This is quite late, I know, I'm sorry. I was busy, and I got distracted by my original stories that I've been neglecting, and I felt like FF was taking over my life, and then I just kind of lost inspiration... But I'm back, and it hasn't been as long as my last mini-hiatus, so I think I'm doing all right.

Also, if you're Claire the Guest who reviewed Part III recently and you made it all the way here, thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not changing Reyna's last name because (as you probably saw) it's mentioned quite a bit when Reyna arrives at CHB, and also because it distinguishes this story as an AU. ;)

Oh, and since this is an AU and HoH isn't part of "canon" here, Scipio is still alive, which is why Reyna rides him in this chapter. (sobbing)

Shout out to Sapphire131, who was the 250th reviewer and also the corrector of my improper Spanish last chapter. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Part XVII

Sitting on the deck with everyone else fifteen minutes after finishing breakfast, Annabeth wondered how much longer they could wait before she would have to force everyone to start working again. They all wanted to be there when 400 demigods arrived in Greece, breaking all of the Twelfth Legion's laws about the Ancient Lands and bringing the supplies the Argo II desperately needed, but Annabeth couldn't quite reconcile that desire with her internal clock, which was constantly thumping the countdown to August 1st in time with her heart.

"Five more minutes," she said reluctantly, "and then we'll have to—"

Suddenly, Percy squeezed her hand. "Wise Girl," he muttered, "do you see that black blob in the sky over there, or is it just me?" Annabeth knew what he meant—Am I hallucinating again?

She looked in the direction he was pointing and squinted against the morning sunlight. Then her mouth dropped open. "Gods of Olympus," she breathed. "That's either an army of aerial monsters . . . or our friends."

Percy grinned. "Let's hope for friends, then." He raised his voice (only after he'd confirmed that he wasn't crazy, Annabeth noted). "They're coming!" he said. "I'd suggest we all look busy, so Reyna doesn't accuse us of slacking."

Jason snorted, but everyone saw the validity of Percy's point and got to their feet. Annabeth, Piper, and Coach Hedge went to the nearest ballistae—just in case it wasn't their friends after all—and the others milled around, clearing the last of the debris from the deck and attaching the mast Percy, Jason, and Frank had finished cutting down. Just as they ran out of tasks to do on the surface, the black blob came close enough to make out the shapes of individual eagles and pegasi, each with at least one rider on its back. The pegasi carried saddlebags, and the eagles dangled massive packages from their talons.

One pegasus, a few feet in front of the others, swooped down, close enough for Annabeth to make out a swinging braid of dark hair. "You going to shoot at us again, Annabeth?" Reyna asked. "I thought we'd gotten past this."

Annabeth smirked. "Just taking precautions," she said. "One of those eagles could go rogue and start attacking the ship."

"Well, in that case, I'd better let everyone land before an eagle gets the chance," Reyna said, her expression so deadpan that Annabeth wasn't sure if the praetor realized she was kidding. "Then I'll send them back to the airport with a few of the legionnaires. We didn't have enough eagles for everyone—that's why we illegally borrowed a plane from JFK, of course."

Annabeth frowned. "Very funny, Praetor."

Reyna's eyes sparkled. "I'm not joking, Chase. I'd forgotten I hadn't told you guys about that."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Wait. You guys actually stole a plane?"

"Illegally borrowed," she corrected with the hint of a smile. "Ask Drew and Nyssa. In fact, ask any of the three hundred seventy eight passengers that Nyssa piloted across the ocean."

"Nyssa was the pilot?"

"Well, sure. We couldn't trust the judgment of some guy whose was influenced by charmspeak. You can hear all about it after we land, okay?" Reyna said, abruptly changing the subject. "Some of us have pretty bad jet-lag, and I'd prefer it if they didn't fall asleep in the air and tumble off their eagles."

"All right, go ahead," Annabeth said with a smile. "Go lead your army."

"Not my army," Reyna said reflexively, already turning around. "I'm just a demigod, same as them."

Annabeth, feeling confident about their success for the first time in days, watched Reyna fly back. She thought about Reyna's sacrifice and strength, which had somehow managed to unite two warring camps. That praetor had forged an alliance and led them all the way to another continent. You say they're not your army, Reyna? Annabeth thought. Try telling them that.

