Hylla Orders Us a Candy Bar

"So let me get this straight. Both of you hate flying, especially in airplanes, so you thought that the best way to get over it was to fuck like rabbits and blast us out of the sky?"

In hindsight, it did seem a bit ridiculous, but hey, I never claimed to be the best at decision making.

"Yes, mom. Do I have to go to my room now?"

Rachel simply cackled. She along with several others were close enough to overhear us, and didn't think too much of it until we began our unplanned descent to the Earth. And while a few of them still think it was hilarious, others were less than pleased.

"Please keep in mind that this is a favor," Hylla groaned. "Let's be thankful we weren't transporting anything super delicate. But from this point on, if you're riding with me, we're taking a bus."

Rachel, along with Calypso and Katie, continued laughing at our predicament. At least they could, seeing we were all on the ground. Oh, sweet beautiful ground. Believe me when I say I was half tempted to kiss the tarmac.

"We'll keep that in mind. And… sorry. Please let the pilots know we really do apologize for that." I scratched the back of my head.

She sighed. "Yeah… Didn't realize I'd have to hand out hazard pay for this trip."

"At least all of our stuff is still intact," Drew said, clutching her newfound collection. "Though it certainly made a mess of them."

"Speaking of which, I can't let you leave with those quite yet." Hylla marched over towards what looked like a baggage cart with a large wagon behind it. After shuffling around it for a bit, she brought back a stack of post-it notes and a handful of pens. "Go ahead and label anything you picked out. Make sure your names are legible. Then put them in the cart. I need to run an inventory on all of these. Not to mention find a way to properly transport your large items."

Oh yeah, Annabeth went through with her idea about the stripper pole.

"Anyway," Hylla continued as the girls began marking their items down, "once you're all finished, you need to get to HQ."

"Don't you mean 'we?'"

Hylla gave her sister a flat smile. "While I wish I could join you, I still have some inventory to run. Especially after our little mishap." She shot an amused glare in my direction. "Hopefully, it won't take me too long."

Reyna crossed her arms. "Since when does the queen of the Amazons take on the duties of a loadmaster?"

"Call it therapeutic." Hylla shrugged. "I don't delegate everything. You know that by now."

"Yeah… I do."

"Now, your ride should be here any… Ah, there it is."

From the far end of the tarmac, a bright orange bus appeared. From a distance, we couldn't make out the details, but once it got closer, things changed.

"Just a little overboard, don't you think?"

Plastered all over the sides were the giant decals of a rather popular candy.

"Damn, I told them not to bring out the candy buses. Oh, well."

All heads turned on her. Evidently, nobody was eager to take a ride on the luxury Reese's express.

She held up her hands in surrender. "I have connections with the board of Mars Incorporated. It's the fastest I could order some higher end transportation. Other companies would have taken hours to work with me."

Who was I to complain?

"Alright. Let's get moving."

Some of them, namely Drew and Annabeth, looked at me like I was insane. Others, especially the nymphs, voiced some curious excitement about this strange machine. In the end, we all really had one choice.

One by one, the girls finished up with marking their items and marched on board. A kindly older gentleman sat at the driver's seat, patiently waiting for us all.

As I climbed on after everyone, I couldn't help but note the decal running along the length of the bus.

"'The perfect travel snack,'" Rachel translated, turning to me with a grin. "I think they might be talking about you."

"Keep talking. I'll have you turned into the snack."

Her eyes glimmered. "Don't threaten me with a good time."

I gave her just the slightest of smacks on the behind, which had her squeaking in the most adorable way. She simply stuck her tongue out at me and rushed onto the bus.

That left only Hylla out with me, staring at me like I was a particularly interesting piece of artwork. No doubt studying my interactions with everyone.

"So… what exactly is this favor you wanted?"

She shook her head. "We can go over the details back at HQ. I'd rather not have any prying ears." A smirk pulled at the corner of her lip. "I'd keep the spankings to a minimum though. Not for your sake, but your partners will get hounded to no end for letting you do that to them."

