Darkness and Duty

The Beginning of the End

[A/N: I own nothing! All these characters belong to the wonderful Rick Riordan. THIS IS A FANFIC, NOT AN ORIGINAL WORK. Also, yes, I do ship Solangelo. But I also ship Reynico, and since it isn't canon, I decided to make this little story. ]

"Reyna!"

She whirled around, ready as always for danger. The war with Gaea had been over for two years and she still jumped at shadows. She figured it would never be quite the same again.

"Frank," she sighed, palming the blade in her hand and then sheathing it again. "You startled me."

"Sorry," Frank said. He looked a little disheveled, and Reyna smiled inwardly as he continued with a fumbled: "Praetor Reyna, I mean. Or--co-praetor--"

Reyna wanted to laugh, but it would be mean. "It's okay, Frank. What's wrong?"

For the first time, Reyna noticed Frank looked happy. His big brown eyes, usually serious and calm (and that was why she had approved of him becoming praetor; she wanted to avoid another Octavian), were bouncing with an energy she missed from herself sometimes. "Wrong? There's nothing wrong! They're coming to visit!!"

Who--oh. Oh.

"Jason and Piper! Leo's coming too. He's really excited for you to meet Calypso, and--" As Frank bubbled on, Reyna felt that little hole in her chest, the one that had formed ever since Aphrodite's words, start to close a little. She felt happy, which she was, but more than that--she felt content, safe.

Suddenly a thought occured to her. "Wait. What about Nico?"

Frank blinked. A piece of his black hair stuck up, and Reyna had to squash the insane urge to pat it down. "Oh--oh, yeah, Nico's coming, too."

That hole got a little smaller.

[A/N: Sorry that was short, but I'm still getting the hang of this. Plus, this was more of an introductory chapter. I'll publish more ASAP!]