After the End of the World: A Reyna Story

Chapter 8: The Way Back Home is on a Horse

"Ugh." A groan from Phoebe made my whip around and run to her side.

"Hey, what do you need?" I said in my nursing voice as I knelt beside her.

"To kick Adonis's butt." Phoebe opened her eyes and rubbed her head. "That idiot dropped me when I'm in my most tender phase."

Her hazel eyes flashed with indignity.

"Well Adonis doesn't seem to be the most caring of the gods." Andy said.

"Yeah but he's obviously sweet on Reyna." Hazel piped up. I wish she had piped down. I could feel a blush climbing on my neck. There was no way that jerk liked me. And there was no way I liked him.

"Hazel, you kidder, you." I stood and lightly punched Hazel in the arm. She frowned at me.

"Yeah, well, if you're okay, Phoebe, I thinking we'd better get on our way." Hazel grabbed Andy's wrist and my hand after bowing to the goddess. Then, she promptly pulled us both away.

"We have to go tell Theo," she hissed in my ear.

My heart sank, but I knew she was right. I didn't want to get my crush (yes, I had a crush on him) killed. I wanted to protect Theo, not invite him on the quest to hunt down Discordia before she destroyed mankind.

We quickly made our way out of the labyrinth of shrubbery. When we were back at the party, none of the immortals acknowledged us, which was a bonus. I wondered if Adonis had done something to make them ignore us or forget we weren't ever here. After all, leucrocota hunting isn't the average demigod sport, and if word got out, Eris would know we were after her.

We rushed down the gently slope of the mountain and reached the road.

"Now what?" Andy said. I had to agree that he was right. It was dark outside as we would be walking along a stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. We were in a state park. At night. It was dangerous for anyone, but especially demigods.

"Hang on, I have an idea." Hazel's eyes brightened.

She whistled so loudly that it put my own subpar whistling skills to shame. It seemed to resonate across the trees and along the road.

"One more minute." she breathed.

It was less than a minute when a horse came blasting through the forest and stopped at Hazel's side.

"Hey Arion. Hey boy." she cooed, rubbing the horse's side. "Here's our ride, lady and gentleman."

"We-we're supposed to ride bareback?" Andy stuttered.

"It's not as bad on Arion." Hazel's face shone with excitement.

"Come on, archer, if you want to go on the quest, I hope you can ride a horse to prove yourself." I said as Hazel climbed on the tan steed.

I followed suit and flung my leg over one side. I'd never been the best with horses, but Arion was different. It was like he wanted to show us how a horse should truly be.

I held out my hand for Andy, and slowly but surely he took it. I could feel him shaking. He pulled himself up and as soon as he grabbed onto my waist, Arion took off.

Being a demigod, I'd been in some pretty high speed situations, but this was definitely up there. I could feel my hair coming undone even more and black stands whipped across my eyes, marring my vision sometimes. I could feel myself tearing up and the droplets shooting off my face. I hoped Andy liked saltwater.

I had to throw my arms around Hazel as soon as Arion took off, and now I was gripping her tightly that I was also hoping she wouldn't suffocate.

If Hazel was scared at all, she didn't show it. Her hair was twisting and turning in the air and I could hear her cheers. I could vividly picture her bubbly, smiling face full of elation and thrill from the ride.

Finally, we stopped. I realized Arion had taken us right into camp. I stared as I looked at all the cabins.

Andy nearly fell of the horse and went to relieve himself of some "stress" in one of the bushes. I gently slipped off the horse and patted his flank.

Hazel took her time. She caused a few chunks of gold to appear under her feet and let the horse munch on them. The daughter of Pluto murmured a goodbye to her friend and the horse sped off.

The camp was silent and still. It must be later than we thought. Time does move differently in godly places.

"Andy?" I called, and the boy appeared from behind some topiary.

"You go on ahead. I'll be there." He hunched over just in time to relieve more stress.

"The probatios will have a fun time cleaning that up tomorrow." Hazel muttered.

"We're going to Frank's." I yelled before briskly walking away and I hoped I wasn't waking the entire legion up.

We made it to Frank's bunk in no time. I knocked briefly before I opened it. I could see the lights on in his windows.

"What time is it?" I said before sitting down at Frank's desk.

Frank was laying on his bed, reading. When I spoke, he looked up and his face paled like he'd seen a ghost.

"It's two in the morning!" he gasped. Frank ran to Hazel and swept her up in a big bear hug, planting a kiss on her nose.

He hugged me too, though he thankfully omitted the kiss.

"Is it really that late?" Hazel asked. I could see the bags under her eyes.

I turned and gazed out the dark window to find my reflection looking like she'd been through the ringer.

"Yeah. But Reyna, you've gotten like twenty calls, all from the same number."

I quickly glanced down at my hand to find Theo's number smudged, but still there.

"Did whoever called leave a voicemail?" I asked. I practically sprinted to the phone. It was the old fashioned corded kind, and the entire camp was connected to the same number, but most cabins had their own phone.

At least now no one would be keeping the line busy. Well, hopefully we weren't having any more homesick campers hogging the phone at 2 AM.

"Yeah. He left a message after every call. He's practically filled the inbox."

"He?" I questioned greedily as I picked up the receiver.

"Yup. Some guy named Theo."

I pulled the phone to my ear and dialed the number in that little circular thingy where you spin the circle to the number you want. Now, I know what you're thinking. Those old-fashioned phones don't have voicemail. You're right. For mortal phones. Luckily, a couple of Vulcan kids wired up the phone for voicemail. Older models are less likely to attract monsters, so we were glad to have someone who made our phones both "safety first" and slightly more modern.

I waited for a few beats before hearing, "Reyna?"

"Theo," it might have been dumb of me to get so attached, but I almost cried with relief at his voice. It was nice to know there were some normal things in the world, like boys who waited by their phones to call you in the dead of night.

"Hey. I was calling because I was worried about you. There were reported of a toxic gas coming from Mount Tam. They had to evacuate the state park and everything. It's all over the news."

Theo's words filled me with dread and my tongue felt like led. I was about to fully introduce him to a world that he could never leave. Could I do that to a person? Could I condemn someone to such danger and madness? But I had to. It was the only way for Eris to be defeated. I knew that in the depths of my heart.

I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts before I spoke.

"Theo," I said, barely above a whisper. "I have to tell you something."