Once the first group landed, Reyna let the eagles and pegasi return to the airport, with two twin legionnaires in charge of keeping them in line. Then she turned to the remainder of the seven, plus Nico and that ridiculous faun Coach Hedge, and forced a smile. If she looked too worried about Leo, she knew they'd think she was being too hard on herself and try to stage an intervention or something, and she didn't have time for that. "Okay," she said brightly. "Ready to help unload the supplies?"

Percy grimaced, but said, "Unloading supplies is my favorite pastime! I did it for four hours yesterday, but I'm always happy to do more! Let's get unloading!"

Reyna snorted. "You don't have to enjoy it, Jackson," she said. "You just have to participate."

His fake grin faded. "Oh, thank gods," he said. "I wasn't sure how long I could keep up that expression. Where should I start?"

Reyna waved a hand at the dozens of crates lining the beach. "Wherever you want," she said. "There's plenty to go around." Then she turned to talk to the demigods and legacies waiting for directions. "I know you guys are exhausted and probably sore from being cooped up in that plane for so long," she began, "but you've still got to help. Look on the bright side. This way, you can stretch your legs!"

"Gods," Drew sighed, drifting toward the nearest box. "Why did you choose the worst possible moment to become an optimist?"

The second group made it from the airport quickly and safely, and with 800 helping hands, all the crates were quickly opened and sorted into groups—raw materials, forging/welding equipment, and complex parts (which was another way of saying all the mechanical thingamabobs that Reyna—and other normal people—wouldn't recognize). Annabeth set four Hephaestus campers, along with two legacies of Vulcan plus Malcolm, to the task of categorizing all those complex parts, and then she pulled Nyssa and Reyna out of the crowd on the beach and onto the deck of the ship.

Nyssa raised her eyebrows at Annabeth. "You sure you don't want me down there helping out too?" she asked. "No one besides Leo, and maybe you, knows this ship better than me. And I'm pretty sure I understand mechanics even better than you do."

"Jake knows the ship too, Nys," Annabeth said dismissively. "He can manage without you for a minute. I need to talk to you guys."

Reyna frowned. "What is it?"

"It's about all the repairs," Annabeth explained. "Since you're here and working with me from now until July 31st, when we need to leave, I figured I'd better let you know what you've signed up for. There's something I wouldn't tell the camps—I wouldn't even tell the whole crew of this ship—and I probably wouldn't be telling you either, except—"

The rest of Annabeth's sentence was drowned out by a scream. Reyna whirled around, just in time to see a legacy of Cupid named Elle get lifted into the air by a gryphon. Several other flying monsters spiraled down toward the deck of the Argo II as well.

Behind her, Annabeth cursed—"With so many of us here, I should have known this would happen"—but Reyna barely heard her. Instead, she registered the horde of monsters marching out of the woods onto the beach, whistled for Scipio, and cried out, "Legionnaires! Form ranks!" before launching herself onto her pegasus's back and tearing off after the gryphon with Elle in its talons.

The monster never had a chance. Scipio easily caught up to the gryphon, and then Reyna slashed it apart savagely, made sure that a Roman eagle grabbed Elle before she could fall too far, and took off after the next aerial monster.

The legion didn't even have time to assemble before Reyna had destroyed all the flying attackers—which was no easy feat, since there were twenty monsters, and the legion was incredibly efficient. But Reyna wasn't taking any chances. "Lock shields!" she yelled from her perch on Scipio. "Advance! Take them down, Romans!" On the other side of the beach, she saw Annabeth leading a group of Greeks against a family of nasty Cyclopes while a wave of water—probably Percy—swept ten monsters out to sea all at once. Gradually, more and more people came out from below deck, noticed the monsters, and joined in, strengthening the demigodly forces further. Within a few minutes, the monsters were reduced to shimmering dust, no demigod had walked away with more than a few scratches, and both Greeks and Romans were complimenting each other on their fighting techniques. Reyna allowed herself a grim smile before shouting out more orders.