"I'll take it under advisement. Any other tips on surviving?"

"Yes, actually." She marched up to the bus and called into it. "Kinzie!"

Our resident Amazon rushed to the front, at which point Hylla pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to her.

"When you get there, let Kinzie act as your chaperone. She knows the place better than almost anyone. And no offense, but the others will be expecting a woman to be in charge of the group."

"You can count on me!" Kinzie gave a mocking salute to us both. "As my first order, I command you to strip me and give me a deep tissue back massage during the trip!"

I raised an eyebrow, then glanced at Hylla. Both of them burst out laughing.

"Okay. Jokes aside, I'll make sure no one messes with you." Kinzie gave me a thumbs up. "Though honestly, a back rub would be nice…"

"Have you talked to Rose? Or Thŷella? They're probably the best masseuses out of us all."

She gave me a coy smile. "Is the idea of touching me so repulsive? Ah, whatever. Thanks for the tip though."

She returned to the back of the bus, and began talking with who I think was Rose.

"Well, that should clear things up," Hylla said. "And… just keep your head down for a little bit after you get there. You're pretty famous among them, and infamous for other reasons. I have no doubt some of the other Amazons will try to make a claim on you if given the opportunity."

"One Amazon in the harem is plenty enough for me." I scratched the back of my head with a nervous chuckle.

"Right… Well, you'd best be off. The day isn't getting any younger."

She turned back to the plane before I could reply, and pulled out a clipboard from her jumpsuit.

That's one way to say goodbye…

Fortunately, the bus ride wasn't as eventful as the plane ride, aside from Mrs. O'Leary bounding after us. I could only imagine what the mortals saw. An unmarked black van? A runaway garbage truck? A tank?

Most of the nymphs were positioned in the middle, with Zoë, Phoebe, and Silena acting as our guards up front. The rest of us funneled into the back, where a certain dryad decided to push her luck.

"The vibrations feel really weird… but also really good."

Juniper had started behaving well enough, but a few speed bumps happened to show her that sitting with her heel under her lap wasn't the best choice. I'm pretty sure she'd disagree though.

"Since we have some time," she said, "maybe we could talk about me joining…" Her voice had a hopeful edge to it, and her face read of desperation, but I had enough on my mind without having to consider having her jump into bed with me.

Before I could voice such thoughts, she climbed out of her seat, crossed the median, and promptly straddled my lap.

"I won't be as… skilled as the others, but I can always learn."

"Oh, no you don't!"

Annabeth grabbed her by her shoulders and yanked her off of me. While I was thankful for the reprieve, I did find it a bit unnecessary for Annabeth to drag her all the way to the back seats and chastise her.

"No standing while the bus is moving, please!" the driver called from the front.

Several of the girls snickered among themselves. Thalia and Reyna weren't among them, both caught in a very serious conversation.

"You know she wants what's best for you, so there has to be more to it."

"Again, I know. I know she won't do anything to put me at unnecessary risk, but the line she draws for what is 'necessary' is what concerns me."

"She can't be that bad," I said, propping my head between their seats.

Both recoiled from me joining in, but Reyna gave me a flat look. "You don't know her like I do. Once upon a time, I wouldn't be worried. Now though…"

"You keep saying that," Thalia pressed. "What exactly happened between you two? Is it why you two split up all those years ago?"

Reyna didn't say anything at first, but deflated as Thalia continued pushing the matter. "Okay. Yes. It definitely played a big part in it. It's just…" She turned to me and moistened her lips. "It all started after you and Annabeth burnt down Circe's island."

"Hey, hold on. I didn't burn anything. That was all Blackbeard and his crew."

"Who were all freed by you and Annabeth."

"Circe turned me into a guinea pig!"

"I know, and I'm not defending what she did. Not anymore at least. But you both still had a hand in what happened to us all."

"What exactly happened?" Thalia asked, her voice gentle.

"A group of pirates were unleashed on an island of only women. Take a good guess as to what happened. We were all held captive on their ship for months. Hylla and I didn't know we were daughters of Bellona at the time, but we picked up on defending ourselves very quickly. Most of the others though…" She blinked back some tears.

