Author's Note: I'm rescinding my previous note about updating this story once a week to saying that I'm going to update it at least once a week. Since I currently have some chapters saved up and completed, and in order to bump the story more often, I'll be updating it more often. I'll probably still always post one new chapter on Fridays, but I'll try to get at least one more chapter up at some other point each week. So here we go, more stuff! Be sure to leave a review if you enjoy it or have thoughts on it.
3
Reyna
Air filled Reyna's lungs as she jolted awake with a sharp breath. Her eyes darted around the wood ceiling, taking in her surroundings. After a moment of panic, her breathing slowed, and she remembered where she was. The wooden textures of the walls were bathed in sunlight from the open window, and Reyna squinted as she leaned up, letting the bedsheets fall beside her. She rubbed her eyes, then instinctively checked the bedstand with her hand without looking. Her Imperial gold sword and dagger were still there.
She stood up and stretched, gradually coming to full consciousness. As she went to clean up in the bedroom-connected bathroom, she couldn't help but think about her dreams, and specifically the prophecy and what it meant. She had already mulled it over plenty since she had heard it a couple of days ago at Camp Half-Blood, but especially with the vividness of her dreams last night, she found herself pondering them yet again.
"Destruction's daughter." Bellona, her mother, was known as the goddess of War, Devastation, and Destruction. It seemed obvious that it had to mean herself. Why else would the Oracle wait until she was alone to reveal it? Clearly, she was meant to hear it. "Fights alone." Only her. Whatever the quest was, it had to be her, and her alone. Somehow she knew this without a doubt.
"Strength given to save two homes." That line seemed clear to her as well when she had thought about it before. She remembered that night at Camp Half-Blood, after their victory over Gaea, when she had pulled her new friend Nico di Angelo into a hug at the dining hall pavilion, and said to him that "We had one home, now we have two." Despite all of their wanderings and wars, they had found a home at not one demigod camp, but two. Surely this is what the prophecy meant. She would have to give her strength to save both camps. One from a horrible sickness and curse, and the second from an army of desperate monsters. Again, this she knew. She even had the ability to literally give her strength to others, as a daughter of Bellona. It was undeniable, in her mind.
"The bladeless sword will rend the curse, / And single flame, to more disperse." The last two lines still bothered her, if only because, unlike the first lines, she had no idea what they could mean. Not that she hadn't given it plenty of thought. She figured that "bladeless sword" could mean something like Percy's weapon Riptide, seeing as it was a sword that sometimes didn't have a blade when it was in pen form. That didn't seem entirely right. But what else could a "bladeless sword" possibly be? And who knew what the "single flame" was, or how it would "disperse." As much as prophecies seemed like they were meant to guide demigods, they certainly didn't make themselves easy to be understood or followed.
The vision of Camp Jupiter also surfaced in her early morning mind. While the scenes of the Camp Half-Blood infirmary and the prophecy from Rachel were memories, the one with Frank wasn't. Demigod dreams weren't only embellishments of memories, she knew, but it was still always a bit unsettling to see something so detailed in a dream, especially with the knowledge that it was probably really happening somewhere, with her as an observer. Seeing Frank take charge was comforting, but she definitely intended to be there with him when they led the camp in the attack on the monsters at Tahoe. She had to be there. But she also had to be here, at least for now. Hopefully time and the gods would be forgiving enough of her to allow for both.
After a few minutes, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the bedroom into the upper floor hallway. On her way to the stairs she passed multiple doors, all of them closed. She remembered what her young host had said about the bedrooms, and for a moment, curiosity arose within her. But she quickly shook it off, not wanting to invade his privacy. It's not as if she really cared, anyway.
She gently stepped down the stairs, making as little noise as possible. As she began to descend, she heard what sounded like music coming from downstairs. It was gentle and ambient, but definitely there, and it became clearer as she walked towards the other side of the house.
(music: Technicolor Waltz – Analogue Dear)
Upon stepping through the hallway to the kitchen, she saw Mason sitting at the wide dinner table, a book laid out in front of him. He was wearing a plain pale orange t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants. After a moment, he glanced up and saw her, and gave her a warm smile. "Oh, hey. Sleep well?"
Reyna nodded blankly. A partial lie. It wasn't a particularly enjoyable night, but she did feel rested regardless. He nodded. "Good. And how's the arm?"
She rolled her shoulder a bit, a numb pain still throbbing, but muted. "Better."
They both remained still for an awkward moment before Mason scooted his chair back to get up. "Coffee?"