"That was Gaea playing with us," she informed the crowd, dampening the celebration instantly. "I mean, a hundred monsters for four hundred demigods? She had to have known we'd beat them without a problem." That sent up a cheer, which Reyna allowed despite her anxiety to fix the ship and travel to Athens as soon as possible. After all, she had to keep morale up too. "However," she added quickly, "we can't expect that every attack will be that small—or that obvious. She might attack us while we're split up, or asleep, or inside the ship. We need to set up a watch. Fifteen demigods patrolling on land, and fifteen by air, at all times. Centurions, you all know how you're organized for watches. The cohorts will guard for the first ten hours—First Cohort takes first watch, as usual." She looked at Annabeth. "In the meantime, you guys can work out a schedule, so Camp Half-Blood can switch off then. And we'll figure out the logistics of everything from there." The daughter of Athena nodded, and at a glance from Reyna, thirty legionnaires split off from the First Cohort to start their shift. After that, people drifted back off to their jobs. Only then did Reyna land Scipio, satisfied that everyone knew what was going on.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Annabeth was at her side, eyes as calculating as usual. "That was pretty impressive," she said neutrally. "You took down, what? Four monsters before the rest of us even knew an attack was going on?"

Reyna shrugged. "Five," she said, "but who's counting?" When Annabeth didn't say anything, just narrowed her eyes, Reyna decided to change tactics. "What do you want me to say, Chase? 'I'm praetor, and luckily, I happen to be a decent fighter too'? I didn't get this job because of my charming personality."

"The fighting doesn't surprise me," Annabeth said. "Just the deadly, slightly terrifying expression on your face as you did all your fighting."

Reyna frowned. "You were surprised that I was angry with a bunch of monsters that were attacking this ship, which is damaged as Styx already? I wasn't about to give us even more work to do, Annabeth. The gods know it's going to be hard enough to fix this in time as it is—and we've got to fix this in time."

Reyna could tell that the daughter of Athena was analyzing her every word. Then, all of a sudden, like she'd found the perfect Scrabble letter she hadn't even realized she needed, Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "'We've got to fix this in time', huh?" she asked. "So we can save Leo?"

Now it was Reyna's turn to keep her expression even and neutral. "I might be anxious to get the Argo II off the ground," she said carefully, "but that's because I don't want Gaea to beat us, and we have to get to Athens by August 1st in order to stop her. That's it, all right?"

Slowly, Annabeth smiled. "I can't believe it," she said. "Leo got to you. You're always trying to hide your emotions, but I can tell he got to you."

Reyna glared at her, but she didn't bother arguing. Instead, she changed the subject. "All right, if we're spilling secrets today, what's yours?"

Annabeth looked startled. "What do you mean?"

"What were you about to tell Nyssa and me when Elle screamed?"

She opened her mouth, took a deep breath—and shook her head. "It's nothing," Annabeth said firmly. "Forget about it."

Reyna tilted her head. "Okay," she said. "If that's the way you want to play this." Before Annabeth could respond, Reyna walked away.

Annabeth was planning how best to attempt the next stage of repairs when she heard a knock at her door. Assuming it was Piper or Hazel—Nyssa had asked all her questions at dinner, Percy would bang on the door more obnoxiously, none of the other boys had a reason to see her, and she doubted any other demigod would be able to find her cabin—she called out, "Come in!"

To her surprise, Reyna entered, shutting the door behind her and crossing her arms. "Nightmares," she said incredulously. "That's what you were keeping from me earlier? You're ridiculous. Those don't even deserve to be called secrets."

Annabeth spun around in her chair. "Who told you?" she demanded. "No one but—Percy told you?" She made a noise of exasperation. "When I see him again, I swear I am going to—"

"Don't be mad at him," Reyna told her. "I found him at the edge of woods, telling a tree stump where exactly 'she' could shove her ideas about destroying Olympus. When he realized what was going on, he was ready to do pretty much anything to keep me from telling anyone." She shrugged. "I wouldn't have breathed a word anyway, but I didn't tell him that. Blackmail is a useful way to get information."

Annabeth's mouth dropped open. "I can't believe . . . you aren't surprised?" she asked. "You don't think he's a basket-case for—for seeing things that aren't there, and for . . . ?"

"For hallucinating?" Reyna finished. "Not really. You guys were in Tartarus. I was in Tartarus. Leo's in Tartarus, where I've seen him physically and mentally tortured for hours on end until he's an inch away from insanity. Stuff happens down there that changes you. I get it. And don't worry. After spending four days in the company of Leo Valdez, not much can surprise me anymore."

Annabeth's eyes got stormier and stormier as Reyna spoke. Reyna might not have felt surprise anymore, but her news could evidently still shock Annabeth. "Tortured until he's an inch away from insanity?" she frowned when Reyna finished. "I hope you're exaggerating."

