Catching Lightning | Jason Grace

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The world seemed to be lost to darkness when Aurora opened her eyes. Even with her glow, there was nothing to be seen but pitch black.

A cry echoed through the void and sent a chill down Aurora's spine. It was Piper's voice. She cried out in pain and called for help. Leo and Jason's voices followed soon after. Aurora could only guess where they were coming from but still broke into a sprint. The voices never seemed to get closer despite the cries becoming louder and more desperate. They called out for her, begging for help.

Aurora covered her ears but she couldn't stop the sound. She couldn't find them. She couldn't help them. How they had gotten trapped, Aurora couldn't remember, but she knew it was her fault.

A light drew Aurora's attention to her arm, where the cut from Madea's sun dragon was beginning to scar. It burned like a fire had erupted under her skin and when Aurora moved her arm, her fingers crumbled into ash. She jumped in surprise and more of her arm followed suit. She tried to grab the hand before it floated away, but halfway through the movement she lost feeling in her hand. Instead of burning into nothing, gold crept up her arm.

A scream escaped her lips and Aurora stumbled back but was quickly frozen in place as the gold reached her leg. She felt the rest of her arm crumble away but the gold reached her chest before it could vanish. The metal was cold as ice as it spread up her neck and around her jawline. She managed to take one more panicked breath through her nose before she was cut off from the air.

Her friend's pained cries still echoed in her ears as gold crept into her vision and everything went dark.

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Aurora gasped for air as her vision returned. Her hand went to her chest and clutched her necklace as she steadied her breathing. The sun charm prodded into her skin and Aurora looked down, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw her arms had returned to normal. She slumped in her seat and felt smooth material beneath her hands.

She looked down at the familiar dark green laminate of a restaurant booth and her eyebrows knit together in confusion. As she looked around the room, Aurora realized it was the diner her mother used to work at. She sat in the booth she always did, right by the large windows where the sun was beginning to set outside. A relaxing melody filled the air as down the row of booths, a live band played smooth jazz.

Other than her, the band, and the sound of someone in the kitchen, the diner was empty. Even so, it smelled as if the cook was making enough food to feed all of Camp Half-blood.

Aurora was taken out of her thoughts when someone set a plate down in front of her and on the opposite side of the table. Aurora stared down at the plate in confusion. The person had given her a cinnamon roll, glazed with a thick layer of icing and seemingly fresh out of the oven.

Then Aurora looked up at the man who had gifted her the pastry and her jaw dropped. He looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties and had wavy blonde hair that looked like he had just been driving in a convertible with the top down. He wore loafers, jeans, and a white cotton shirt with a yellow blazer.

"Dad?"

"Hello Aurora," Apollo smiled at her. "It's good to see you. I believe this deserves a haiku."

He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Father arrives now
Daughter is amazed
He brings words of wisdom."

Aurora's brows furrowed and she counted the syllables on her fingers. She wondered how she was able to get stuck speaking in haikus while her father couldn't do one willingly.