She didn't see any cup with him, but she accepted nonetheless. "Yes. Thank you."
As he walked over to put the coffee together, Reyna sat at another of the chairs. She glanced around the sunlit room. Now that it was day, she could see the entire space a bit clearer. It was similarly simple like the front room, with the basic appliances and utensils and not much else. There were a few books stacked in a corner on the counter. The dining room connected to another moderately-sized living room, with one couch and a couple of wooden bookshelves. A modest TV was mounted to the far wall, fairly small in the space it was meant to go. Most of the side wall of the dining room and kitchen were made up of immense glass windows, allowing for a mostly unhindered view to the backyard of the house.
Being on the opposite side of the sun, most of the grass of the yard was currently shadowed by the house itself, but Reyna also saw just how close the house was to the lake. Only about fifty feet from the back door of the house, the lawn made way for water, with a small wooden walkway stretching out a few feet into the lake. The massive expanse of blue shimmered with gentle waves, and she could see hints of the shoreline on the other side.
However, her eyes continued moving, falling on a small circular music speaker sat on one of the kitchen counters, playing soft music, and as she focused on the music for a moment, she realized Mason was humming along to it, matching the gentle hum from the song itself. His back was turned to her as he reached up to grab a cup, but she could still hear the soft sound of his voice.
She was still in a curious state of lethargy, which was a little bit unusual for her. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, as if she hadn't gotten enough sleep, but more of a relaxed haze. As she pondered this slowly, she realized that this might be the most normal morning she'd had in months. Maybe years. For so long, every morning had been some kind of rush, or stress, or exercise, whether it be waking early for camp training, or rallying her people for battle, or even pulling an all-nighter just to mull over maps and plans. Being in her position meant constant demands from every angle, something she had grown accustomed to over the years.
But now what was she doing? Sitting in a fancy house, next to a beautiful lake, being served coffee by some boy who had just let her spend the night without pressing her for any details. As the odd nature of her current reality caught up to her, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, realizing now how relaxed her face had been for minutes now.
"Here," she heard as she glanced up at a cup being held out to her. She grasped it with both hands, sipping the warm liquid before glancing back up at Mason with a lifted eyebrow. "Where's your cup?"
He shrugged as he sat back down. "I don't drink coffee."
Reyna shook her head, unable to hold in her bewilderment any longer. "Are you the only person living here? I don't understand."
Mason's smile faltered slightly as he glanced towards the hallway. "Yes, I am," he said simply.
"I don't believe you. Why would a boy of your age be living in a house like this by himself? Why do you say you have only one bed in this entire place? Why do you even have coffee if you don't drink it at all? Do you really expect me to believe that you live here alone? You may not know much about me, but I am no fool. I recommend you tell me the truth before I make you."
As she said the last words, she realized one of her hands was at her side, gripping the sheathed handle of her gold dagger, and Mason definitely noticed, since he lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Okay, okay. I will. No need for that."
She took a deep breath as she lowered her hand. "Sorry. Just… I don't have much reason to trust strangers, especially when they let me into their mansion without any question. I may have had a lapse in judgement last night, but I am not about to make that mistake twice."
Even as she said the words, Reyna realized her heart wasn't in them entirely. Her brain may have been partial enough to know better, but the rest of her was practically sighing in relief at the coffee and bedsheets and sunlight and… everything.
Mason eyed her carefully, then sighed himself. "Understood."
He sat back in his chair, looking over her shoulder instead of her eyes. "It's really not anything too interesting. I do live here alone. Sometimes there's someone who comes to check in on me every once in a while, but for the most part, it's just me."
She stared at him, silently urging him to continue.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I never knew my parents. Not really. I don't have any memories of them. I was told that they died before I was even two. Of course, that didn't stop me from asking more questions later. Apparently, they were well off enough that I didn't have to worry about where to live. I spent some time in a nice orphanage down in Indiana, then a foster family in Illinois. They were both nice."
Mason hesitated for a moment. "I don't like telling this story usually. I doubt any other orphan would want to hear about one who never had to worry about where he was going next."
Reyna nodded her head. "Go on," she said, gentler than she meant to. This didn't sound like the kind of explanation she had been expecting.
"Eventually, when I was just thirteen, someone came to me with what turned out to be a portion of my mother's will. There was apparently a section that I was only supposed to see when I turned thirteen, and it included the details and paperwork for, well, this house," he said, gesturing around him. "Of course, I couldn't really own the house until I was older, but they also included a caretaker who would see to the official business until I got to that point. They even drove me around to school and such."
