Hey, gang! You just never see the last of me, do you? Heh heh heh. After Darkness Falls ended, I got a few people asking if I would consider writing a little more, such as events I didn't show throughout the series or things people wanted to see after the ending. So I decided, what they heck? Why not?

So, as the summary says, this is going to be a one-shot series that exists within the canon of my Darkness Falls duology, which includes Blood and Sand and The War of Shadows. That being said, you MUST have read BOTH of those books if any of this is to make sense. These one-shots will be disjointed, some short and some long, and really be more enjoyable to fans of the series.

Side-note, I didn't actually edit this at all. Whipped it up today because it's one of the things I've been most wanting to write.

Enjoy!

-Death Valley, 30 July 2011-
-Nyx's Midnight Palace-

"You okay?" Reyna asked reflexively as she divided her attention into two equal parts among the tribe of undead warriors throwing themselves at the Queen of Night across the hall and the person she was currently dragging to his feet.

"Yeah," Leo Valdez replied in a rough voice. "This is new, though." He poked at his shirt, which was peppered with burned holes, and winced noticeably.

Beside them, Nico di Angelo frowned in alarm. "I thought you were immune to fire."

Leo shrugged. "Apparently not all fire."

"Look, we can't waste time here," Reyna snapped. It wasn't as though she was unconcerned—on the contrary, to her slight annoyance she couldn't keep from remembering her earlier chat with Leo about his anxiety over Nyx's strange black fire, and the look on his face when she'd first summoned it moments ago had almost been enough to make Reyna change her mind about the mission. She knew well how difficult it was to be confronted with your worst fear—she'd been forced to face hers when New Rome had begun to sink into the sand six weeks ago on this very spot. And coming back brought it on again, like a cold dagger being thrust into a wound in her stomach that had barely started to heal. But she refused to dwell on it because, like Leo had said, feeling guilty and acting out of a desire for revenge would probably only lead to disaster. They all needed to stay focused, or they'd never accomplish what they'd come to do.

Not that thinking about that idiot at all did any favors for Reyna's 'focus', his advice notwithstanding. The slight tingle in her fingers from where she'd grabbed his arm seconds ago was evidence enough of that. Just another distraction she really didn't need at the moment.

Reyna shook her head. Back to the matter at hand. "We need to find Hypnos—"

"He's close," Nico told them. "Below us, I think. All we need is… There." His eyes darkened as he nodded to a single black door against the right wall of the hall, presumably leading down.

"Good," Reyna said with a curt inclination of her head. Time for action. "You guys go free Hypnos. I'll keep Nyx busy."

Predictably, both boys rounded on her at once. "You're kidding, right?" Leo said flatly. "There's no way we're leaving you alone to fight a goddess."

Reyna rolled her eyes, not in the mood for an argument. "Somebody has to."

Leo narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Is this about New Rome? Because I told you, you can't—"

"No, it's not about that," Reyna promised in a tone of mild exasperation. And she wasn't lying. She'd always had a knack for tactical strategy, no doubt thanks to her godly parentage, and she knew that such a course of action would buy them the maximum amount of time possible. "This is the only way, and you know it. I know you'd do the same thing."

Leo gave her an odd look and she knew that, like her, he was remembering their talk about sacrifice in Orion's lodge before the war began. She used to think it was pointless to place yourself in danger for someone else's sake.

Ironic, she thought with a mirthless inward smile.

"Well, whatever we decide," Nico broke in, "it's gotta be fast."

"Alright, fine," Leo conceded with a scowl, looking frustrated. "We'll find Hypnos and come back for you. Just be smart, okay?"

Smart? "Who do you think you're talking to?"

The tension in the air was almost starting to recede, until Nico said warningly, "We should go," and Leo's dark eyes seemed to flash anxiously as he met Reyna's gaze. Feeling a swooping sort of jolt in her chest, Reyna started reflexively to lift a hand to reach toward him reassuringly (though whether to reassure him or herself, she couldn't be sure), before she caught herself and quickly curled her fingers into a fist. The catch wasn't quite quick enough, though—a pained sort of understanding sparked across Leo's face. He knew exactly what she'd almost just done.

There was a split second during which Reyna tried to think of an apt explanation, but any possible words were ripped from her vocal cord when Leo suddenly pulled her into him with a surprising amount of force and caught her mouth with his own, effectively clearing almost every thought from her mind. She could have pulled away from him—probably should have, considering their urgent circumstances. But with all of that momentarily wiped from her consciousness, she realized she didn't want to. She liked the feeling that ballooned in her chest and stomach as the heat from his hands and lips warmed her body without burning it. It was completely mad, but she didn't want it to stop. She wanted it to go on forever.

