The first time that Reyna met Thalia Grace, she wasn’t sure what to think.
This girl had captured her, separated her from her friends, and derailed her plans for transporting the Athena Parthenos. This girl was the reason her hands were bound and could barely hold the knife Reyna had pressed to her throat.
But the girl beneath her laughed, a deep sound like distant thunder, and Reyna blinked.
”Jason said you were good,” the girl said below her, her voice a husky whisper. “But he didn’t say how good.”
And all at once it made sense. That jet-black hair had blonde roots, that jawline was strong in a way that Reyna recognized, and those striking blue eyes...
Reyna lifted the knife. “You’re Thalia?”
Thalia nodded, just barely. “And I’d be happy to explain, if you’d kindly not cut my throat.”
Reyna realized she was still straddling Thalia, who was rigidly still beneath her. She quickly slid off of her and dropped the knife.
Thalia sat up. She picked up the discarded knife and cut Reyna’s bindings in one swift move. Reyna rubbed the red skin on her wrists. “Thanks,” she muttered.
Thalia shrugged as if getting pinned to the ground by a tied up Roman was a normal activity for a Tuesday morning. She made a gesture to the girls at the door, and they lowered their weapons and left.
For a moment, Thalia and Reyna just stared at each other. She couldn’t help but remember the times she thought she could love Jason, and how much Thalia looked like him in those moments.
Thalia stood and held out a hand. After a moment of hesitation, Reyna took it and lifted herself from the floor.
”Well,” Thalia said, “Thanks for not slicing me open.”
Reyna flushed with embarrassment. In the low light of the room, she hoped Thalia wouldn’t see. “Don’t hold me hostage next time.”
Thalia laughed again, and that laugh was nothing like Jason’s, so cautious and rare. This was a laugh that hundreds had heard, a laugh made for the many. “Sorry, Praetor. We couldn’t risk you running off on us.”
”Why?” Reyna shot. She may have relaxed some around this girl some since learning she was Jason’s sister, but that didn’t mean she trusted her. “What do you need from me? Or better, what does my sister need from me?”
Thalia deflated a bit. “I’m not sure it’s entirely my place to explain. Someone’s been hunting your group. The Hunters and Amazons both think we know who it is, and we both want a piece.”
”And putting my friends in danger is the way to do that?”
Thalia rolled her eyes and took a piece of paper from her silver coat pocket. She handed it to Reyna, who read over the photocopied words.
”’IOU one Roman Praetor’. Smooth,” she said, giving the paper back to Thalia.
Thalia shrugged. “Trust me, they’re safe as long as they stay quiet.”
There it was again, that smile so much like Jason’s yet so different. More cocky, more bold, but with the same light shining through.
Reyna realized she was staring at Thalia’s lips. She tore her eyes away and straightened. “Well,” she said, “Let’s get this over with. Take me to Hylla.”
——
The streets of San Juan had exploded around her. Fallen Amazons and Hunters littered the ground. The battle still raged, silver arrows and gold knives flying through the air and into their targets, screams and grunts slicing the sky in two. But Reyna was frozen in place, staring at the ghosts on the balcony. These ghosts should have faded into oblivion long ago. Somewhere, Reyna knew that it was only her own fear that kept them there. She was at fault.
Nico was yelling at her to run, but she was frozen. She felt like the statues that dotted the city, rigid and unmoving and frozen in time.
Then slim fingers grabbed her arm. Reyna finally looked away from the ghosts and met fierce blue eyes, bloody but alert.
”Come on!” Thalia shouted. “We’re leaving, now!”
Reyna gulped and nodded. She could hardly walk, so she stumbled through the city clutching onto Thalia’s arm, not even sure where she was going. She just had to trust that this girl would lead her to safety.
Eventually, Thalia pulled her behind a stone half-wall that connected two buildings that were all but dust. They crouched down, only inches apart. Thalia’s hand was still clutching her wrist.
