Reyna's Love Life Sucks

Lies! Blasphemy! Sacrilege! We arrive to Eurytion's barbeque pit to find him cooking. But cooking what? Vegetarian barbeque, that's what! Why, why, why?! Le sigh… To this day, I promise you, never in my history have I so dearly regretted my own advice to someone…

"Hope y'all enjoy em. Black bean patties, potato salad, buttered and herbed corn on the cob; I got it all."

"You don't have any ribs or anything?" I asked with a small edge of hope in my voice.

"Nope. I minimize my killin. Save all the meat for the mares of Diomedes. Other than that, I've gone full vegetarian. Animals are much happier now."

Zoë gave me a once over and snickered. "I would offer thee my catch, but thou hast forbidden me from hunting."

"I never forbade you from hunting. I just said not to kill any of his animals."

"Well, with how little time we have left in the day, it would be a waste to try and hunt now. Especially with food already offered to us."

I fumed silently, but still accepted Eurytion's offer for food. At least I can say he knew how to cook. While not on par with Katie's cooking, the burgers weren't bad.

"Not that I don't appreciate this, but why did you cook for us?"

Eurytion wiped some corn juice from his beard. "Been a little while since I've had company. Guess I was hopin' you'd stick around for a spell."

I looked around to everyone. Exhaustion painted their faces, though Thalia's was for a quite different reason.

Maybe staying for a little bit couldn't hurt…

"What do you guys think? Do you want to stay for a bit longer?"

Most nodded, though Reyna remained passive.

Just a bit longer, Rey… I promise I'll talk to you after we finish eating.

"I guess you've got company for a few more hours."

Eurytion cracked a smile. "Glad to hear it. Speaking of which, y'all figure out what animals you wanted to take back?"

"No cows," Bianca said. "Please."

I laughed. "Alright. No cows or horses."

Though getting a mate for Blackjack doesn't seem like too bad of an idea.

Hey, if he wants to be my wingman, it would be criminal of me not to return the favor.

Eurytion held his hand to his chin. "Well that narrows down your options quite a bit. And I take it y'all don't have a ready supply of meat for any carnivores?"

My shoulders fell. "No… I guess I didn't really think that through…"

"Heh, don't beat yourself up. I've dealt with worse. But for now—"

SQUAWK!

All heads turned to the intruder, who landed on our patio table with a THUMP. A purpled head eyed each and every one of us before nuzzling his beak in Thalia's palm.

"Cinder?"

"Well cover me in snakes, and call me Medusa, you actually did it."

Everyone turned to Eurytion except for Thalia, who continued playing with our new friend. The cattle herd rubbed his fingers together as he studied us, a light twinkle in his eye.

"Consider this your animal. He's a free spirit, so you won't have to worry about keeping him fed. He knows where to eat."

Cinder cooed as he nuzzled Thalia's forehead, hopping on her shoulder and perching himself like an oversized parrot.

"You're really serious about giving him to us?"

"It's not up to me anymore. He made his choice." Eurytion leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. "But I still can't help you with the other animals. You wouldn't happen to have any work needing to be done, would ya?"

I frowned. "Not that I… Come to think of it, yeah, we do. We have a bunch of pegasi and hippocampi staying on our island. We need stables for them and a landing strip for them by our house."

"Y'all have an island? Damn, I need to upgrade. Well, alright; I can get you a stables built. Landing strip too."

"Are you serious? I didn't know you could build."

"Ha!" He stuck his thumb towards the house. "Who do you think built this? Or the enclosures? Geryon? The man couldn't get anything done with his torsos in the way."

"Noted. What about your arm?"

He pointed to his bicep. With the exception of a small scar, his arm looked otherwise unharmed.

"It's my parentage. Let's me heal pretty quick. Of course, it doesn't help most of the time, but I've managed."

"So… all of the work…"

"Like I said, I've been wantin' some company. Besides, it's gettin' late. If you're taking the phoenix with you, it's best to travel during the day."

"Why?"

He looked up. "After the little spat with Artemis, I don't trust letting him fly while there's a full moon. She's probably waiting for me to slip up."

My head fell. "I see your point. We didn't have a good run in with her either."

"Whelp," he clapped, "nothin' we can do about it now. How 'bout y'all help me with cleaning up?"

Of course he made us wash dishes by hand, why wouldn't he? The Hunters and I left no work for Eurytion; our treat for the chef. After we all wrapped up in the kitchen, everyone agreed to allow a few hours of relaxing.

