CHAPTER ONE
( MUNDANE ROUTINE DISRUPTED BY
A FALSELY KIND OLD WOMAN )
KALI BEAUMONT HATED HOW crowded New York City was. Her second year living there, and she still wasn't used to the city's eccentricity or the abundance people. One time she rode the subway with her adoptive siblings, Naia and Makoa, and their babysitter, Ruby, for an impromptu trip to Central Park one weekend. The man who sat across from them had held a rat the entire ride. Ruby acted as if it were normal, while Kali had shared looks with Naia and Makoa, each silently wondering why the hell they had to move here of all places.
(Makoa later asked for a pet rat. Kali shut that thought down before he got a chance to ask Ralph.)
They were, once again, on a subway. It was much more crowded than that one time with Ruby, and there wasn't a man with a pet rat, but there was a college kid dressed as a hotdog at one end of the subway car while a woman in a dyed pink wedding dress sat on the other end. Naia sat in her lap, with Makoa to the left of them. On Kali's and Naia's right side sat a teenager dressed in a similar way of that one singer Ruby liked a lot – Avril Lavigne, or something. On Makoa's right there was an old lady with a sudoku book. Business men and women were all around them; some sitting, some standing, all of them looking frustrated and annoyed, a few eating their lunch as they rode the subway. There were a few other old people, too. Not a lot, but enough for Kali to notice.
Makoa kicked his feet back and forth from boredom, and messed with a hole at the knee of his school uniform pants. Naia talked about how they just did crafts through the entirety of the half day with Makoa pitching in once in a while, and Kali held on to her thankfully empty backpack. She fidgeted with the zippers, and she tried to pay full attention to Naia, but there was so much going on on the subway that it was hard to.
An empty soda can rolled through the feet of the many people who stood. It softly hit some random business man's shoe; he kicked it away. Someone nearby listened to music on their iPod so loudly that she could faintly hear it coming from their earphones. One of the women standing read a book, miraculously not falling down, and mumbled to herself every so often as she read.
Kali shifted in her seat. She was getting antsy. She wanted to kick her legs like Makoa but Naia was in her lap, and she kind of wanted to stand but it was way too crowded and some of the men nearby gave her the creeps, so she stayed sitting beside the goth/punk/whatever teenager beside them.
At most right now, she was just thankful that school was over for the summer. There was no homework to worry about, and no waking up at ungodly hours, and no worry about being late for anything, and by three o'clock this after noon Argus would be personally picking her up so she could make it safely to Camp Half-Blood.
A sense of excitement grew at that thought. Even though she still was hardly used to knowing who and what she was a year later, Camp Half-Blood was a place of safety for her – something she hadn't felt since before Auli'i Beaumont died when Kali was eight. The best thing about it was that Ralph would never be able to enter the camp; the worst thing about it was that she would never be able to bring along Naia and Makoa.
You see, a year ago Ralph had been acting nice. Kinder in a way that had her cautiously hopeful but still acting at her best behavior, but ready to do something to take the attention off of the younger two in a split second if needed. He was almost acting like his old self; less physically cruel, and only verbally cruel unless they annoyed him. And so, this somewhat nicer Ralph Beaumont planned a camping trip on Long Island's beach to start off summer on a good note. An attempt to be a family, Kali guessed.
Half a day into it, a sphinx attacked.
Kali got separated from Naia, Makoa, and Ralph, and then got chased while being called a 'tasty demigod snack'. She luckily ended up at Camp Half-Blood, behind it's boarders, where Lee Fletcher killed the monster with an arrow, and Luke calmed her down and gained enough of her trust to take her to the camp's infirmary to fix her twisted ankle and a bleeding lip she got by accidentally biting it when she fell at one point.
A day later, she got claimed by both of her parents when she snuck off to the beach where she met a Neried named Eione, who revealed to be, in mortal terms, her aunt.
Everyone was shocked, to say the least. No one really knew what to do. Even Chiron, the activities director and someone who, to Kali, seemed like he knew everything, was surprised and confused.
