Finding Purpose

Chapter II

-Ayme-

I was furious at Dad for not telling me. I had no doubt it was visible when I was fighting in one of our many battles again.
'It's your turn,' Dad said as he dodged my attack.
I didn't have to think long about that. 'How come you've never told me you had a sister?' I asked a bit harshly.
'Ayme, please,' Dad begged.
'No I want to know.'
Dad swallowed and lowered his sword. 'I didn't know I had a sister until I met Lina Dare.' 
'Lina Dare?' I asked surprised.
'I met her one day when I wanted to find my parents, your grandmother and grandfather. When I went into town, I couldn't find them and instead I found the Memorial stones at the place they.. died.'
My blood turned cold. Dad had never told me anything about his parents.
'Dad, I'm..'
My father shook his head. 'Don't be. It's not your fault.'
I could only wait to see if my father would open up to me for what would probably be the first time in my life.
'The day I had found out my mother and stepfather had died, I met Lina Dare. It was by accident, though, because we met at the Memorial statues. She told me she had known their daughter, in which I asked her if they had daughter, which she confirmed. Ann was born a year after the Giant War.'
I scrunched my nose a little bit. 'So that means Ann is still older than me?'
My father smiled a bit. 'What? Did you think you were older than her?'
I blushed. 'No..'
'I can see right through you, Ayme,' Dad laughed.
'What do you know about her?' I asked him.
My father’s smile disappeared. 'Not much yet, actually. All I know is the little bit Lina told me, and I could hardly write even half a page full.'
'But what do you know?'
'I know she left Manhattan one week after the funeral of my mother and stepfather. I know Lina and Ann were best friends. I know my mom tried to kill herself, and Ann was devastated by it.'
I swallowed and held up my sword.
'You know what.. only tell me the good stuff about her, because all of this news is really killing the mood,' I said.
My father chuckled and picked up his sword. I watched him raise it and couldn't let the thought of having it have cost him more energy than usual pass by. Dad stroke first.
'I can tell from the way Lina spoke of her that Ann is a strong girl who can take care of herself.'
I dodged his stroke and tried to attack him.
'I know,' my father continued, 'that she had been told stories about Greek mythology by my mother and her father.'
'Did she know about you?'
Dad lowered his sword and got a pained look in his eyes. He swallowed and looked at me. 'She did.'
'What did you do when you found out?' I asked him, already forgetting about the sword fight we were having.
My father sighed. 'I started looking for her.'
I felt my eyebrows furrow. 'Looking for her? But I have never heard you mentioning her once!'
Dad shook his head. 'What would be the point? I would make you all warm up to the fact that I had a sister and that you were going to have a new family member, when in fact I didn't even know if she was alive.'
I looked away. 'You could have told me. You never hold secrets from me.'
My father smiled sadly. 'No I don't.'
He seemed to consider something before he spoke again. 'How about this. We'll agree to have no more secrets around each other, okay?'
I let out a relieved breath. This is what I had wanted for a long time now. To have my father open up to me and I would be able to know about him and his past.
'Okay,' I answered.
Dad smiled at me, a real smile this time. I heard my mom once say it was his troublemaker-smile, something only he could pull off.
'I did try to find her, Ayme,' my father suddenly said.
'Wait, what?' I replied dumbly.
'Don't you remember all of those times when I left Camp for some quest I had to go on?'
I nodded. 'I remember. You'd always leave mom, Bennie and me at home, saying it was too dangerous for us to come along.'
'I wasn't wrong back then,' Dad said.
I shook my head. 'No, but you weren't right either. You knew I was able to defend myself in any kind of situation.'
'I know,' my father replied. 'But then I would always worry for your safety and I know that I can't live with myself if it has been my fault anything happens to one of you.'
I snorted. 'What could possibly happen Dad? I've had training for years.'
Dad looked up sharply. 'You could die, Ayme.' 
A cold shiver run down my spine. 
'And I would never be able to live with myself if I could have somehow prevented it.'
'I could say the same about you,' I said shortly. For only a moment something unknown appeared in his eyes, but it was gone too soon for me to figure out what it had been.
'So, back to the topic where we had officially started?' I said, trying to lighten up to mood.
'You're right. All of those times when I went away, I travelled all over the place to find new demigods who were in need of help. Every time I was on one of those quests, I would look around, trying to find some clues of the whereabouts of my sister. So it's not like I never looked for her. I just wasn't able to find her.'
'Until today,' I said.
My father nodded. 'Until today.'

We had forgotten about the battle we had been fighting and the sun was already starting to go down.
'How about we finish this game?' I asked Dad.
He grinned at me. 'That would be a good idea,' my father replied.
Dad attacked but I managed to disarm him in mere seconds, with his sword lying a few feet away. 
Winning for the first time surprised me to no limit. I had never won a battle from my father. He had always been able to beat me. Until today, I thought as a grin started to make its way on my face.
However it was soon gone when I saw the little beads of sweat on my father’s forehead, and the tired expression on his face.
'Dad, are you okay?' I asked him concerned.
My father looked at me as if I was out of my mind, but behind those walls he had so carefully built I saw something I had never seen before. Uncertainty.
'Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?' Dad asked me as it took him too much effort to lift his sword.
Fear was starting to take over. 'Dad, promise me, no more secrets,' I said.
'I'm okay, sweetheart. And I promise, no more secrets.'
I nodded, not entirely convinced, but I shrugged the feeling that was nagging me off as my father put his arm around my shoulder and we walked back together.
For now, I would just forget about everything that has happened today, and the worry about Dad.
For now, I would just enjoy being in his presence again, feeling safe.