☠︎
"Me?!"
"Of who you have the chance of becoming. In the positive light. . . and the more negative one."
"Zeus is fully aware of Thanatos' hatred towards him. He is also painfully aware of the relationship me and my brother still uphold with our mother. Your grandmother. Zeus has always feared Nyx. Your father a bit as well."
"And you, Morana Nyx Mavros, remind the Lord of The Sky of those two entities. Your attitude towards the Olympians, your determination. . ."
"Your anger."
Hypnos looked straight at Morana, watching the words reach her brain and make her form thoughts.
"And if that was to be influenced by your father's hatred towards all Gods. . .", the God of Sleep trailed off, not wanting to finish his own words.
"But", she started, brain working overtime. "I'm just a kid", her words seemed to try to choke her.
Hypnos' lips twitched downward a bit. "You're much more than that. You're a demigod. And demigods can do things Gods aren't able to do. Demigods are the most dangerous weapons if used against the Gods. . . Even if we don't want to admit that."
Morana's mouth felt dry. Her emotions seemed to betray her as anger clouded her vision. "I'm not a weapon! Neither are any of my friends!" She shot up from her chair.
Hypnos looked pained yet calm, his eyes following the girl's sharp act, calculating her every move.
"I'm fourteen! I'm a child! And my father shouldn't be taken from me just because a man is threatened by 'what a child could be'!" Morana seethed, eyes flaming golden, a sharp contrast to the cold silver eyes of her uncle.
"It isn't fair!" Morana yelled and the pans on all the walls rattled in warning.
"I never said it was", Hypnos said slowly and carefully.
"I mean-", Morana takes a breath, trying to calm herself. "Just because his daughter is a tree, doesn't mean he has to punish other children!"
"Morana", Hypnos warned as thunder boomed outside. If it wasn't for the protective name of Nyx hanging above them in the family tree of Gods and Demigods, they'd probably be toast.
"Medusa was right! The Gods are always looking out to blame others for their own mishaps!"
"That's a dangerous path to go down Morana", Hypnos' voice overpowered the girl's, making her stop in her tracks.
She has to remember where her loyalties lie.
Where do they lie?
"Zeus, even at his worst, is better than what was before", Hypnos reminded her. "It is dangerous to delve so deep in ones anger", his words struck her like a hammer.
"Anger that deep, is a fatal flaw, my niece."
And that Morana knows. Her own anger would be the death of her if she doesn't suppress it or channel it right.
But what is right?
☠︎
Morana's feet seem to betray her when they hit the grass of Half Blood Hill.
Thalia's tree stands as a painful reminder that the moment of weakness was probably seen and heard by the God Morana so much despises.
But her anger seems to dissolve when she sees the usual hustle of Camp Half Blood.
Satyrs are picking strawberries, feeding Pegasuses and watering plants. The smell of the fresh Strawberries reaches Morana's nose and it makes her want to roll down the soft grass and just giggle with glee.
Demigods are piling in and out of the cabins filling one part of the camp. The big house is still blue and it seems like Chiron is out lounging in the sun in his horse form.
Morana's feet finally decide to lead her down the grassy hill. The flowers tickle her ankles but she doesn't mind.
The sky is clear despite the occasional rumbling thunder when someone says something that damages one certain God's fragile masculinity. But even that can't dampen Morana's mood as her eyes take in everything about her home.
"Mor!" Someone yells and Morana feels the corners of her lips lifting up just the slightest. "Scar face", Morana chuckles back, earning a fond laugh with teeth showing.
Luke Castellan is jogging up the hill, his brown hair flopping up and down a bit, a cheeky grin on his face.
"You're not dead!"
His words make Morana's smile widen a bit. "And you're smiling!" The boy's expression turns into a shocked one as he extends his hand for a bro hug.
Morana claps their hands together. "What's all this about?" Luke asks cheerfully, pointing at Morana's face. The girl rolls her eyes.
Should she?
Gods, she could be dead. Yes she should.
Instead of letting go of the boy's hand and stepping back, she lets go and wraps her arms around him.
Luke freezes a bit, taken aback. Then he chuckles and wraps his arms around Morana. Her other hand is over his shoulder, other under his arm.
"Nice to see you too, Mor", the boy chuckles and Morana pulls back with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.
But she can't, Luke's arms stay firmly around her, caging her in.
Something slams against her back, making her freeze. "Luke?" Morana questions, her arms still around the boy, steadying her frame that suddenly feels like collapsing.
"What is it, Morana?" The boy questions, his tone gentle and caring as he pulls back a bit to look in her eyes.
