Chapter song: 21 Guns by Green Day
Chapter 4-
****** 3 Months Later ******
3 months have gone by since I joined Deimos's Army, and I've never been more athletic. I've also never felt this welcomed.
Percy and I are like brother and sister now, we've told each other everything about ourselves. I've told him everything about my old life and he told me everything about his old life.
He used to go to a camp named Camp Half-Blood, and that's where he first met his former friends: Thalia, Annabeth, Grover, Nico, and lots of other people.
Plus, he admitted that he was going to propose to Annabeth the night that he found her kissing Pericles, his twin brother.
I suggested to him that maybe it wasn't what it looked like and he just scowled at me.
He had told me that he was 'not overreacting' and that it was what it looked like. I had slapped some sense into him. Literally.
He then told me what adventures he's been on, and my personal favorite was the one where he went to go save Annabeth from Atlas in his third year at Camp.
He talked about Annabeth every day, and he even told me that he is still in love with her, even after what happened.
Every time that he said that he still loved her, I couldn't help but say 'AAAWWWW!' and Percy would just narrow his eyes at me.
He was also angry with his father because Poseidon had just shrugged it off and had practically told Percy that Pericles was his favourite son.
I've told him all about the wizarding world and everything about my adoptive family and stuff.
I've never been this close to anyone in my entire life, and it felt great to open up to someone who is so much like me.
We've both almost been killed, we both have been in newspapers, we both have been thought of as dead before, we also have lots of people who hate us, and we both have fallen from great heights.
And right now, we were sword fighting. Percy had taught me how to shoot a bow, he'd taught me how to sword fight, he'd taught me how to fight with a knife, and he'd taught me hand-to-hand combat.
I was better with the double knives, where I would have a knife in each hand, but Deimos insisted that I stick with a sword.
Everyone in the army actually respected me, and I felt more at home here than I ever did at Hogwarts. But, no matter what, I will always miss Britain.
Deimos had taught me how to use my powers that I inherited from my mother, and I was still discovering some of them.
But I didn't have to use magic to know that I was kicking Percy's ass at sword fighting right now.
I could feel sweat on the back of my neck and I was breathing heavily. Percy was the same.
With each clash of our swords, Percy grunted. I swiveled my sword and disarmed Percy. I spun quickly and held the blade to Percy's neck and he grinned.
"Nice work, Des." Percy praised.
I smirked and handed him his sword like a civilized person. We called it a day on the fighting and we went our separate ways.
Percy hadn't slept in awhile; he had been figuring out battle strategies to help defeat Gaea.
I Vaporated to a park in New York and I sat by the pretty fountain with a Poseidon statue and a conch shell.
I sighed in content at the light breeze of the surprisingly cool July weather and I closed my eyes happily.
Someone cleared their throat and I cringed, opening my eyes to see who dared to disturb my peace.
Oddly enough, I saw a strangely beautiful woman with two animals by her side standing not too far away from me.
She radiated power, a scary sort of power that would've frightened me to no end if she hasn't seemed familiar.
I looked around to see if any of the other civilians saw this woman, but everyone just passed by, not even giving her one glance.
There was mist all around her, and her body looked like it broke into 3 parts if she moved a certain way.
Her eyes were completely black and mine were purple, but that didn't mean that she didn't look anything like me.
She had golden hair, and I had black, but our faces were almost set the same, plus I had the same pale skin.
There was also a monochromatic storm surrounding her and in the Mist that billowed around her.
One of the animals that was by her side was a black Labrador retriever. The other animal was a polecat, and the weirdest thing about the polecat was that it kept farting.
So there was really nothing special about the two animals that were at the young woman's feet.
'I'm Gale, and I was a witch too, you little brat.' A voice spat in my head.
'Yeah, and I'm Hecuba, a former queen of Troy. Respect your family tree, you little git as they say in Britain.' Another voice said.
I blinked in surprise, and I heard a chuckle that no doubt came from the woman that was in front of me.
"Gale and Hecuba can read minds, and they must not have liked something that crossed your mind. Only someone powerful can be able to hear them speak, and you are special, my daughter." The woman, who I think is my mother, said, smiling.
