FLOWER POWER ─ percy jackson

xvi. luke

They were the first demigods to return from a quest alive since Luke. As soon as they had told everything to Chiron, Aster rushed off to her cabin to see her siblings.

Before she'd even make it through the threshold, Aster was tackled in a large group hug, which brought a reluctant smile to her face. Billie and Poppy were crying, the younger girl squeezing Aster's leg like a python. Katie was trying her best not to look extremely relieved (but was failing), and Miranda had even baked a cake for her homecoming. After her siblings all had their fill of Aster, Steve gave her one final squeeze and made her promise to tell him all the details of the quest.

As camp tradition stated, Percy, Aster, Annabeth, and Grover all wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in their honor. They then led a procession down to the bonfire, where they got to burn the burial shrouds their cabins had made in their absence, just in case they came back in a box.

Aster's shroud was beautiful—sage green silk with a bundle of wheat with a sickle stitched onto it, her mother's symbols—Percy had joked that it was a shame not to bury her in it. Aster elbowed him in the gut, and they both laughed (though his was a lot more strained).

Annabeth's was just as eye-catching as Asyer's, made of gray silk with embroidered owls. Percy, being the son of Poseidon, didn't have any cabin-mates, so the Ares cabin had so graciously volunteered to make his shroud. Aster snorted when she saw it, but held back the rest of her laughter because of a harsh glare from Percy. They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle.

Percy looked like he had a lot of fun burning it.

While the Apollo cabin led the sing-along, passing out celebratory s'mores, Aster couldn't shake an ominous feeling. She heard incoherent whispers surrounding her, coming from the forest. She had excused herself from the fire to investigate them.

Aster made it to the tree line, and the whispers in her head only got louder, until she finally understood what they were saying.

It is only the beginning, daughter of Demeter. You have a long way to go.

Aster spun around, trying to pinpoint which tree it was coming from, but she couldn't with all of the trees whispering in her head.

Then, the whispering ceased. Aster felt a presence behind her and turned. Before her was a beautiful woman, a few inches taller than her. She had dark, coily hair and deeply tanned skin, and her eyes were a deep brown, not dissimilar to Aster's herself. In them she saw rich soil, fresh produce, and fields ready for harvest. The woman was dressed in olive green capris and a graphic t-shirt that read:

HAVE A GARDEN PARTY WITH ME

IT'S THYME TO TURNIP THE BEET.

"Hi mom," Aster said. She wasn't sure how else to address the goddess.

Demeter smiled warmly at Aster. "Hello, my daughter."

They stayed there for a moment, just staring at each other. Demeter seemed to be glowing, with all the success of the harvests thus far. The goddess spoke again, breaking the silence.

"I am very proud of you, Aster," Demeter said.

Aster felt tears lining her eyes, but she willed them not to fall. Those were the words she hadn't heard for a long time.

"Thanks mom," she murmured, but Demeter just waved her off.

"It is the truth," the goddess said. "But I am also here for a different reason. I have not had a daughter quite like you in centuries—not ever, I believe."