"Okay, maybe we should skip that part." Thalia took her hand in her own.

"No. No, it's fine. Teach's crew learned quickly not to mess with us. I could hold my own, but Hylla was something else. She became feared. Everyone knew not to mess with her, and messing with me was virtually a death sentence. It was… honestly almost as inspiring as it was frightening. She couldn't be everywhere at once, so most of the others didn't have the kind of protection she offered me, and in time it obviously started to wear on her. She hated not being able to protect everyone. As time went on, she actually managed to start the beginnings of a mutiny, but Teach caught on to it before she could pull it off. We just woke up one morning on a little dinghy not too far from the shore."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Thalia said. "Well… it's awful, especially for the other women, but she was trying her best. Did you ever manage to rescue them?"

She shrugged helplessly. "We never found them again. Hylla might have at some point over the years, but we haven't been in contact very much."

"She sounds like a natural born leader," I said. "Just like you."

"It's more than that," she insisted. "Think about it. We were on Circe's island for only a couple years, and she made her way up to her right hand. She joins the Amazons, but only a couple years later, she's their queen. She's ruthless and calculating in ways you couldn't begin to comprehend. Not even I fully comprehend it! And I was there to watch some of it happen! She'd put me in a seemingly vulnerable position, then capitalize on it when someone took the bait. Granted, I was never in any danger, but she loved exploiting people's baser instincts, especially their instinct to protect."

"Wait, what?" Thalia reeled back. "What do you mean she'd put you in a vulnerable position?"

"If she knew one of the pirates had their eye on me, she'd deliberately make me isolate myself from the crew. Somewhere that we could have some privacy. They would always follow, try their hand at doing something with me, then she'd jump out, strip them of everything they had, then toss them overboard. Everyone knew not to mess with either of us after she went and… well… if you know what keelhauling is, you know what happened wasn't pretty."

"It sounds like they all deserved it though," Thalia insisted. "They were willing to… you know."

"Yeah… But what about the people who were innocent? What about all the people she's hurt or killed who never did anything to deserve it?"

Thalia and I shared a glance.

"You're going to have to elaborate."

Her shoulders sagged. "Not long after Teach dropped us off, we hunkered down behind a restaurant. Just sitting and waiting for them to bring out the trash so we could find something to eat.

"When the busboy came out and found us, he brought us some food and a wet washcloth to wipe ourselves down. He was nice enough, but in Hylla's eyes, he made the most fatal mistake possible. He tried flirting with me."

She drew a shaky breath.

"Hylla had been so wound up by that point, so used to flirting only being a predecessor to something worse, that she decided to end things before they could escalate. I had to watch as she dragged an innocent man to the shore and drowned him in the surf for the simple crime of being attracted to me."

We all went quiet. Even around us, the conversations became much more hushed.

"It didn't end there. She spent the next week using me like bait for those with soft spots. People who just wanted to help. Then she'd attack them, rob them, and say we were doing what we needed to survive."

She hugged her knees to her chest. "After a week, I couldn't take it anymore. I prayed for the first time I could remember, not caring if anyone was actually listening. That's when our mom finally showed herself. We both had dreams about her, guiding us on our path, giving us clues to find the Wolf House, all the while, she became more and more jaded and cold. We ended up encountering an Amazon patrol when we went far enough north. I tried convincing Hylla to listen to what our mom was trying to do, but she meshed with the Amazons much better than with me. They offered a camaraderie that I couldn't."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"I finished that journey alone. They gave me supplies and pointed me in the right direction, but Hylla left me behind so she could use her skills to eventually become a queen."

Her eyes turned hard, and focused on me. "That's why I'm telling you, she wants something. She's as ruthless as they come. Look at everything she was willing to do. Look at how quickly she became queen. I doubt she'll hurt us, but whatever it is that she wants from us, she has bigger goals than any of us can comprehend."

Thalia was the first to speak.

