Guys, it took me less than two weeks to update! It's a miracle! ;) Actually, I was just excited to move onto the climactic stuff, which is finally coming in this chapter... :D Thank you, everyone, for your lovely reviews, support, and enthusiasm towards this story, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Still don't own PJO or HoO.

Part XVIII

Reyna stared at the Argo II. By the gods, they had actually finished repairing it. She shook her head in amazement. There had been so many times she thought they weren't going to make it over the last five days . . .

"Reyna!" She was surprised when Percy skidded onto the deck, his thick black hair looking even wilder than usual. "Reyna, you have to come with me."

"Percy, I—"

"I don't care what you're doing—whatever the Hades it is, stop right now and come with me." He looked at her with his pleading green eyes and muttered, "Don't look at me like that. I need your help, and I'm not hallucinating, Reyna. I swear on the Styx I'm not making this up."

He didn't explode, so he was telling the truth. Reyna dropped her clipboard and raced down the stairs after him. He led her to the engine room, where Annabeth was tangled up in cables and crying.

For a second, Reyna just stared, having trouble equating the strong, calculating daughter of Athena with the tear-streaked girl in front of her. Then she gingerly walked over to her. "Annabeth?"

The blonde took one look at her and turned to glare at Percy, which fortunately lessened her crying. "Seaweed Brain! Why the Hades did you get Reyna? I told you—"

He just stared right back, concern written all over his face. "You wasted a drachma on an Iris-message just to get me down here, and then said to get a chainsaw and chop all these cables into pieces," he said, "and then you burst into tears. Then you refused to tell me what was wrong and said I should go back to work." He frowned at her. "I figured I might need backup, and Reyna's the only one who you talked to about Tartarus. Is that . . . Is that what you're upset about, Wise Girl?" Annabeth shook her head. "Then what's going on?"

At those four simple words, Annabeth's eyes glistened again, and she muttered some choice words about the engines and wires. Reyna felt like she was intruding, and she would have left if both demigods didn't look so forlorn. She wasn't heartless enough to leave them freaking out by themselves. "Annabeth," she said hesitantly, "we can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong."

Annabeth looked from Percy to Reyna and back again and sighed. "Sorry," she managed eventually, a slow flush spreading over her face. "I'm not usually like that, you know."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "So I've gathered," she said. "What set you off?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Not that much," she said in embarrassment. "Just . . . I've been down here since yesterday afternoon, trying to sort out all these cables from Leo's notes while Nyssa supervised the rest of the ship. I thought I'd been making progress until about midnight, when I realized that about a fourth of the cables were unplugged at both ends, which I couldn't tell at first because everything was such a mess, so when I thought I had finished plugging in all the 1-inch-diameter cables, I had really only plugged in half of them, and half of those were wrong anyway, and Leo hadn't spent much time on the engine room notes because he had had so much other stuff to write about, and then I got frustrated, and then I yanked out a cable too violently and it shocked me, then that reminded me about electricity and lightning and storms and the mystery line from the prophecy because I don't really believe that toppling the globe on the House of Hades was all that the prophecy had in mind, then I got mad because prophecies are so freaking vague, then I yanked out another cable and it snapped, which shocked me worse, plus I was starving and dehydrated and exhausted because I'd stayed up all night and skipped three meals and finished my water bottle hours ago, and then I slipped on one of the smaller cables and bruised my hip and ended up buried in all of this." She sighed. "I know I'm being ridiculous. The pressure just got to me for a second, I think—but I'm fine now."

Percy crossed his arms. "If you consider all that you just told us 'not that much', you're more insane than I am, Wise Girl," he said firmly, "and that's pretty hard to be. I'm not mad, Annabeth, just . . ." He looked at her, worry etched into all of his features. "Next time, do you think you could explain what's going on instead of asking me to hack apart vital engine components with power tools?"

Annabeth let out a choked laugh and let him hug her. Then she looked at Reyna. "I'm sorry," she said nervously. "I know you're anxious to finish everything, and I've probably wasted a lot of time with"—she gestured at her red eyes, messy hair, and dark circles—"all this, and you're probably ticked at me for that. I'll get back to work now, okay?"

Reyna just shook her head. "Whatever time you spent getting mad at a bunch of wires," she said, "you more than made up for it with the all-nighter you pulled. Go eat lunch, Annabeth. I'll go find Nyssa and get her to look at this for a while instead. I'm sure your eyes could use a break."

Percy practically beamed at her. "Thanks, Reyna," he mouthed. Reyna didn't think she had done all that much, but she nodded at him all the same.

