Hi. I'm getting kind of tired of typing now-bad sign. But I did just write a page and a half of responses to reviews, so it's understandable.
Any-hoo, here's the last chapter of the triple update-sorry, dudes and dudettes, you have to wait till next Friday for the next Nico chapter.
Chapter LXXVIII
Reyna
Reyna likes it when Nico grins. It makes him look younger, and his eyes gain back some of their youthful innocence-she's grown to hate the brokenness that creeps into his gaze at times. It's a symbol of everything she wishes she could stop.
Reyna looks over at the distant stables, where she can just make out Bellator's gleaming white shape. She wishes she could take him with her-but there isn't really a need for it. And she doesn't want to risk him getting hurt by Octavian-that stupid blond scarecrow has caused her enough hardship already.
At least she'll get to see Aurum and Argentum again, though. She really hopes they're with Gwen-she's the first one on Reyna's list.
Her plan is simple, really-she's going to individually visit the ones she knows she can trust, and call a strategy meeting somewhere secret. Then they're basically going to work to get others on their side as well-right under Octavian's nose.
The first visit planned is Gwen-then Dakota. Both centurions of the Fifth Legion, and people that she knows don't want to attack Camp Half-Blood.
After them, it gets a little iffy. There are a few others she plans to visit, and then she's pretty much going to have to rely on them to convince others, since showing her face to anyone who's even the least bit supportive of Octavian is a very, very bad idea.
Reyna reaches the top of the hill overlooking the valley, where the Athena Parthenos is standing. Clarisse is standing at its base, along with two kids with gray eyes that Reyna assumes are children of Athena, and a few others, all in full armor and carrying multiple weapons.
Reyna steps up the the statue, looking up at the goddess' face, and then bows her head forward and closes her eyes in a silent prayer.
Guide me, Athena. I may be Roman, but my heart is true. She thinks, and then opens her eyes, trailing her fingers along the base of the statue and wondering when Athena will come to retrieve it.
She steps away and tilts her head back to look at the stars, just beginning to appear in the dusky sky. She finds Orion, the hunter, and then the new huntress that had appeared so long ago.
Bellona...mother...you are the Roman goddess of war, protector of the homeland. But surely you must know that our home is not in danger. It is we who threaten the Greeks. This peace treaty needs to work, or this war will destroy both of us.
She watches the sky for any sign that her mother heard her, but just like every other time she's prayed to her, there's nothing.
She looks down on the Roman camp, watching the lights burning in the darkness. Shadowy figures prowl along the edges of the tents-sneaking past the guards will be the hardest part of her plan. And even that shouldn't be too difficult, with Nico's abilities.
She starts forward and then pauses to lock eyes with Clarisse. A fierce fire burns in the daughter of Ares' eyes, one very familiar to Reyna-she sees it whenever she looks in a mirror. She nods to Clarisse, and Clarisse nods back, her determination and confidence obvious.
Clarisse is another I can trust. Reyna thinks. She's a little surprised by her quickness to trust the girl-she only just met her a few hours ago-but she can feel that the daughter of Ares is trustworthy.
Then Reyna turns and starts walking down the hill, striding determinedly towards the twinkling lights, with Nico by her side and the support of Camp Half-Blood at her back.
Support-what a wonderful feeling. To know that she has the entirety of Camp Half-Blood at her back-just as Camp Jupiter once was, and, she hopes, will be again.
Just before the Roman camp's borders, Reyna stops and turns to Nico.
"Come on, Shadow Boy, time to do your thing." She tells him, smirking. She holds out her hand.
He rolls his eyes and then takes her hand, closing his eyes and concentrating. The familiar wispy shadows start twining up their arms, until it completely covers both of them, and Reyna can sense that it worked.
Nico opens his eyes again, fractionally paler, and grins at her-an arrogantly proud half-grin that makes Reyna's heart pound.
"I think I'm getting good at this." He tells her, examining his arms.
"Don't get too cocky; it hasn't been tested yet." Reyna tells him, peering through the trees to watch the guards' patrol patterns. Nico crouches next to her and studies them as well, and she sees him silently mouthing numbers as he counts the seconds between each pass-the same thing she was doing.
