After the End of the World: A Reyna Story

Chapter 5: We Party Like It's 1,000 B.C.

We only had to walk a little bit to reach the Garden of the Hesperides.

It had huge golden gates that were already opened. The gates were flanked by attendants in tuxedos and guards dressed in traditional Greek armor in an alternating pattern.

I gulped.

"Have you come up with what god you are? You know, in case anyone asks?" I said.

"No!" Hazel slapped her forehead. "I completely forgot. What is there not a goddess for?"

"I don't know!" I panicked. "There's a god for everything in mythology."

"Alright, how about gold?" Andy asked.

"Already a god for that." I said.

"What? No way!"

"Yeah, Chrysos." I whispered, trying not to get his attention if he was in there.

Hazel looked like she was about to cry.

"Uh- um, how about the goddess of electricity?" Andy said.

"Andy! The ancient Greeks didn't have electricity!" I shouted.

"Well, how about lightning itself?" Hazel was trying to keep us from ripping off each other's heads.

"Hmm... that could work." I thought.

"No!" Andy yelled. "I- I mean no. Astrape and Bronte were twin goddesses of thunder and lightning."

"Why did the Greeks just have to make a god out of everything?" I stamped my foot.

"Well, how about potatoes?" Andy suggested.

"Andy," I tried to breathe normally. "Potatoes were only in the Americas until the 1400s. When Columbus sailed along, then the rest of the world had them. Ancient Greeks did not have potatoes."

"Well how about good hair?" he countered, as if being the fake god of good hair was a good option.

"That could work," Hazel said slowly.

"Fine. But Hazel, what about you?"

"What about leaves?"

I wanted to cry. We would so obviously stand out. But it was our only chance.

"Sounds peachy." I started to walk toward the gates.

"What about you, Reyna?" Andy said as he fast-walked to catch up with me.

"Do you know what reina means in Spanish, mi amigo?" I whispered.

Andy shook his head.

"It means queen. I'm going to be the goddess of queens."

And I marched to the gates.

Where I was immediately stopped by a short little man in a suit with bright red cheeks.

"I'm the announcer." His voice was much deeper than it looked like it should be. "Name and what you're the goddess of."

Something reminded me of what Annabeth had told me a few weeks ago. She said the Egyptian myths were real, too. I vaguely remembered something about a god of dwarfs in Egyptian legends. But I brushed that thought aside. I had more pressing matters to think about.

"Reyna," I tried to speak with as much confidence as I could muster. I hoped no one was watching. "Goddess of queens."

He turned to the crowd of completely beautiful people and said: "Reyna, goddess of queens."

About half of the gods turned to look at me. The other half continued to do whatever they were doing.

As I walked in, I took time to enjoy the view. The garden was stunning. The sun was just setting, but it seemed to make every plant flourish even more. There were flowers of every shape, size, and color. Some were glowing as the light was fading. Every smell that wafted from each flower was gorgeous and made me feel dizzy. In the center of the garden was a huge tree bearing golden apples. Wrapped around the tree's trunk was a huge dragon that glittered menacingly. I tried not to picture what the creature would do if we got caught.