Annabeth looked at her thoughtfully. "As long as you're getting Nyssa," she said finally, "bring Harley with you too. He followed Leo around everywhere—maybe he picked up on something. Besides, he loves puzzles."

Three lunches, several water bottles, and at least a dozen snacks later, Annabeth, Nyssa, and Harley emerged from the engine room triumphantly, Annabeth looking significantly happier than when Reyna had last seen her. She informed her—almost giddily—that the Argo II's engine was properly hooked up and perfectly functional.

Reyna whooped in victory before she could stop herself.

A day after the engine room incident, Reyna was glad that she had been so understanding of Annabeth—and not just because it had been the right thing to do. Actually, she was glad because it meant that Annabeth came into her room to thank her the next morning, so she found her staring blankly at the wall.

"Reyna?" Annabeth asked in surprise. "What are you up to?"

Reyna was sure her eyes were dried-out and bloodshot, but that didn't stop her from turning them on the daughter of Athena. "I can't go to sleep," she said calmly.

"Is worrying about the ship keeping you up?" Annabeth asked sympathetically. "Believe me, it's not making sleep easy for me either, but now that the engine's reconnected, all the other repairs are on schedule. The Argo II is going to be ready in time, Reyna—"

"You don't get it," Reyna said. "I can't go to sleep. I can't allow myself to sleep. Not for the next four days."

"The next four days?" Annabeth gasped. "Reyna, you have to. Scientific studies have proven that—"

"Screw science!" Reyna snapped. "I'm not sleeping, Annabeth. I refuse."

"But you—" The truth dawned on Annabeth, and she peered closely at Reyna. "Was last night really bad?" she asked quietly.

Reyna shuddered just thinking about it.

"Worse than normal?"

She hesitated, and then hung her head in a reluctant nod.

"What happened?"

Reyna squeezed her eyes shut, as though that would drive away the memory, but that only made the images from her dream more vivid. Leo, getting partially frozen by a bitter Hyperborean giant just so his fire-boy, self-preservation instincts could thaw him out and the giant could freeze him again. Leo, lying contorted in pain while a twisted empousa carefully dug her knife into the welts on his back, which were still raw and deep from the time he was whipped all those days ago. Leo, shivering between hypothermia and burning fever and calling out deliriously as he slept. Màmà, lo siento. Or, Festus, that's not food! Or, Nice one, Harley. You're like a professional mechanic now! Or, Dios mio, Beauty Queen. You're going to get yourself killed faster than Lightning Boy over there if you keep this up. Or, once, the most painful of all—What happened? Are you okay, mi reina?

Reyna opened her eyes, realizing that Annabeth was watching her in concern. "The worst part," she said as an explanation, "was that I couldn't communicate with Leo the entire time. I had to just watch as . . . as they . . ." She shook her head. "How the heck am I supposed to work on a ship while Leo's getting tortured? What if . . . if he dies while I'm stacking wood, Annabeth? How the heck would I live with myself?"

The sympathy in Annabeth's eyes was nearly as painful as Reyna's conflicting emotions. Styx, but Leo was seriously damaging her emotionless-rational-praetor reputation. "Reyna," Annabeth said gently, "it's our best—"

"'It's our best chance', 'there's nothing else we can do', 'it's the only way to save him,'" Reyna quoted exasperatedly. "You think I don't know that? Why else would I still be on this freaking boat, Annabeth?" She clenched her fists in the sheets on her bed, crumpling the immaculate, unwrinkled fabric. "I know that," she repeated. "But do you actually think it helps?"

Annabeth tried to comfort her. "Gaea's not going to kill him, Reyna," she said. "She still needs him, remember? He'll be okay. We'll rescue him, and he'll recover."

"How are you so sure?" Reyna demanded. "How do you know Leo's body will be able to withstand the hell Gaea's putting him through? His willpower might be strong as Styx, but what if he loses too much blood, or swallows too much water while getting dunked in the Cocytus, or gets a lung punctured by a broken rib, or panics in the Mansion of Night and has his heart give out? Or . . . or what if Gaea gets tired of his idiotic humor and stupid witty comebacks and ridiculously-high ability to annoy and . . . and dumb stubborn loyalty and decides she can get someone else to sacrifice, and just does him in? There's so much that could go wrong!"

"We're demigods, Reyna," Annabeth reminded her gently. "Stuff always goes wrong, but we get through it. Leo's going to be fine. You're not wasting time by fixing this ship so we can go save him." She offered Reyna a wry smile. "In fact, he might thank us for repairing it for him."

