Sina Saves

26. Our New Jobs

I took my place next to Levi. "What were those things?"

"Not sure. I've read about them before; I just don't know where or what they are. I talked to Annabeth, and she didn't know. She knows almost every Greek monster. They're either rare or not Greek at all."

"So what does that mean?"

"They might be Norse. The Norse were a different people."

"Why did they act like that?"

"I'm not sure. They seem to be intelligent enough. I've met dumber people. They aren't smart enough to strategize though."

"Tsk. They targeted us specifically and not your friends."

"I don't know. Dad's blood is pretty potent, but with four children of the big three together should've attracted them more than one child and a grandchild with two war god children ahead. Especially considering the greatest of my generation was with the four. Maybe because demigods aren't supposed to have a chance at adulthood. Camp Half-Blood's average age used to be sixteen. The idea of Percy getting to sixteen when he was twelve was ridiculous. I don't know."

"Two questions: who is the big three and who is the greatest of your generation?"

"The big three means the three brothers - Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The greatest of my generation is Percy. He says it's Annabeth though. I think Nico is stronger than Percy anyways."

"Percy? Strongest?"

"He can be really scary if he wants. He fought the god of war alone at twelve, went to the Underworld three times, survived a swim in the Styx, turned down godhood, fought in two major wars, and a bunch of other crazy stuff."

"You're joking."

"Nope."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Make sure you focus on protecting us all. Don't let yourself get distracted."

I knew he was talking about Armin. Of course with the big brother thing. "I try." I breathed four, seven, eight, four, seven, eight... [478 is a breathing exercise to relax, reduce anxiety, and focus. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven, and our for eight. Try it.] I went to battle mode. I had to protect each of these people with everything I had. If I had to sacrifice my life, so be it. It wasn't idealistic to die, but if I went down protecting them, there would be no greater honor. The flare was fired and we were off.

I don't recall most of what happened. A few monsters attacked, but nothing that big. I stayed focused the entire time which was a bit difficult. I threw my daggers a few times and had to bend backward over Agro to pick them back up. I got a few looks from Eren at first, but I didn't have time to throw smart comments at him. We got back safely. No lives had been lost on the trip back.

Once we got back, we all went through the gate. We got several shocked looks. One guy in a priest's outfit started screaming at me. "Our great goddess Sina! You have returned! You have answered our prayers! We welcome you, our goddess!"

"You're halfway there, buddy! I'm only half of a goddess!"

"What? My goddess we welcome you! Please accept your true identity!"

"I already have. I am half of a goddess, a demigod. If you keep yelling I'm a full goddess, Zeus or one of the other gods will kill us both."

He looked confused. "Please leave my sister alone. She is no goddess. She is a demigod. If you wish to talk to a goddess, look on Mount Olympus." Nico had ridden up to me after pastor-dude started screaming. He moved in between the pastor dude and me.

"You heard my brother, Pastor Nick." He shuffled away. Nico looked over at Levi for a second. It would be a while before either of them were comfortable with the whole brother idea. "Brother... strange."

"We'll both get used to it soon enough." Levi nodded and looked at me. "And sister." I smiled at him.

"I got used to both brother and sister after thirteen years of neither. It might take a while longer than me, but it will happen."

I smiled at our family moment. We continued on. We stopped at the scout's old headquarters. It really was a stately piece of work. We stayed there for a while.

I was sitting with my back to the wall. I was drawing on my left arm. Armin walked over to me and sat down next to me. When I didn't look up immediately, he poked me in the side. I poked him back, and we engaged into a halfhearted poking fight.

He took my hand gently. "Sina... The military police may not like you guys a ton. They're going to be scared. Please, when they talk to you, choose your words wisely. After what they wanted to do with Eren..." I could see tears welling up in his eyes. They were close to brimming over and spilling.

"Hey, it'll be okay. I swear we'll do everything we can to be diplomatic. I'll save my attitude for afterwards." He didn't look very sure. I poked his arm. "You're going to have to deal with my sass later." I smiled at him. He smiled a little even though he still was close to tears. One single tear spilled. I reached up and wiped away with my finger.

"I'm sorry I just-"

"Don't apologize. Crying is a natural way to deal with pain or stress. To apologize for crying is like apologizing for feeling pain or being stressed." He looked at me with a mystified expression. "It's probably one of the better coping mechanisms, trust me. I'm experienced."

He didn't say anything. I looked into his eyes. I wondered if he was thinking about something he found important from the way his iris pattern seemed to shift. "Do you want me to hug you?" He still didn't answer verbally. He put his arms around me and his head on my shoulder.

"I l.." He seemed to change his mind. "I can't afford to lose you now. Mikasa cares about you and so do I."

"You won't. If I can win over Dionysus every once in awhile, the military police will be no problem. Dionysus doesn't care too much for demigods. The only ones he cares much about are his own."

"Why?"

"He's supposed to be head of the camp as a punishment for something or other. He always calls us by the wrong names. Annabeth is Annabelle, Percy is Peter Johnson, and I'm Sarah."

"Okay, Sarah."

"Do not."

He smiled at me. "Sarah. I'll stop now though, Sarah."

I laughed at his kid-like behavior. "You're silly."

"I'll continue so you laugh more. I think you're better off when you're happy."

"Is that our jobs? Make each other happy?"

"Yeah."

"That's amazing." He looked up at me from my shoulder.

"I wanna take a nap like this."

"But you're the pillow."

"Nah."

"Yeah."

"Nah."

I realized I was smiling at him again. I ran my fingers up his shoulder. He closed his eyes. He didn't fall asleep, but the silence between us was comfortable. I looked over and noticed Jason. He made a heart with his hands and put in front of his face so that he saw us through it. I wanted to demonstrate to him my appreciation by showing him my favorite finger, but that meant moving. I just gave him the stink eye and turned away. After a few minutes, it was time to leave again.