Act II Chapter XXIV: "I swear."

"You shouldn't be so mad," Reyna spoke up. Her lips moved without her permission. She didn't look at her companion, instead just staring out at the field in front of her. It felt like her vision was shading over, past images flooding to the forefront of her mind.

Reyna closed her eyes. There was still a dull ache in her shoulder, and she hadn't gotten any sleep since that morning. Reyna wasn't really tired, though. Not at this moment. No. All she felt was...

"Why not?" Clarisse grunted. Her anger was clear in how her arms were crossed. Her upper lip was still, and the scowl on her face seemed permanent. "We let a monster into this camp."

"Lupa wouldn't have allowed him in if she thought he was a threat," Reyna muttered. Her gaze moved back to Camp Half-Blood. The new demigods were there, and Reyna could not remember all of their damn names. She didn't even want to bother with it.

As Reyna blinked, she saw the camp as it was before: in ruins. Destroyed buildings. Ash everywhere. Not to mention the ghosts that she couldn't see but knew they were there. Her eyes closed tightly.

"Chiron either," Reyna muttered. Clarisse grunted once again. "You know I'm right."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Clarisse retorted. "But, whatever. None of you understand."

"We all do," Reyna stated. She opened her eyes but only saw the ashen ruins again. It became hard to swallow as she could almost taste death in the air. Reyna closed her eyes tightly to banish the thought and rubbed her forehead.

"What if Tyson betrays us and leads an army of monsters here?" Clarisse questioned.

"Then, we destroy them all," Reyna replied. "Besides, it's not like we don't already shoot up a flare with all the demigods here. And numbers won't matter because we're going to keep getting new demigods."

"Do you really think a monster can be good?" Clarisse asked.

"I think some demigods are worse than monsters," Reyna answered as she continued to rub her forehead.

"What's wrong?" Clarisse asked after a moment. Reyna pried her eyes open. "Did you take a nap?"

"Too much excitement," Reyna replied. Clarisse crossed her arms.

"More than that," Clarisse deduced. "I've noticed it ever since we got here. There's something about this place, isn't there?"

Reyna averted her gaze once again and stared out at nothing. Her vision couldn't stay focused. It wasn't just pain from her shoulder or exhaustion from the day. It was just this place.

"I don't like it here," Reyna finally admitted.

"Why not? Too close for you?" Clarisse asked. There was the slightest hint of teasing in her voice.

"This is a Greek camp. Destroyed by Romans," Reyna revealed.

"Doesn't look that destroyed to me," Clarisse said as she looked around. A smirk touched her lips. "And, you're not a Roman from back then. You're here now with us to help find a safe place for demigods or whatever mission it is that Annabeth is pushing out."

"But, I can see more in your eyes," Clarisse continued.

"Yeah," Reyna muttered. She didn't say anything else and shook her head slightly. "I don't know. I just... I really just..."

Reyna fell silent and tried to think of her next words. Clarisse placed a gentle hand to her good shoulder.

"Is it about Hylla?" Clarisse wondered. She spoke in such a soft voice that Reyna swallowed painfully.

"Kind of," Reyna said. "It's... a lot. A lot of things. But only one thing really."

Reyna knew her words didn't make sense. They couldn't make sense to anyone but her. Tears stung at her eyes, and she wasn't sure why. Clarisse tightened her grip.

"You can tell me," Clarisse began. "Is it because you're the only Roman we found so far? I'm sure there are more. We're going to find them."

Reyna shook her head, "No. Not that. I...

"Regret," Reyna finally said. Her gaze moved to look back at Camp Half-Blood. "I don't think I can make those things right."

"And what things are those?"

Reyna looked back at Clarisse, "My father... Hylla... And..."

A single tear fell, and Reyna tried to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand. Clarisse stopped her and used her thumb to brush away the fallen tear. The older girl spoke, "There is nothing that you have done that can't be fixed."

"I killed..."

Reyna fell silent as she stared ahead. She could see Clarisse's eyes moving around as the other girl seemed to be using Reyna's two incomplete sentences to connect the thoughts. Both girls fell silent. All the Roman could do was focus on the distance.

"Reyna," Clarisse began. She looked unsure of what to say. A hand gently touched Reyna's back. "It's... it's going to be okay. I promise. Whatever happened in the past is the past, and I'm sure that..."

Clarisse trailed off and sighed. She moved her hand to Reyna's shoulder and squeezed it tightly. Clarisse continued, "I know what it's like to have regrets. I have some too. There was this demigod. A new one. It was the first month of me protecting our moving camp.

"I got cocky, and he paid the price. I regret it every day," Clarisse whispered. "I won't let it happen again. That's why I'm so mad we let Tyson waltz into the camp."

Regret.

Reyna knew that well.

"So, just..." Clarisse trailed off as she seemed to realize that Reyna wasn't going to respond. "I'm here if you need it, okay?"

"Yeah."

Clarisse squeezed Reyna's shoulder one last time before she turned and walked away. Reyna didn't look back at her, instead staring at the horizon. There was a hollow feeling in her chest.

It was easy to ignore it when they were on the move. The others always thought she was exhausting herself by staying up all night to patrol and then sleeping only an hour or two before heading out on a march. If she barely slept, it was easier to stay asleep during those few precious hours of rest.

Being stuck in this camp meant the memories knew where to find her. She couldn't outrun them. Reyna was forced to face her past, and that was just not something she could do. Wind blew past her face, and her eyes burned from the tears that were trying to build there.

Footsteps caused Reyna to tense. She could not deal with Percy or Luke trying to check on her. Other than Clarisse thinking she found something helpful to say. Gods forbid it was Annabeth coming to question her about what she was doing.

Reyna turned her head and saw Lupa. The wolf goddess studied her for a long moment. Reyna met her eyes, tears glossing her gaze. For a moment, they mirrored a look of regret.

"Percy had a dream," Reyna muttered as the moment passed. She looked forward once again. "About my mother. And you. Why didn't you tell me that the two of you fought?"

"It seems like I am not the only one withholding information," Lupa commented. Reyna's eyes flickered to the side.

"I didn't lie," Reyna stated. Eyes drifted forward again.

"I never accused you of lying," Lupa stated. She walked right in front of Reyna and forced the demigod to meet her gaze. "Just withholding information."

"I'm not," Reyna muttered as she crossed her arms and kept Lupa's gaze.

"Then swear on the River Styx."

Reyna studied Lupa. The action was a Greek one. Any Roman worth their weight could simply swear on their honor, and if they lied, it would be a shame they could not get rid of. Why did Lupa want her to take this foreign, this Greek, action?

Reyna moved her gaze to Lupa's. There was a lot of things she had done that she regretted, and she just wanted to find a way to wipe the slate clean. To wash her hands once and for all.

But, Reyna didn't think she could. A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed painfully to get rid of it. A glance back at Lupa showed that the wolf goddess was looking off in the distance. As if she could see past all the obstacles and see Camp Jupiter, ash and all.

Reyna and Lupa. They understood what the other felt. They knew regret.

"I swear."