Reyna's POV

I walked in silence with the others. After the explosion Thalia tackled her friends in a hug. They were Hunters I didn't recognize. One had a thick Irish accent, bright red hair and a splash of freckles. She looked a lot like Rachel Elizabeth Dare but younger. She was feisty a fiesta girl, another child of Ares. Her name was Lydia. The second was tall and lithe, dark black hair and deep green eyes. In another life she and Thalia might have been related. She looked mean and had a resting bitch face much like mine. Her name was Emma a child of Hecate. The third was extremely small. She couldn't have been more than ten.

Thalia knelt down to her height. "You good Louise?"

"I'm alright," She said, a little western accent to her voice. "I've seen worse."

She was small and thin. To be honest she looked harmless but Thalia swore she was deadly. Her name was Louise her mother was Athena.

It was a small brief reunion and soon we were all walking quickly away from the burning shell of a warehouse. It was quiet and no one spoke as we crossed streets and made it back to camp. We picked everything up and walked even further our Pegasus friend trotting beside us.

"You haven't stopped shaking," Thalia said quietly. She slowed down her pace so the others were walking in front of us. "Are you okay?"

I wanted to say that I was fine and that things were great but I'd be lying and I'd learned a long time ago that it was best if we didn't lie to each other. We'd made a pact to tell each other the truth. "No I'm not. I just saw some god rip out your heart like fucking Indiana Jones, I spilled everything like an idiot because I thought I had the upper hand, and I burned down a building and nearly blew us up in it!"

"Okay well I'm not sure why to say to that," Thalia admitted, glancing at her shoes. "Other than thank you for keeping your head. I wasn't much help."

"It's fine. I didn't expect any of that to happen. It was a dumb plan and we'd lucky it sort of worked. At the very least you got your friends back," I sighed, smiling thinly.

"Yeah but the plan put you in a tough spot." Thalia argued.

"Doesn't matter. What I want to know is why they're all fascinated with you." I said with a frown. "It's like you're some sort of artifact for a museum. Everyone wants you on display or something."

"Yeah well..." Thalia sighed. "I'm used to it."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously stepping over a large rock.

"My whole life has involved people watching me like it's some sort of tv show," Thalia explained looking at the ground. "Being a tree for however many years and suddenly reappearing makes people stare at you. Not to mention going on quests while the Olympians watch and wait for you to mess up. What's one more person?"

"I hate to say I know the feeling," I sighed. "But he was fascinated with your...er heart. Fascinated with I don't know..."

"Our feelings?" She asked raising an eyebrow with a smug look on her face, "Well that's a love God for you."

"But Sila...he wasn't," Reyna argued.

"Because Sila hates it," Thalia responded. " He hates being the God of heartbreak. Doesn't like his job much."

"Understandable," I nodded. "But what I want to know is who they are exactly. How they got banished. What could they have done that was so bad to deserve it?"

"When we find a library I'll look it up," Thalia teased, nudging me with her elbow.

"Yeah something like that," I smiled, looking away. Ever since we had come face to face with Páthos something had felt different. It had caused my heart to speed up and my breath to become shallow.

Thalia had a light smile on her face as she watched a rabbit bound by through the brush. I hadn't noticed before but sometimes when she smiled little lines appeared by her eyes.

"Hey you two come on!" Hylla called snapping me back into the present. I looked away and swallowed hard picking up the pace. Thalia jogged in front of me catching up with the others. Her hair was longer now, nearly at chin length.

"Alright what's the plan?" Thalia asked as I finally caught up.

"We rest for tonight then we move on." Hylla said. "Till all the bases are ours."

"I like the sound of that," Emma smiled cooly.

"Operation rescue!" Louise said cracking her knuckles. Maya laughed and the others smiled.

"Alright but we're not gonna have enough room for everyone in the tent," Thalia warned.

"It's fine. I'll sleep outside," I offered.

"Same. It's cramped in there and I like the sky," Thalia decided.

"I'll sleep outside too," Maya offered, along with Emma.

"Alright it's settle then," Hylla said. "But I'm gonna need a task team to help me find the closest convenience store."

"Take me with you," Louise said. "I'm good at sniffin' out places."

"It's true, she is. It's like her secret power," Lydia agreed.

"Okay then you, you, you, Maya, and I will go." Hylla said. "The rest of you can hang out and explore."

"Sounds good," Thalia nodded and sat down on the ground. The only other people who were staying behind were Emma and Lee. Emma sighed, rolled her eyes, turned on her heel and walked off in a random direction.

"What's her problem?" I asked.

"Nothing, she just hates being left out of things." Thalia explained. "She's the youngest back home so she likes being included."

