Act II Chapter X: "I started swinging."
"This looks a lot more promising," Annabeth said as she looked around the deserted shopping center they stood in. Across the street were a hotel and a few restaurants. The parking center they currently stood in had broken asphalt all over the place along with chipped paint. The buildings were mostly intact minus missing a front door or having a cracked window.
"Not really," Reyna muttered softly. She adjusted her armor strap as her gaze moved around. Her eyes narrowed. Annabeth followed her sight line and saw movement from the shadows. "Did you see that?"
"I did," Annabeth agreed.
"What are we looking for?" Clarisse asked softly as she tried to look around without making it seem too obvious.
"There's someone, or something, in the- Ow!"
Annabeth's hand shot to her neck as there was a sharp, stabbing pain. Her fingertips brushed across something sharp that was pricked into her neck. A small needle. Her world darkened as her eyelids suddenly became heavy.
Clarisse swore and swatted something out of the sky. She grabbed her spear and yelled something. Annabeth tried to grab her sword, but her limbs weren't feeling too responsive. Especially as her legs went out on her. Reyna grabbed her.
It didn't matter as Annabeth's head lulled to the side, and her eyelids were too heavy to keep open. She closed her eyes and felt like she was floating on a cloud.
That sensation lasted about five seconds before she felt her eyes open on her. She jolted like she had been woken up suddenly. Annabeth turned to look around at where they were, but she felt the worst kind of crink in her neck. A groan escaped her.
"You okay, Princess?" Clarisse questioned. Annabeth moved her eyes to look at Clarisse. There was a fresh cut on Clarisse's chin, and she had a black eye. Annabeth blinked and looked down at herself. She was sitting in a chair, and it looked like she was in some kind of waiting room.
"I don't know," Annabeth began. To her right, she saw Reyna sitting next to her. Reyna was holding her palm to her jaw and slowly moving her mouth around. "What happened? We were just in the parking lot."
"That was about thirty minutes ago," Clarisse informed. Annabeth looked at her in surprise and winced at the pain again. "Those rebel Amazons found us and tried to hit us with sleep darts. You got hit."
"Lucky me," Annabeth muttered. She turned her whole body to look at Reyna. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Busted my jaw again," Reyna muttered after a moment. She lifted her head.
"Where are we now?" Annabeth asked. She slowly stretched her neck, wincing in both pain and relief as it popped loudly.
"After you hit the ground, I started swinging. We got into a bit of a scuffle before I yelled we just wanted to find the rebel amazons and make a deal. It took some convincing, but after we put our weapons down, they talked to us. We're waiting to meet their leader now," Clarisse explained.
"Are they hostile?" Annabeth questioned. She could see her sword at her side, and Clarisse had her spear.
"No. Just cautious so far," Clarisse replied. The door to their side opened, and Annabeth turned her head without much pain. She watched three women walk in. One woman had auburn hair and a frown touching her face. The other two were wearing leather armor with hoods thrown over their heads.
"I apologize for meeting like this," the woman began as she leaned on the wall opposite them. "My name is Kinzie. I lead the Amazons here."
While Kinzie seemed to examine all of them, her gaze kept flickering back to Reyna. The other two guards weren't so subtle as they just stared at Reyna. Clarisse sat forward, "I'm Clarisse. The one you guys knocked out is Annabeth. And the last one is Reyna."
"Hylla's sister," Kinzie stated.
"I am," Reyna confirmed. She shifted as Kinzie studied her intently. "Though, we aren't exactly close anymore."
"Did she send you?" Kinzie questioned.
"She did," Annabeth answered, and Kinzie looked at her. "But, we don't want to fight anyone here. Hylla told us that you stole her belt, and we need to bring it back to her."
"If the queen wants her status symbol back, she can get it herself," Kinzie stated resolutely.
"I agree, but we don't have that luxury," Clarisse returned. She leaned forward in her seat. "If we bring the belt to Hylla, she'll let the goddess Iris go."
"Impossible," one of the armored figures protested. Kinzie frowned at the news. "The queen wouldn't cripple communications like that."
"It wouldn't cripple communications," Annabeth stated. She stretched her neck again. "It would be the opposite. Presumably, the only people who can use those messages are people that Hylla allows. If Iris isn't under her thumb, everyone will be allowed to use the messages."