Reyna winced. "I wish," she muttered, remembering the boy with broken ribs and an almost broken spirit. "Leo's life is Styx right now, Annabeth. Gaea's had him whipped, beaten repeatedly, and nearly drowned in the last week, and on top of all that, he's been left in the Mansion of Night twice already, which is this—"

"The Mansion of Night?" Annabeth repeated, her eyes widening. "Twice? What's he doing in there?"

Reyna looked away miserably. "Watching his worst nightmares. Getting freaked out. Losing his mind." She stared at the ground. "What one would expect from a stay in Tartarus."

There was silence for a while. "Nyx's mansion." Annabeth said eventually, sounding strangled. "I've heard stories—myths—but I've never heard of anyone who—"

"Who came out of it sane?" Reyna supplied bluntly. "Me neither. But he managed it the first time—mostly. I just hope he can do it again."

Annabeth frowned at her. "How do you know all this anyway? Has he been communicating with you somehow?"

Reyna laughed wryly, mostly to keep herself from tearing up. "You could say that. Gods, Annabeth, you think your dreams about the time you spent in Tartarus suck—and I'm sure they do, I'm not doubting that you're miserable—but at least you can wake up and remember that it's over. You guys are okay now. You're relatively safe. But to see Leo going crazy in Tartarus, doubting himself and everything he thought he knew, and then to wake up and know that it's happening to him right now, and he's in so much pain, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to help him . . ."

She gulped down air to steady herself. "But I shouldn't complain. At least this way I know he's alive—and even if he is two steps from crazy, he isn't quite there yet. That's more information than I'd have otherwise."

Annabeth stared at her for a long moment. Then, "And what about you, Praetor?"

"What about me?"

"Leo, Percy, and I aren't the only ones who have seen Tartarus firsthand. Don't tell me you're not affected by what happened to you down there."

Reyna crossed her arms and blocked off her emotions. "I'm fine," she said shortly.

"Oh, you're fine?" Annabeth asked, sarcasm dripping from her words. "We're all in pieces from being in Tartarus for so long, but Praetor Reyna is too strong to be affected? We're just all weak, then? Is that it?"

"Of course not!" Reyna snapped, not quite meeting Annabeth's eyes. "I just . . . Gaea was always angrier with Leo for being so freaking annoying all the time. He constantly aggravated her as well as he could. It . . . it kept attention off of me. Gaea only managed to have me seriously beaten up once—because she hadn't brought me to Leo yet. As soon as we became prisoners together . . . he protected me from the worst of everything."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, but softened her tone. "Maybe you weren't physically injured, but don't tell me it didn't hurt you to see Leo in so much pain."

"Hurt me?" Reyna burst out. "Are you kidding? I have to watch him falling apart every time I close my eyes, only to wake up and remember that I can't possibly go after him without ruining our chances of saving his life and defeating Gaea. You think it hurts? It's destroying me!" She clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything else, but it was too late. Annabeth was already staring at her in obvious shock. Gods, but her emotions were spiraling out of control over the last couple of days.

"But I didn't come in here to talk about me," she added, stamping out the last of her feelings before they could fly to the surface. "I came because you wanted to tell me about your nightmares because you thought they would affect repairs, and frankly I can't see why it matters."

Annabeth took the hint, thank the gods. "I guess it doesn't," she admitted. "I just thought at the time that you guys should know that I've been getting even less sleep than the average demigod, so you might have to check my calculations, job assignments, repairs, and plans because being exhausted might make me screw up."

"Me, check calculations and repairs?" Reyna repeated. "You actually think I could be helpful in that regard? Why don't you ask Malcolm?"

"I can't ask Malcolm," Annabeth said quickly. "He admires me too much. I can't look weak to him." She shrugged. "And as for the calculations and repairs, that's why I dragged Nyssa along too."

Reyna didn't question Annabeth's decision to leave Malcolm out of this. She was the leader of an entire legion, after all. She knew one or two things about keeping up appearances, even when her whole world was crumbling. "I'll keep an eye on you if you want me to," she said dubiously, "but in my opinion, you don't really need me. You're not that bad off, and you're a strategic genius when you're fully functional. I'm sure you're at least competent when exhausted."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, but Reyna saw a bit of her nervous tension fade. "Thanks," Annabeth said, only a little sarcastically, "although I guess I shouldn't be surprised by your overwhelming faith in me. After all, you are letting Percy keep his secret and continue to work with everyone."