"Consider it well earned," Eurytion said. "For your help, y'all can use the spare bedroom. Used to be Geryon's before I cleaned it up. Haven't really used it since."

"So we're sleeping in the bed of a dead monster?" Bianca asked. "Why not?"

Zoë grabbed Bianca's arm and hauled her towards the room. "Come. I will tell thee of my many unsavory sleeping locations."

The rest of us watched on as they vanished behind the door.

"I'd better go keep an eye on them," Thalia said. "Need to make sure Zoë doesn't bore Bianca to death."

And get some information out of Zoë.

She never said it, but her intentions were clear; to me at least. She followed them into the room, Cinder trailing behind her, leaving me with an oversized rancher wearing a perplexed expression.

"Colorful bunch, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it." I turned to face him. "I don't mean to be rude, but I have to go make an Iris message. Probably for the best that my friends know where we are."

He scratched his beard. "Be my guest. Got plenty of sinks around here if you're not too concerned about the connection quality. Best results would be from the stream, but it'll be too dark by the time you get there."

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll be in the bathroom."

Minutes later, I stared into the somewhat spotty image of Piper with her back to me.

"Hey, Pipes. How's everyone doing?"

She jumped and whirled around, sending her harpie feather fluttering to the floor. Once she recognized me, she crossed her arms and pursed her lips.

"Let me guess, you guys aren't coming back tonight."

I scratched the back of my head. "That obvious, huh?"

"Yep. Well, everything is pretty calm for now, save for Drew trying to scavenge for her makeup in the ashes."

"Sounds about right." I curled and uncurled my fingers. "How's Annabeth?"

She let out a sigh. "About as well as can be expected. She should be fine by tomorrow, but for now, she's still resting. Calypso and I let Athena in on the situation. Needless to say, she's pissed."

I flinched. "She didn't take it out on you guys, did she?"

Her eyebrow raised. "Her daughter was given alcohol poisoning by Olympian wine. No, she's going to take it out on whoever gave it to her. She's in the middle of a full blown investigation to find out who her supplier was."

I shivered. "I'd hate to be on the receiving end of her fury when she finds out. At least I know we have one goddess crossed off the list of mind manipulators."

"Yeah. For the time being, she doesn't want Annabeth back on Olympus. Not until she finishes her search." Her light smile raised a bit. "Looks like you've got your girlfriend back for a few days."

I let out a breath. "And I'm glad to have her. We can use the extra brain power. And is that a bit of jealousy I hear?"

"Maybe a little. You and I never finished what we started."

"I know," I said with a sigh. "I'll do my best to make it worthwhile when the time comes."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that. Well, if that's all for now…"

"Yeah, keep an eye on everyone, will you? You're in charge until I get back."

Her eyes widened. "I don't know if I should be grateful or pissed off by that. If anything goes wrong—"

"It's only for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow morning."

"All five of you together? So who's the lucky lady for tonight?"

My shoulders sagged. "No idea. Both Thalia and Zoë have gotten… intimate to varying degrees. But then things are still in a bad flux with Reyna, so…"

"Looks like you've got your work cut out for you. If you're doing well with Thalia and Zoë, then I don't think you should have to worry about them. Reyna, however, should be your focus."

"I know, I know. I'll find her right after this."

"Well then, don't let me keep you waiting. Whoever it is, give them a night to remember. Hopefully, I'll find myself on the receiving end of your passion again soon."

With her closing statement, she blew me a kiss and swiped her hand through the mist, dissipating the image between us. For a few moments after, I stood there, holding my hands against the sink and looking into the mirror, trying to process all of the events taking place. After clearing my head, I took my leave of the bathroom and made my way to find Reyna.

It took a humiliating amount of time before before I managed to find Reyna. On the roof, the former praetor sat while watching the sunset, a cup of shaved ice in hand. How she managed to get up there, I have no idea; it took propelling myself up with a small geyser to reach her.

"Hey, Rey. This seat taken?"

She shot me a sideways glance and gestured for me to sit down.

"Piragua?" She held the frosty treat to me. "My favorite dessert."

"Um, sure." I took the cup in hand and enjoyed a small spoonful. The taste of mango washed over my tongue as the thick syrup traveled down my throat, cooling me down by a few degrees. "Where'd you get this?"

"Eurytion," she said without any enthusiasm. "He made some a few days back."