Gale and Hecuba? I've heard of them... Hecate took pity on them and she turned them into- oh.
'Yeah, oh.' Gale the Polecat said in my minds.
'Oh be quiet.' I hissed back.
The polecat hissed back at me, and then farted. I grimaced as the smell of her fart hit me. Ew...
"Thanks, I guess." I said, my eyes narrowing.
My mother, Hecate, nodded and she smiled lovingly at me. I gave her a small smile in return, but I was far from happy.
"So, that prophecy that The Fates told me three months ago..." I trailed off.
"Was about you." My mother finished for me. "You have to go help The Seven demigods in their quest."
"The Angel's soul mate with a smile not-so-cheery,
Delves with the ghosts of the dead and weary.
The Shadow and The Light start an alliance that is set in stone,
The darkness surrounds them and they stand alone.
To aid The Seven in their quest they help from a distance,
With knowledge that comes with their assistance.
The battle will wage in a big meadow;
Little did The Seven know, they would need The Light and The Shadow.
Whichever side The Shadow is on will be the victor,
The other side will ultimately lose without her.
Deeply in love, The Angel and The Shadow will be;
Their love for each other being greater than the sea." My mother said, reciting the whole prophecy.
Who's 'The Angel'? Am I 'The Shadow'? Am I 'The Angel's' soul mate? Hecate's my mother? Oh yeah!
I mentally slapped myself as I remembered three months ago when The Fates visited me and recited a shorter version of that prophecy. And fumbled ore had informed me that my mother was Hecate.
Then who's my father? I know a lot of things about my mother from Greek Mythology class, though, but nothing about my father.
Hecate is an ancient Goddess from an early, pre-Greek period of myth (or maybe it's not as much a myth as I had originally thought.
At first, the Hellenic Greeks found Hecate difficult to fit into their pantheon. Although she was not considered a part of the Olympian party, she had retained dominion over sky, earth, and the underworld making her the power of wealth and the blessings of life.
Zeus himself honored Hecate so much that he always conceded to her the ancient power of giving or denying to mortals any desired gift.
Hecate is skilled in the arts of divining and foretelling the future. She gives humans (muggles) dreams and visions which, if interpreted wisely, led to greater clarity.
Also, because of her association with Persephone, she is connected to death and regeneration. Her presence is the land of the underworld allows for the pre-Hellenic hope of re-birth and transformation as opposed to Hades, who represented the inevitability of death.
In Greece, Hecate was a Moon Goddess, one of the original trinity who were connected with the moon's three phases and ruled heaven, earth and the underworld.
She was especially worshipped at places where three roads met and was known as Hecate Trivia, Hecate of the Three ways.
During the middle ages, Hecate became known as Queen of the Witches. Catholic authorities said that the people most dangerous to the faith were those whom Hecate patronized - midwives, healers and seers.
They also saw the simple peasants practicing folk religion as 'devil worshippers' and Hecate was portrayed as an ugly hag leading covens of witches in these practices.
Hecate didn't look like an ugly hag to me, though. She was quite the opposite of that, really.
Hecate of the Amazons was a Moon and underworld deity. Her chariot was often pulled by dragons, which I found really cool. Although, I didn't see any dragons....
Hecate was shown holding three torches, a key, and a dagger. With the key, she unlocks the deep mysteries, the dagger, which has become the athame of Witchcraft, cuts through illusion to true power.
But Hecate was also known as the most lovely one, a name for the Moon. It was said that She wore a shimmering headdress and was second to none in her powers.
A statute from the 8th century BCE shows Hecate with wings and holding a snake. I didn't see any wings either, so...
During the Middle Ages, Hecate became known as Queen of the Witches.
Hecate is known for her gifts of prophecy, her clear vision, and her knowledge of the magical arts.
Because she stands at the crossroads, she can look into the past, present and future, Her Priestesses were many, including Medea and Circe.
Medea had Hecate's foresight and wisdom, Circe her gift of the magical arts. Hecate could look to the past, the present, and future, thus she was highly skilled as a visionary.
Hecate is the Dark Mother, in both the positive and the negative sense. She can send demons to torment men's dreams, she can drive them mad, if they are not well integrated enough to cope with her, but to those who dare to welcome her, she brings creative inspiration. She is Hecate Antea, the Sender of nocturnal visions.