But her eyes don't focus on anything. "Luke?" Her voice doesn't come out right, it bubbles and sounds like it came from great effort.
"It's okay", Luke coos, his arms supporting Morana's collapsing body, her arms still foolishly around him.
"You're okay. I'm here. I'd never let anything happen to you", the Hermes boy's voice is like the breeze on the hill.
"You out of all people should understand why I'm doing this."
"The Gods have never liked the fact that you even exist. Why should they care. They think we're so much beneath them! Join me, Mor. Join me and we'll make the Gods pay for what they've done to us!"
Morana's eyes focus for two milliseconds. But she wishes they wouldn't have.
Yellow eyes. Piercing, cold and powerful, yellow eyes.
But Luke has brown eyes?
☠︎
"Mor! Wake up!"
Morana shoots up, eyes wide, chest raising and falling rapidly. She claws at her back but it's only slightly damp from sweat.
"Percy's back", Annabeth Chase tells Morana, still shaking the girl's leg, standing on the ladder that leads to the top bunk that Morana has in the Hermes cabin.
The girl looks around in wonder, finding the wooden walls and bustling people of the Hermes cabin she calls home.
She lets out a final breath and her shoulders relax.
"Come on!" Annabeth urges, hurrying down the steps and out of the cabin, leaving Morana rubbing her eyes and trying to tame her curly hair.
Then her hand freezes in her curls.
Wait? Percy's back?
Her bird's nest of a hair gets given up on, her sweaty shirt is changed and the nightmare is long forgotten as Morana jumps down from the bunk and races outside.
Yesterday when she arrived back at camp, Annabeth and Grover filled her in on what happened after they parted ways with Morana.
Percy, the fucking idiot, Jackson had challenged a God, The God of War, into a duel. One on one, with swords.
She is so going to kill him. Ares might have failed but Morana for so sure won't.
But then her golden eyes meet the sea-green ones peering over Annabeth's shoulder as the dark haired girl hugs the world out of her friend.
Suddenly, everything seems to collapse. Not in a way she did in Luke's arms. Shit she had to remember that too. But in a way the world seems to be lifted from her shoulders.
The ten days she hasn't had time to process much to her fortune, seem to crash on her.
She's been too focused on surviving, on keeping her friends alive and completing the quest to stop the war, that she hasn't even properly paid attention to what all they've gone through.
The Furies.
Medusa.
The Pink Poodle.
The Echidna and the Chimera.
The Arch. Percy shoving Morana in the stairwell. The panic that coursed through her veins when she realized that she might have to say goodbye to her first ever friend only a few hours after truly realizing she has anyone to call a friend.
Ares. His shield. Waterland. The chair and Percy once again sacrificing himself with that fucking hero complex of his. Hephaestus.
The Lotus Hotel and Casino.
Santa Monica.
Crusty's, where Morana found out, she really doesn't like waterbeds.
Then the Underworld. Grover almost getting dragged into Tartarus. Hades. Hypnos. Zeus being a bitch as usual.
Percy battling a God.
It all floods into her mind but for some reason it doesn't drown her.
Her mask cracks, the corners of her lips lifting in relief as she takes a few slow steps towards the boy.
Percy isn't sure if he should run to her or from her. With her, he's never quite sure if she's going to hit him or tell him he did a good job.
But his own lips lift into a smile as well and Morana's hesitant steps turn into hurried speed walking.
When her arms wrap around him, Percy hesitates no time to wrap his arms around her back. His face presses into her curly, slightly messy hair and his eyes press shut for a brief moment.
Morana's face has a relieved, gentle smile and her eyes seem to shine a bit brighter.
"You're alive", she breathes out into his shirt. "Last time I checked", Percy chuckles, letting go as Morana pulls back.
"You're-", she starts and then she remembers her previous anger. "-such an idiot!" She hits his chest, but easing up on the force.
"You imbecile!" Morana insults, her eyes a bit frantic.
But despite the insults that get collectively more creative the more Morana speaks, all Percy can think about is that they care. His friends care. They're happy to see him. They're happy to see him alive.
Even Luke, who he thought would've turned cold from all the attention Percy's getting, seems to be delighted, patting the boy on the back and praising him like a proud older brother.
"You realize that he's a God?! You had the most evident chance of getting yourself absolutely pulverised! Do you understand that!?"
"I did- I do. But I won", Percy interrupts her rant, a small amused smile playing on his lips. Morana presses her lips into a thin line. "Fucking Seaweed Brain", she mumbles and Percy lets out a chuckle.
"Good to see you too, Grim Reaper."
☠︎