reyna who had put distance between them. "The place is heavily scented with the presence of Apollo which attracts wanderers and heroes from time to time. As you can see, there's not much to account for them."

With the last statement he pointed to the pavilion which Reyna turned to see the rotting flesh of some poor victim she missed on her initial glance. Her skin started to chill and hair rose on her body Reyna didn't even know she had. She had to fight against the clenching of her teeth.

The light shone on Augustus to give him an even uglier demeanor, his expression appearing to verbalize You're Next. "There is a new Triumvirate in town and they will take care of Apollo, accordingly. You shall not live long enough to see that day. Our hospitality has run out. As a courtesy, we offer you two choices: submit to my will or die fighting."

The first option was off the table immediately-Reyna would rather be suspended in mid air by her toga for the rest of eternity then to bow to a spirit as evil as Augustus. She also dreaded the idea of fighting again. Even if she could fight her way through an entire legion of foes, she still had no idea how to escape the cavern. She desperately needed a third choice that didn't involve 1) dying 2) being humiliated even further and 3) losing all integrity for herself.

She wondered if Nico could shadow travel the Athena Parthenos directly to camp and somehow ameliorate the grudge between the Greeks and the Romans before they went to war. But deep down she knew that without her the mission would fail: only a Roman could present the statue to the Greeks as a peace offering. The way Nico had passed out after one shadow travel, she figured that transporting directly to camp would kill him instantly. Alas, bearing an unexpected miracle of miracles, Reyna could not see how she would make it out of the cavern alive. Sorry she thought as she lifted her two swords once again, preferring to die on her own feet than kneel to the emperor.

Augustus smiled, as if she had made a familiar and expected choice. Before he could speak, one of the earthen ghosts-the smarter one, Geb-interrupted, "Perhaps she could be useful. For the circus. It has been many years since we've had proper entertainment."

The horde of monsters yelled in excitement and Augustus had to bellow over them to get them back to order. For the first time Reyna could feel the hundreds of pairs of eyes all staring at her, objectifying her image and fetishizing her body without consent. The idea of being used as proper entertainment made her physically ill, she almost preferred dying. Her intuition told her that she needed to extend her life as much as possible to either formulate an escape plan or give Nico and Hedge a chance to find her.

Instead of dueling her way into worse predicaments by engaging as the combatant, she now had to play the equally important role of the tactician. "Let's make a bargain: you keep me alive and we can discuss the terms of your entertainment-?"

"Hush, tramp!" Augustus snapped. He turned his attention to his men who were drooling and barking over the possibility of seeing Reyna perform proper entertainment. "You will not use this woman for your sick and perverted needs. We have a responsibility to Gaia, who has ordered us to take her out."

The crowd sighed in unison. Geb came forward once again. "My lord, all due respect. The morale of the legion is quite low. The last couple of wanderers have all had very swift deaths that served us no purpose. This daughter of Bellona, praetor of Rome herself, is the most interesting character to have stumbled across Apollonia in centuries. She is a wild one, her tenacity and choice of clothing have made it apparent. After Gaia takes over the mortal world, we may never get this chance again. I call for an impromptu Senate hearing!"

The rupture of the crowd nearly burst Reyna's eardrums. Augustus wanted to argue, yet even an evil spirit like him was obliged by ancient Roman traditions.

Instead of hosting the hearing in a Senate House, some of the more prominent earthen ghosts and zombies convened in a circle and conducted it right in front of Reyna. She noticed Augustus' frantic pleading yet the jarring yells of the legion drowned him out. After deliberating for a minute-yes Reyna counted-they turned to face her, the emperor's face brimming with disappointment.

Augustus frowned in disgust. "We have come to an agreement. The praetor shall be kept alive only for the sake of entertainment. If at any point she finds herself at odds with our commands, she must be executed instantly. If she chooses to accept, she must surrender her weapons."