Today we can relate to Hecate as a guardian figure in our unconsciousness, holding the key to the dark realms within us and bearing torches to light our way into the depths of our inner being.
She stands at the triple crossroads that exists at all levels of our being, manifesting as spirit, soul and body.
Yeah, I know. I'm not sure how I can remember this, but I do. Some times people called my mother the Keeper of Knowledge-
Anyways, what was Hecate saying? Oh yeah! The prophecy that was about me! What did my mother want me to do about it? It's set in stone anyway.
"Desirée, I need you to do something for me. For the prophecy." Hecate said, sounding serious.
The Mist around her thickened and spread to the edge of the park; people blinked out of existence.
"Sure, what is it?" I asked her.
I didn't know why she needed anything of me, she was the powerful one here. I knew hardly anything.
"I need you to pretend to be on Gaea's side so you can feed that information to The Seven." Hecate said as an explanation.
Gaea? Aren't I supposed to be on the good side though? Why would she want me to be on Gaea's side? She's evil!
"What exactly do you need me to do?" I asked her, leaning against a big rock.
Hecate frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. Gale hissed at me and Hecuba growled furiously. Was it something I said?
"You need to retrieve battle plans for The Seven." Hecate elaborated.
I nodded slowly, and I pulled on my jacket. The wintery wind was chilling to the bone, and the black leather jacket was the only source of warmth.
Her sons and daughters were the giants and titans from Greek mythology... Creepy...
"How am I going to do that?" I asked, not feeling tired at all, even though the sun had already set.
Hecate smiled at me, and she rolled her eyes, as if the answer to my question was too obvious and stupid.
"You stay in the United States and you walk around grass or ground here in New York, waiting for her to initiate contact with you. Don't say yes too quickly now, dear. You don't want to be suspicious." Hecate advised.
I furrowed my eyebrows, and I frowned like I would any other time when I was unsure about what I was doing. My own mother was sending me on a suicide mission.
I also had a bad habit of biting the left side of my lip and the inside of my right cheek. Hecate chuckled.
"You remind me a lot of your father. He always had the same expression, and he would bite his lip in the same place." Hecate told me with a slight sigh.
I smiled lightly, thinking of who my father might be. And before I could ask Hecate who my father was/is, she cut me off.
"I need to go now, daughter. Good luck darling." She said to me sincerely before disappearing along with Gale and Hecuba.
I sighed. Well so much for that. I Vaporated away from this park because of the lack of grass and dirt.
I pulled my black leather jacket tighter around me, so I could get a little warmer. It was incredibly cold for the beginning of September.
I headed to where some signs pointed to a different park, and I tried my very hardest to not get hit my any cars. I had almost forgotten that Americans drive on the right side of the road.
I walked around the park for awhile once I arrived there, and I decided to go sit by a seemingly empty Poseidon fountain with coming out of a seashell that was rested in his hand. How many Poseidon fountains were there in New York?!
I sat on the edge of the driest part of the fountain, and I looked up at the rising sun.
It seemed like it was only one small moment where I closed my eyes, but as soon as I opened them, I was face to face with a misty figure that I had no doubt was Gaea.
I couldn't help but be shocked at her sudden presence. She wasn't exactly the kindest looking person that I had ever seen.
When I used to think of Gaea, I thought of a Mother Nature sort of figure, with birds and flowers all around her. Yeah, not anymore.
"Wh-who're you?" I asked her, my voice wavering just a bit for a more dramatic approach.
My voice didn't lack confidence, it just revealed how off guard she had caught me. She had scared the living daylights out of me.
"Scared?" Gaea laughed, her voice gruff and drowsy.
Her laugh gave me creeps and chills, and she would've noticed too, if it weren't for my jacket. Goosebumps were converting my arms.
"No, you just caught me off guard. And you didn't answer my question." I said, more confidently.
She chuckled once more before answering. Please don't say Gaea... Please don't say Gaea... Oh please or please don't say Gaea...
"You're a blunt one aren't you? I'm Gaea, the Earth Goddess." The woman, Gaea told me.
Oh great, just what I hadn't wanted.
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