"For all of our sakes, I hope you're making this out to be bigger than it really is."

She hugged her knees tighter to herself. "So do I."

The remainder of the trip went by relatively uneventfully. Much of the teasing Thalia and I received for our mid-flight escapades were more out of desperation to change the subject. We were all relieved to finally get off the bus, and not just because of the conspicuous designs all over it.

As we marched into the reception area that Hazel and I were all too familiar with, Kinzie finally met her match.

Behind the welcome desk sat a woman who once could have been either a track star or a runway model, but her glory days would have been about five years prior. Still, that didn't set my nerves at ease as she greeted us.

"Do you have an appointment? I don't recall getting notifi…" She trailed off as her eyes glanced up from her computer and onto Kinzie.

"I thought you died."

Kinzie held a hand over her heart in mock grief. "Sadly, I did. But I got better!" She thrust her hand up in a grand gesture.

None of us really knew how to react.

The guard scanned over our group, her eyes hard. "And running with a new crowd I see. New recruits perhaps? Or have you come to try and take your old position back? Because I'm not giving it up that easily."

"Yes to the first, yes to the second, but I'm spoken for as far as the third is concerned." She cocked her head back in my direction. "At least as soon as someone stops breaking airplanes and starts breaking me instead."

The guard shook her head. "Then why are you here? Not to cause trouble I hope, because you might be able to get through, but guests and recruits have certain channels they need to go through."

"I'm aware, hence why your beloved queen gave me this."

She pulled out her envelope, fastened with an intricate stamp. The guard snatched it out of her hands, opened it, and read over the contents.

"I see." Her shoulders relaxed. "Though your new recruit still needs to go through orientation."

"Which I will happily lead her to. But first, the queen's honored guests need to be shown their rooms."

"Orientation?" Hazel asked.

"It's standard procedure stuff. Medical checkups, background check, bare bones IQ testing, that kind of stuff. Generally, that takes a few weeks, but because you're already pretty well known for… obvious reasons, we can get you expedited. Shouldn't take more than a day or two. Granted, it'll be a busy day or two."

"Right… Well, I guess I should have expected it."

"You'll be fine." Annabeth hugged her. "Most of your history involves you either being a hero or chilling out in the Underworld. We could always ask your dad to give you a reference."

"Please no." Hazel fanned her face. "It was awkward enough without him taking a more active role in my life."

"Anyway," the guard continued. "You're all cleared, but no straggling. You keep a close eye on them, okay Kinzie."

"I always do," she said with a grin. "Take care, Myrina."

With a wave of her hand, she motioned for us all to follow her, and we began our venture into the monstrosity that is the Amazon headquarters.

"Okay, you both really undersold how big this place is."

Hazel and I were at least somewhat familiar with the cavernous space within the warehouse. The same couldn't be said for the others. Most of them gawked at the endless rows of shelves and conveyor belts. Mountains of boxes and crates dotted the area, some of standard cardboard, some wooden, and others written over in languages I couldn't begin to comprehend.

"Watch it!"

I pulled back on Nimba, who almost walked blindly into the path of a speeding forklift. The driver had a dull look in his eyes, barely acknowledging us as he rushed by.

"Rude," Drew muttered.

Nimba suddenly found herself quite comfortable using me as a mount, crawling onto my back, ankles locked around my waist and her arms doing the same around my chest.

"Thank you, Master," she whispered into my ear.

"Yeah, word of warning," Kinzie said. "Stay on the inside of the black and yellow tape." She gestured to the floor, where a path was marked out, along with several other spots sectioned off along the warehouse floor. "It can be a bit hectic."

"You don't say."

We continued along, parading past a packing station. Some of the girls watched on in discomfort for a few seconds, but no one said anything. At least not before…

"Kinzie!"

What looked to be an overseer of sorts rushed from her post and tackled Kinzie in a bearhug. Meanwhile, our resident Amazon took it with much more grace than I would have. The two looked halfway between a hug and a wrestling match as a few more Amazons came along to welcome Kinzie back.