The idea of surrendering her weapons hit Reyna like a truck. That was the absolute last thing she wanted to do: it would put her entire life at the mercy of Rome's bitchiest emperor. She recalled the last time she had conversed with her mother, at her shrine back at Camp Jupiter, the day after Jason went missing.

Sometimes Reyna, she had said the best solution is surrender. No Roman likes to surrender, they are hardwired to fight no matter the circumstances. But sometimes some people have to be surrendered, it is the only thing that gives the legion a fighting chance.

At that moment Reyna wanted to pelt her mom with tomatoes—insinuating that her fellow praetor, her almost lover, had to be surrendered for the good of the legion made her furious. But now, thousands of miles away from that conversation, she finally understood. Jason had to be surrendered to Juno in order for the Prophecy of Seven to set in place. And now Reyna had to surrender herself, even if it was the thing she dreaded the most.

Reyna knelt on both knees. Her weapons dropped to the floor and a collective shock coursed through the crowd. Even Augustus was hesitant, waiting for another one of her tricks. Two earthen ghosts detained her by the arms with an invasive amount of touching.

"Take her to her quarters," Augustus ordered, collecting his parchments that dropped to the floor much earlier. "The pavilion will be saved for another day."

Just as Augustus turned Reyna begged, "Can I at least get a tour? I've always wanted to see the ancient city of Apollonia."

Augustus was not flattered by her lies one bit, yet he granted her request. "Take her around, but don't show her too much. We will convene at dawn for the ceremonies."

The army made their way out of the large cavern and Augustus retreated to one of the tribune homes. Two earthen ghosts showed her around the fallen city, led by Geb. Whenever one of the ghosts got overzealous with the touching Reyna would spit in their face in a bout of cursing and kicking. Geb ordered them not to fight back. She may have been humiliated to the lowest point in her life, but it didn't stop her from abusing her privilege of being kept alive and lashing out at her captors whenever she felt like.

The city was much larger than Reyna had expected. She had fallen to the castra, which she concluded was the place they held all their executions at. There were many tunnels and exits that led to different parts of the city that survived the earthquake. When they got to the furthest side of the cavern, she realized the unperceivable lumps in the ditch had been decaying bodies, reeking so bad she could not hide her repulse. Reyna made sure to direct her vomit at one of her keepers.

"Can you not?" Geb pleaded.

They trudged forward, exploring some of the tunnels that appeared to have been connected. One led to a large field being worked on by zombies which Reyna suspected was a farm. How the hell does one farm underground she asked herself. Another exit led to the bathhouses which made an embarrassingly loud "oh la la" sound at her arrival. Her face became hot as she threw kicks at her captors, begging them to move on. They visited some ruins, a theatre that hadn't been used in eons and a decimated palace that was defaced with epithets that said "Fuck Apollo" and "We hate Olympians".

"You guys have such a way with words," Reyna remarked.

They made their way to an even larger cavern, which Reyna could instantly tell was the forum. It was booming with the weirdest monsters, who were waiting at the markets, exercising in the open or conducting mock law proceedings. The forum was connected to an amphitheater and Reyna couldn't help but be marveled at the impressive architecture. We Romans are truly the shit she thought.

"That is where you will entertain the entire legion. We expect your best, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano," Geb explained. One of the earthen ghosts touched her well below the belt and she kicked him with such force her foot ached in pain. Reyna wanted to throw up again but had nothing in her stomach; her stomach did calisthenics as she starved.

Huge aqueducts also lined the cavern—the faint gushing Reyna heard when she first fell. As much as she hated this legion of doom Augustus was spearheading, she could not deny their skillful handicraft. Running an underground water system would impress Vulcan himself. They may have been a legion of freaks Reyna concluded, but they were still a Roman legion of freaks.

"Where does the water lead to?" She asked.

"All the water is extracted from a nearby aquifer," Geb replied eagerly. Reyna could very much tell he was the nerd of the legion. "It drains to irrigate our farms and provide drinking water to all our legionnaires. I designed much of it myself and built it over the course of centuries. Do tell more?"