To this day, Kali still had a hard time believing that she was the lost princess, cursed with mortality, of the King and Queen of the Oceans, Poseidon and Amphitrite. But hey, the memories of living underwater at the start of her life finally made some sense; she had started to think those memories were just some very long and very detailed dreams. She also finally knew that marine animals were actually talking to her; it hadn't been her too active imagination after all. It was a bit of a relief to know that she hadn't gone crazy in her short life span.
She stayed at camp for a week before she went back home. Chiron's decision, since she had explained that she got separated from her family.
Ralph hadn't put out a missing person's report, but Naia and Makoa had been extremely worried; he acted worried, because Chiron came along, but after that it was a different story. Another week later, after smoothing everything in her mortal life over and explaining hesitantly to Ralph that she wanted to spend the rest of her summer at a camp, she was back at Camp Half-Blood in no time. Chiron wanted her to stay year round but said it was up to her in the end about what she wanted to do. Kali knew she would never leave her brother and sister alone at the hands of Ralph longer than needed. Not as long as either of them were alive.
But Kali was excited to go back – a little anxious about leaving her brother and sister, but excited nonetheless. She couldn't wait to catch up with the friends she made. Arianna, Oliver, Adelaide, Grant, Lee, Silena, Luke–
"No, cheetahs are way better than tigers!" Makoa's voice broke her out of her thoughts so suddenly it made her jump.
"Cheetahs can't even roar!" Naia argued back.
Kali had no idea how they got to this. Weren't they just talking about what they did during their last day of school?
"But they're, like, super duper fast," said Makoa said. "Tigers are just orange. And stripes are boring – cheetahs have spots!"
"But tigers are bigger!" It was on the verge of a whine, and Naia glared at her little brother. She then shifted, turning in Kali's lap the best she could. Kali made sure she didn't fall off or disrupt either of the skirts of their school uniform. "Kali. What's the best predator? Ti–."
"Sharks."
Makoa glanced at her leg. She ignored it.
Naia groaned. "You didn't even let me finish! Tigers or cheetahs, Kali? You can't say sharks."
Kali shrugged. "Cheetahs are pretty cute, but tigers are scarier."
"Ha! See, tigers are scarier," Naia said, sticking her tongue out at Makoa, who quickly got offended.
"But cheetahs are cute! That overrules everything!"
"No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does!"
"If you don't stop fighting you aren't going in the bodega with Frito the Cat for lunch."
Both of them look at her with twin expressions of betrayal. Kali smiled at them as if she hadn't said anything while the teen beside them stifled a laugh, and the old woman nearby blatantly watched in amusement.
"But you promised we'd go," Naia said. "On the Stinks!"
Kali blinked. "You mean the Styx?"
"That's what I said."
"Right."
"You also pinky promised," Makoa added. "That's, like...unbreakable."
They were right. She pinky promised and swore of the River Styx they would go to their favorite bodega place with Frito the Cat, and even though the eight and six year olds didn't understand the seriousness of the swearing on the Styx (she only half heartedly explained it), they completely understood the importance of a pinky promise. Kali couldn't break either of them even if she wanted to.
"Maybe," said Kali with a shrug. "But I never said anything about going inside. Just going there."
That had them playing nice the rest of the subway ride.
The old lady who on the other side of Makoa gave them a few extra dollars for lunch. The three of them thanked her and she then proceeded to entertain them with a few stories of her youth, which she explained was during and after World War II. Kali didn't want the money, and she didn't really want to talk to the woman either (something seemed off about her), but she didn't want to seem rude.
Much to her relief before Kali knew it, it was their stop. She said goodbye to the woman, as did Naia and Makoa, despite the fact that the woman got off at the same stop; she jus went in a different direction. The goth/punk teenager got off as well and then offered to walk with them to the bodega since an adult wasn't with them, and Kali only said yes because she thought strands of neon blue dyed hair were cool. It had to be an odd sight: a bored looking teenager in dark and moody clothes and dyed hair with three kids in Catholic school uniforms. Then again, it was New York City. It was probably more along the lines of something normal.
When they got to the bodega, they stopped outside before heading in.
"You good from here?" the teen, who introduced herself as Linley a few minutes earlier, asked.
Kali nodded and smiled. "We're good, we live close by. Thank you for walking with us, Linley."
