“Tonight?!” Camilo exclaimed. “How could they be invading tonight?”
Camilo was still shocked about this news. Everyone was, but he was the only one to keep bugging her about it.
“Yes, Camilo!” she cried, annoyed with him. “I don’t know how, but they’re attacking tonight,”
“What good will that do?”
“Dunno… ask Esmeray. She’s so insistent on gaining immortality that she seriously has no logic. Well, getting revenge too, I guess. She didn’t realize you have to earn immortality. By good deeds,” She added with a snort, “Not that Zeus would do that often,”
“Okay, but why? Why does this Esmeray person want to live forever and ever just to torture us?”
Sofía sighed, knowing Dolores would definitely hear her words. She considered keeping it to herself or lying, but that would only worsen the problem, fueling the flames of the already out-of-control fire. “Because she’s one of us,”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Camilo, Esmeray told me that your abuelo Pedro had another lover before your abuela. She said that her mother was his child and that he had killed her grandmother shortly after her mother’s birth.”
“There has to have been some sort of miscommunication because Abuelo would never kill someone! Especially the mother of his kid!”
Sofía nodded. “Exactly. There has to be a different reason behind this. She’s probably trying to get under our skin. Plus, your abuelo wouldn’t move on so quickly,”
The two of them left the nursery, not knowing what to tell the others. Camilo scratched the back of his neck, awkwardly looking around the crowd. Thankfully, Dolores was no where in sight, meaning she was in her room.
“Sofía, are you okay?” little Antonio asked, tugging on her hand.
Sofía smiled at the five-year-old. “I am, Toñito. Don’t worry about me,”
“Can… can you show me your fire powers?”
She was met with not only Antonio’s pleading eyes but also a ton of the kids from around town.
She sighed in defeat. “Alright,” She then grinned mischeviously and added in a playful tone, “But you have to promise me that you’ll tell no one. Or the monsters will come after you all!”
The little kids glanced at each other with a worried look before saying in unison, “We promise!”
“Okay, niños. Are you ready?”
The children eagerly nodded, waiting impatiently for the sparks to fly out of Sofía’s hands. Much to their joy, Sofía uncurled her fingers and allowed a flame to dance on her palm.
Then, a little kid held out a round, white, gooey substance. “Can you roast my marshmallow?”
Safe to say that the children would not be sleeping for days.
***
Sofía decided to try to sleep for two reasons; one: to get some rest, and two: to find out more information about Esmeray’s invasion plan for that night.
However, her attempt to interact with Esmeray was unsuccessful. Instead, she found herself at Camp Half-Blood. Unlike her dreams with the invader, she was simply a viewer and could not do anything to bring attention to herself. It was as if she were nonexistent.
She watched as a large metal dragon landed on the plains of Camp and started to cry when she saw who was on the dragon. And her tears were not of joy but of despair and anger. He was alive and he had betrayed her. He had left her.
As if she were watching a movie, her dream switched to a different scene, one with Leo and Chiron in the Big House.
“Where’s Sofía? Where’s my sister? I didn’t see her in the crowd when I arrived,”
“The gods have sent her on a quest shortly after your disappearance.”
“What?! How is that fair to here?! Where did they even send her?!”
“Colombia,”
“Colombia?! That’s a whole different continent!” he yelled.
“Leo, Sofía has been sent their to save a magical miracle that Hecate had given a family long ago. And I have been informed by the gods that a war is about to break loose,”
“A WAR?! WHY DID YOU SEND HER TO WAR?! ALONE?!”
“Leo,” Chiron spoke in a gentle voice. “We didn’t send her to war. We had no idea about this war. This is why I called you here. I’m sending you to Colombia. We can take care of Apollo from here,”
***
She woke up in a cold sweat. Leo was not only alive but he was coming to Colombia to fight with her in the on-coming war. She shakily made her way out into the courtyard, thinking a walk might help her clear her head. Sofía hadn’t made it far, however, before she heard an argument building up in the dining room.
“What’s going on?” Sofía mumbled as she entered the kitchen, her eyes meeting Camilo’s furious ones. Beside him stood a sheepish-looking Dolores.
“Dolores told me something that you clearly forgot to mention,” Camilo angrily hissed.
“What…? Are you okay, Camilo?”
“She told me that you called the invader ‘Emperatriz’! Your empress? Since when were you on their side?!”
“Camilo, this is all a misunderstanding—!” Sofía tried to say but he cut her off.
“No, I’ve heard enough!”
“Ugh!” she groaned. “Why won’t you just listen?! She had an aura around her!”
“I don’t want to hear about it!”
“She was going to hurt you all if I didn’t obey her! I was putting on an act!”
“I. DON’T. CARE.” Camilo hissed. “You betrayed us!”
“Maybe Esmeray was right. You Madrigals really are stuck up and self-centered. You don’t care about the people who actually are needy!”
“Sofía…” Dolores tried to say.
“¡Te Odio! All of you! But Camilo, especially you!” Sofía yelled, wiping the tears from her eyes. “¡Te odio tanto, Camilo!”
Before anyone could stop her, she ran as fast as she possibly could to get away from Casita. When she reached the edge of the Madrigal’s land and to the border of the woods, she turned to look at Casita one last time. And that’s when the fire exploded over the land below.
YOU ARE READING
Abre Los Ojos || Camilo Madrigal
RomanceSofía Valdez and her twin brother Leo have been through a lot. Their mother died in a fire when they were young and have been on the run since, traveling from orphanage to orphanage. But after returning from the war ending in Gaea's defeat, Sofía le...
