A/N: How long has it been since I've updated? Yeah...like forever...
I'm so so sorry :( But it's summer now and I've got much less things to do, so I may as well finish this story. I hope you enjoy it.
Jason was still reeling from the revelations after they'd made it through the tunnel. Reyna could sing. Really well. He'd never even known that. But perhaps no one did. She loved him. He'd once loved her. None of it was a lie. No matter what the gods and goddesses did, they never lied. Which meant…he thought he loved Piper. Did he? Jason asked himself that question over and over. Yes. Of course. Completely. Obviously. Duh. Yeah. Sure. Uh huh. Ye-ah… By the end, he was questioning himself even more than before. No use. He'd come back to that. But the problem was, Jason couldn't come back to that. It was always in his head, always lingering there, what he truly felt for Reyna and Piper, and what he really wanted. The spark or the caress. Maybe this quest was his turn to figure out…if he even made it out.
"Uh oh," Jason stopped short.
"That's right, smart one." Reyna hissed sarcastically, evidently annoyed with him. Pluto stood in front of them, his menacing figure looking down upon Jason and Reyna.
"I just love it when everyone's so scared of me." Pluto smiled smugly. "Makes life all the easier."
"What's the point you're trying to make?" Jason asked impatiently, tapping his foot. Pluto turned to look directly at him, his bitch black eyes bearing onto Jason's soul. Jason refused to be intimidated by his stare. Raising his head up ever so slightly, he stared right back.
"Son of Jupiter," Pluto snarled. "My brother's son." Pluto spat out the word brother. "Him and Neptune, thinking they're all that great, ruling the skies and the seas, and sitting on their high seats of Olympus, leaving me to rule this rotting world of death."
"I thought that was what you liked," Jason retorted.
"It's true. But soon, once Typhon rises, I will rule all the worlds, skies and seas alike. I, Pluto, will be the king of the all the gods!"
"Typhon's never going to rise," Reyna said, her voice calm as ever. It seemed like nothing could penetrate her ever-calm demeanor. "We're going to defeat him before he succeeds." Pluto turned to Reyna.
"Daughter of Bellona. Do you really think that you will succeed? You, and that bratty, arrogant boy? No, no. Before you can even get to Typhon, you will have to face me!" Pluto reached out a hand, grabbing Reyna firmly. And for what may have been the first time, Jason saw true fear in her eyes.
"GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF OF HER!" he roared, suddenly infuriated that Pluto had even dared to think about touching Reyna. Not letting go, Pluto swiveled around, turning a curious eye on Jason.
"Interesting."
"I said, get your dirty hands off of her!" Jason's voice held a clear warning. If you don't do as I say, I'll attack. His eyes met Reyna's. She shook her head just the slightest bit. It's no use. Jason shook his head back.
I have to try.
He did have to try. There was a terrible sinking feeling in Jason's heart. This was what Bellona and Echidna were talking about, weren't they. He would fail the quest. Because without Reyna, he couldn't succeed. And if he didn't try to save her, it was a dead deal anyway.
Jason lunged.
And found himself dangling upside down, about twenty feet up.
"Maybe I should just take both of you," Pluto mused. "But I truly want the enjoyment of taking one, and seeing what the other does. Your quest requires each other, do you realize? Without one, the other is guaranteed to fail."
The smile on Pluto's face sent shivers down Jason's spine. "I'd like to see a futile attempt to continue while the other is lost…"
Reyna's face was a mask of fury. Jason had rarely seen her so angry, and he couldn't help but smile slightly at what may just happen to Pluto, despite the dire situation they were in. "Now, the question is, which should I take?" Please don't let him take Reyna, Jason silently begged, not daring to look directly into the deep, dark eyes of the god for fear that he would read Jason's thoughts. Opposite of him, Reyna was thinking the exact same thing about him. Pluto's eye swiveled to Reyna. Damn it, Jason thought. But then it turned back to Jason…and stayed there.
"Such revenge," Hades murmured. "It would be such good revenge to take one of Jupiter's strongest sons." And in the moment Pluto said that, Jason plummeted to the ground.
There was a terrible scream, rising above all else. Jason attempted to turn around midair, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his tailbone. Of course he had to break it. A few feet away, he saw Reyna. Her glossy black hair had come out of its braid slightly, hanging loose about her shoulders. But there was a triumphant look on her face that let you know she was a practiced fighter, a winner. Looking up, Jason saw Reyna's knife embedded in Pluto's eye.
"Let's go," he mouthed. Reyna nodded, understanding. Silently, they crept away.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Pluto roared. "GET BACK HERE YOU TWO. I WILL GET MY REVENGE!" Jason and Reyna turned to look at each other in the exact same moment. Their eyes read identically. Run. They bolted, but there was no place to run, no place where they could escape the wrath of Pluto. They were in his realm, after all. They were stuck in the Underworld.
"I can still see you!" Pluto screamed. "I still have one good eye."
"And I still have one good knife," Reyna muttered, unsheathing her second and final blade of the pair. Lifting it up, she poised. Jason wished he could capture that image forever. Reyna, her mouth set and eyes determined, holding a knife of imperial gold, poised to throw. She was so beautiful, so powerful. Jason couldn't help but think of Piper, in that moment. They were so similar but so different, the two girls he was closest to. Both were beautiful and both were powerful, yet each in her own way. While Piper was so stunningly pretty, as a daughter of Venus, Reyna was beautiful in a different way. In a strong, Roman, warrior queen way. And that she was, as with one calculated throw, her second and final knife embedded its point into Pluto's other eye.
He screamed even louder than last time, a feat Jason hadn't thought was possible. Whirling around aimlessly, sniffing the air for their scent as a final resort, Pluto attempted to search for Jason and Reyna while he was blind. Jason turned around, grabbing Reyna's hand.
"You. Are. Freaking. Amazing," he said, clearly enunciating every single word. And together they ran, to the entrance of Tartarus. Dog barking erupted behind them.
"Hurry," Reyna yelled. Jason and Reyna raced as fast as they could to Tartarus, with the sound getting louder and louder by each second. A dark, foggy air swirled around them. They had no choice but to enter. Immediately the barking diminished.
The pit was, in every essence, a black hole. Jason felt a charismatic tugging, a pulling and a compelling, to go just that slightest step closer. He could tell that Reyna did too. Her eyes were more strained than usual. Churning above the bottom was a tornado, containing every single storm known to man. Jason's grip on Reyna's hand tightened involuntarily.
"We can do this," she shouted to him over the storm. Jason nodded, and he knew she saw. Pulling her in, he wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened, and Jason was about to let go, thinking he did something wrong. But then Reyna relaxed. Her body curved into his, like they were always meant to hold each other in this way. Taking a deep breath, he smelled the scent of Reyna's hair above all that was rotting inside Tartarus. He felt that familiar spark he'd been missing for so long. This could very likely-and probably was- the last time he and Reyna fought together, the last time they held hands, the last time they stood by one another's side.
"No matter what happens," he whispered, his lips lightly touching her ear, "just know that I love fighting beside you, and you are the best partner I've ever had."