Sorry, guys. This update has come so late. I've been stuck in a land without Wi-fi for a few days.
HawkDramione: Thanks for the compliments! It's true, Reyna does have a breaking point at times. I totally agree with you.
Good Job (guest): Thanks for the compliments.
Lorenmar: Your comments are wonderful as always. I'll put some of your ideas into the story. Thanks for the comments!
After the Second Prophecy
Chapter Seven: Discovered
As much as Reyna hated to admit it, the Greek Activities schedule were much more interesting than the Roman ones.
Who knew that the Graecus scum could forge such fascinating bronze designs or shoot with such accuracy?
Immediately, Reyna felt somewhat guilty for treating the Fifth Cohort like trash. In a way, Camp Half-Blood is the Fifth Cohort, since they were both the direct descendants of the gods.
A few moments later...
Reyna groped for a small handhold on the climbing wall. The Seven sort of made their own schedules, and Reyna tagged along. Sure, why not? At least it's better than hanging with the Ares cabin and Clarisse.
"Are you all right?" Percy yelled to Annabeth as he ducked aside. A massive boulder rolled past him.
"I'm fine!" Annabeth yelled back as she stumbled but managed to hold on.
The climbing wall is basically a wall, with a pool of lava at its foot. If you slipped, you'd be fried. To make it more challenging, boulders, and streams of lava would randomly drop down from the top of the wall. Other sneaky traps were also positioned.
Jason and Piper were climbing somewhere beside her. Annabeth and Percy were slightly ahead, dodging traps. Leo and Calypso were way up high. Calypso had magically grown some vines on the wall, so the two of them were pretty much sitting on vine-like seats suspended in mid-air, inching up to the top.
"Need a hand?" Leo asked mischievously.
"No thanks, cheaters!" Percy yelled in response.
"Be nice!" Calypso scolded. "Or I'll throw you down into the lava pit!"
Leo pretended to be afraid. "I'll be nicer, milady! Your anger is unbearable!"
Percy smirked in triumph, but soon found himself smacked on the face by a leaf. Ouch. Based on the jagged sides, that smack must've hurt badly.
Reyna managed to find another handhold. She clung on as her feet groped for a foothold. Once she managed to haul herself up another foot, she managed to grasp onto a particularly large handhold. After arranging herself into a position where she didn't need to use as much strain, Reyna took a quick break.
Reyna glanced at Camp Half-Blood. It was beautiful, really. A warm summer breeze blew by, tinted with the smell of fresh strawberries.
"Reyna!" Jason warned.
Reyna leapt to the side, managing not to lose her balance as a stick that said Nature Rulz! poked through a gap. If Jason's warning didn't come, Reyna would have fallen down into the lava with an awful bruise on her forehead.
"Thanks!" Reyna called.
Jason flashed a quick smile before climbing another few inches.
Gods, Jason looked gorgeous. The sunlight bounced off his golden hair, throwing dozens of eight-color rainbows. His biceps flexed as he hauled himself another foot. Then, he reached down to give Piper a hand.
"Reyna, you all right?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Realizing she was last in line, Reyna climbed with renewed effort. After dodging a stream of lava and a couple more poky sticks jutting through the wall, Reyna managed to climb alongside Percy and Annabeth.
Jason and Piper were also gaining. Jason moved ahead to scout the easiest path, giving the best footholds to Piper. Reyna was amazed at how he could actually stay on the wall using handholds the size of paper clips.
"Help!"
Reyna glanced sharply down. Piper was hanging by finger, legs churning the bare air. Her multi-colored eyes were wide with panic.
"Piper!" Jason yelled. He tried to climb down, but was entertained by rolling boulders that missed him by millimeters.
Annabeth and Percy were too high up to be much of help. They could probably reach Piper in time, but they would not only endanger themselves, they would also bowl Reyna down in the process.
When Calypso heard Piper's yelp, she must have lost concentration, because the vine seats snapped and the two of them were flailing down into the pit of lava. Calypso managed to summon the strawberry vines as they lashed and softened the fall, dragging the two demigods/immortal gardener girls onto the grass.
Leo was trying to revive Calypso who had fainted of exhaustion.
Reyna glanced down at Piper again. Reyna could easily reach out and grab Piper, suspending her long enough for her to find another foothold.
Kick her down.
"Not you again!" Reyna groaned.
"Not who again?" Calypso asked, sitting up groggily.
"Piper!" Calypso's question was drowned by a collective gasp as Piper lost her grip but managed to find another purchase in a split second. A crowd of demigods had gathered, and Chiron was gawping at them, medical bag ready.
"Well don't just stand there!" It was Leo who snapped the silence. "Get help!"
"Get the cleaning harpies! They can carry 'em down!" Katie Gardner yelled.
"Jason! Get her!" A Roman called. The plan would have worked if Jason wasn't too busy dodging boulders.
"Call 911!" a tiny girl... Lacy (?) screamed.
Well... Calling 911 and sending the NYPD into Camp Half-Blood might not be the best idea, considering if the cops actually made it past Peleus the dragon's eucalyptus breath.
What has she done for you? Grab her hand and let her go! It's an accident! Jason's got to love you after he gets over Piper's death!
Reyna's chest tightened. Was it truly worth it?
No, it wasn't. If Piper died, Jason would never forgive himself. He would never love anybody else.
Reyna grasped Piper's hand. Piper's feet groped for a foothold. Once she succeeded, she placed her other hand onto the ledge.
Even though Piper was too winded to say anything, her eyes shone the same two words over and over again: Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
8:00 PM, campfire sing-along
The campers were singing around the fire. Unfortunately, Apollo had created a new song: Apollo and his Friends save Olympus for the Second Time.
That song was the worst, since it did not rhyme at all, and the music sounded like a badly tuned violin. The lyrics were haikus.
"Apollo and friends,
They save Olympus again.
They are so awesome."
"Apollo is cool,
He uses his swords to kill
All of the giants."
After a minute, Reyna's ears were practically bleeding. She stumbled to the strawberry fields. The music dimmed, and the song of crickets (which were so much better than the sing-along) chorused into the night.
"I heard you speaking to yourself,"
Of all people, Calypso emerged from the vines, using a delicate hand to pluck a strawberry.
"Yeah, I know. Talking to myself makes things seem... less chaotic," Reyna said carefully. If someone knew their powerful praetor is listening to a voice in her head, that would be awful.
"Do you hear voices in your head?" Calypso asked again.
Reyna stiffened. How did she know?
"Sort of," Reyna decided.
"I hear them too,"
What? WHAT?
"You do?" Reyna asked, failing to hide the surprise from her voice.
"Yeah, I do," Calypso said, looking at Reyna.
Calypso had her creamy brown hair tied into a french braid. Her almond shaped eyes were startling, beautiful, but held so much sadness.
"Odysseus, Drake, Percy. They all seem to speak to me in my mind. They promise they'll come back for me, they'll set me free, but in the end, they don't."
"I'm sorry," Reyna managed.
The voices Calypso heard was not some evil spirit (like Reyna's) telling her to kill Piper. Thank goodness.
"It's all right. I'm happy now, thanks to Leo,"
The way Calypso said "Leo,"... It was full of fondness, full of love. Reyna desperately wished someone would say her name like that.
"Ignore the voices," Calypso advised as she stood up gracefully. "They'll do nothing but harm."
With that, Calypso left.
"It's easy," Reyna said aloud. "Ignore the voices."
Is it easy? To ignore the voice?
No. It isn't easy.
Reyna bristled. The voice would not stand back.
Did you like this chapter?
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