"Ah."

I returned her cup to her, to which she scooped another spoonful into her mouth. For a few minutes longer, we sat in uncomfortable silence. When I could no longer bear the thought of this talk failing, I decided to speak.

"So I talked with Thalia while we were busy."

She sat for a few seconds before nodding for me to continue.

"You knew this trip wasn't about checking out animals. That's why you looked so uncomfortable before."

Her head fell. "Yes, I did. Percy…" She lifted her head eyeing me with a weary gaze. "Whatever you think I was feeling, I doubt you see the whole picture."

"Wouldn't be the first time," I said with a snort. "Why don't you help me out then?"

Her fingers tightened around the cup. "Did she tell you why I…?"

"Almost, but she said it wasn't her place to tell me."

She nodded, pausing for a few seconds before letting out a breath. "You're not an idiot, Percy."

"Glad you noticed."

She glanced at me, unamused. "You know I already harbored feelings towards you. Before all this."

Sweat rolled down the back of my neck. "Yeah. But I was already with Annabeth."

"And Jason. You know I carried some romantic feelings for him as well."

"Dodged a bullet if you ask me."

"Well… yes, I suppose. Maybe it did work out better for us not to be together, but I digress." She took another mouthful of flavored ice. "But you know I resented both Piper and Annabeth for it; unfair as it may be."

"Yeah… You still did what you knew was right. You put aside any petty thoughts and helped us save the world."

She offered a halfhearted smile, but seconds later, it vanished. "I think it's time I come clean. Explain myself for being so… reclusive."

"You don't have to. I know, I screwed up. I should have paid more att—"

"That's not why I was upset." She ran her hand over her hair, smoothing her braid before taking another bite from her dessert. "I've never told you about my encounter with Venus."

I thought back, failing to recollect any memories of what she was talking about. "No, I don't think so."

She nodded. "This was years ago. While in Charleston, Venus and I had a...talk. During that time, she… she told me…" Her fists clenched as she blinked away a few tears. "She said 'You will not find love where you seek or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart.'"

My thoughts strayed to the estranged love goddess. Only a few hours prior, I watched her flip Thalia's switch with only a few words. Though I didn't want to admit it, I couldn't deny this kind of ploy fell in line with what Thalia warned me about several years ago, back when I first met Aphrodite.

"Well," I said, "it's safe to say you weren't expecting to find love in a harem. So that checks off the first half. And… while I may still be a demigod, maybe because of the whole 'eternal youth' gift, maybe we classify as something else. Like the Hunters of Artemis. While plenty of them are demigods… or… well… at least the ones she had before…"

"I know… I was there to witness the massacre…"

My shoulders slumped. You're doing great, Percy. Keep it up…

"Regardless, they didn't really count themselves among demigods. Maybe the immortality nullifies someone's status as a demigod. Just look at Heracles. He was a demigod, but he became a god after he died."

She raised an eyebrow. "Only after burning himself alive on a pyre to strip away his mortal form."

"I mean… I blew myself up in a volcano, bathed in the River Styx, and drank from the Phlegathon. Maybe I burnt mine away as well, just at a much slower rate."

She held my gaze for a few seconds. "Not only does that not make any sense, but you're trying too hard to get my hopes up."

My shoulders slumped. "Don't you get it. I'm trying to undo what she told you."

"And I appreciate that, Percy. I really do. But you're missing the point."

I straightened my neck. "Please explain."

"I'm trying to say I was never upset with you. I was upset with myself, upset with my curse, upset with the knowledge that no matter how hard you try, you could never truly love me."

I took her free hand in my own, clasping it with both. "I love all of my friends. If you let me, I promise I can love you as more." I held her gaze for a few more seconds. "You know, I still have a position open for a mistress. I'm not the most eloquent with words, but if you want, I would gladly give you that position."

Minutes of silence passed as she processed my words, all gears turning in her head. When her grip on my hand tightened and a tear dropped from her lashes, I knew what her answer was.

"No."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, I saw this coming a mile away. Still, the sting of knowing I could give her everything except for what she wanted pulsed throughout my entire body. However, my nightmare from a few days prior lost all rationale in that moment.

"Listen," she said, "you have no idea how tempting it is to jump at the opportunity. But you have friends who are far more deserving, people you have bonded with over the past several years. Give them the position. Give them your love."