Thalia’s eyes met hers, strong and focused and startlingly intense. “Alright,” she said, her voice firm. “I need to get back to my Hunters. You should be safe here, but I can’t make any promises. Your companions should find you in a few minutes. Are you going to be okay?”
Reyna managed to wrench in a breath that smelled of limestone dust, and nodded. “Yes,” she forced out.
Thalia held her gaze for another moment, disturbingly silent. The clash of the battle was loud in the distance, but this corner was quiet.
Finally, Thalia said, “Okay.”
She stood and dusted off her coat. Her black hair was tousled and coated with dirt. She gripped her bow like a lifeline, and pulled out an arrow.
With one last look, she said, “I’ll see you again, Praetor Reyna. Good luck.”
Then, she ran off into the streets of San Juan.
——
The war was won.
Camp Half-Blood had been saved with few casualties. Gaea was asleep once more, and Orion was nothing but a memory of a whisper in the sea. Reyna wanted to feel happy, she wanted to be comfortable at this bonfire that the Greeks had set up in celebration, but she couldn’t. There were too many loose ends.
What was happening right now in New Rome? Were her friends safe, her fellow Romans? And what of the Amazons and Hunters? She knew they had survived, but in what state? And where were they?
Somebody dropped a s’more into her hands. She looked up and saw a blonde boy with pale blue eyes. She thought it might have been Will Solace, the Greek healer. He gave her a smile, then shifted his gaze to Nico, who sat next to her. Reyna was so exhausted, she didn’t even try to figure out what that meant.
Will left, and Nico went another direction, leaving Reyna alone. Again. She supposed a leader would always be at least a little isolated. It was the nature of the position: when everyone worked for you, it was hard to have any real friends.
As she lifted the s’more to her mouth, something silver whizzed by her ear and lodged in the tree behind her. She dropped her s’more into the dirt and walked over to the tree.
Upon closer inspection, it was an arrow, the signature silver of the Hunters of Artemis. Reyna’s heart picked up. She looked towards the woods where the arrow had come from and saw a silver circlet glinting in the moonlight.
Her lips quirked up as she jogged to the tree line. Only a few yards into the dark foliage, a hand grabbed her arm and whirled her around.
Thalia Grace stood there, her face bruised and battered but split in a grin. Her hair was freshly dyed, and some of the black had stained her fingertips. Her silver coat was ripped, but it shone like a miniature moon.
”Thought I’d find you here,” Thalia said.
Reyna smiled. “You’re okay,” she breathed.
”You bet. And hey, Hylla is, too. She’s pissed she didn’t get the kill, but she’ll live.”
Reyna laughed. “Naturally.”
Thalia let go of her arm. Reyna tried not to miss her cold fingers. “I just wanted to check up on you,” she said. “I think Artemis would really want you to join, but I’m not here to ask about that. Are you alright?”
Reyna couldn’t help but feel odd. Compassion seemed so out of place amongst the piercings and chain necklaces and patched jeans. And yet Thalia seemed genuine. She cared about Reyna’s well-being.
”All my friends are safe,” Reyna said. “I’m as good as I can be.”
”I didn’t ask about your friends. I asked about you.”
Reyna blinked. It had never occurred to her that she might have feelings separate from the masses she governed. Her friends were happy, so she should be happy. Her individual emotions had never been important, never been asked after.
She let out a breath. “I’m rattled, I guess. A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. But I think...I think I’m looking forwards to rebuilding. I think we can make this place better.”
Thalia nodded. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
"What about you?" Reyna asked. "The battle against Orion can't have been easy."
Thalia drooped a bit, barely noticeable. "We lost some of our oldest. It was a sad day for all of us." Thalia straightened and looked Reyna dead in the eyes. "But we're stronger, now. And we have one less enemy looming over us."
"You all deserve a little bit of peace."
Thalia smiled sadly, some kind of wistfulness in her eyes that Reyna didn't understand. "We sure do," she murmured.
