reyna avila ramírez-arellano
There is something odd in the air tonight: Reyna feels it, the Odd Feeling tangibly meshed into the atmosphere, her breathing space.
The Roman demigods ask much of her as praetor. Reyna feels like she asks of them too little. Octavian is getting too rowdy again, and he's trying to rally the Cohorts into fighting the Greeks. And Reyna left that situation to help with the war against Gaea, to cross the Mediterranean Sea; the Mare Nostrum. The weight of that presses down on her — it combines with the Odd Feeling to create an unpleasant roiling feeling in Reyna's stomach, and that combined with her riding Scipio makes her feel much more anxious and unpleasant.
She sighs. There was no choice to be made, Reyna reminds herself. Demigods against demigods is one thing, but demigods against primordials is another.
And yet...Reyna feels like she made the wrong decision.
She looks to the skies, about to say a prayer to her mother, Bellona, but she sees something that makes her stop short.
A group of shining stars forms something magnificent: what looks like a girl with a bow and arrow drawn. She is beautiful, with a glowing face of pure light; her face is reassuring. She seems to say, Hello there. It is fine. You will be alright.
This girl is here right now. Suddenly, Reyna doesn't feel quite so alone. This girl is here right now, and she watches over her, two girls alone in a world where people are malicious and self-serving and where gods are too busy to do anything but watch and where old primordials have nothing better to do than ruin lives — in this world, two girls reside and they are together; in this world, they both have someone to watch.
Reyna understands the Odd Feeling, that thing in the air. It is still there, and it is the feeling of someone else sharing your space where no one else should be — the feeling of a person who does not interfere but simply is.
That feeling is there, in the air tonight. Reyna does not find it unsettling, but rather she finds in that feeling the slightest ray of hope — the slightest ray of a thought that speaks; it says, You have a chance, you are not alone, and you can shine bright.
You are bright, too, Reyna wants to tell that thought. You are a collection of smaller stars, but sometimes these smaller stars shine brighter than the sun.
this was so fun to write simply because it was really inspiring and because i put the title in there. i wasn't originally planning to but i was just writing this and in my zone so i did...hope you enjoy, because this was certainly enjoyable to write.
which demigod do you think i'll do next? no hints here