Shattered

Piper

"And that should do it," the tiny black spider on Piper's leg announced proudly. "You'll have full mobility of your leg and this new spider-silk cast is as light as a feather." The spider rubbed it forelegs together and spun around to examine her work. "I will admit that I could have done better if I still had my spindle and loom, but I'm sure if you have your friends sign it, it will be beautiful to you."

"I think it's absolutely stunning as it is," Piper smiled down at the spider. She wanted to reach down and gently pet the ancient arachnid, but stopped short as she didn't want to accidentally squash the Hopi goddess. Yeah... The four of us are on thin ice as it is and I have a feeling 'it was an accident' ain't going to fly well around here.

"Thank you so much for your aid, Kokyangwuti," Bambi, the young matriarch of the deer woman said with a slight bow to the spider goddess.

"Yes, thank you cocky- cokyang- Spider Grandmother," Reyna finished with an exasperated sigh. "We, and New Rome, owe you a great deal."

The spider leapt from her leg and before their very eyes morphed into an elderly Native American woman. Her face was lined with age, but her eyes were full of life and just a glint of mischief. The goddess had long white hair that was held into a loose bun with a pair of knitting needles. Her body was thin, long, and slightly hunched over. And much to Piper's approval, she was wearing a sweet WWE T-shirt featured The Rock, a pair of loose fitting sweatpants, and some kickass Hello Kitty crocs. "I don't want anything you so-called New Rome has to offer," Kokyangwuti snapped at Reyna. "After what they did to our people... and with textiles no less!"

Piper had to bite on her fist to stop herself from laughing at Reyna's discomfort as Spider Grandmother once again went off on how the Romans had killed thousands of people with germ warfare. In the few days since their late-night arrival to the remote bed, breakfast, and art colony, the goddess had been so kind to her, Veronica, Bambi, and Awinita. But from the second Reyna introduced herself as Praetor of the legions of New Rome, Kokyangwuti had been hounding her in the way only a disapproving grandmother could. I bet after this Reyna is going to stop with the 'I'm praetor of New Rome' thing and just stick to 'hi I'm Reyna'.

"-and Custer was the biggest idiot I've ever seen!" Spider Grandmother cried, poking Reyna repeatedly in the chest, slowly backing her against the bedroom wall.

This place freaking rules!

---- 

"So, what's the game plan now?" Piper asked Reyna in between bites of meat free chili. "Do we bust out of here or wait?" It was just the four of them sitting on the queen-sized bed eating a late dinner, it was also the first time they had been left alone in the three days since they arrived.

It had been a cramped ride with the addition of Bambi and her grandmother in Betty White as they had sped away from Artemis and the mortals. Atlas and Veronica had been driving, but with Reyna unconscious the daughter of Aphrodite had elected to sit in the back with the others to keep close tabs on Reyna. Bambi had crawled over the backseat, into the mountain of supplies, and distributed what first aid equipment they had so that they could tend to their wounds. Veronica drive for hours, without any destination in mind, all that mattered was increasing their distance from the hellish inferno they had narrowly escaped from. When the sun had just begun to peak over the horizon Bambi hopped into the passenger's seat and hijacked Betty's GPS system, promising them a safe have. A few hours of automated directions from a British talk show host later, they found themselves at the gates of Skyweaver Ranch.

Reyna looked up from her bowl and sighed. "Our objective remains the same, but I feel like it is impossible for us to just drive across country at this point."