Reyna puts her free hand on the trunk of the tree she's crouching next to, getting ready to run.
"And...now!" She whispers to Nico, and together they sprint to get to the tents before the guard comes back, trying to be as quiet as possible-the shadow thing might make them invisible, but it didn't make them soundless, and they were definitely still solid. It wouldn't be very good for the guard to hear them or run right into them-hence the sprinting.
Reyna feels Nico stumble beside her-sprinting directly after using his powers can't be good for the drain on energy. But she tightens her grip on his hand to keep him from falling and they keep going.
Really, the only inconvenience of his invisibility/shadow powers is the fact that he has to be touching who-or what-he's turning invisible for it to work. Having to hold hands with him gives Reyna one less arm that's free to work with.
But there are other things that are nice about it. The warm tingling in her fingers, for example-and she's pretty sure it's not from the shadows. Whatever it is, it sends waves of warmth to her chest, warming her whole body and filling her with a sense of security. Somehow, over the last few days, Nico has become safety to her-even though she was usually the one defending him, since he spent so much time unconscious.
They stop running once they're in the tents and cautiously creep forward to see if anyone's coming. Then they walk out and start tiptoeing through the tents, weaving their way to the opposite side, farthest away from them-that's where the Fifth Legion's tents are, including Gwen's and Dakota's.
They only see three people on the way-two guards and someone sleepwalking in pajamas and fuzzy slippers. If Reyna had to hazard a guess, she'd say the sleepwalker was Lily-she's personally guided the girl back to her bed numerous times over the years, since she was usually one of the only ones up at that time of the night. Not many knew about her sleepwalking habits-Lily didn't really tell people, especially since it usually happened because of nightmares. Lily was another one of the demigods in camp that had a rough childhood.
Reyna wishes she could have stopped to help the girl, but they couldn't risk it. And a disembodied voice probably would freak Lily out-even if she is technically asleep.
They stay away from the center of camp in order to avoid the enormous red pavilion in the center-no doubt Octavian's already moved back into it, after insisting to everyone that she abandoned them for the Greeks. Reyna finds herself looking in its direction, though, guided by the flag waving in the air, and feels her rage at Octavian bubble like lava in her chest. But Nico tugs on her hand, sending her a questioning look, and just like that, she turns away from it to continue their mission of peace.
Another time. She promises, fondly remembering the satisfaction punching Octavian in the face gave her, and hoping to soon recreate that feeling.
Gwen's tent isn't any more elaborate than the others-she gets her own, since she's a centurion, but that also means it's a little smaller. Some of the other centurions Reyna knows probably would have insisted on something better, but Gwen has always been a pretty easy-going person.
And she's an amazing warrior. She shares Reyna's love for animals, and she has an almost uncanny ability to soothe people's anger-she has a calming presence. She's modest, has a good heart, and is a very reasonable, down-to-earth person that's always supported Reyna.
In other words, she's the closest thing to a friend Reyna has Camp Jupiter.
Reyna takes a deep breath and then cautiously brushes the tent flap aside with her hand, hoping that she won't have to wake Gwen up.
She shouldn't have worried-Gwen is still up, studying papers and absentmindedly stroking Aurum's head-Reyna feels a rush of joy at seeing the greyhound, and looks around the room until she sees Argentum sleeping on a cushion. Gwen's been taking good care of them.
"Wait here." Reyna whispers to Nico. "And stay invisible."
Nico nods, although he looks a little unhappy about it, and Reyna ducks inside the tent, letting go of his hand and feeling the shadows fall away slowly, trickling down to the ground and seeping into it like thick black ink.
Argentum's nose twitches, and he opens one of his eyes halfway. Seeing Reyna, he leaps to his feet and lets out a joyful bark, bounding over to leap up on her and try to lick her cheek. Aurum soon does the same, and Reyna almost falls under the combined weight of the two dogs.
"Hey, guys." She greets them. "I missed you too."
Gwen springs to her feet, dropping her pencil. "Reyna! How...?" She asks, surprised.