Thoughts flew through my head at a zillion miles per hour, each one trying to piece her words into the puzzle of my dream. It didn't make sense. If she refused to be my mistress, then what conflict would break out between them? And how could someone who was once a praetor allow themselves to remain a concubine without putting up any resistance? With the maelstrom of incoherent thoughts whizzing by, I almost failed to note one small detail.

"You know… I had a dream a few nights ago."

Reyna looked to me with a mask of shock. "I haven't dreamt since we arrived."

"Not on Galínios, in New York. In it, I saw you and the other girls fighting. You, Annabeth, Piper, and Calypso; each one of you were trying to kill each other."

She frowned. "That doesn't make sense. If you're dreaming about this, then…" Her eyes bored into me. "What exactly did you see in that dream?"

I proceeded to tell her about my dream in the flowery meadow, and the battle between the flora and fauna. When my story came to a close, she pulled herself back with a look of shock.

"It doesn't make sense. I have no quarrel with them… I want no part in this conflict." She laughed, though it seemed pained. "Most of my time has been spent in either the cave or the gym, trying to collect myself for the time to come when I share a night with you; making sure you enjoy my body as much as I hope to enjoy yours."

My eyes shot open, as did hers. She clasped her hand over her mouth and turned away.

"Um, I mean… I hope it doesn't turn out terrible." Her face turned bright red.

"Reyna?" I placed a hand on her knee.

She shook her head, fighting back tears with her lips sealed tight.

I let out a sigh, tracing my finger around her kneecap. "You told me you weren't mad at me…"

She inched her head around, peering at me for a few seconds before nodding.

"Well," I took a shaky breath, "what do you feel for me?"

She remained quiet, drawing small breaths as she attempted to shrink away. For someone as proud and regal as Reyna, to see her shy away at the mere mention of her feelings put a knife in my gut.

"How honest do you want me to be?" she asked in a small voice.

I curled my fingers on her knee. "How honest are you willing to be?"

She turned away, hugging her knees to her chest. I watched on as she remained silent for a few more seconds.

"Desire… That's what I feel…" She turned to me with tears in her eyes. "An unbridled, unkempt desire for you to do whatever you want to me. That's why I've been pulling away. That's why I left the area at the mere mention of you being with someone else." She turned away. "Not because I was angry with you for being with them. Not because I was upset with them for taking you. But because I wanted… No… I hungered to be in their position."

I remained quiet, unable to process her words. Reyna Ramírez-Arellano was desperate for me to have sex with her?!

"If… if that was the case, why didn't you tell me?"

She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "The former praetor of Rome requesting sexual gratification from her new master? Can't you see where I would struggle with this?"

"I… I guess. But at the same time, you don't want the position of mistress. It doesn't make sense."

"Nothing does. Besides, there's a bit of a difference between relinquishing a title of power and asking for you to plow me."

I rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, I see your point."

She rested her chin on her knees. "Always the one at the forefront, but never doing what's expected of me." She turned to me. "Much like Annabeth, I'm always the one with a plan." Her head fell as she laughed pitifully to herself. "With all of my experience in politics, you'd think I would find myself prepared for this. And yet, here I am, upset at the world and myself for having not yet slept with you."

My gaze fell on the sunset. The last streaks of Apollo's chariot stretched across the sky, giving way to the arrival of his sister.

"None of us were ready for this. No amount of planning could have prepared us." I turned to her, taking her hand into my own. Her eyes widened in response as she drew a sharp breath. "But none of it matters anymore. All that matters is that we keep moving forward. I know I haven't been a very good leader, but from this point on, I'll strive to be the best I can. No more avoiding anyone. I'll do what I have to to make sure everyone stays at their best. No one gets left behind."

Reyna remained silent for a few moments, her eyes misting in the light of the sunset. She sniffled and wiped away a tear. "If only the others could see you now. That's what I couldn't help but fall for."

I tightened my grip on her hand. "My offer still stands."

She shook her head. "No. Save it for someone who's earned your love. Someone who can lead this harem in a better direction alongside you. I am not that person."

My shoulders fell. "It can't be said that I didn't try. Will you at least help me out if things get too hectic? No one here knows how to lead like you do."

She tilted her head with a smile. "Of course. But that must come another day. For now, I think we should head inside. Eurytion told me he wanted to have a movie night with everyone."

I laughed into the warm summer night air. "Sounds about right." I stood and pulled Reyna up with me. With a joking bow, I swiped the air before me, motioning for her to pass. "After you, my fierce general."