"Makes sense," I nodded, sitting down on a rock.

"You good?" Thalia asked looking at me . "You still seem off."

"I feel off," I admitted. "But it's nothing you can help me with."

"Try me," Thalia said tossing a pebble at me as Lee went to follow Emma.

"You'd laugh if I told you I was still weirded out by Pathos." I sighed glancing down. Thalia scoffed and feigned being hurt.

"Dude I am offended," She said, looking away dramatically.

"Shut up!" I laughed. She rolled her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Come here I want to try something."

"What?" Thalia asked walking over.

"Sit down," I said. She did as told facing away from me. I used the tip of my spear to cut off the hem of my shirt sleeve. "I'm trying something here and you have to promise to let me do it."

"Okay fine." She said looking at me from over he shoulder. "But whatever it is it better not make me look dumb."

"Fine," I laughed. She looked straight ahead and I used my fingers to run through the tangles in her hair. She winced every now and then but soon it was in much better condition than mine. I gathered it in my hands and carefully tied it up into a little pony tail. "Done."

"Thanks." She said touching it. "I've never had hair long enough to do that."

"Let me see how it looks," I said. Thalia stood up and turned to look at me. It was strange seeing her whole face without hair hanging in her eyes or brushed aside. A few pieces hung down framing her face neatly and their was the slightest smile on her lips. "It's great."

"Thanks." She said yet again and offered me her hand. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. I stumbled a bit but she caught my shoulders keeping me steady. "How many times am I gonna keep you from falling?"

"As soon as I figure out how to walk you won't have to," I joked. Thalia rolled he eyes and waved at Emma who was walking back in our direction with Lee. She looked to be in better spirits and I assumed she was glad to just be in the wilderness again.

"Nice hair loser," She joked smiling at Thalia. Thalia smacked her lightly on the arm the two of them laughing. It was good to see them all in better spirits including Thalia. The two of them walked off goofing around and play fighting. Standing I watched, it was a little odd to say the least, normally it was me shoving Thalia around and giving her a hard time.

I sat back down and waited for the others to return. After another hour or so they did and each of them carried a lot of provisions. In all it looked like they had carried the entire store with them. The items were gathered in a pile. There was a hiking bag for each of us to use and everything was divided evenly. There were sleeping bags, food, water, and survival materials.

"Why do I feel as though none of you paid for this?" I asked. Hylla shrugged with a smirk and opened a bag of chips. Everyone dug into the surplus amount of food happily taking what they wanted. It was quiet at first until I asked the question I had been dying to know. "If none of you mind my asking, what exactly happened while you were captive?"

"Hell," Emma said flatly and she shared a look with the others.

"Pathos isn't kind at all," Louise agreed. "He gave us small meals, little water, and made us do stupid stuff."

"Like what?" Thalia questioned gently.

"Lou got the least of it. We made sure they hardly touched her." Lydia said quietly. She went on to explain an experience similar to mine, except there were times when they were allowed out of their cells to train. They were told to fight like their lives depended on it. If they didn't they were paralyzed by electric shock.

"Pretty soon we didn't care anymore we just did what they asked." Emma said looking down. "We did some bad things."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Thalia reasoned but their expressions said otherwise.

"We sold out the others, said where the remaining hide outs were," Lydia said quietly. The others stopped talking and avoided eye contact. "We didn't have a lot of hope left, we just wanted to stay alive in the hopes you'd find us."

"It's fine. It's in the past and you're out now." Thalia said determinedly. "Were getting the others too. It'll be okay."

"Yeah but you guys hardly made it out today. Each base has a guardian. This was Pathos's the next is one of his siblings. They're cruel," Lydia said looking at each of us. "Pathos is a minor god but he's strong. You did nothing more than make him mad. He underestimated you. He won't do it again."

"You make it sound like he's my dad or something," Thalia laughed, but I knew what Lydia meant.

"She's right. He did underestimate us. It was a game and now it's war," I said. "He's powerful and I think I'm starting to understand. Each of them is a child of Aphrodite. They represent a portion of love. Sila is the heartbreak. Páthos is the passion."

"Makes sense," Hylla nodded in agreement.

"They're all powerful," I went on. "Love is extremely downplayed but it can be crippling when used negatively and exhilarating when used appropriately. Everything in love is based on passion."

"I can agree with the crippling part," Thalia joked though I could tell what I had said hit home a little. She earned a few sympathetic glances from her Hunters.

"Together they'd be almost unbeatable." I went on. "See when I was their with Páthos I could feel something different almost like desire. They radiate auras. If used to their full height they could cripple the human race. Gods included."

