Celestial Flames (Percy Jackson Universe)

The Battle

WARNING WARNING! MAJOR TRIGGER WARNINGS IN THIS CHAPTER! Death, blood, injuries, and very gruesome descriptions. If you do not think you can handle these themes, SKIP THIS CHAPTER! Your mental health is more important than a story

The earliest memory I can easily recall is from when I was four years old. I had fallen asleep on the couch and Jordan was carrying me to our shared bedroom. He laid me down and tucked me in.

"Jordan," I whispered.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

"When's Daddy coming home?" I asked.

I remember him freezing. "What makes you say that?" he asked. His voice wobbled a little.

"Mommy's always so tired and sad," I explained. "Would it help if Daddy came home?"

He waited a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, it would."

"When's he coming home?" I repeated.

"Go to sleep, Lizard," he told me. "I'll tell you in the morning."

After a while, I did go to sleep. When I woke up, I heard crying coming from the other side of the room. I looked at Jordan's bed to see him shaking. I walked over and shook his shoulder. He turned over and wiped his eyes. I hugged his shoulders. He held me and I held him as well. I didn't know what he was crying about but I knew he was sad.

When he let me go, he told me to sit down on the bed. I did. And he told me how his dad was an army commander. How he had helped a lot of people. But he had also died while trying to help those people.

I noticed the way he was talking. "Do we not have the same daddy?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know where your daddy is, Lizard. I only met him once. He had grey eyes like yours. He had this aura of importance as well."

"We still have the same Mommy, though, right?" I had asked.

He chuckled. "Yeah, we do Lizard. Even if we didn't, I would still love you. We're connected. Always will be."

We're connected.

Those two simple words echoed in my mind as I ran my finger over the designs in my helmet. It was beautiful. And it was the symbol of my mother. Athena, goddess of wisdom. When Shane heard I had been claimed, he had hugged me, but I could see a hint of hurt in his eyes. I needed time to think, so I had hid away in a small bedroom.

The demigods had taken over the Plaza. There was a timber wolf drinking out of the toilet in the bathroom. Cabin Four had set up a buffet in the lobby. Eventually, I wanted to go down and get something. For now, I just wanted to think.

Athena. The woman with the spear in front of the temple. The goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She created monsters like Medusa and Aracne. She had favoured Odyseus and Bellephron.

She was my mother. I knew it was true, even if I wanted to deny it. I didn't try to deny it.

Along with a helmet, my armour now fit right and the greaves didn't even feel weird. She had also redesigned the quiver on my back. It had a picture of an owl flying and on an olive branch was a lizard. She had also apparently decided that my clothes were battle worthy because my jeans had been changed for tight cargo pants that tuck to my legs. My Camp shirt was clean of rips, tears or dirt.

I ran my thumb over a feather.

We're connected.

Not anymore.