Celestial Flames (Percy Jackson Universe)

The Mother

I peeled off the bandage and stared at it in the mirror. The wound was oozing yellow, the area around it was purple and green. I touched the skin around it. I hissed at the pain that shot through my body. I started unrolling the gauze and wrapped it around the shoulder.

I undid the bandage for my other shoulder, the one that had been stabbed by the dracaena. It was completely healed, just a small white scar that ran from my collarbone to my bicep. I threw the used bandages into the garbage. I put my shirt back on and straightened it.

I slung my bow over my back and looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't have any bags under my eyes, but I was tired of all the nightmares I had been getting. My body was used to it by now that it had become part of my daily routine. The gold knife was wedged between my jeans and my belt. I didn't have a sheath for it. No one said anything about it though. The silver dog tags hung from my neck, landing just above the pegasus on my Camp shirt.

I took a breath and walked out of the bathroom. It was early that the sun was finishing its rise over the hills by Thalia's tree. I made my way from the bathrooms to the Big House. Despite the hour, they were there, like they always had been.

"Chiron, Mr D," I greeted.

They both looked up from their card game. Chiron sent me a kindly smile while Mr D grunted and took another sip from his Diet Coke.

"May I speak with you two for a moment?" I asked.

"Of course, we were just about to start another game," Chiron told me. He was in his wheelchair, and although he didn't have the bandage around his head, there was a nasty bruise on his hairline.

Mr D snorted. "If you must, Elanor."

I sat down beside Chiron. "It's Elizabeth, sir."

"That's what I said, Evangeline."

"Excuse Mr D," Chiron said as he shuffled. "How can we help you dear?"

"I don't want to go home tomorrow with the other summer campers," I told them. "However, I would like permission to leave Camp for a short period of time."

Chiron stopped as he dealt out the cards. He examined me with his eyes that had lived a thousand years. "And where would you go, if granted this permission."

I noticed the exaggeration on the if. "Rome."

Mr D froze with the can half held to his mouth. "Rome?" He spoke the word like it was the name of a deadly poison.

"Rome, it's a city in upstate New York," I continued. "There's someone I need to see there."

Chiron finished dealing and I took my cards. "Why would you need to see this person?" the centaur asked.

"I won't get permission if I say personal reasons, will I?" I asked, organizing my cards.

Mr D snorted. "If I turn you into a rodent and say it was for a personal reason, would you still be offended?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well then you won't. Now are you going to bid or not?"

Bid? Apparently it was like Wizard. Erik taught me how to play when he found the game in his orphanage. I had no idea how to play pinochle, so I took a guess. Mr D scoffed, like I had just made an outlandish claim.

"So, why must you see this person?" Chiron repeated.

"Sir, you sent letters to the parents of demigods that died in the Titan War, correct?" I asked.

Chiron nodded, though his shoulders sagged. "We did, yes."

"I believe you may have missed one. I request permission to go and see this person. They deserve to know their child is dead," I finished.