He smiled, seemingly reminiscing. "Boy, I was so excited. An orphan, suddenly inheriting a house? And a huge one, at that? I couldn't believe it. It was like something out of a fairy tale. Of course, that made me even more confused about who and what my parents were, but even though I pressed everyone, no one would give me a straight answer. Some said they were wealthy investors who died in a car accident. Others said they were business partners who didn't want to have to deal with a child and just left to some other country."
He ran his hand through his hair. "For a long time, I didn't know which one would be worst. After a while I just decided that not knowing was the easiest."
Her father's face flickered in Reyna's eyes for a brief moment.
Murderer.
"But anyway," Mason said, snapping Reyna back. "My mother said in her message to me that I should get some friends to live with me, to keep me company. So I did. I got three of my friends to move in, two of them from my school here in Michigan, and one old neighbor from Illinois."
He managed a smile. "You can imagine how that went, four boys in a house like this, basically on their own."
Reyna couldn't help but smile, too. Truly a recipe for disaster.
His smile became slightly pained. "It was nice, especially once we grew out of our obnoxious phase and started to be something like normal roommates. It felt so good to be able to share all of this with someone else. We went jet-skiing on the lake, had game nights, everything. We even got to the point where we could… talk. About important things. I couldn't imagine what it would be like living here without them."
She saw his eyes lower and his smile fade. She gave him a moment, then asked quietly, "What happened?"
Mason looked back up towards her, his familiar apologetic smile on his face. "I almost wish I could say it was something… drastic. Some sort of… nuclear fallout. But everyone just kind of… moved on. The first one, Isaiah, he got an offer for a big college in California. That one wasn't so bad. We were all proud of him, even though we were sad this whole "guy house" thing was changing. The second one, Grant? He got engaged. That was crazy. We knew he had a girlfriend, but it all happened so fast - the proposal, the wedding, him leaving. Sometimes I still can't believe he's actually married." He laughed nervously. "I guess that's how those things happen sometimes? I wouldn't know."
Noted. What?
He laid his elbows on the table and wrung his hands together. "The last one, Brian." He took a shaky breath. "That was the hardest." His voice was a whisper now.
"He didn't go to Harvard, or get married, or get a job, or anything. He just… told me one day that… he didn't want to be here anymore. Not without the rest of them. Said it just wasn't the same when it was only him and… me." The last word was barely audible.
After a few seconds of silence, he leaned back again. "So, here I am, still holding down the fort. And it's not so bad. I've gotten so used to the quiet mornings, with the lake and everything," he said, gazing out the window. "Sometimes I just sit out there, on the dock, with my feet in the water, looking out. It's hard not to appreciate, especially when I think about-"
He stopped himself. Even Reyna knew he was thinking about something - or someone - in particular. But he changed his words.
"When I think about all the people like me who don't have this. Who don't have any home to go back to. Or they do, but it's even more painful than being away from it."
Traitor.
After a quiet moment, he looked back at her. "Anyway, that's enough of my own little story. Do you believe me?"
Reyna blinked as she was taken out of the moment. "I suppose so," she said, with a slightly forced sternness. There were multiple things running through her head at the moment, most of which she was not going to say out loud.
"So, the bedrooms are empty because your friends took the furniture with them."
"Yeah, most of it was stuff they bought themselves, so it made sense."
"And how long ago was all of this?"
"About two years ago was when Brian left."
"So why do you have coffee?"
Mason cocked his head. "Oh. Is that really what you're interested in?" he asked with amusement.
"Yes."
"Well…" Mason ran a hand through his red-brown hair. "I don't know… I guess if anyone comes by who would need it?" he said sheepishly.
Reyna's face softened a bit as she shook her head. "You are a very strange boy. And I've met many strange boys."
His face lit up with a hearty laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment," he said, looking her in the eyes.
"Very well, then. Now, what would by esteemed guest wish to have for lunch?" he said with a satirically formal tone.
She jerked her head towards the windows, somehow only just now registering the light level. "Wait, what time is it?"
"Eleven-thirty," he said with amusement. "I considered getting you up, but that seemed like a bad idea. Anyway, I did just get some groceries, so-"
He stopped himself, his face suddenly freezing with worry. "Oh no," he muttered loudly.
Reyna's senses sharpened in alert. "What is it?"
Mason had turned to start jogging towards the front door, then turned to Reyna and swung his arms up incredulously, a look of mock frustration on his face. "I left my ice cream in the car!"