Inheritance - a sequel to Shelter

A Moment of Calm - Reyna

"Sorry 'bout that. Uhh - are you doing alright? Anything I can help with?"

She gathers herself, there's no sense in appearing flustered in front of Frank. He's an excellent colleague, but also very sensitive to signs of weakness and Reyna does not want to come across as weak, especially not today.

"Thank you, I'm fine. Is Hazel ready?"

Frank gives her a quizzical look that she pointedly does not acknowledge. "She's talking to Nico. An Iris message. Turns out he's affected by the power thing too. He said it would be okay if you and I joined their conversation. Hazel just sent me to ask if you would."

A rush of affection runs through Reyna's nerves, calming them. It's been too long since she talked to Nico. He's come so far from the old days and she can't help but feel a sort of sisterly pride when thinking about him. She smiles. "Of course."

XxxX

In the Principia, Hazel sits at the foot of the long table, focusing a beam of sunlight from one of the narrow windows through a prism. Nico's face appears inside the rainbow image, distorting slightly as Hazel's hand trembles. He looks so much older than when he'd shadow-traveled the Athena Parthenos across the Atlantic. Reyna thinks that one benefit of Nico losing his Underworld powers would be that he'd have a harder time scaring her half to death by abusing shadow-travel and almost fading into nonexistence.

"Hey Reyna," he says when she approaches the table. He sounds happy to see her, upbeat almost. "You look good. Like a real grown up."

Reyna smirks at him and folds her arms over her waist. "You too. Is that stubble on your chin?" She clicks her tongue. "That wouldn't fly if you were one of my legionnaires."

He grins. "You heard about Hazel's problem?"

"Yeah. She told me this morning. You too, huh?"

Hazel clears her throat as if to get them through the niceties. "Nico, now that Reyna and Frank are here, are you gonna tell me what's got you all worked up?"

Nico scowls. "I'm not all worked up." Reyna hides her smile behind her hand as he huffs, then sighs, resigned. "Yeah. Alright." The mood in the room seems to shift along with his tone of voice. It feels serious, almost sinister. "Something bad is happening in the Underworld. I don't want to go into too much detail, but Hades and Hermes are fugitives from Olympus. If they leave the Underworld, they're to be sent to Tartarus. Asclepius has already been thrown into the pit ..." He recounts the dreamscape where Hecate, in Hades's stead, made him and Hazel choose everlasting sleep, the Lotus Hotel, or losing their Underworld powers. "But that's just the start. There's also Apollo. He's freaking out. I can't say more than that by Iris message, but keep your heads up. Watch for signs of unusual activity."

Reyna's heart races, a cold sweat trickling down the back of her neck. "I got a text from Piper. Only fifteen minutes ago. She and Rachel won't make the ceremony because Rachel had some sort of vision. Piper said Rachel repeated the prophecy from two years ago while in a trance, then passed out cold. I can't help thinking it's related.

Hazel's eyebrows rise up her forehead. "Oh, Reyna! Do you want to put off the ceremony for a couple of days? It's really alright with-"

"No," Reyna says immediately. "The Senate will convene in twenty minutes and I am ready to get things moving. When I no longer have praetor duties, I'll be free to spend all the time I need making sure Rachel is okay."

Hazel turns back to Nico after giving Reyna a small nod. "Where's Will? What does he have to say about it all?"

Nico flinches at the question and Reyna can feel her blood pressure going up. Is there no end to the bad news? This is not what she wanted from a catch up call. "Yeah, uh ... there's more. Will got called away about an hour ago. Lou Ellen - apparently she's in some kind of coma or trance. Cecil just stopped by to let me know Will wants me to rest and then bring coffee to the infirmary in the morning."

"Lou Ellen." Hazel sounds stunned. "Nico, what if Hecate is doing the same thing to her? Making her choose? What if Lou Ellen chose Everlasting sleep?"

Nico shifts, his face disappearing from the message momentarily as his skull T-shirt takes up the rainbow window. "I thought of that, but we won't know for a while. Will's still running tests." He takes a deep breath and exhales, then smiles. "Look, for now I want you to put all this weirdness in the back of your mind. Go and take your place as praetor and wear the mantle proudly. I told you a long time ago that Camp Jupiter was where you belonged."

Hazel's cheeks turn pink and Frank settles his hand on her back. "He's right, Hazel."

Reyna can't keep her own smile from growing. There is some good they can focus on and it seems they're all in agreement that that is what is needed now.

"Thanks," Hazel says. "Nico, I want you to update me when you hear more about Lou Ellen. Understand?"

"Sure thing, sis," Nico says. He waves his hand through the message and the rainbow dissipates.

Frank clasps Hazel's hand against her shoulder and Reyna can't help watching the look they exchange. Hazel taking comfort from him as her anxiety seems to calm. Hazel really is the best officer in the Legion to take Reyna's place, though there's still a twinge of melancholy as she pictures Frank and Hazel working as praetors together. It had once been her dream to share the office with a life partner, but she reminds herself that not all dreams come to pass and letting go of the ones that aren't realistic is better than suffering, longing for what will never come to pass.

"It's time," she says. She looks away and fastens her cape around her neck. It isn't the same one that Athena had blessed; she'll never part with that one, but the symbol of authority it stands for will work as a symbolic gesture of passing her title to Hazel.

Hazel nods as Reyna looks back up. A flicker of sympathy seems to shine in her eyes. Reyna doesn't want sympathy right now. "Let's go," she says and leads the way out of the principia.