Linley shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Yeah, well, kids your age shouldn't be walking alone in a city like this. Stay safe, okay? And I hope your stitches heal up okay."
Kali absentmindedly brushed the tips of her fingers over the stitches up cut on her face. It sat under her right eye, all the way across the highest part of her cheek. She had forgotten about it, believe or not, even if it did happen just yesterday. Over the excitement of the last day of school, the pain had been forgotten about and so had the cut. She only got asked about to once or twice by a few other kids and teachers at school, and after an explanation of crashing into a decorative vase because she wasn't looking where she was going, it attracted no more attention.
"Oh," Kali said, then smiled a bit forcefully. "Thanks."
"No problem. Bye, guys."
The three chorused their own byes, then Naia and Makoa impatiently dragged Kali inside.
"¡Hola, niños! If it isn't Frito's biggest fans!" the owner of the store exclaimed when they walked through. Mr. Bohorquez, a kind middle aged man with wild dark hair, brown eyes with crinkles at the corners, and light brown skin. He loved and co-owned the bodega with his childhood best friend, Mr. Alba. Kali and her brother and sister adored them and their cat equally. "Coming in a little early today, aren't you?"
"Hi, Mr. Borhorquez! It's summer break!" Naia explained with a wide grin, and ran up to the counter were Mr. Bohorquez stood. "Today was the last day of school so we had a half day."
"Ah. Now I understand." He grinned down at them fondly. "Must be nice getting a summer break."
Makoa moved to stand beside his older sister; Kali stood behind them. He reached up and held onto the edge of the counter, staring at Mr. Borhorquez intensely. "Where's Frito?"
"Makoa," Kali tried to reprimand but her own laughter at his bluntness ruined it.
Mr. Borhorquez tsked and waved a hand in the air dismissively, still smiling. "Ah, no worries. Frito is in her usual spot with the Frito chips."
The younger two dashed off before he could even finish speaking. Kali almost followed, but stopped. She looked up at Mr. Borhorquez, confused. "I thought Frito was a boy," she said.
"Frito's gotten fat!" Makoa's voice immediately sounded through the store.
Naia let out a sharp gasp. "Koa, that's so rude!"
"But it's true!"
Mr. Borhorquez chuckled. "We did too," he said over the sounds of the younger two now bickering again. "Turns out, he is a she and very pregnant."
Kali's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "Now way! You're going to have kittens?!"
"Kittens?!" Naia's echoing shriek was loud, and in seconds she was back at the counter with Makoa trailing behind her. He had Frito in his arms, and struggled to keep her there. Not because she was being difficult, but because Frito really had gotten fat – and it wasn't because of all the fluffy fur. No, she had a belly full of kittens. Kali reached out and petted her once Makoa got close enough.
Mr. Borhorquez laughed outright at their reactions. "Yes. Depending on how many she has, we'll either keep one or two and give the others up for adoption."
Naia gasped. She bounced on the balls of her feet with her hands clasped in front of her. "Can we have one? Please, please, please, please, please!"
"I'm all for saying yes, but you will have to talk to your father first."
She deflated. They all did. "Oh..."
"Wait. But where's the kittens?" Makoa asked. "She has them now?"
"Sí, chico. They're in her belly," Mr. Borhorquez said.
A long pause, and then, as his face twisted into something heartbroken, "She ate them?!"
Mr. Borhorquez stammered, having not expected that reaction. Luckily, Mr. Alba came out at that exact moment and the two began speaking in rapid Spanish that Kali didn't understand. Makoa stood there, holding Frito. Tears glistened in his brown eyes, and when Naia made a move to take Frito from him, he stepped away.
Kali wanted to explain that Frito didn't eat her kittens. She wasn't like Kronos – but Kali didn't know how. She also highly doubted that he would take it well that someone actually had eaten their kids before, although the story would be a myth to him. So she kept quiet, and rather pulled Makoa closer so he could lean into her. Frito meowed quietly. All three of them immediately began to love on her.
Suddenly, Mr. Alba laughed. "Again? You traumatized another child? Oh, mi amor, we have got to work on how you explain things to children!" He laughed more, quieter but still amused, and moved to the kids' side of the counter. "Come with me, Makoa. I can assure you Frito didn't eat her babies, and I'll explain while you choose what you want to eat and drink. Sound good?"
