And (drumroll, please) here's the double update! Ta-da! As promised, for getting me to 1000 reviews by my birthday, and even exceeding expectations-thank you all. *bows*

Chapter LXIX

Reyna

Reyna gets separated from Nico on the way out the door-a pretty easy thing to do, considering the chaos of a mob of teenagers-most of whom are ADHD. Still, she feels uneasy being surrounded by strangers.

She's one of the last ones out the door, and as she steps outside, Travis and Connor fall into step on either side of her.

"Hello, gorgeous." Travis grins. "Have you decided what you're going to use your half hour for yet?"

"Because if not, we'd love to give you a deluxe tour of the place." Connor, who seems to have recovered from his near-death experience at her hands, chimes in.

Reyna counts to ten in her head, trying not to do something rash. Then she just keeps walking forward, trying to ignore the twins' presence.

"Aw, come on, don't give us the silent treatment. My brother was just kidding around." Travis pleads, and Connor nods vigorously.

"It was just a stupid bet." He adds.

Reyna glances at him, amused. "Nice to know your only attraction to me was a bet."

Connor hurries to reassure her, tripping over his tongue. "No, no, not at all! You're a very pretty girl, Reyna, really you are, and I probably would have gone up to you to talk anyway, I just wouldn't have been so obvious and overwhelming-"

Reyna laughs, cutting him off. "Relax. Besides, I usually only threaten potential friends without following through." Normally, she probably wouldn't have been willing to interact with them at all-but they're easy to like. And they make her laugh.

Travis grins and Connor breathes a sigh of relief. "That's great. So, how about that tour?"

Okay, she's not that ready to be their friend yet. "Um, actually-"

She's interrupted by the timely arrival of Nico, who cuts in between her and Connor, on her left side, and starts talking to her as if they aren't even there.

"I thought you'd like to see more of the camp before we have to be back. Are you up for it?" He asks, pointedly looking only at her and ignoring Connor and Travis' sounds of protest.

Reyna smiles broadly. "I'd love that." She glances over at Travis and Connor. "Sorry, boys. Maybe another time."

They scowl for a few seconds, but after a few seconds of her smiling at them-careful not to overdo it, the last thing she needs is another flirting session-they smile good-naturedly.

"Yeah." Connor says. "Another time." His gaze lingers on Reyna's face for a second longer than she's comfortable with before turning and jogging away with his brother.

"I think he likes me." Reyna grins jokingly.

Nico doesn't answer, and when she looks at his face, he's glaring at the twins' retreating backs. "He likes you too much." He grumbles.

"Oh, shove off, Shadow Boy, I'm not interested in Tweedle-Dum." Reyna tells him.

Nico's face brightens noticeably. "You're not?"

"No way. Not even close." Reyna reassures him. "Thing 1 and Thing 2 need to grow up a bit before I'd notice them like that-although there's still a very slim chance that I would be."

"Why not?" Nico asks curiously.

"Not my type." Reyna says, curling her lip at the thought of dating either of them.

"What's your type, then?" He asks.

Reyna smirks at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She teases, before taking off down the hill at a dead sprint. "Race you!" She calls over her shoulder.

"No fair!" He complains, chasing after her.

She finally stops beside the rock-climbing wall to wait for him, and he catches up quickly, breathing hard. "Bit out of shape, aren't you?" She remarks mildly.

"You try...spending most...of your time...in the Underworld." He huffs.

"No, thanks." Reyna tells him. "I think I prefer it up here, with living people. And sunlight."

Nico looks up at the sky, mostly recovered. "Yeah. The sun is pretty nice."

"And the people?" Reyna prompts.

He looks back down, at her, and there's something in his eyes that sends tingles down Reyna's spine. "Yeah. The people are pretty okay too." He says softly.

Then his shield goes back up, and he turns away. Reyna's disappointment is so strong that she starts to wonder what it is about Nico that makes her feel so...open. Kind of...vulnerable, almost. But in a good way, sort of.

Nico raises his arm and points into the distance. "That cluster of buildings, right over there, those are the cabins. There's a cabin for each of the gods, although we didn't use to have any for the minor gods, and their kids had to stay in the Hermes cabin. Needless to say, it was pretty crowded in there."

"What happened to change things?" Reyna wonders aloud.

"Percy happened. He was one of the few people that understood how dangerous it could be not to recognize the minor gods-and they didn't deserve it. He saved Mount Olympus, and the gods granted him a wish-he could have had immortality, life as a god, but he turned it down and made them promise instead to claim their children-all of them-and stop ignoring the minor gods." Nico explains, his expression distant. "He's the reason my dad has a cabin here, too, even though they still don't have any particular soft spots for the children of Hades."

His voice sounds bitter, but Reyna understands how he feels. Her parent might not have caused her isolation-and hers was self-inflicted, too. After all, she chose to be praetor. But she knows how hard it can be to be alone.

She reaches out a hand, and almost-almost-puts it on his shoulder to reassure him, but then she pulls it back quickly, feeling disappointed in herself.