"Okay," Piper said. "Since no one is going to say, I'll just get it over with. What's up with the prisoner getups? Are these workers convicts or something?"

"No," Hazel said, her voice near mute compared to the hustle and bustle of the building. "These are just regular men, subjected to the whims of the women in charge."

"Uh huh…" Piper raised her eyebrow and glanced in my direction. "So… would it be safer for you if you stood in the middle of us all?"

"Don't worry," Kinzie called, nearly buried under the arm of what could have been a Mrs. Olympia champion. "They won't mess with you. You're under the queen's protection."

"Still though…" Piper gave a far away stare at the men in the packing station.

Some of their eyes were glazed over. Some wore haggard expressions. Others moved with a sense of purpose. And a select few even bobbed along while working, a single earbud offering them some reprieve from the monotony.

"This is sickening," Reyna muttered. "They're little more than drones."

"For the time being, they're our hosts," Annabeth said. "Let's avoid causing another war. Or even just getting chased away again."

Though their expressions said otherwise, the majority of the harem nodded their heads in agreement.

"Is this what they like to do, Master?" Nimba asked, her bright eyes locked on the orange jumpsuits.

"I don't know. And while I might have been able to topple the likes of Phorcys, the Amazons are a lot more powerful. I wouldn't be able to free them if I tried. Not now at least."

A number of the other handmaidens began drifting closer to me. All but Sierra, whom Calypso and Zoë had been speaking with almost since we arrived, huddled around me. Palírroia especially, despite her hand firmly clasped with Thŷella's, shied away from the sight of the iron collars. Ashe was the only one who actually looked angry as a pair of men carried a crate away.

"Alright, alright," Kinzie said, approaching us with a broad grin. "Let's get a move on."

"Damn! I should have guessed it would be too good to be true." Kinzie turned on the rest of us, her smile still there despite her revelation. "Guess this means I get to room with you all."

We'd taken a brief tour of some essential locations, like the cafeteria and the shower rooms, but Kinzie had made it quite clear that part of the fun was exploring and discovering new places. If you ask me, she just didn't want to play tour guide for the warehouse. As big as it was, I can't say I blamed her.

The trip came to a close with our final destination, the barracks. Three tiers of catwalks lined the walls of the rooms, each with two bunk beds, along with some spartan furnishings, and I'm not referring to the Greek Spartans. In all honesty, it didn't look too different than the cells I pulled the slaves from a few days prior. Or even the cells the Amazons held us in months before that.

"So this is where we'll be staying?" Hazel said, glancing down at the floor twenty feet below.

"Not you. You'll be bunking with the other new recruits. From what I've been told, they actually started a week ago, so you're going to have to join a little late. Don't worry though, I'll help you through the introductory paperwork and stuff as soon as the rest get settled in. Speaking of…" She turned to the rest of us. "Take your pick! We have six rooms divided among all of us, so we'll need to share a bit, but I promise, the beds are more comfortable than they look."

Calypso practically skipped over to me. "I'll take whatever room he's staying in." She hugged my arm to her chest and leaned her head against my shoulder.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother. Okay. Let's get this situated…"

Ten minutes later, everyone was happy with the sleeping arrangements. Kinzie was particularly thrilled about having Reyna as her roommate, along with Thalia and Phoebe, claiming she wanted to hear more about Reyna's solo journey halfway around the world.

That would have to come later though. True to her word, once all of us began settling in, Kinzie grabbed hold of Hazel and led her away, offering what was clearly a well practiced orientation speech about the benefits of being an Amazon. The last I heard from them, she was going over the different healthcare benefits.

Not long after she left, we were joined by another. Namely, our host.

"I take it you're all fairing well so far?" Hylla asked, respectfully staying out of our rooms.

Annabeth was the first to see her, and thus the first to reply. "It's all a bit much to be completely honest. The stories they told us about this place don't really do it justice."

Hylla cracked a grin. "It certainly has come a long way. That said, it can be easy to get lost. So if you'd all like a tour, I can spare an hour or so."