Still teary eyed and frowning, Makoa nodded. He stepped towards Mr. Alba, who put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and they walked off down one of the closer aisles. After a short moment of hesitation, Naia followed.
"Lo siento, Kali," Mr. Borhorquez said. "I'm sorry."
Kali shrugged. "It's alright. An accident, right? He'll get over it. Besides, it's not like Frito is Kronos – he actually did eat his kids."
He stared down at her, an expression crossing his features that she couldn't read. "Kronos? That's a Greek god, right?"
"Titan," she corrected, grinning proudly. Over the last year, she had been doing more research on Greek mythologies and stories during her downtime. Of course she learned some at Camp Half-Blood and she could have waited until then, but her curiosity about the gods won over. "The Titans came before the gods. Kronos was the main twelve's dad."
"Ah, I gotcha. How do you know this? Greek myths seem a bit...mature for an eleven year old."
"She's had a Greek myth obsession since last summer," Naia said as she walked back up. A bottle of pink lemonade, cherry coke, two bags of Doritos, a bag of Cheetos, and three packs of ramen got shoved onto the counter. How she got everything so quickly was beyond Kali.
"They're interesting," Kali said, a little defensive.
Naia rolled her eyes. "To you. Who wants to learn about things that aren't even real?"
"I do!"
"Well you're weird."
"Your face is weird."
"So's yours!"
Kali stuck her tongue out. Naia did it back instantly. Mr. Borhorquez just laughed at them and began scanning the items.
It wasn't long until Mr. Alba came back with Makoa and Frito. The pregnant cat was now in the man's arms instead, while Makoa held his own drink and three Hersheys chocolate bars. He set them alongside the other things waiting to be checked out and put into bags. Kali started digging in her skirt pockets for money.
"Oh, Kali, what happened to your cheek?" Mr. Alba asked worriedly as he stepped behind the counter again.
"Yes, I was about to ask – it looks like you got stitches," Mr. Borhorquez said.
Makoa and Naia shared a quick look that Kali noticed out of the corner of her vision, but she didn't look up as she continued to look for the money.
"My ADHD got the best of me. I was playing rough inside the apartment and ran into one of the decorative vases," she said. A little lie; a decorative vase had been destroyed, but not because of her rough housing. She had a few more minor, less serious cuts on her hands and forearms. "It's not too bad, really."
Mr. Alba made a noise at the back of his throat. "It got pretty close to your eye, there, niña."
She shrugged and smiled, finally pulling out the money just as the last item was scanned. She glanced at the amount to make sure she had enough. "It's fine, I promise! I'm okay." Kali then sent the men a reassuring look. "I'd tell you if was anything else."
He hummed. Clearly he was still worried. "I suppose you would." He then smiled. "Just play a little calmer while you're inside. We can't have our favorite customers hurt."
"We'll do our best!" Makoa promised, and the girls nodded along.
Kali smiled more. She loved Mr. Borhorquez and Alba. The two men were honestly the best part of New York City, if she was being honest. They were sweet and nice, and reminded her of what dads should actually be like – the complete opposite of Ralph. When both Ralph and their babysitter, Ruby, were busy, the three kids camped out at the bodega, or even the men's apartment above it. When they did that, they helped out with whatever problems they had with their homework if they had any, and even if they did do something wrong neither of them yelled or raised a hand. Sometimes Kali wished she had been found and adopted by them instead, but always switched that train of thought off because she felt guilty about even the idea of leaving the other two alone with Ralph.
After another short conversation and some goodbyes, and after gathering their bags and the change, the kids left for the apartment.
+++
Ralph wasn't there when they stepped inside. As relieved as she was, Kali couldn't help but also feel anxious about it. He may not be here now but he would be later, and most of the time he always got mad about something one of them didn't do. The dishes, the floors, the trash in the living room, their rooms, the laundry, the dust on the TV, and other things, minor things, that could easily be handled by a capable adult and not three children.
