Petals on The Moon || Reyna Ramirez-Arellano x Fem!OC

XXXVII

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Dear Diary,

The legion was in rough shape. We'd put a dent in the monsters and wore them out. After they crossed the river, they paused when they saw our retreat and regrouped on the field. I could see Krios's shimmering body as he conferred with what I assume to be his council.

We were back in the hills, partially hidden beneath the trees. Healers ran around rapidly, piecing demigods back together. Soledad finally had to make the call when she realized Tavleen's body- a marker of sorts- was about to be trampled.

She was still down there. Still being trampled.

"Reyna!" Suki limped towards me, her face both worry and delighted. "Are... you hurt?"

She seemed like she was about to ask if I was okay, but it was obvious I was not. Nobody was. "I'm fine." I looked at my dagger, which was coated in red blood. I wasn't sure whose it was. "Juventas-?"

"Still steady," Suki murmured. She stopped looking at me. "We haven't heard from Sebastian."

I nodded. "Alright."

"What happened?" Jason demanded. "They said the-"

"Council!" Soledad had formed a de facto council meeting, which was just a bunch of our leaders deeper in the trees than the other demigods. "Jason, Reyna, Suki. Here. Now."

Her words were short and concise. We followed her and joined in the circle of centurions, our praetor Soledad, and, unfortunately, Octavian.

"What happened?" Suki questioned.

"We're not sure," Gwen admitted. "It was just... The nature spirits just couldn't hold it anymore." She shook her head. "We think they might have some kind of aquatic god on their side, or a demigod or something. It just- The river just completely switched for them."

Soledad looked at the sky. "It's nearly two in the morning... How are we supposed to defeat Krios?"

"It's less about defeating him," I said, "and more about driving him away." Octavian scowled at me, but that didn't deter him. "Think about it- The Titans didn't defeat us just now. They just made us back off for a minute. We're all regrouping. We need to do the same thing, just more powerful."

"We're not at a place where we can defeat the Titans for good just yet," Suki explained. "They were talking about... about other Titans. More plans. Domination in general." She shook her head. "They want Olympus. But they have to destroy us first. We are everything the gods stand for, everything divine in creation through humanity is represented by us. We are their warriors. Without everything they represent-"

"There are no gods," Soledad summed up. "We need to tighten ranks. Have the veterans-"

"They're here," Jason said. "All the ones that can serve, at least. The ones that can't are in the city, securing the endangered and dishing rations. They're cooking for us right now so we can energize ourselves."

"There's more," I said. "The Titans are relying on the fact that we're weak and disorganized. We're fighting within our ranks." I gave Octavian a pointed glare. "We need to redistribute if we're gonna win this."