But way too soon it ended as Leo pulled slowly away, leaving Reyna to stare in stunned silence at something even she couldn't really see. She was breathing much too fast—they both were—for only a few seconds of oxygen deficiency.

"Uh… guys?" Nico said awkwardly, breaking some of the electric tension in the air. "I wasn't kidding. We should, uh… really go."

Reyna's mind had begun racing so swiftly that she almost didn't hear when Leo said in a gravelly voice, "Don't die." She blinked and regained her focus, just now realizing that his arm was no longer around her waist.

"You either," she replied. It seemed a bit of stupid response, but at the moment it conveyed her thoughts almost perfectly. She watched in silence for a few heartbeats as Nico sighed impatiently and proceeded to drag Leo toward the far door, before taking a deep breath and forcibly averting her gaze from the two of them in an effort to regain her calm.

As she picked up her sword, Reyna thought vaguely of the night at the Cloud Nine Hotel, when she'd first kissed Leo in a rushed decision after giving into the strong and unexpected connection to him that their conversation had made her feel. She'd pushed it away after losing New Rome, afraid that her distraction had been partly to blame for the tragedy and not wanting to invite another like it. But as they'd traveled together on this quest, it had started to return—that nonsensical connection she felt between her and the goofball Greek fire-hazard who had accidentally destroyed half of her city the previous summer. And now, in the face of what could very well be her last battle in the world of the living, she was finally forced to recognize it for what it was—attraction. Not scientific or magnetic, but a deep, emotional pull she'd never felt toward another person before. As unlikely as it may once have been, Reyna had serious feelings for Leo. That in mind, the thought of this being the last time they spoke gave her a painful twinge of sadness akin to that which she felt when remembering New Rome.

I won't let that happen, she vowed to herself, a steely resolve dripping through her like molten gold as she turned to face the Queen of Night. I will make it out of this. This isn't the end for me. She wasn't foolhardy or boastful enough to promise herself that she would defeat Nyx, but at the very least she would make it out of this fight alive. She only needed to buy Leo and Nico enough time to find Hypnos and set him free. Then their quest would be complete.

But that would undoubtedly be easier said than done. Barely a second later Nyx had finished off the last of Nico's Native American zombies and turned her catlike white-gold eyes on the only other sentient being in the room—Reyna.

"Your friends have turned tail, have they?" the goddess taunted haughtily. She swung her narrow blade in a wide, lazy circle, stepping slowly forward as though providing evidence that Reyna didn't worry her in the slightest. "Or perhaps they've gone to search for my son? I suspect that's why you're here, correct? No matter. They will not find him—and even suppose they did, he cannot be freed without my help. I'll let them play their game while I dispose of you, and then I'll bury them beneath this sand just as I did your precious city."

A day ago, that remark would have driven Reyna into a frenzy. She would've given a battle cry a coliseum lion could be proud of and charged Nyx right then and there. And she probably would've gotten herself killed very unimpressively as a result. But now, things were different. Of course she still despised the Queen of Night for what she'd done on the night of the eclipse. But she had a new motivation that she forced herself to dwell on more than revenge—helping the people she had left. And in order to draw this fight out for as long as she could, she would wait for Nyx to strike first.

Which, of course, the goddess had no qualms about. With a cruel smile, Nyx waved an arm and sent a rolling wave of darkness at Reyna, who readied herself and dodged swiftly to the side just in time. She swung her sword in anticipation of an immediate follow-up attack and wasn't disappointed as Nyx met her blade, Imperial gold and Immortal obsidian colliding with a clang and a shower of cream-and-violet sparks. The goddess drove forward and Reyna leapt back, knowing she would be outmatched in a battle of strength, instead darting sideways and aiming a quick jab at Nyx's side. The goddess dodged with impressive reflexes and thrust forward with her own blade, imitating the move. The black blade slid across Reyna's side below her ribs and she gasped through her teeth as she jerked away, missing the body armor she'd worn on an almost-daily basis before the start of the war and subsequent equipment redistribution. The cut was shallow, but still it stung insistently.