Reluctantly, Reyna's lips twitched. "More likely," she said, "he'll be upset that he didn't get to fix it and make some extra 'improvements' along the way."

Annabeth laughed, but the humor didn't last long. "You're not the only one who's hurting, you know," she said quietly. "You don't have to feel so alone. We miss him too. He was Piper's best friend, and Hazel was really close to him, and he has an awful lot of caring—if brusque—siblings, and his humor probably saved our lives as much as his quick thinking. The Ancient Lands are a dangerous place, and Leo was able to lighten up even the worst situations. And believe me, we were pretty close to going to Hades a couple times. Keeping up our spirits like that couldn't have been easy."

Reyna bit her lip, remembering. "Come on, Leo. Rescuing you isn't going to do you any good if some monster kills you first."

"I know that. It's just . . . I have to hold onto myself somehow. Humor's about all I have left."

Reyna took a deep breath. "No, it definitely wasn't easy," she agreed. She took another deep breath for good measure. "Ready to go? We're supervising the hull's repair today, aren't we?"

Annabeth studied her. "Are you ready to go?" she asked doubtfully. "You're okay?"

"I'm good," Reyna assured her hastily. "I'm fine." At least, I'll be fine once I figure out where they stow the coffeemaker . . . I'm going to need a heck of a lot of that over the next four days.

Reyna had had firm intentions of pulling four consecutive all-nighters. But that second night, at about three in the morning, she'd conked out in Leo's room while reading some instructions about the various weapons Leo had made. Malcolm had found her at six and had gone to tell Annabeth (or so Athena's daughter told her later). Reyna woke up at about eight, and Annabeth peeked in a few minutes after she opened her eyes. "Thank the gods you're awake," she said. "I didn't know how much longer I could convince people you were intensely focused on Leo's notes and couldn't be bothered."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You didn't get any sleep two nights ago," Annabeth said bluntly, "and I know you were planning on staying up all night yesterday too. If it takes hanging out in Leo's room to get you to pass out, then so be it. I wasn't about to disturb you and risk you turning into an insomniac."

Reyna felt her cheeks redden. "I wasn't . . . I didn't fall asleep because I was in Leo's room!" she protested. "I was just reading his notes on the walls and got too tired! I . . . that could have happened anywhere!"

Annabeth's eyes glinted mischievously. "Right," she said. "And that's the only reason."

Reyna glared at her. "Just tell me what we're doing today."

Reyna whistled for Scipio, eyeing the ship nervously like it would fall apart at any moment. She had endured several more awful dreams, and nearly every demigod or legacy had freaked out—in anger, frustration, worry, or sadness—at some point over the last few days. They'd also had a couple close calls with monster attacks, but it didn't matter. They were done. Reyna would ride Scipio, the legion would ride their eagles, some demigods would ride their pegasi, and everyone else would stay on the Argo II. They had to make a quick stop at the Parthenon to replace Athena's statue and hopefully repair the gods' schizophrenia, but then they could figure out where Gaea was planning to rise and destroy her—and the giants—once and for all. That, and rescue Leo.

Reyna swung herself onto Scipio and grinned dangerously as the Argo II rose into the air and headed for Athens. Gaea had made a deadly mistake by keeping Leo prisoner and allowing Reyna to get close to him. When they forced Mother Earth back to sleep, Reyna was going to make sure she didn't have pleasant dreams.

Leo thought waking up was probably the most painful thing he had ever done. He might have been immune to fire, but every inch of his body hurt so much, he thought he finally knew what it felt like to be burned alive. Gods, but he could have gone without experiencing the sensation.

"Get up, godsssssspawn," the dracaena hissed.

"So you can torture me some more?" he mumbled around his throbbing jaw. "I don' think so."

Not this time, Leo Valdez. He jumped. It had been a while since Gaea had spoken to him. Lately, she had preferred to let him suffer in silence. Personally, Leo thought that had been pretty merciful of her. He might have thrown up if she had rambled any more about her plans for world domination—since being the world obviously wasn't enough. The torture is over, she continued. You're about to experience something much more painful—death.

It's August 1st, godspawn. It's time for you to help me rise.

Leo gasped in pain as a giant flung him over his shoulder and started walking away—although Leo wasn't entirely sure how they were going to leave Tartarus, now that the Doors of Death were closed. Maybe through the same way Reyna had left . . . ?