"No thanks," Piper said, feet propped up on the iron headboard of her bed, fingers laced behind her head, "Kinzie showed us the essentials already. She also said exploring was half the fun, so…"

She snorted. "That sounds like her. Either way, I suppose I can give you all a taste of what that exploring might offer. Obviously, you'd know about the mess hall, throne room, and stuff like that. But we also have a variety of other amenities. If the mess hall isn't to your liking, we have a fully staffed commissary, operating twenty four hours a day. If there's any skills you need to sharpen up on, our training center is easily one of the best in the world, and of course we have the archives. Any book that has been printed, you are guaranteed to find it."

"Actually, that might be useful," Annabeth said. "If worse comes to worse, I'd rather have an alternative plan in mind. Think I could use the archives to help do some research? I could get started on some blueprints for a new home if things don't work out here."

Hylla shrugged. "I won't fault you for being prepared. Consider it open to you. But be warned, the archivist can be a bit touchy at times. She means well, but she's definitely been cooped up there for a bit too long. And she loves her schedules.

"Oh, speaking of which, there is a schedule we have on hand for various events. Most of it won't matter to you, but I guess you'll want to know when all the meals are served. Along with when different classes are in session at the training center."

The next few minutes rattled by with my eyes completely glazed over. Annabeth had whipped out a notepad and was jotting down every detail that came out of Hylla's mouth. Piper, exhausted from the flight, passed out on her bunk. Calypso tried to pay attention, but she was clearly overwhelmed by all of the information coming at her all at once.

"And that should just about cover it," Hylla finally said, clearing her throat. "I'll need a drink after this. That said, feel free to enjoy yourselves for now." She turned to me, studied my face for a moment, then put on a slight smile. "I'll send for you later, and we can discuss the details of our arrangement. For now, I'll check in with the rest of your group."

Once more, she turned away without even waiting for us to offer any farewell. Annabeth was too busy mulling over her notes to say anything, though Calypso certainly looked a bit crestfallen.

"You okay?"

She took her eyes off of the doorway and focused on me. Her smile didn't travel much further than her lips.

"This is… a lot to take in. And…" Her smile strained on her face. "This… really doesn't make me want to call this place home. It's so closed in. So cramped. In New York, at least you still had that park. And New Rome was gorgeous. But here, everything is all rock. Nothing grows."

"Concrete," Annabeth corrected. "And yeah, I had a feeling people wouldn't be too thrilled about staying here. That's why I'm going to spend every moment I can afford in the archives."

She turned to me. "I still want to hold out the hope that Hestia will come through, but our track record with the gods isn't the greatest. But if it doesn't work out, then the sooner I get these plans made, the sooner I can get us a new home. Expect me to make some rounds for input."

"Sounds like a plan." I leaned in and kissed the side of her head. "Just don't work yourself too hard."

She snorted, and stole a kiss as well. "You know me too well."

With that, she left the room and headed down the catwalk, gently closing the door so as to not wake Piper.

"I guess now we just make ourselves at home for the time being."

"Well…" Calypso said, grinning as she slid her dress down her body and let it pool at her feet. "If you insist."

A/N/: While I'd love nothing more than to titillate everyone with a long anticipated return of Calypso to Percy's bedroom, not only do I have other plans that are a bit more... stimulating for her, but at the moment, I simply haven't managed the wherewithal to pull something like that off. As everyone has likely noticed, this chapter is out significantly later than what would normally be the case. This has nothing to do with anything within the story itself, but rather due to personal matters. A number of... significant events have occurred within my personal life, up to and including the murder of a family member I grew up alongside with. Such matters left focusing on writing rather difficult.

I'd rather not stand on ceremony here regarding the matter. Percy has finally begun his path into the realms of the Amazon. What manner of tomfoolery will befall him now that he's entered a world antithetical to his own? Stay tuned and find out! Be sure to leave your thoughts in the reviews or check in on the Discord. If you're feeling particularly generous, the P atreon is always an option as well. Regardless of your choice, I'm eager to see you all! This is Ronin signing off.