"Long story." Reyna answers. She doesn't particularly feel like explaining Nico's shadow abilities. "I need to talk to you."
Gwen studies her for a few seconds and then shakes her head, hard, hurrying to pull over a second chair for Reyna. "Here, sit down. The chairs are kind of uncomfortable, sorry about that."
"They're fine." Reyna says dismissively. "Sleeping on the ground for a week makes pretty much any kind of furniture feel like the most comfortable thing in the world."
Gwen laughs. "I bet."
Aurum and Argentum sit on either side of Reyna's chair and rest their heads on her lap, nuzzling her affectionately. She strokes their ears fondly and then looks back up at Gwen.
"Gwen, I need you help." She says.
"Reyna, what happened? You came back and everyone was so excited, but then you disappeared and Octavian told everyone you'd abandoned us." Gwen tells her.
"I figured as much." Reyna replies, feeling a flash of irritation at Octavian. "Octavian sent someone to my tent that night, and if I'd been asleep, I'd either be dead or locked away somewhere I couldn't cause Octavian trouble."
Gwen's eyes widen in shock. "Do you really think he meant to kill you?"
"Not at first, but when he sent a dozen guards to stop us from getting away, they weren't fighting to subdue." Reyna explains.
"Oh, Reyna, I'm so sorry!" Gwen says sincerely, even though it wasn't her fault. "If I'd known-"
"It wasn't your fault, Gwen-it was Octavian, like always. He wants me gone. And he wants to destroy Camp Half-Blood, killing dozens of innocent people in the process." Reyna tells her.
Gwen's expression turns somber. "Trust me, Reyna, I wanted nothing to do with any of this. Neither did Dakota."
Reyna smiles. "I know. That's why I'm here."
"What do you mean?" Gwen says, turning her head to the side like a curious puppy.
"You're someone I can trust-and I need your help to arrange a meeting." Reyna tells her.
"What sort of meeting?"
"A senate meeting-but with the centurions on my side, and any others that aren't too firmly swept up in Octavian's promises." Reyna explains. "I returned the Athena Parthenos to the Greeks, and I spoke with them. They're on my side too-they want peace. We negotiated a peace treaty together, and I have their word that they won't attack-not unless they're attacked first."
Gwen hesitates. "How can you be sure?"
Reyna looks her directly in the eye. "They swore on the River Styx." She says simply.
Gwen's eyes widen, and then she grins. "This is great. If we can get the senate to agree to the treaty in time, we can stop Octavian's attack!"
"Exactly." Reyna agrees. "But there are plenty of problems. No one can know I'm here-only those that I know are trustworthy. Otherwise Octavian will stop me-us-before we can do anything about the treaty. And we have to get the negotiations done tonight-preferably before midnight."
"So you need to arrange a meeting-one where almost no one knows you're going to be there until it's already begun." Gwen sums up. "And we have to get them on our side, convince them to agree to the treaty, and then make sure we'll have a majority vote of the senate, and not Octavian. You're going to have to reveal yourself then, and call a senate meeting before Octavian can do anything about it, waste about an hour convincing them you're not a spy, and then introduce the treaty, get them to vote on it, and somehow ensure that Octavian won't attack anyway."
Reyna nods. "Pretty much." She admits.
Gwen smiles, and Reyna sees a steely glint in her eyes that she hasn't seen before. "And we're doing it all right under Octavian's nose." She muses. "I do love a challenge."
Reyna smiles back. "Then let's get started."
Is the whole Iris day a thing? Because I think it'd be totally awesome to dress up in rainbow neon colors and throw skittles at people yelling "IN THE NAME OF IRIS, TASTE THE RAINBOW!" It sounds very fun. We should make it an official thing. Also, we need to work on the whole creating-our-own-Camp-Half-Blood thing, because I really need stuff to look forward to in my summers besides no school. And we should make it a summer camp/boarding school-like the real Camp Half-Blood basically is, at least for year-rounders. Then I wouldn't have to worry about seeing the mean people at my own school.
I love you, unite to create Camp Half-Blood, enjoy your kick-off to summer, and sing the summer song with Olaf!