"Of course I am," Reyna said. "He can still take down an entire army single-handedly, as long as we tell him where to aim his sword. Just . . . When you're writing up those job assignments you mentioned, don't put him on guard duty, okay?"

Annabeth snorted. "I wasn't planning on it."

"See?" Reyna responded. "I knew that you were competent."

Annabeth answered by chucking a mostly-full water bottle at her. It probably wouldn't have hurt too badly if she hadn't tried to duck and the small projectile hadn't slammed right into the side of her head. And that must have been where a Cyclops had clubbed her earlier in the day because when the bottle hit her, Reyna's vision tunneled, and she collapsed.

"Reyna? Reyna? Are you there?"

She blinked, and there Leo was, whispering loudly at nothing in particular. He looked bloodier than ever—but surprisingly alert.

"Leo?" she croaked. "What—?"

"Reyna!" Leo whirled in her direction. "Are you okay? You sound like Styx."

She choked out a laugh. "I sound like Styx?" she repeated. "Have you looked at yourself lately?"

"Not really," Leo answered with a blinding grin, only slightly dimmed by his split lip. "Gaea doesn't really keep mirrors down here. Seriously, though, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she promised.

"Thank the gods for that," he proclaimed. Then his grin widened even further. "Dios mio, is it good to hear your voice again, mi reina."

Reyna wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so she changed the subject. "Why were you calling for me, exactly?"

Instantly, his grin faded, and his expression grew tense and urgent. "You have to wake up," he said. "You have to warn the rest of the seven. Gaea's planning to attack them with a hundred monsters, and they have to be prepared. The monsters are going to attack from the air and from lan—"

"Don't worry," Reyna interrupted before he could get too worked up. "We already—" Belatedly, she remembered her promise not to tell him their plans. "Uh, the attack already came. It was a piece of cake for us—for them to defeat the monsters. None of them are hurt." She decided to give him a small piece of information, just to curb his constant worry for everyone's safety. (Ironic that she worried for his safety just as much.) "They have a . . . a secret weapon that really improves their odds."

Leo relaxed visibly. "Thank the gods for that too, then," he said. He hesitated. "How . . . How are Percy and Annabeth? Gaea told me that they . . ." He looked beseechingly in Reyna's direction. "She said they were going crazy too, same as me . . . But that can't be true, can it?"

Reyna decided that after everything that could be wrong with Percy and Annabeth's mental health, hallucinations and nightmares didn't really qualify as "crazy". Besides, she didn't want to say anything that could send him over the edge. "Don't worry," she repeated. "They're strong. They're sane. They're doing a great job of getting the Argo II repaired. We'll all good up here." She looked at him hard, even though she knew he couldn't see. "What about you? How are you holding up, Repair Boy?"

As soon as she asked, Leo's eyes clouded over, and he reflexively held a hand to his side, but all Reyna could get out of him was, "Well enough." Then he looked away. "So everyone up there is okay, huh? That's a miracle."

"A real miracle," Reyna responded, "would be getting you out of here in one piece. So try to keep all your limbs on, okay?"

He laughed, but it sounded forced. "I'll do my best, but I make no guarantees, reina."

Reyna frowned, but before she could respond, she heard someone who wasn't Leo calling her name. "I've got to go back, Leo," she said reluctantly. "My job won't work itself."

He smiled a little. "That's all right, mi reina. Just don't forget your promise."

"Of course I haven't forgotten my promise," she said indignantly. "There's no way in Styx I'd leave you down here."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Wow," he said. "Are you really that determ—?"

"Reyna!"

Her eyes shot open.

"Oh, thank gods," Annabeth said. "I am so sorry. I didn't think—it was just a water bottle . . ."

"It's not your fault," Reyna said quickly. "A Cyclops hit me earlier today. I forgot to take some ambrosia for it."

"Reyna!" Annabeth said in exasperation. "Do you want me to get you some?"

"No, I'm fine," Reyna said, getting to her feet. "It's really not that bad." She blew off Annabeth's noise of protest. "Let's just get this ship repaired, okay?"

Any thoughts?