"Unless Iris decides she doesn't want to help the demigods that kept her trapped," the other guard chimed in.
"Have you actually seen Iris?" Reyna questioned. Kinzie nodded stiffly. "So, she isn't hidden away then?"
"No. Just chained in a way that limits her powers," Kinzie answered. She rubbed her chin. "If Hylla is really willing to exchange Iris for the belt, things must be bad there."
"Someone did challenge Hylla to her throne. But they croaked without putting up a fight," Clarisse explained. "What we can't figure out is why you're rebelling against Hylla."
Kinzie studied them before focusing her gaze on Reyna. It took a moment for the Roman to look at her. Kinzie spoke, "Hylla is nothing more than a puppet."
"What do you mean?" Reyna asked. "I can't see Hylla taking orders from anyone."
Kinzie was silent as she met Reyna's gaze. Annabeth looked between the two and tried to get a read on Kinzie. Her mind was still a little foggy from being knocked out like that. She closed her eyes for a moment. These rebel Amazons didn't seem like they wanted to hurt them, even if the dart was a little excessive.
The rebel Amazons did have them outnumbered and could have hurt Reyna and Clarisse. They could have stripped the three of their weapons and kept them captive. Instead, they were being treated as guests. Annabeth spoke, "We don't want this belt for personal reasons. It's for the good of every demigod."
"If you know of the centaur Chiron or the wolf goddess Lupa, they have been training demigods how to survive before sending them back to the world. I have been with them for years helping to train other demigods, but we want to bring back a safe place, like the old camps, for all demigods," Annabeth explained.
"We have a safe place to go. We have a god to help protect us, but we need Iris to be able to send messages to other demigods to let them know there is a safe place for them to go to," Annabeth continued. "I know that you Amazons probably don't have to deal with as many monster attacks, but this could be beneficial to your rebels as well."
"We don't have any loyalties to Hylla," Clarisse added. She jerked her thumb to the side. "The crazy lady wouldn't even look at her little sister."
"We can try to work out a deal," Annabeth added. "If you give us the belt, we can do something to help you."
"You would go against the Amazons?" Kinzie questioned.
"No," Reyna shut down as she looked at Clarisse and Annabeth. "We don't even have demigods at the camp. Who is going to protect it from my sister?"
"There has to be some help we can offer," Annabeth argued. She looked at Kinzie. "You said that Hylla is just a puppet. What did you mean by that?"
"I assume that you know about how Camp Jupiter attacked Camp Half-Blood all those decades ago?" Kinzie asked. The demigods nodded their agreement. "Well, there are no Amazons still alive from back then, but the story has been passed down well enough.
"Before we received reports of the attack, the queen at the time just disappeared. Some thought that she joined in on the attack, or was part of a conspiracy. A few Amazons stepped up in her absence and kept us from completely falling apart as they tried to find out what happened with the camps. Then, the queen returned."
"She was different, though. She jumped at the shadows and looked like a dead man walking. There were policy changes. You must understand that the Amazons have long held traditions and beliefs that have never changed. When those policies were changed, those traditions were broken."
"The biggest was that no one could challenge her for her throne, which meant no one could remove her from power. Many Amazons protested, but the queen had the backing of the most senior and powerful Amazons. Those who tried to go against her were taken away. They came back... different."
"Eventually, the protests stopped. Those who didn't agree had it beaten out of them or were just killed. Any new Amazons thought it was always the way things had been. Some Amazons did not forget, though. And, they passed the traditions of old down to new recruits."
Kinzie sighed and looked down at the ground. She slowly continued, "About three years ago, Hylla joined. I still remember her walking into the Amazon base like she owned the place. She had this confidence, a hubris, that could probably match the gods."
"It didn't take long for Hylla to gather the support of the senior Amazons. With their support, she challenged the queen to her throne. At this point, the queen was old and decrepit. She had found something to slow her aging down, but it didn't matter. She was no match for a headstrong teenager, and she knew that."
"The queen told Hylla that no one challenged her for the throne, but Hylla reminded the Amazons of the old ways. She spoke with this conviction and confidence, reminding us of how great the Amazons used to be. How strong the stories made us sound. And how the queen was the strongest of all."
