Broken--A Reynico Fanfic

Chapter 5--Confession Confusion

Reyna's POV

The winding road taking me to the Underworld was long and steep.

I didn't remember taking this route. Anyway, the map had said it would lead me to the Underworld, so it must have been correct. That map can't be tinkered with. Maybe it's one of those secret passages to the Underworld, you know, those ones people haven't found yet. 

So, I was standing right in front of a pile of rubble, trying to work out which way I should go while Nico slipped even further from my grasp. This was so frustrating. A shadow passed right in front of me. I reached out, but there was nobody. 

Probably just my imagination playing tricks on my mind, I thought uneasily. An undercurrent of suspicion ran in my subconsciousness, but I allowed myself to step gingerly into the ruins.

A barely audible whisper of wind greeted me as I entered the ruins. It was an old and weathered chamber, with only the sunlight filtering in as light. 

On second thoughts, it looked kind of like a church. An old building, converted into a church, or more commonly known, a baptistery. Suddenly, a flash of recognition entered my mind. I strained to think of what would've triggered that. My eyes came to rest on an intricate tomb in the middle, and I instantly knew.

Diocletian's Palace.

The memories rushed in, and this time, I didn't try to resist.

Jason...Jason had promised me we would come here one day and take the sceptre of Diocletian. We had been so young, so foolish then. The pull of power had just been too hard to resist, and we, as Roman praetors, aspired to acquire power a lot. 

Jason had been here once, and now it was my turn. However, this time, I wanted to back out right now. The place was making me heady and confused. It also brought up unwanted memories, unwanted feelings. It was just too much for me.

How could I have been so dumb as not to recognise the palace? I glanced back down at the map, realising that it still read "Entrance to the Underworld". In that moment, I had a strange sense of foreboding.

There's something more. It wasn't just Jason who went here. Who else accompanied him? Nico...Nico came here too—a coincidence? Or more? Why do I seem to lose my memory all of a sudden? What happened here...they had encountered a—

No. Not him, how could I have overlooked him? The spawn of war. A trap. A daughter of Bellona, the goddess of war...the leader lost forevermore...Diocletian's guardian. The god of...

In that few moments I took to come to that conclusion, a golden feathery arrow was already aimed at my heart, the arrow-tip quivering ever just so slightly. A figure shimmered from thin air and materialised before me.

The god of love chuckled, his melodic laugh reverberating about the ruins. 

You don't think I'd have missed you, revered Praetor of Rome? Such heartbreak, such loss and yet you'll never find a true love, was it? Aphrodite told me that, little girl— he adjusted his arrow-tip slightly, so that it pointed higher, and tilted my face up with a long white finger—you're just like that son of Hades, what was his name? Ah...that reminds me, I have a mission to fulfil. Guess I'll have to obey his orders after all, he controls the Underworld...

Cupid's blood-red eyes stared fiercely into my brown ones. I could feel myself trembling under his grasp. 

Snap out of it, Reyna. I wrenched myself out of his hands and bolted for the door, only to have him blocking my way with a manic grin. A mighty gust of wind slammed into my body full force.