What happened the night before only made the anxiety of the situation worse. They saw Ralph this morning for about a minute before he left for work but that didn't give any indication about his mood for the day. He just seemed in a rush. Didn't acknowledge any of them and absentmindedly took Makoa's breakfast bar as he walked by him. None of them knew what to expect once he got home.
Things have gotten worse in the past six months. Kali wanted to blame it on the freaky weather New York had been having since around Christmas time, and she probably could, really. (Zeus and Poseidon were not happy about something). But ever since around the same time – and more recently during the month of May – Kali had been more prone to mouthing off to Ralph. Became moody. Anxieties grew worse. She dared him to punch her once in public while they were out as a family; something went wrong, he got mad with Naia and Makoa, and Kali turned the attention on herself. He didn't do it then, but when they got home it was a different ball park entirely.
Kali didn't even want to think about the amount of monsters she had run into since December. Chiron had Iris-Messaged her and asked if she wanted to stay at CHB early; Kali said no so fast she was pretty sure it made the centaur worried.
She shook her head. She could think about that later.
"Okay," Kali said as they walked through the house. She headed to her room, and they headed to theirs; the two were connected by a bathroom they all shared. "Change out of the uniforms, and then I'll fix the ramen we bought."
"Do we have to clean today?" Naia asked.
"I, uh... I don't know." She stopped by her bedroom door. "Don't worry about it, okay? Let's just change and eat."
Naia nodded, and disappeared with Makoa into their room.
After changing into some jean shorts and a comfortable t-shirt, she shoved the gods awful saddle oxfords under her bed to be forgotten and gathered up the dirty school uniform. She then went to get her siblings' uniforms and tossed them into a hamper in the bathroom to be washed later. As Makoa went to the living room to turn on the TV and find Cartoon Network, Kali padded into the kitchen and started the process of fixing the three of them some ramen noodles.
By the time the food was done, both Naia and Makoa were sitting in the living room watching TV. Kali grabbed table place mats and then sat them on the coffee table, and then brought the bowls of ramen over one by one, and then their drinks. They all sat on the floor at the coffee table and watched an episode each of Johnny Bravo, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and Teen Titans – with the last one they belted out the theme song together, and Makoa did his best version of a guitar while the girls fumbled through the words.
Kali wanted to continue watching TV until Ruby finally got there to watch them until Ralph got home, or until Argus came and picked her up, whichever came first. But she didn't want to risk anything. She cleaned the dishes they dirtied, picked up and gathered all the trash, and even began the process of tidying her room. She stopped five minutes later, having go distracted by an old picture book Auli'i had made for her of her first two years with them. She flipped it open to a random page, and smiled at the picture that was taped to it.
It was of Auli'i, Kali, Naia, and Makoa, all of them in a hospital bed. Auli'i looked exhausted; her dark hair was in a bun, but it was extremely messy. Long strands had fallen out, yet she didn't have a care about it the world. She wore a tired yet proud grin and her eyes crinkled with how big it was. In her arms was a tiny baby wrapped in white blankets and a blue beanie – Makoa, asleep and content in his mother's arms. On Auli'i's left sat Naia, two years old and smiling as wide as she could, teeth and all. Her hair, similar to her mother's in every way, was damp and fell just below her shoulders, and she wore shorts and a tank top over a pink swim suit. Kali, on the woman's right side, was dressed similarly; half of her head of black, messy and extremely wavy hair were pulled back and damp just like Naia's – she distinctly remembered how Auli'i's parents took them swimming at the beach that day to make the waiting part go faster; the waters had been cold but Kali hadn't minded. She was also smiling at the camera, obviously excited to anyone who looked.
Underneath the picture, Auli'i wrote:
February 25, 1999 —
Makoa Beaumont has finally entered the world! Look at how excited you girls were <3 My precious babies x
(picture taken by Ralph)
A simpler, happier time.
Kali stared at the picture a moment longer. She really missed Auli'i, and Hawaii. She was never that close to her adoptive grandparents but they were sweet and snuck the kids cookies when they weren't supposed to. She missed them, too. They haven't seen them since Auli'i's funeral three years ago.