"We all cheered for Hylla in that moment," Kinzie reminisced. "The queen had no choice but to fight Hylla, and the queen lasted longer than I thought she would. But, Hylla struck her down and took her throne. She reverted our laws to the old ways, and we were so happy. Relieved".
"Then, the iron fist closed around us," Kinzie muttered with a shake of her head. "Most Amazons didn't care, happy that traditions were back. Anyone can challenge Hylla at any time, but most aren't that stupid. The woman fights like a goddess."
Kinzie trailed off and seemed lost in thought. Reyna slowly spoke, "Why rebel against her then? It sounds like she did something you all agree with."
"She did," Kinzie confirmed. "At first. Then, Hylla wanted us to pledge ourselves to the war god Mars. The god has always been important in our traditions, and we do offer up sacrifices to him once a year at our grand feast. Hylla wanted us to do more."
"Hylla wants us to raise him as a patron to the Amazons, like those females do with Artemis-"
"The Hunters of Artemis."
"Yes. Thank you. She wants to revere Mars like that, but the Amazons have never bowed to a man. The Amazons were created back in Ancient Greece to prove that women were just as good as men, and we have always been a safe harbor from archaic traditions of a woman being the housewife and homemaker."
"There's a difference between offering more sacrifices and bowing a knee," Annabeth began.
"There is," Kinzie agreed. "But, Hylla wants more than sacrifices. She wants us to give ourselves to Mars. To raise him as our patron. To worship him. It's like I said: the Amazons do not bend a knee for a man. We will not start for a god."
"It's the belief that we have to have Mars as a patron. That we can't survive without him," one of the guards chimed in. "We've survived for centuries on our own. We don't need Mars."
"Especially because no one knows where he is," the other added. "It's like we're just calling out to no one that will listen."
"I'm sorry," Annabeth began. "I just... you rebelled because she wants you to have a god as a patron?"
"You misunderstand. It is because Hylla is just a puppet, and until we know the master pulling the strings, we don't know how much trouble we're in," Kinzie stated. "It's too coincidental. Hylla arrives and knows all of our traditions. She is more skilled than any other Amazon. And the senior Amazons flocked to her almost instantly."
"Hylla acts like she was sent by Mars himself, but I know that's not right. Someone else sent her, and I don't think it was an Olympian," Kinzie confided. "Most other Amazons won't listen to us, though. We don't have proof that she is nothing more than a puppet queen, and we don't know who she works for."
"Did you try confronting Hylla with all this before leaving?" Clarisse asked.
"We just took her belt and left. Hit her with a blow to her confidence," Kinzie answered. "We showed her she wasn't as in charge as she thought."
"We've only been gone from the Amazons for two weeks now," a guard said. She scratched at her ear where a golden earring rested.
"You need to use Hylla's tactics against her," Reyna said after a few moments. "Put her on the spot. Ask those senior Amazons how Hylla got their loyalty. What convinced them to stand by her side and take a knee to a man with her? Get them to argue with Hylla and show that Hylla is slipping from the mountaintop."
"How?" Kinzie asked. "Are we supposed to walk back into the belly of the beast? Hylla won't come to us."
"She might," Annabeth suggested. "If we can free Iris, can't you just send a message to Hylla? Or the Amazons? Put pressure on them."
"Show them that you don't fear Hylla. After all, she's going to get the belt back, but none of you were harmed. And, she didn't scare you guys enough to stop you from messaging her and still rebelling. She sent her younger sister to clean up her mess. Undercut her," Reyna continued as she leaned forward.
"If you show no fear, Hylla will lose power," Reyna promised. Kinzie studied them and seemed to think about it.
"I'm sorry, but it's not enough," Kinzie refused.
"We don't want to fight," Clarisse spoke up. The two guards instantly stepped forward. "We just want the belt."
"Maybe, there's another way," Annabeth began. "Could we just go back and say we couldn't find them? Then free Iris that way?"
"I might have one more piece of information that could help you undercut Hylla," Reyna said. She looked down at the ground. "But, you have to swear on the River Styx to never repeat it. And, I want the belt in return."
"No piece of information matches the value of this belt," Kinzie challenged. Reyna met her eyes. Annabeth looked at Reyna, unsure as well.
"Why don't we talk about it in private," Reyna suggested. "Then, you can decide for yourself."