She patted Reyna on the arm. “Listen, I really need to head back. My Hunters are gonna get antsy if I’m gone for too long, and I can’t risk losing the wolf we’re tracking. But you seem cool, Praetor Reyna. I’d really like to see you again.”
Thalia started off towards the dark trees, and Reyna called, “Wait!”
Thalia turned. “What about Jason?” Reyna asked.
Thalia shrugged. “Let’s just say I already sent him my best.” She gave Reyna a wink, and silently as a deer, disappeared into the woods.
Reyna watched the spot where she’d stood for a long time. This girl...
A shout from camp jerked her out of her stupor. “Damnit, Thalia!” Yelled Jason. “No more arrows in my toilet!”
Reyna heard a familiar bold laugh from deep in the woods. She smiled, and with one last look into the trees, started back towards camp.
——
Reyna was such a mess.
Jason was dead. Rome was again being threatened. Everyone was looking to her for guidance, and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep forever.
The battle was over, and Reyna had spent the entire time all but unconscious with her broken leg. She had finally convinced her healers to let her get up and walk around New Rome to survey the damage.
She blessed a few dead, approved some rebuilding plans, and consoled dozens of survivors. They looked at her with so much reliance, but it didn’t invigorate her like it used to. She was so tired, every hopeful look her way just felt like another boulder on her shoulders.
As she got closer to the Temple of Diana, she saw hundreds of arrows in piles of monster dust. Her heart picked up with an odd mix of anxiety and anticipation. She moved as fast as she could towards the Temple, and found her mark.
The Hunters of Diana (Artemis? She wasn’t sure) stood in a close group, talking in hushed tones. Just from their buzzing energy, Reyna knew Apollo’s summons had worked. Despite herself, she smiled.
But then her eyes landed on Thalia Grace, and her face fell. They’d written back and forth for months, letters of sorrow and joy, and each one felt like a real conversation between them, as if they were in the same room. Thalia was funny, and strong, and good at making fun of others. Reyna usually wouldn’t approve, but Thalia only made fun of people who honestly deserved it, and Reyna could practically see her sly smile through the pages.
That smile was not here today, though. Thalia stood in the center of her hunters. Her face was grim and low. Her eyes lacked their usual sharp intensity. She seemed dulled, empty, and so, so sad.
She looked up and met Reyna’s eyes. Her expression didn’t change. She quietly slipped out of the group of girls, walking alone in the dim twilight. Reyna thought Thalia might be coming to slap her, or worse, say goodbye. But Thalia did something even more unexpected: she enveloped her in a tight hug and buried her face in Reyna’s neck.
”I got your letter,” she whispered. Reyna’s heart sunk. She raised her arms to hug Thalia back, clutching her like a lifeline.
”I’m sorry,” Reyna said into Thalia’s black hair, which smelled like fire and rain and moonlight. “I’m sorry.”
They stayed that way for a long time. Thalia was the first to pull away, and Reyna felt sort of empty without her body pressed against hers, like she was unguarded and alone.
Thalia wiped her eyes and sniffed. “Sorry,” she said. “Don’t know where that came from.”
Reyna didn’t say anything. What could she say? Nothing seemed adequate enough to measure up to their sorrows.
Thalia didn’t seem disturbed by her silence. “Let’s take a walk, yeah?”
Reyna considered herself, her broken leg and tired bones. Then, she nodded.
Thalia told the Hunters to mingle as much as they liked, which was none at all, then started towards the gardens of New Rome. Reyna followed her.
They walked in silence. Reyna surveyed Thalia’s face. Her hair was rumpled and unbrushed. Her fingers clutched her bow so hard they turned white. Her eyes were puffy from crying, but they remained that same strong blue. Thalia Grace was a fighter, that was for sure. She was scrappier than Reyna in both combat and living, a trait that Reyna thought she would have hated. But something about it was admirable, even endearing.