It didn't matter. Gaea obviously had a way to get him out. He didn't have very long until she sacrificed him and destroyed Mt. Olympus once and for all.

Leo would've tried to escape—Hades, he would've fallen off this giant and killed himself, rather than let Gaea win—if he hadn't been so weak he could barely remember how to breathe, let alone move.

Dios mio, reina, he thought. I hope this is part of your plan.

Within a few hours, they had reached the Parthenon. Immediately, Piper and Drew climbed onto two pegasi and flew down, disembarking far enough away that most of the tourists wouldn't see them. (Yes, the Mist worked wonders, but Reyna didn't want to know how people would rationalize seeing a couple of teenagers on flying horses.) Reyna and Percy flew down behind them and got off Scipio and Blackjack at the same place. Then they sent all four pegasi away, to decrease the risk of someone seeing them. They would fly back down to pick them up later.

By the time Reyna and Percy entered the Parthenon, Piper and Drew were already using their charmspeak, persuading the hundreds of tourists to leave while the Parthenon underwent some "restoration". Extreme restoration, Reyna thought.

Meanwhile, she and Percy directed the tourists out of the ruins, doing their best to look professional. As soon as the last camera-wielding man had left, Piper ran outside and gave the "all clear" sign to the Argo II, where Annabeth was watching expectantly. Moments later, the ship maneuvered directly above the Parthenon. Then its stable doors unlatched, and Athena's statue was slowly lowered out, thanks to some Hephaestus/Vulcan engineering, high-quality Hecate magic, and dozens of demigods' strength. As soon as the Parthenos touched the center of the monument—Annabeth had steered the ship into position perfectly—a shock wave of magic seemed to ripple out from it, knocking Reyna, Piper, Drew, and Percy off their feet. By the time they stood back up, the statue was gleaming in the sunligh—

Actually, it wasn't, Reyna realized in surprise. The Parthenos wasn't just gleaming. It was glowing.

"I think the plan worked," Piper said in a small voice.

"You think?" Percy answered, then shook his head, as if shaking off his amazement. "Anyway, I know the Mist can do crazy-powerful things," he continued, "but do you think it would protect a bunch of mortals from an earthquake?"

Piper and Drew exchanged glances, and then dashed outside to try to keep the tourists from freaking out. Reyna followed, with Percy right behind her, but by the time they got outside, the daughters of Aphrodite had skidded to a halt right in front of them. It took all of Reyna's reflexes not to crash into them.

"They're gone," Piper said, stating the obvious once again. Someone had to. "Where'd they all go?"

"Maybe they didn't want to stick around, since they couldn't stay in the Parthenon anymore?" Percy offered hopefully.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake . . . and the Parthenos wasn't causing the earthquake this time. A stone from a nearby monument crashed to the ground. The four demigods barely managed to retain their footing.

Reyna's eyes hardened. "Piper, Drew, go inside and cut those ropes off the Parthenos," she commanded. "If the Argo II has to move, I don't want it tethered to the statue. Then call your pegasi."

For once, Drew didn't complain about being ordered around. The two girls immediately rushed inside the Parthenon. Percy drew Riptide while Reyna did the same with her dagger. When they spotted the first giant marching towards them, with several more behind him, Percy cursed.

"I didn't think she'd rise here, right now," he muttered. "I thought we'd at least have time to organize everyone, split up teams, get ready to fight . . ."

"Yeah, right," Reyna said wryly. "We should have known she'd come here. We're right in the middle of the Acropolis, after all. What place is better?"

Percy tightened his grip on Riptide. "We'd better let Annabeth know what's going on," he said. "I doubt she can see too much from up there. We need to assemble everyone on the ground, and—"

Reyna's heart stopped.

Actually, it just skipped a few beats before it regained its rhythm—beating at a much faster pace than usual, but beating nonetheless. Reyna couldn't really blame it for malfunctioning. After all, Gaea had just emerged from behind a building, with Porphyrion and Polybotes (nearly all the giants had managed to escape Tartarus before the Doors were closed) at her heels, and Leo—yes, Leo—getting dragged on his knees behind them.

He looked like he should have been dead. Reyna could barely see his natural skin tone underneath the blood and bruises that covered his body. Leo was only dubiously conscious, which was probably why he was being dragged (that, or Gaea just liked being cruel, or both), and the light in his eyes was so devastated that Reyna didn't think he even recognized her at first. When he did, those almost-crazed eyes widened, begging her to escape. Reyna ignored him.

