Till Death Do Us Part

Part 7: Reyna

Reyna had seen many things in her years of being a demigod and praetor of New Rome.
One thing she never thought would happen was an unconscious son of Pluto landing on her dining table.

The previous day Frank, Hazel, and she had gotten the prophecy from Ella. The red-feathered harpy had somehow gotten into her bedroom that night and woken her up at three am. After almost accidentally gutting Ella out of surprise, Reyna noticed her hopping from one bird leg to another and back. "Um, is something wrong, Ella?"

Ella's green eyes bored into Reyna's obsidian ones in a frightening way. Reyna had never seen her like this.

"Second part. Prophecy," she said.
"You mean there's a second part of the prophecy? The one you told us earlier?"
"Second. Earlier. Yep."
"Okay, I'll bite. What is it?"

"Not far west from the eastern side
Is where the mighty serpent now abides
To swallow the sun is his intent
And no one weapon will leave him rent
When all is said and all is done
It comes down to a choice for one
If the right one is reached, then all is won
But if not, then the end has begun"

Reyna scrambled for the notepad on her desk and hastily jotted down the words. Ella almost never repeated a prophecy twice.

"The old snake, from the first one? Is that what you're referring to?"
"Snakes," Ella shuddered, making her feathers rustle. "Ella doesn't like snakes."

"To swallow the sun is his intent. And no one weapon will leave him rent," Reyna repeated. "What does that mean?"
"Snake," Ella repeated, shuddering again. "Ella doesn't like snakes."
"Yeah, I don't either," Reyna said. "But can you answer my questions?"
"Snakes," Ella said, like that answered everything.

With that, the harpy had flown out of Reyna's window, leaving her to sit awake for the rest of the night, staring at the two prophecies.

The next day, Frank had asked if she was alright. Of course, she had said she was fine and brushed off any further concern, but she wasn't sure if he was convinced.

The Senate meeting had been long and tedious. Several times Reyna found herself on the brink of falling asleep. It took hours of debate to try and decipher the prophecy, and those hours yielded only more confusion. Her patience was wearing thin, and again she was reminded why she rarely called for Senate meetings.
Finally, a quest was called. A daughter of Mars, centurion of the Third Cohort and Hazel were chosen almost unanimously to go. They would leave after lunch.

Meeting was adjourned, and Reyna stood up and stretched. Sitting for the entire morning was bound to bite her back later. She grabbed her weapons and followed the senators to the Forum for lunch.
She sat down at the head table by herself, since Frank had gone to sit with Hazel. Reyna grabbed a red apple from a passing wind spirit server and set it aside. She wasn't really hungry at the time but people would probably notice if she was absent.

And then someone slammed into her table. She let out a rare but quiet scream of surprise and leaped up. Instantly her golden sword was drawn.
Then she got a closer look at the boy. He was dressed in an aviator jacket, jeans, leather belt, and a skull & crossbones t-shirt, all black. A black backpack was strapped on his back, and a black sheathed sword was on his belt. His shaggy black hair was a mess, and his olive skin was paler than Reyna's bedsheet toga. Or maybe that was an exaggeration.

"Nico?" She asked in disbelief. The boy didn't wake up. Every person in the Forum gathered around. The table looked undamaged, but Reyna was more worried about the unconscious boy laying on top of it.

Allen, a son of Apollo and one of the camp's best medics, turned Nico's head towards him. He grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse.
"He's alive," he said. "Don't see how that's possible if he just fell from the sky. I'll take him to the hospital."

Frank helped him carry Nico to the hospital. Hazel insisted on coming to look after her brother. The crowd parted to let them through.
"I'll inform you all on his condition at dinner time," Reyna said to the people one the four were out of sight. "Go back to your normal business."
With that, the crowd dispersed.

Reyna grabbed her uneaten apple and ran to the hospital.