THAT MOMENT YOU REALIZE THE HOUSE OF HADES IS RELEASED TOMORROW.

O.O

... Can't ... take it ...

*dies*

(I swear, I am this close to getting a job at the nearest book store [even though I'm not old enough to have a job] just so that I can illegally go through the boxes of the House of Hades and read a copy.)

Starring Reyna
Guest Star of Hylla

Five hours.

That's how long Reyna had been running after she'd escaped Blackbeard and those monstrous pirates.

It hadn't been easy. For months and months she and Hylla had trained themselves in the art of weapons (when they weren't mopping decks or delivering messages or performing other cabin boy things).

One night while they were docked somewhere in California, they tried their escape. But something went amiss and they were forced to fight.

Hylla swung her blade, and the sound of metal on metal pierced the silent night. Reyna ducked under a fist, trying to manoeuvre around her pirate, but he was just too big. He shoved her along to the edge of the boat, threatening to push her over.

"Reyna!" Hylla shouted. "Jump! Get off the ship! I'll catch up to you!"

Reyna glanced at her sister, saw how she was fighting two pirates at the same time. She'd be fine. Reyna wasn't.

She so turned and dove into the water.

-o-O-o-

Reyna came to a stop at a train station. Her clothes had finally dried out, and she was exhausted. The twelve-year-old fell to her knees and panted, waiting for her breath to return. She had run all night.

Then she cried. She cried until she had no more tears, then simply sobbed. She sobbed until morning came, until she was too exhausted to do anything other than sleep. She had nightmares of pirates hanging Hylla on a noose, like what people used to do to pirates back in the day. When she awoke her first thought was that her sister had been recaptured by the pirates and killed, and began to cry again. That was until someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

Reyna turned to find her sister knelt beside her, smiling sorrowfully. "Hey," she whispered.

The twelve-year-old gasped and hugged her sister, tears coming more continually now. "I thought you were killed," she sobbed, her face pressed against Hylla's shoulder.

"I'm fine," she reassured her, running her fingers through Reyna's long and tangled black hair. But she was obviously not fine. She had cuts and bruises and was bleeding horribly. One eye was swollen and she had cut off a strip of her shirt to use as an improvised bandage around a nasty wound on her leg. It was soaked in blood.

Reyna began to cry of happiness. "We escaped the pirates," she said, and the simple phrase almost made her laugh. Almost.

But Hylla wasn't as joyful. "Reyna, you need to know something," she told her. "There's this camp nearby—I heard about it while we were with Circe. A lot of our family…" She stopped herself, swallowing. "I mean friends from the island came from there. It's called Camp Jupiter. For demigods and legacies like us." She hesitated. "And I want you to go there."

"But… where will you go?" Reyna asked.

Hylla hesitated. "Seattle," she said, then nodded firmly. "Yes, that is where I will go. I will take this train and go to Seattle." She placed both hands on her sister's shoulders. "But you must promise me that you will not follow me and go to Camp Jupiter."

"I…"

"Promise me, Reyna." Hylla stared at her right in the eyes, cold and firm. She knew there was no getting out of this.

"I promise. I will go to Camp Jupiter, like you want."

"Good," said Hylla, nodding. "Good." She pointed across the train tracks toward the highway. "It's over there," she said. "Traffic this point in the afternoon is terrible, so you will be able to squeeze around the cars to the center. When they ask you who you are, tell them you are Reyna, daughter of Bellona."

Reyna nodded. "I will do this," she replied. "But what do you wish to find in Seattle?"

Hylla hesitated before replying. "The Amazons," she said. "I've heard about them, and wish to join them. I don't know why. I just feel a need to go there." She turned back to her younger sister. "Trust your instinct, Reyna. It will get you out of many scraps alive."

She nodded. "I will remember," she announced, and the sisters embraced one last time.

"I love you," said Reyna.

"Oh, I love you too," Hylla replied, cradling her head. They pulled apart. "Now go. The sooner the better."

Reyna nodded and stood. The last view she had of her sister for a long time was her sitting there at the train station, beaten and bruised, but beaming as if she were queen of the world.

Go, she mouthed.

Then Reyna turned and sprinted and didn't stop. She ran across the train tracks, and when people yelled out for her to stop she pushed right past them. She ran out of the train station toward the highway, jumping over the fence and sprinting between the cars. Commuters honked at her and people rolled down their windows and cursed, but she didn't stop for them or far anything else. She didn't stop until she reached the tunnel, where she fell to her knees, gasping for breath. She didn't know for how long, but after a while a pair of strong arms helped her to her feet.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Reyna," she panted. "Daughter of… Bellona."

The boy grinned. "Hey," he said. "I'm Jason."

And because I know this question is coming, YES I am a Jeyna fan. And YES, I am totally expecting the Romans to attack CHB in the special book that is released tomorrow, because if not I am going to die because of the other year wait.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who read this story! It makes this my third story that has more than a hundred reviews, and I'd like to thank everyone who supported me along the way and blah blah blah... *goes on ranting about other acknowledge-mental stuff you and I really don't care about*

Now the good part.

THE HOUSE OF HADES COMES OUT TOMORROW.

PREPARE FOR ALL HADES TO BREAK LOOSE.

-Bookworm ;P