Praetor Reyna Concessi, Gaea purred. Reyna was horrified at how close her eyes were to opening—they were half-lidded at best. I'm glad you are here. I had hoped you would be able to watch as Leo Valdez died.

Reyna gritted her teeth . . . but before she could say a word, Leo burst into flames.

He was so battered, Reyna couldn't believe he had the strength to use fire—obviously, Gaea had assumed the same thing—but somehow, Leo managed to melt his bonds and attack Gaea without a single weapon. For one glorious second, he appeared invincible—the giants were baffled, and Gaea's earthen robes were actually burning. He looked stronger with the blaze flickering around him and a wild grin on his face. Reyna's breath hitched, and she ran forward to help him, and his fire was hurting the earth and maybe it would make her fall—

And then Polybotes yanked Leo away from Gaea, pulling so hard that Reyna could hear Leo's arm snap. At the rush of pain, Leo fizzled out. Then, instead of weakening, Gaea gathered the dirt around her and grew until she towered over Leo, as tall as any of the giants.

TOO MANY TIMES, she thundered. YOU HAVE ANNOYED ME TOO MANY TIMES, GODSPAWN. I WILL FIND ANOTHER SACRIFICE. YOU WILL DIE NOW.

At her command, Porphyrion raised his spear. Reyna didn't think. She just knew that she could not let Leo die after everything he had already gone through.

"Wait!"

Gaea whirled around, fifty feet tall, and glared at Reyna. YOU DARE INTERFERE, DAUGHTER OF BELLONA? It was enough to make any sane demigod turn and run, but Reyna wasn't feeling particularly sane at the moment. All she could see was Leo, helpless on the ground, arm twisted awkwardly, one injury away from death.

"You can't kill him, Gaea!" she yelled, drawing on confidence that she didn't feel. "Not yet!"

"Reyna," Percy muttered, "what the Hades are you doing?"

"Trust me," she said almost inaudibly. "And make sure that ship doesn't land." Percy opened his mouth to argue, but Gaea beat him to it.

YOU DARE TO ORDER ME AROUND? WHAT KEEPS ME FROM KILLING LEO VALDEZ?

Reyna straightened to hide how much she was shaking. "You can't kill him yet!" she repeated. "You have to sacrifice him!"

Gaea laughed. The sound cracked several of the ruins even further. The Parthenon shuddered behind Reyna. Why use a son of Hephaestus, Gaea said, when a son of Poseidon is standing right next to you?

Percy growled and took a step forward, but Reyna held him back. "Come on, Gaea," she chided. "I know what you told me when I was first captured, before I even met Leo in Tartarus. You said the sacrifice worked best if the two demigods cared about each other."

It was hard to tell when Gaea's face was so high up, but Reyna was pretty sure she saw the goddess raise her earthen eyebrows. More than that, godspawn, she said, her voice betraying a hint of interest. I said that my rise would be most impressive if the two demigods loved each other. The death of love is powerful magic. But that is easily remedied. I need only sacrifice Annabeth Chase as well.

Reyna swallowed down her terror. "Good luck with that," she replied. "Annabeth is in the Argo II, above even your reach. You'll never be able to get to her."

Then I will sacrifice you with Percy Jackson! Gaea said disdainfully. It doesn't matter. I am powerful enough to rise either way, with or without the death of love.

Reyna hesitated, but not for long. She could do this. She could admit something she had never allowed herself to feel, if it meant saving Leo's life. "Maybe," she said, "but wouldn't you rather rise with it, given the choice?"

For a moment, even Gaea was surprised into silence. That gave Percy time to ask Reyna what the hell she was thinking.

"Go," she muttered. "Tell Annabeth that I'm doing Plan D, and by the gods, don't let her touch the ground. Gaea would snatch you two up and sacrifice you in an instant. Same goes for Jason and Piper and Frank and Hazel."

"You guys worked out a Plan D?" Percy said, using humor to mask his nervousness and worry. "I don't usually have a Plan A, Reyna."

"Why do you think you've nearly died so many times?"

Percy couldn't bring himself to smile. "Plan D," he mumbled. "That far down the list? Sounds risky."

Reyna eyed Gaea apprehensively. "Just go, Percy."

And just like that, Blackjack swooped down from the sky, Percy hopped on, and they were gone in an instant. Gaea didn't even look fazed. She was too busy studying Reyna's expression. You say I could still rise with the destruction of love, godspawn? What do you mean by that, exactly?

Reyna crossed her arms, like it would lessen the shock of saying the words out loud. "You know what I mean," she said defiantly. "I'm in love with Leo Valdez."