As the adrenaline left Reyna, she felt her body aching from the war she had just finished waging. Her face hurt the most, especially because Clarisse had used it for target practice. Not to mention busting her open. Reyna didn't let that stop her, though.
Reyna kept her gaze on the title on Annabeth's shoulder. Soon, it was going to be hers. All Reyna had to do was defeat Annabeth next. A hand moved to Reyna's lower back, and Lupa spoke, "Come on."
It took a moment for Reyna to look at Lupa. She averted her gaze just as quickly and looked down. Lupa moved an arm around her back and began to escort her out of the cage. As the two made it outside the cage, Lupa sat her down in a chair. Will moved to her with a towel. He gently placed it on the cut on her face.
"Does anything else hurt?" Will asked gently. He kept the pressure applied to Reyna's cut.
"My face," Reyna said after a moment. "And my shoulder. She dislocated something when she slammed me down, and I think she relocated it after she threw me down again."
"I'll look at it right after we take care of your cut," Will promised. Reyna closed her eyes as she relaxed. She could hear the crowd getting quieter as they shuffled out of the building. Next to her, it sounded like Lupa and Annabeth were talking softly.
Reyna opened her eyes and saw Annabeth walking away. Lupa knelt in front of Reyna and spoke, "Do you think you have a concussion?"
"No," Reyna answered. Will kept the pressure applied for a few more minutes. When he pulled the towel away, Lupa gently began to wipe the dried blood from Reyna's face. Will began to clean the wound at the same time, and he started to carefully apply stitches.
Reyna winced as she tried not to move. She felt someone, probably Lupa, place a hand to her back. As Will finished the stitches, he stepped away. Lupa was a few feet away talking to someone, but the hand was still on Reyna's back. She turned her head to look at Hylla.
Her older sister watched her with a look of concern. Reyna managed a small smile, especially as she saw Kinzie was at Hylla's side. Kinzie spoke, "You did amazing."
"Thank you," Reyna said.
"You were great," Hylla added. She gently rubbed Reyna's back. "How hurt are you?"
"Everything kind of hurts right now," Reyna admitted. She groaned as Will gently touched her shoulder. "It feels like a truck ran into me."
That look of concern on Hylla's face grew. Reyna looked at her sister and frowned, "Hey, I'm going to be okay. I promise. I'm good. I'm just sore at the moment."
"You'll have to excuse her for not being too excited that you got your ass kicked," Kinzie spoke up. There was a small smirk on her face, and Reyna returned the smirk.
"I didn't get my ass kicked," Reyna weakly clarified. "I did win."
"Just thrown everywhere," Hylla muttered as she examined the stitches that Will had done. Will hummed as he felt Reyna's shoulder. Hylla met Reyna's eyes. "I am proud of you, though. I really am."
A huge smile lit up Reyna's face. Her gaze moved to Will as the doctor let go of her shoulder. Will spoke, "You're going to need an x-ray. I think we should put it in a sling for now and rest it."
"I'm still going to dinner," Reyna began.
"We'll make sure to get you some soup," Nico commented. Reyna nearly jumped as she turned to look at him. Nico held up his phone to her face. He showed it to her after a moment. Reyna winced at the picture of her face. "I doubt you want to chew anything with how much she beat your face in. But hey, we got a great profile picture for your dating profile."
Reyna's face was pretty bruised, and she was starting to sport a black eye. Not to mention a cut on her lip. Her nose was bruised and swollen from being broken. That cut above her eye looked gnarly even with the stitches. It was definitely going to scar.
Hylla gently placed a hand to her face. Her thumb tenderly ran across the old scar on Reyna's eyebrow. Hylla spoke, "Are we invited to the celebration?"
"Of course," Reyna said. She slowly started to stand, and Will helped her. Hylla was quick to help as well. Reyna leaned on her sister and followed her to the locker room. A huge grin stayed on her face, and all she wanted to do was celebrate the night with her family.