Reyna didn’t realize that she had been staring at Thalia’s face until they stopped and Thalia looked at her. Reyna realized they were in her old thinking spot, hidden from the eyes of New Rome by rose bushes and vines of wisteria.
Thalia leaned against the railings of the garden path. For a long moment, she was silent, even as Reyna approached to join her. Her eyes surveyed the land below with a detached kind of calculation, as if she were looking for archery spots even in distraction. Reyna realized it was the same kind of look that Jason would take on in Roman senate meetings.
Thalia let out a loud breath. Her eyes still on the land, she asked, “Aren’t you tired, Reyna?”
Reyna blinked, taken aback. She expected Thalia to scream, cry, even blame Reyna for Jason’s breath. She hadn’t expected a question.
”I—I don’t know,” she replied.
Thalia met Reyna’s eyes. They were sad, but maybe a little hopeful, too.
”Aren’t you tired of watching people die? Your father, Jason, Dakota, at least a few dozen others. And aren’t you so tired of governing a bunch of shitty teenagers as if they were soldiers?”
“They’re not—“
”Not what? Teenagers? Well, they’re definitely not soldiers. They shouldn’t have to be, and you shouldn’t have to try and make them. I’m tired of watching people die, and I know you are too, just as much as you’re tired of being praetor and trying to make a bunch of children into legionnaires.”
“What are you asking?”
Thalia stepped towards her. “I’m asking you to join the Hunters. A formal invitation from the lieutenant herself.”
Reyna almost laughed, but Thalia’s eyes were dead serious. It looked odd on her usually humorous features.
”You—you can’t be serious,” Reyna replied. “I have duties here, I can’t just run away to the forest and shoot arrows into trees.”
“Why not? Percy dropped his praetorship without a second thought, and from what I heard, Jason did, too. If a dead man and a legendary hero can do it, so can you.”
Reyna stepped back at Jason’s name. “I...”
Thalia’s gaze softened at Reyna’s surprise. Her voice was gentle when she said, “Look, I get it. You feel responsible here. But you’re going to age out of the position soon, anyways. Why not take a shot at immortality while you’re at it?”
Reyna considered the idea. She had less than a year before she was going to be too old to be praetor. She had a few candidates lined up to replace her, but honestly, she already knew she wanted Hazel Levesque to take her place. That girl was responsible and kind. What was holding Reyna here?
But then Venus’s words came rushing back to her. Reyna looked down. “I...I can’t. At least, not now.”
”Why not?” Thalia asked. “What is still holding you here?”
Reyna cursed. “It’s not what’s holding me here. It’s what’s keeping me from being with all of you.”
At Thalia’s silence, Reyna explained, “I haven’t met very many gods, but Venus herself spoke to me a few years ago. She said...something about no demigod healing my heart. I need to figure out what that really means, I guess. And I can’t do that if I’m sworn to independence by Diana.”
Thalia studied her for a moment. Then, she burst out laughing.
Reyna recoiled. She knew that Venus wasn’t as serious a goddess as Bellona or Juno, but was Reyna’s curse really something to laugh at?
Still clutching her stomach, Thalia said, “You—you don’t actually think we’re all celibate, do you?”
Reyna blinked. “Y-yeah. I mean, isn’t that your whole thing?”
Thalia wiped a tear from her eye. “We swear off of men, Reyna, not everyone. I mean, yeah, some of the Hunters don’t care about romance, but do you honestly think a bunch of permanently teenage girls are going to abstain from everyone? We value adventure and friendship, but we can handle a little dating, too.”
“But...”
Thalia rolled her eyes. She put a slim hand on Reyna’s back and turned her outwards, towards the streets of New Rome. “Look,” she said, pointing at the tight pack of Hunters. At first, Reyna didn’t know what she was looking at. But then she saw two of the girls holding hands. A nymph’s fingers found the hips of a brand-new huntress. A dark-skinned girl stole the bow of the tallest one there, and refused to give it back. The tall girl could have easily snatched it back, but she didn’t. She kissed the girl quickly, hidden by her peers from the others, and took the bow from her slack hand.
