*Authors note: DESCLAIMER; mentions of abuse, trauma, homelessness, m*rd*r, and neglect.
Don't read if you are triggered by any of these
Goodbye, have fun reading ;)*
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*This is my AU where Hestia takes care of the demigods when they're young
I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS
enjoy :)*
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The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
Hylla sat on the floor beside the fireplace, her back against the wall, trying not to cry.
She was thirteen. She had learned that crying only made things worse.
But tonight, she couldn't stop the tears.
Reyna was curled against her side, trembling.
Her little face was streaked with tears, and one of her knees was scraped badly. There were bruises along her arms, and Hylla's own shoulder throbbed where she had been struck earlier.
Hylla looked down at her little sister.
"It's okay," she whispered.
The words sounded weak, even to her.
Reyna sniffled.
"Hylla..."
"I'm here."
"Does it hurt?"
Hylla swallowed.
"Not that much."
It was a lie.
But Hylla had become very good at lying about pain.
She carefully shifted Reyna into her arms and carried her closer to the fireplace. The warmth was comforting against the cold night.
"Just stay here," Hylla whispered. "You'll feel better."
Reyna nodded weakly.
Hylla laid her down beside the fire.
Then she heard something.
A soft crackle.
Not the fire.
Footsteps.
Hylla immediately tensed.
She looked toward the doorway.
A woman stood there.
She seemed to appear almost out of the darkness itself.
Her presence was warm, gentle, and strangely familiar.
Hylla knew who she was.
"Hestia," she whispered.
Hestia's expression immediately softened when she saw the girls.
"Oh, my children..."
She crossed the room and knelt beside them.
Reyna looked up at her through tear-filled eyes.
"Who...?"
Hestia smiled sadly.
"Someone who wants to help you."
Hylla's eyes filled with tears again.
"She's hurt."