Nyx followed immediately with a spinning attack, her long, midnight-blue hair cascading around her as she twirled weightlessly and aimed a heavy swing at Reyna's midsection. Reyna angled her sword to deflect the blow, which earned her another tiny cut on her left bicep that was unfortunate but favorable to being disemboweled. She sidestepped and attempted an undercut slice of her blade but again Nyx spun around and swept out an arm, this time hurling a tongue of black fire through the air. Reyna stumbled sideways but they were too close, and her vision swam black and blue as the right side of her face seemed to explode with heat.

A guttural scream escaped her throat as she staggered backward, eyes squeezed shut as she threw an arm across her face in some desperate and too-late effort to block the fire. She heard Nyx laugh, and when she forced her eyes open pained tears slid from her lashes. No part of her was on fire, but a ginger touch to her right cheekbone told her that the black flames had left their mark. Her neck just below was bleeding as well, whether from the fire or an unseen sword strike she had no idea.

Reyna growled in a combination of pain and frustration. The calm restraint she'd had minutes ago was already starting to ebb, which she knew was problematic. She couldn't afford to lose her head—figuratively or literally. But she needed a way to move onto the offensive. Dodging and blocking, apparently, couldn't last her forever.

Reyna swallowed hard, blinking the dampness from her eyes, and when the goddess struck again she was ready. Nyx swept her blade through the air and Reyna dropped to a crouch, somersaulting toward her and pointing her own sword in return. Nyx leapt sideways to avoid an attack on her legs, but Reyna was anticipating such a move and stood immediately, pivoting on one leg and landing a considerable cut along the goddess's side. Nyx's smile vanished as her ivory gown was colored with golden ichor.

She must have thought she could finish me off without getting so much as a scratch, Reyna thought with a small smirk. Too bad. I won't go down that easily.

Reyna's sword hand itched to attack again, but she held herself back and waited for the right moment. With a snarl, Nyx summoned another stream of black and blue fire and thrust it at Reyna, who danced rapidly sideways in evasion and again locked swords with the Queen of Night. This time she barreled forward before Nyx had the chance to overstep her again, and though she wasn't strong enough to overcome the goddess she was rewarded with a moment of delay in which Nyx spent concentration on retaining her ground. Reyna stomped hard on Nyx's foot (which may have been a low move, but when you're fighting a goddess you tend not to worry about what's fair or unfair) and drove her shoulder into the queen's chest, forcing her to stumble backward. Nyx waved her sword wildly and Reyna ducked the imprecise attack. She aimed a jab at Nyx's gut, but the goddess slipped sideways at the last second, receiving a cut to the solar plexus instead.

Now appearing quite furious, Nyx reached out and shoved a squat wall of shadow in Reyna's direction, knocking her sideways off her feet. She played her momentum into a roll and landed in a crouch facing the Queen of Night, who, all of a sudden, seemed to freeze mid-strike. Her white-gold eyes flitted upward to something over Reyna's head and her thin eyebrows drew together in apparent consternation.

"They couldn't have…" she muttered in a low, threatening voice. She lowered her sword and swept forward, seeming to forget that she'd been in the middle of a battle. Reyna was a little offended, truth be told, but she also had a growing feeling of dread that Leo and Nico had just done something to garner Nyx's full attention. Hopefully that 'something' was good—maybe they'd found Hypnos, maybe even been able to set him free. Either way, Reyna wasn't ready to let Nyx go after them just yet.

She stayed still as Nyx darted past her before leaping immediately to her feet. She thrust a stab at the goddess's back and would have impaled her had she not been discovered with almost no time to spare. Nyx's head turned and she threw an arm sideways, causing a rush of darkness to knock into Reyna's sword arm with so much force that not only was her blade thrown off course but she also felt a sharp, painful tug that suggested the dislocation of her right shoulder. She grunted through gritted teeth and stumbled, her eyes barely following the speed with which Nyx spun around and lashed out with her sword, driving the narrow blade cleanly into Reyna's non-dislocated shoulder.

This time the pain nearly blinded her. She might've screamed—she wasn't really focusing on her voice and more on the white-hot lava that seemed to be soaking through her skin, drawing the energy from her body. Eyes wide with anger, Nyx yanked her sword backward and again flung a hand outward, and this time Reyna had no mobility with which to dodge the wall of darkness that bowled into her, throwing her onto her back.

"You can wait here," Nyx growled, though Reyna could no longer see her around the sparks and shadows obstructing her vision. "Try not to die—I want you to watch as I drain your friends' blood from their veins."