Reyna turned back to Thalia. “You mean that you...all this time, you...”
Thalia’s face broke into a grin. “If you’re asking if I’ve dated any other Hunters, the answer is no. Artemis and the last lieutenant, Zöe, were all but soulmates, but I’m more like a sister to her. I’ve been waiting for the right huntress to come along for me.”
Thalia studied Reyna’s face. For a moment, she was puzzled, but then the pieces all clicked together. “Oh! So you...”
Thalia laughed and took a step towards Reyna, until they were only a few inches apart. “Yes, you stupid Roman,” she said. “I’m asking you to join me, as a hunter and as a partner.”
Reyna’s eyes flitted towards Thalia’s lips, just for a second. “But I barely know you.” But even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t true. She knew from her handwriting that Thalia was messy and fast, knew from her phrasing that she was to-the-point in business to make time for fun. She was strong without being rigid, relaxed without being lazy.
But there was so much more she could discover about Thalia Grace.
”I barely know you,” she repeated, more of a happy realization than a lamentation.
Thalia grinned. “Then why not give me all of eternity to show you who I am?”
It was Reyna who closed the distance between them. Thalia’s lips were chapped but sure as they moved against Reyna. Thalia wasted no time in wrapping her arms around Reyna’s waist, pulling her as close as possible and then closer still. Reyna responded by bringing one hand up to grasp Thalia’s hair. Thalia gasped against her lips, and Reyna felt sparks shoot up her spine. This was better than Elysium, she figured, better than eternity in the Isles of the Blessed.
Finally, Thalia pulled away. Reyna craned her neck forwards just a bit more to keep contact, but it was too late. Thalia’s hands were still on Reyna’s hips, her lips red and her hair sticking up in every direction. She was beautiful, and Reyna realized that she could be that beautiful, too.
”Okay,” she whispered. “You’ve convinced me, Thalia Grace.”
Thalia cracked a smile. “I’m glad, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano.”
Reyna’s full name was usually a ghost of her past, but on Thalia’s lips, it was more like a prayer for a better future.
Far below, one of the hunters called for Thalia. She offered Reyna her hand.
”Ready to go?”
And for once, Reyna didn’t hesitate.
——
Reyna stood before the people she had governed for years. She would be sad to go, but she hoped a new life laid before her. A new life with a goddess, a punk, and a few dozen immortal teenage girls. What could go wrong?
”Thalia?” She called.
Thalia ascended to the stage. She took Reyna’s hands in hers and looked straight into her eyes, confident and sure.
”Repeat after me: I pledge myself to the goddess Diana. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt.”
Thalia squeezed her hand, and it gave Reyna the strength she needed to repeat the words. There was no strong change, nothing extreme, but she felt as if she had just breathed in her first breath of cool air after being trapped in a desert for years. Her tense muscles relaxed, and the world came into sharper focus around her.
Thalia’s face broke into that grin, the one that held pride and a gleam of challenge, and made Reyna realize that life with her would never be boring.
The Hunters clapped, and after a moment, so did the Romans.
Thalia raised their joined hands.
“Welcome to the hunt!”
——
Reyna Avila Ramírez-Allerano had been many things. She had been a young girl in San Juan, an attendant on Circe’s island, a hostage on a pirate ship, a Roman praetor, and now, a Hunter of Diana. But she was more than that, more than all of that. She was simply herself.
She ran with the stars, swam in the moonlight. She let herself be free amongst these women, women who were, for once, expecting nothing from her but herself.
Thalia Grace squeezed her hand, her nails sharp and dark but her fingers gentle. Reyna finally understood what Venus had meant.
No other demigod could heal her heart. That was for Reyna to do all on her own. And heal she did, with silver light in her blood and friends by her side. This new life was all her own, for her to discover in her own time, with her own wits.
But Thalia being there certainly helped her in the matter.