"Maybe things will change, Nico." She tells him quietly, her voice soft.

"Maybe." He replies. Then he shifts his weight and goes back to telling her about the camp. "That's the stables, over there, and there's the arena, where most of the training goes on."

"Is that where you trained?" She asks.

He gives her a wry grin. "No, I was trained by my dad's undead zombie soldiers down in the Underworld. It was a bit different."

"Probably." Reyna agrees. "Where do the satyr's stay? Do you think we could visit Coach Hedge?"

"I don't know for sure where he is." Nico admits. "I know they sometimes stay in the Big House, but he's obviously not there. They're actually usually in the woods, but I don't know if he'd be there, if he's married now."

"We'll have to find him later." Reyna says.

"Definitely." Nico echoes. "For now, though, do you want to visit the stables? Bellator's probably there, although I bet he's in the paddock instead of in one of the stalls."

"Most likely." Reyna agrees. "I don't think he'd like staying in a stall very much."

They start towards the stables, and Nico stays just in front of her the entire time. She wishes she had the courage to walk forward and stand next to him-funny how that works. She's basically fearless on the battle field, but put her with a skinny, deathly pale son of Hades and she can't even say what she wants to.

She wrestles with her feelings, trying to lock them up in a neat little box like she usually does, but for some reason, she can't do it now. They rebel against her, just tumbling faster and filling her with more confusion.

She gives up fighting them and just tries her best to hide her inner turmoil from anyone looking at her.

They arrive at the stables, and Reyna sees Bellator grazing in the fields, his handsome white coat shimmering in the warm sun. She whistles loudly, and he lifts up his head, pricking his ears in her direction, before galloping over to the fence where she's waiting.

"Hi, Bellator. Miss me?" She asks, and he butts his head against her chest in answer, snorting. She laughs and pushes him away. "Nice to see you too. How are the stables treating you?"

He shakes his mane at her, arching his neck. "Oh, I bet you love them. After all, look at all the other pegasi. I think one of them has her eye on you." She tells the pegasus, gesturing to a pretty silver mare with white dapples, a soft pink nose, and long, delicate legs.

Bellator pricks up his ears and looks at her with his gold eyes. He tilts his head to the side curiously, just as she nickers softly to him, and then he quickly looks at Reyna and back to the pegasus again, as if to say "Did you hear that?"

Reyna grins at him. "Go on. Don't keep your lady waiting." She scolds him, making a shooing gesture with her hands.

When she looks at him, Nico is watching her with a weird look on his face. "What?"

"You're a pegasi matchmaker." He tells her.

She laughs. "They're better than people. More loyal. And I really like horses. And dogs. All animals, really."

"You sure you're not a daughter of Iris? Or Demeter? Some goddess that's good with animals?" He asks suspiciously.

"Positive." She replies. "My mother is most definitely Bellona." Nico just nods thoughtfully and doesn't say anything else. Reyna looks away and stares wistfully into the distance. "Actually, I really miss Aurum and Argentum. I wish they were here."

"Aren't they with Octavian?" Nico asks.

"I doubt it. They were never particularly fond of him. They're definitely with the others, but they're probably with Gwen or one of the older legionnaires." Reyna explains.

Nico glances sideways at her. "I'm sure you'll see them again soon."

"I hope so." She says. She watches as Bellator discreetly shuffles closer to the mare, so that they're grazing side by side.

I wish it was that easy with people. She thinks, glancing at Nico. Then she looks quickly away and starts internally scolding herself.

No. Bad Reyna. You're not here to have a relationship; you're hear to negotiate a peace treaty. Don't get comfortable; you're going to have to go right back to how things were before after this is over. She chastises herself.

Loneliness sweeps through her with such force that she feels like someone punched her in the sternum. She can tell it shows on her face, and is glad, for once, for how Nico constantly pulls away and doesn't let himself look at her for too long; it helps her avoid uncomfortable questions.

"Come on, Nico." She finally says, after schooling her expression into something that hopefully hides most of her feelings. "We should be heading back if we want to get there before everyone else starts arriving."

"How does half an hour go so quickly?" Nico wonders out loud as they start hiking back up the hill.

Reyna looks to where the Athena Parthenos stand tall and proud, gazing regally over the valley. "Time is a lot shorter than we think." And when she says it, she's thinking about a lot more than just Nico's question. Their time is running out-for everything.

The small figures bristling with weapons standing at the base of the statue only support her thoughts, and she walks faster, striding briskly back towards the Big House, taking the lead ahead of Nico. It's about time she took charge-in more ways than one.

Yesterday, my friends were continuously irritating me by calling me Iris...all because I was wearing a gray leopard print shirt with shimmery rainbows on it. Yeah, Elfie (that's her nickname) now most likely has a bruise on her shoulder...oops...

I have to go blow out the candles and make a wish and stuffs-you know, the whole birthday shebang. So, see you tomorrow, my lovelies!