That reminder made her frown deeply. Her eyes began to sting with tears, and Kali shut the picture book and shoved it under her bed. Rubbing at her eyes, she slipped on a random pair of flip flops, put her sheathed dagger Argus had given her at the end of the previous summer in the waistband of her shorts and covered it with her shirt, and went to the trash she had gathered earlier.
Naia and Makoa were still watching TV as she hefted one large and very heavy bag of trash through the apartment.
"Where're you going?" Naia asked.
"Just taking the trash out," Kali said.
"Oh okay."
"Don't answer the door unless I do our special knock."
"You got it, dude," Naia said and sent her a thumbs up while Makoa just distractedly nodded.
The journey down to the basement was boring, to say the least. And tiring. The apartment building wasn't the best; the elevator had a 50/50 shot of working on good days and Kali would like to spend her life never getting stuck in an elevator if she had any say in it, so she walked down five flights of stairs. On her way, a few adults stood at random spots. Some held cigarettes, some didn't, and a lot of them smelled of either alcohol, smoke, or both, or other things Kali wasn't entirely familiar with. A few of the nicer people – a single mom or two, exhausted looking college kids – said hi or asked if she needed help, but Kali always declined with a kind smile.
Everything was going pretty smoothly. Kali was a bit surprised.
And then she noticed the old lady from the subway standing in a dark corner of the basement.
The basement was creepy, anyway. Only half of the lights worked, and it smelled because in the area where they put the trash stunk terribly. In another room was the building's laundry mat. None of the machines were on so it was deafeningly silent. Creepy and smelly; two things she wasn't fond of in the slightest. Kali didn't want to spend anytime down there longer than necessary, but she had a feeling the now not-so-nice looking old lady wasn't going to let that happen.
Kali clasped her hands behind herself. "Um. Hello. I thought you didn't live down this way."
"Foolish child. Of course I don't!"
She resisted a flinch. "Then why–?"
"We know one of you have it," the woman hissed out – or was that a growl? "Now where is it?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kali said calmly despite her sudden jump in nerves. She learned it's better to tell the truth, stay calm; maybe less harm would come.
It wasn't the smartest thought. Monsters weren't known to go easy, and this was obviously one. And monsters have had attacked, sure, and she defeated them with her dagger but she still wasn't the best fighter. Her now empty stash of ambrosia and nectar obviously showed that. But that wasn't the only thing that made her nervous. This woman...thing...talked as if Kali stole something.
Kali had never been so confused and nervous at the same time in her life.
"Do you think of us as fools, Kalliroi? Confess, and perhaps we will be lenient with your suffering," the monster said.
Kali could only shake her head and stuttered. It didn't please the monster at all.
"Then you shall die!"
The old woman's eyes began glow like hot coals in a fire. In the shadow of the dark corner, Kali made out her figure transforming into something else – talons for fingers, leathery wings, and sharp teeth that were most likely fangs. An atrocious sight even in bad lighting. Something she unfortunately recognized.
One of the Furies, a Kindly One – something Lee taught her about last summer – was in her apartment basement.
It lunged at her, and Kali got over her shock and fear quick enough to jump out of the way. She pulled out her dagger, and hoped that the few fighting lessons Luke gave her hadn't suddenly left as it lunged at her again. As she dodged for a second time, two talons got her forearm and another ripped a hole in her shirt. Kali was even more unlucky as it came for her a third time. It managed to grab her and the Kindly One lifted her, the leathery wings flapping and taloned hands gripping her biceps tightly.
Kali twisted and kicked. None of that worked so she resorted to head butting the Kindly One. It shrieked, in either pain or surprise Kali didn't know nor did she care, and yanked one arm out of it's now loosened grip. Luckily it was the one that held her dagger and with little to no hesitation she stabbed it right into the Kindly One's eye. It burst into golden dust immediately, and she fell hard onto the ground with a bruising thud.
Not even waiting to catch her breath, panicked and a bit terrified, Kali ran out of the basement with the now monster-dust-covered-dagger tightly clutched in one hand.
————
A/N— who would win? a millennia old monster who works for hades, or a terrified 11 year old with very limited fighting skills? the answer may surprise you
oh & i apologize if any of the spanish is wrong! feel free to correct me if needed lol. but anyway, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! please don't forget to vote & comment x