Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

XXV. Awakened To Their New Reality

Looking back on it from the future, I think it was safe to say that Typhon deciding to crown me Monster King jinxed me.

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When Chiron did the funeral service for the fallen on the second night, we were joined by an unexpected guest. My father as well as the father of my siblings Ares himself, who sat down with me and my siblings + Kayla as we watched in silence and mostly doom and gloom sadness.

Kayla had tears running down her cheeks, even as she clung to me in a hug, even as I hugged her back and kissed her forehead, a couple of tears in my eyes. The Apollo Cabin had been fortunate to escape with zero losses, thanks to me, but those that had died still left a mark on everyone else. Quintus aka Daedalus, Zac from the Hermes Cabin, Liam from the Demeter Cabin, Shelby also from the Demeter Cabin, Hector from my cabin - his death hurt sure, but not enough to reduce me to tears since I was tougher than that - they all left a mark on everyone. Beckendorf's cabin had lost 4 of their number in the fight, highest of them all, while the Aphrodite Cabin had lost 3.

We had lost about 15-20 fellow campers, siblings, friends, and loved ones in that fight, a painful price to pay for the ignorance and stupidity of the Gods. Luke aka Kronos was the face of what the consequences for that were now.

Annabeth took the loss of Luke to Kronos hardest of all. She had always been convinced that he could be turned back, but now, it seemed like that was no longer an option. Luke / Kronos would have to die in order for Olympus to be saved. Despite their arguments, Percy was the one who helped calmed her down from the nightmares, the pain, and the meltdowns that came from the loss of Luke to the Time Lord.

As for Kayla, she was coping. Despite everything, we stayed together. I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling like the King of Olympus every time we kissed, every time we slept with each other, every time we held hands. Just like last summer, I was the one who kept her stable and happy. The difference being that I was finally her boyfriend, and believe me, the thought was both terrifying and downright exciting.

Terrifying because you have to remember, she's the child of a celebrity, not to mention also the child of a god that might as well be celebrity-sexual a lot of the time. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Apollo had a kid with like.. Taylor Swift one day. As soon as we left for NYC at the end of the summer, cameras and paparazzi were probably going to be all over the two of us, wanting to know more about the guy that did what so many before had tried and failed to do up until I came along: winning the heart of hard-to-get Kayla Knowles.

I knew full well that as soon as I stepped into that world, I was going to have to defend my girlfriend's heart from guys who probably wished that I was out of the way so they could take her for themselves. I mean, she did that she did have a bodyguard who was a servant of her godly father, but honestly I was not going to take any chances. I had spent a goddamned year clawing my way into her heart through nothing but being there for her when she needed someone to save her, for crying out loud. I hadn't duked it out with a flock of Stymphalian Birds that one time to save her only to let some rich, entitled asshole rip the girl of my dreams away from me. Fuck no.

She was mine, all mine.

I will admit, the battle had turned me to be a good bit more possessive of her than before it. Not that it was a bad thing to be honest.

But I will admit, the thought of defying the odds one more time - the final part of my prophecy - for her, I had become all the more willing to do. If it meant saving her and the others, then god damn it to Hades on a stick, I'll do it.

Even if it meant that in the event of us winning this war against Luke / Kronos, we had to then fight another war against Gaea and the Giants, I didn't care. I was addicted to Kayla, with my heart beating and burning like a massive inferno for her, my girl. If anything, she would be the reason that I would kill all that stood between me, and both victory for the Gods and being with her if that's what I had to do to secure our future with each other.