No… Reyna thought weakly as silence suddenly fell cold and thick, the ivory glow from the goddess's gown vanishing in a flash. She wanted to get up and go after her, but her arms and legs felt as heavy as solid lead. Her skin tingled with growing numbness, though not enough to mask the wetness of the blood soaking uncomfortably quickly from the stab wound in her shoulder. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe evenly, praying to some god somewhere that this wasn't the end it felt so much like it should be. Leo and Nico would be fine. They would free Hypnos and escape. They would come back for her and they could all get somewhere safe. Nothing else was even possible.

After the longest few seconds Reyna had ever experienced, she heard the vague and distant sound of a door being opened, and a muffled sort of shout that sounded vaguely like her name. Hurried footsteps followed, nearing her with every smack against the marble floor.

"This isn't good," a voice muttered close by, and Reyna felt a brief wash of relief. It was Nico.

With a low grown, she forced her eyelids open and tried to focus her blurred vision in the darkness. The first thing she saw was a pair of dark eyes staring down at her, obvious worry and fear swirling in them like restless shadows. But hidden behind that was an angry, glowing fire—a warmth that helped push some of Reyna's pain from her consciousness. If she could smile, she would have. Even in times like this, Leo had that effect on her.

"Hypnos…" she inquired weakly.

"We found him," Leo said at once, some of the fear in his eyes seeming to wane at hearing her voice. "He's free—he's gone."

Reyna breathed out shortly, glad for some good news. She didn't know what she would have done had they not succeeded. "Nyx…?"

"—is coming!" Nico hissed. "We've got to do something. Should we fight or run?"

Run! Reyna wanted to say. We can't fight her. Let's get out while we can.

But she'd used up her available energy, so she was unfortunately silent as Leo answered, "If we run now, she'll go after Hypnos again. No, we've gotta beat her here and now. Otherwise all this will be for nothing."

"But…" Nico argued weakly. Reyna wished he'd come up with a better response than that. She appreciated Leo's bravado, but the best way to ensure that they all survived would be to leave immediately.

What was left of her blood seemed to run cold, though, when the next thing Leo said was, "Alright, you take Reyna. Get her somewhere safe and get help."

"What?" Nico demanded. "No, you're right. We have to stop Nyx now—"

"I know. I'll do it."

"If you think I'm leaving you here—"

"It Reyna stays much longer, she'll die. As you can probably imagine, I would really like to prevent that from happening."

It was a nice sentiment, really. And as grateful as Reyna was, she was also intensely irritated. She knew firsthand how difficult it was to fight Nyx—to gain any ground against her at all. Sure, Leo had a few more tricks at his disposal than an Imperial gold sword. But the fact of the matter was that dueling her alone would be just as dangerous for him as it was for her. And his getting himself killed was the last thing she wanted right after realizing what he meant to her.

"There's no arguing with this, is there?" Nico grumbled in defeat.

"Nope. The Supreme Commander has decided. So go on, Walking Dead. Get going!"

Reyna could tell by his voice and expression that Leo was trying desperately to lighten the otherwise extremely black mood—his signature, it seemed. And as much as she wanted to change his mind, she knew it was impossible, probably even if she did have complete command of her vocal cord.

"I'm coming back for you as soon as I can," Nico said, his voice a frustrated growl. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Somehow, Leo was able to grin in a way that looked so natural that it almost relieved Reyna's worry. Almost.

As a pair of hands which Reyna assumed must have belonged to Nico slid under her arms and lifted her aching shoulders from the floor, she locked eyes with Leo and tried some form of telepathic communication—to let him know that she cared too much to lose him now. When the message didn't seem to go through, she opened her mouth and forced out, "Don't… die."

Again, kind of a stupid thing to say. But somehow it served the purpose of conveying exactly what she wanted it to, because Leo smiled in an oddly vulnerable sort of way and responded quietly, "You either."

His eyes were the last thing Reyna saw before the darkness latched onto her like a lasso, and her consciousness slipped away into a weary, restless sleep.

Man, it's been too long since I've written a good swordfight, what with my focus on my Bloodlust saga. This was really fun :D Let's do it again sometime, haha.

So, I want this to be a combination of my own ideas plus any ideas from you guys. Please, please feel free to sumbit requests via review or PM. Maybe there's something you thought I didn't answer well enough, or a certain scene you wanted to see from someone else's point of view, or maybe something that could potentially happen after the end of the series. I think it'll be fun to involve everybody!

Thanks as always everybody! How 'bout a review? Later days!

-oMM