The Afterlife (HoO Fanfiction)

A Talk With A Goddess (UPDATED)

~Reyna~

It was early morning. The streets of New Rome were calm. I was walking alone, wrapped in my cape. I was thinking. I had woken up at two in the morning and I couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to finish the ton of work I had to do. The thing was that I had noticed a letter on my kitchen table. I had recognized Jason's handwriting. I had opened and read the letter, my hands shaking.

Dear Reyna,

I'm sorry to leave like that, but I need to accomplish a very important quest. I leave with Rachel. We hope we will be able to save the many demigods that were gone missing and take back the Oracle of Delphi. Please, do not send any help. It is something I need to do alone.

Yours truly,

Jason Grace

My hands were shaking. I wasn't thinking clearly, so I decided to go take a walk. The letter still in my hand, I paced in the streets. Where was I going? I didn't know. How was I feeling? Sad, angry, betrayed.

My feet took me to the beach. I sat on a rock, watching the sea and its crashing waves. Jason was certainly gone by now. Then, something caught my attention. It was a shiny gold thing, immersed in water. I walked closer to the sea to take a better look. I had both feet in the salted water. It was soaking my boots, but I didn't care. What I saw crushed my heart.

It was a submarine. Just by looking at it, I knew it was Leo's. Everything he built was gold, just like Festus, his mechanical dragon. The submarine was too deep in water for me to see anything through the windows. I had the feeling Jason was in there. I had a feeling he was not alone.

I fought back tears and I left the beach. I had to make sure I was indeed left alone. I ran to Percy's house. All the lights were out. I visited all my friends' houses, but they were all empty. At this point, I broke down. I went back to my house, drying the lone tear on my cheek. I couldn't cry much, for so many reasons. I needed to keep the mask of the serious girl, keeping hold of her emotions. I needed to if I wanted the citizens of New Rome to feel safe.

Then, if Jason didn't want me in, it was for a reason. Since he lost his memory and came back with Piper as a girlfriend, our relationship had never been the same. I had two theories. One, he wanted me to stay and take care of New Rome. Two, I was worthless.

Anyway, I felt alone, as I always do. I sat on my front porch and looked at the dark sky slowly colouring itself.

"Hello, Reyna," said a voice behind me, making me jump to my feet, my dagger drawn.

I was facing a young girl around sixteen years old, her short black hair held by a silver crown. She had a silver bow and quiver in her hand but didn't seem to want to use them. She was resting her back in the door.

"If I were you, I'd put that away," she said, glancing at my dagger. "Don't you recognize me?" Of course, I did.

"Thalia," I said, putting my blade away. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I wouldn't say the same about you, am I wrong?" Thalia asked, scanning my face.

"It's fine."

"Tell me."

"Your brother."

"Ah..."

I explained everything to her. The more I talked, the more she rolled her eyes.

"I think you should take this out of your mind and carry on," she said when my story was over. "You are a strong independent woman who needs no man!"

"You've been on the Internet lately?"

"Maybe," she trailed off. "Anyway, he's just dumb, I'll take care of him. Someone needs to stay here and make sure New Rome stays the way it is."

She was ready to leave, but she changed her mind.

"A new war is coming. The kind you've never experienced before."

"Hey, I lived through two ends of the world, I think I can go for a third one!"

Thalia chuckled. We shook hands and she walked away disappearing in the woods.

~Delilah~

Arrived, at last! After two hours of train, I was really happy to have arrived. I had decided to walk to the little house I was living in with my mother during the holidays. She liked to come here because it was surrounded by fields. I saw my mother very rarely. She told me I was one of the luckiest half-goddess because I saw her once in a while. She told me it was more than many of the other demigods.

The sun was heating my face and I was walking quickly when I saw the little house. I started to run to reach the home I liked so much.

I reached the house and opened the door.

"Mom?"

No answer. I decided to settle in. My mom was rarely on time. I took my bag in my room upstairs and took a book to read on the porch and enjoy the end of the day.

My mother was still missing. Generally, she warned me, but a goddess is so out of control. I went to bed, hoping she would arrive in the morning.

I woke up with a start. These days I always made the same dream. Well, I dreamed about the same person. It was a man, around twenty years old, although he looked younger. He had black hair and green eyes. Without knowing why I knew he was nice. In my dream, he looked worried. He was with many other people, but I couldn't remember their faces.

I decided to get up and went down the stairs. My mom was still not there. It was starting to worry me. I took my book and waited. At 10 o'clock, the front door slammed. My mother came in. She looked panicked, and believe me, a panicked goddess isn't a good omen.

"Hi, Mom..."

"Hello, darling. I'd really like to come with you, but-"

"Come with me where?"

"I don't have time to explain. They're coming, take your things. I have a horse for you."

"A horse?!"

"Hurry up!"

I stuffed my things in my bag and exited the house. A gorgeous horse was waiting for me.

"He'll take you to safety. His name is Arion. When he'll drop you off, he will probably never come back. Goodbye!"

And she disappeared into the night.

~Jason~

I had called all my friends for an urgent meeting. They all needed to be aware of what was going on. Almost all of the crew embarked on this journey without thinking about it and I needed to clear things up.

Piper was holding my hand. She had forgiven me, thank the gods. Everyone was seated on the living room's couches. I spread a map on the coffee table.

"We will soon arrive in Mexico."

"In two hours, exactly," Leo cut me off. "We will arrive at the port of Puerto Vallarta."

"Thank you," I continued. "We will then pass by Aguascalientes. There, Leo knows someone who can lend us a vehicle to cross the Atlantic."

"Not a boat, I hope," asked Hazel.

"Probably," said Leo.

We could see on Hazel's face she was already seasick. She was doing pretty good in the submarine, though.

"Anyway, then we'll go to San Luis Potosí, then Tampico. Any objections? Comments? Insults, perhaps?"

No one answered.

"Good! Let's head for Mexico, Captain Leo!"