"Broken bones are so cool," Matthew said in awe as he stared at Annabeth's hand. Bobby examined the splint on her fingers like it was some kind of prized possession. Annabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. After Lupa helped Annabeth out of the cage, she asked the champion to get the others ready to leave after Reyna was checked out by Lee.
Annabeth had hardly stepped into the locker room before she was rushed by everyone congratulating her. She looked at her brothers. They had been buzzing about all of the fights and kept talking about them. It brought a smile to her face.
"Not really," Annabeth began. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frank and Piper were packing everything up. Lupa had stepped away to make the reservations for everyone, and Octavian was supposed to meet them. He had been busy dealing with family issues, and it seemed like things were only getting worse.
The locker room door opened, and before Annabeth could turn, she was pulled into a tight hug. Thalia spoke in her ear, "That was badass!"
"It was awesome!" Jason agreed as he followed behind his sister. Annabeth turned in Thalia's grasp and hugged her back. Right behind Jason was Percy, who was quickly followed by Sally and Paul.
"Annabeth," Sally began with a smile. She rushed to Annabeth's side and stole her out of Thalia's hug, wrapping her in one of her own. "Are you hurt?"
"Just my fingers and ankle," Annabeth answered. "I'm fine other than that."
Annabeth pulled out of the hug and was given a gentle one by Paul. Percy was the next one to hug her, and Annabeth rolled her eyes dramatically. She spoke, "Are all of you coming to dinner? Lupa has reservations made for everyone."
"As long as we're not intruding," Paul said.
"You two are family," Annabeth insisted. She looked at Percy. "You are... there I guess."
Percy rolled his eyes. A grin came to his face, and he raised his hand, "High five."
"Oh haha. Jerk," Annabeth nearly laughed. Percy smirked. Annabeth moved her gaze to her brothers. "Did you two spoil your appetites?"
"No, mom," Bobby retorted with a roll of his eyes.
"Wait! We get to go to dinner?" Matthew questioned.
"We were going to keep you outside while we ate," Piper chimed in. She walked toward them with Annabeth's duffel bag over her shoulder. Frank followed behind with Reyna's bag around him. Hazel was right behind him.
"Do you need to borrow these?" Hazel teased as she offered her crutches. Annabeth gave her a playful glare. "Are you ready to celebrate?"
"I'm starving," Annabeth admitted. It didn't help that she had so long between her fight and now. She wanted to wait to eat. The door opened again, and Annabeth turned her head. A small smile came to her face as she saw Lupa. Following right behind her was Reyna.
The first thing that Annabeth noticed was the fresh bruises on Reyna's face. It looked like someone had thrown her face first into the wall. The worst of her bruising centered around her nose and the right side of her face. There were fresh stitches under the bandage that was above her left eye. Along with the sling on her shoulder.
"Reyna!" Hazel said as she rushed to Reyna's side. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Reyna answered with a tired smile. "It feels like I got hit by a truck, though."
Hylla, Nico, and Kinzie followed right behind Reyna. Lupa looked around the room and spoke, "I booked us a restaurant to eat at. Before that, Annabeth and Reyna both have interviews with the press before they can leave."
A groan left Annabeth. She expected this to happen, but she didn't want to do it. Reyna had the same look on her face.
"Can't we just say I broke my jaw?" Reyna complained.
"No," Lupa answered. She looked at her watch. "You two have twenty minutes before the interview."
"I guess we should get ready," Annabeth resigned with a sigh. Reyna nodded her agreement and looked at Annabeth.
"Congrats on winning," Reyna spoke up.
"You too," Annabeth returned. A smile came to her face. "I can't wait to fight you."
Reyna met her gaze, and the small smile she had flickered for a moment. A determined look came to her face. Then, she relaxed and smiled again. Reyna spoke, "I feel the same. It's going to be an amazing fight."
Reyna held her hand out. Annabeth shook it quickly, "It will be. Now, let's deal with the reporters and get some food."