The others nodded their expressions shifting to one's of worry.

"What's worse is they have an army and if what you say is true they're using electro therapy on you to follow their orders. Reprogramming the mind to deny its natural instincts. He doesn't necessarily need you. You're like trophies. A tribute to Aphrodite to appease her for whatever they did," I continued.

"That all makes sense but what are they targeting with their army? It's not like Olympus is just free for the taking." Thalia frowned in thought.

"They aren't going for Olympus they wouldn't destroy what they want back unless it was a last ditch effort to get rid of the Gods," I explained.

"What then?" Hylla asked.

"They want followers,",Emma said quietly. "I remember him talking. He said no one knows who they are. That even Olympus has forgotten them."

"Okay where would they get follo-" Thalia paled and the others looked to her expectantly. "Camp.

"The gods depend on us for their existence." Hylla said. "They gain followers through fear or they destroy us and by consequence the Gods."

"It explains the army too. They can't just go marching into camp by themselves. They know under the right circumstances they can lose even with the control of our emotions," I agreed.

"But what about me?" Thalia asked. "I mean I know they want the others as trophies but they've kept me alive this entire time. Why?"

I sighed and looked down. "That I don't know."

"Great. That's just peachy." Thalia grumbled and stood up. "I'll be back. I have stuff to do."

She walked off and I could see the smallest amount of sparks rolling off her fingers.

Lydia sighed," She's brooding again."

"Yeah? Well I would be too after all of this," Emma said kicking a rock.

"I'll take care of it." Standing up I turned to leave.

"The only one she talks to is Artemis and she's not here!" Louise said.

"Believe me, she'll talk," I laughed, walking over in Thalia's direction. She had gone a great distance, had probably run, and now she was a black speck. With a roll of the eyes I started jogging after her. It took a while and by the time I got there the sun was setting.

"Hey," I breathed, stopping when I was next to her.

"Hey," She said, quietly watching the sky.

"Want to talk?" I asked. I realized she had taken her hair out of place. It hung loosely around her face tousled by the breeze. "You don't have to."

"Do you know how frustrating it is to feel like you don't know what you're here for?" Thalia asked. "Like your purpose in the universe isn't existent at all?"

"Sometimes yeah," I admitted. "But why are you asking."

"It's just I've been thinking about it and I've come to a conclusion," Thalia said looking at me. "Back during the Titan war the only reason I was brought back to life was to be a weapon."

"Thalia I don't think-" She held up a hand interrupting me.

"I blew it off after a while cause everyone was focused on Percy and Nico and how powerful they were. For once I wasn't the weapon the Gods needed," She said. "I think they want me Reyna. It's the only reason they haven't killed me yet. It makes sense. I've lead the Hunters for years now. If they get me too it'd be like we were a well oiled machine and I could lead them into and battle uncontested. And while you've helped me a lot with overcoming my emotions and past, I still have baggage. They can use it against me."

"You're getting ahead of yourself. You don't know that at all," I reasoned resting a hand on her arm. But I could see in her eyes she was convinced and I couldn't help but feel it was true. "Thalia come on..."

"What if it works this time? I was only able to resist Luke because Percy was there," She said. "This is different. It's not logical. Emotions aren't logical. Piper says so herself. Who do you think Annabeth learned from when it comes to not feeling? Me."

"It's fine. We'll get the others and go back to camp. We can warn them," I reasoned like it was that simple.

"Reyna, each base has one of them. I was lucky Sila was nice and I was lucky to have you with Páthos. " Thalia said anxiously. "What if next time I don't? Or something goes wrong? What if-"

"What?" I asked.

"What if I hurt you?" She said looking down.

"What makes you think you'd do that?" I frowned. "You haven't hurt anyone. Like I said to Páthos. You've saved my butt. We are in a never ending debt to one another. We have a blood pact, remember?"

She smiled thinly at that. "Maybe. But I can't help but worry. After everything I've been through when it comes to losing friends I can get a little tense."

"Understandable. Now let's go back. Maybe sleep will help," I suggested.

"Yeah." She nodded turning towards camp. "Hey when we get back to camp can you redo my hair? It got messed up so I took it out."

"Of course," I laughed. She sighed seeming a little more relieved.

"The others told you I was brooding didn't they?" She asked as we walked.

"Yeah." I laughed and she joined in. We made it back to camp and some of them were asleep. Others looked at us oddly and with quizzical expressions that only worsened when I did Thalia's hair. Once she approved of it we each got our bran new sleeping bags and curled up inside them.

Thalia stared at the stars for a while before rolling over and falling asleep. I did the same after a little more time.