"Spare me the details."

Geb bowed in disappointment. He led Reyna to a final exit which contained her quarters, an absolute filthy dungeon that was draped in cobwebs and smelt of feces. Inside contained one slab of rock that Reyna assumed was her bed.

"I am not living there," she screamed. "Find me a better place."

Geb opened the metal grail with a lock and commanded the earthen ghosts to throw her in.

"This is no way to treat a guest!" Reyna begged, as she kicked at her keepers. She was not going to win them over appealing to their sense of decency—they were monsters.

"Please," she tried again, this time putting a lot more effort into her words. She hadn't attempted to charmspeak since her days at Circe's island but she had a faint idea of how it's supposed to be done. "You wouldn't want the most interesting guest you've had in years living in that, would you?"

Surprisingly, the earthen ghosts stopped. Even Geb rubbed his head, wondering to himself was I just about to let someone sleep in there?

Reyna didn't even take a second to marvel at her good fortune. She put more intensity to her words and she could feel the seductiveness oozing from her mouth. "Now please. Clean up. I'll tell you when to stop."

Even more bizarrely, they obeyed. The earthen ghosts found a nearby water bucket and started scrubbing down the place with cloth. They swept up the filth and even arranged the décor a bit. Reyna watched them in awe, cheering them on to work even harder. After a while, the ghosts finished, drenched in nasty ghost sweat.

Reyna walked in, absorbing the atmosphere of her new quarters. The place looked much more habitable. The floors were sparklingly clean and even the bed had been topped with a mattress and some blankets. A stand had been placed inside with some pens and parchment, an oil lantern and a warm meal: a loaf of bread, a side of herbs and some mystery meat she wouldn't even think about eating. They had even dug a hole in the corner which Reyna guessed was supposed to be the bathroom.

She sat on the bed and tried to push her luck even further. "Innocent question: you all wouldn't know how to escape this cavern, would y'all? How would one go about doing it? Stuff to look after? Where my weapons are being held?"

The expression of the earthen ghosts darkened as if they suddenly fell out of Reyna's hypnotism.

"We have suffered enough, praetor," Geb answered. "Enjoy your night. We will return at dawn."

They hurried out of the dungeon. Reyna banged on the grail. "Can I at least have some clothes?"

Her keepers didn't even turn back. Reyna watched them walk away till they disappeared out of her sight.

The next hour passed quickly. She fiddled with her food, eating some of the bread and devouring the herbs. Afterwards she wiped her skin down with some towels that had been left over. They had even given her some toothpaste, but Reyna was not a fan of the makeshift toothbrush assembled from cavern dirt. She brushed with her fingers instead.

Later, Reyna pretended to sleep, waiting for the city noise to die down. A guard had watched her briefly and then retreated. When she assumed it was after curfew, she tipped-toed to her stand and relit her lantern. During her tour she had made a mental map of the entire city and now she fervently tried to recreate a model of Apollonia over the parchment. She tossed and turned, thinking of some way she could escape, where exactly her weapons would be kept and how she could evade the guards. Every second she fought exhaustion—the stress of today had nearly caused her to collapse. She prayed to just about any god she could. After deliberating several escape plans, she whittled it down to one—a long shot but the best thing she could muster.

After a final round of prayers, Reyna passed out on her bed. She never felt so happy to have slept on a slab of stone. Somewhere a couple of kilometers aboveground, Nico and Hedge would be looking for her. Even if her plan was doomed to fail, she had to try—for them, her friends, Rome itself. She plunged into her dreams, wondering if this was the last night's sleep she would ever take.

If you made it this far, thank you so much! Please feel free to voice how this chapter made you feel! I wanted to amp the stakes, and give Reyna her Mark of Athena moment while still following along with BOO and TOA. The next two chapters will be in Nico's POV!