Heroes?
Clarisse wants to his something, preferably Chiron’s face. Now, wanting to hit something is rarely a new emotion for the daughter of Ares; really, it was one of her most common emotions, right alongside wanting to slap Sparky and his little trio of idiots. But right now her hands are shaking, and the only thing holding her back was Bianca. The daughter of Hades stood in the shadows a dangerous look on her face; violence wouldn’t be tolerated in her presence.
Chiron spoke softly, like she was a scared animal. "Do you understand Clarisse?"
Clarisse practically snarled, "The only thing I understand is that you’re a complete fucking idiot! You can’t seriously be considering this!"
"Language child"
That made her scoff out loud "I am not a fucking child, Chiron! Not since I had to look into the faces of my friends and watch them die. All because of 𝘩𝘦𝘳!" She could feel herself forcing back tears. The war had been….it had been too much. Even for the daughter of war.
Chiron sighed, a forlorn expression filling his face "Im sorry, Clarisse, if there was any other way I would have taken it, you know I would have."
"There must be another way. Are you really telling me that twelve Olympians couldn’t find out a better way? Any way would be better than 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴" in her minds eye she could see it, Chris bleeding out in her arms while Annabeth looked on in stony indifference, she wouldn’t, she 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵, let her get free again.
"Im sorry, Clarisse, but the gods have been silent, and the fates have already spoken. Annabeth is one of the seven, she must be released." Yea, the gods had been silent, Clarisse was all too familiar with that little fucking detail: the gods had abandoned them, even after their children had bled themselves dry to keep them on their thrones. And now the fates had apparently decided that Annabeth Chase, leader of the Titan army and nearly the destroyer of Olympus, deserved a second chance. Clarisse felt sick, the divine world was cruel.
"You cant think this is a good idea, Chiron." Clarisse gestured wildly, trying to show just why letting the blonde devil out would be such a terrible idea "I mean, she nearly overthrew the gods for crying out loud! She blew up Atlantis! She stole the goddamn sun chariot! .........she’s the reason Luke is dead" it was a low blow and she knew it. Luke was Chiron’s star pupil; their relationship often seemed more like that of father and son than that of mentor and student, and his death had nearly broken the centaur.
Chiron just hung his head "Everything you said is true, and I wish it were any other way. But it isn't," he looked up at her, his eyes seemed impossibly old. "And we cannot defy fate, no matter how much we may want to."
Bianca spoke, and Clarisse nearly jumped; she had nearly forgotten that the daughter of Hades was in the room. "Chiron is right, we need her if we are to stand any chance against Gaia. Annabeth is many things, but there is no denying that she is a fierce warrior and the best strategist in the Greek world……she would be an invaluable asset in any war"
Clarisse felt her control of the conversation start to slip. If she couldn’t even convince Bianca she was lost. She stared at the dark eyed girl "I cant believe you side with her! after what she did! After what happened to Nic-" in an instant, there was a blade at her throat. The child of the underworld stared down at her, her eyes swirling with dark light
Bianca snarled, and the air seemed to freeze "𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 speak of things that you know nothing about La Rue"
The blade was gone as quickly as it appeared. Clarisse stumbled back, holding her throat. It was stupid, she’d let her emotions get the better of her. Anyone could have told her that so much as mentioning Nico in Bianca’s presence was enough to get you shoved down into Tartarus the long way.
She knows she’s lost this fight; there’s no convincing either of them to turn back now. She picks herself up and storms out of the estate. Plowing past Jason as he waited awkwardly in Infront of the door. She wants to cry, she wants to laugh, she wants to hit something. Fucking Annabeth Chase gets to have a second chance, a second chance she had denied to so many others.
Its not fair…
//
Percy looked down at his hand. The mark was glowing dimly in the light, almost like it was mocking him with every little pulse.
"Is everything ok mister?"
He looked down at the little girl in his arms. Holly, a daughter of Demeter who had been left to suffer under the abuse of an alcoholic father and a of course absent mother. He suppressed a sigh and plastered on a smile.
"Of course, Holly, don’t worry, we’ll be at camp in just a few days, monsters wont be able to hurt you anymore."
The little girl smiled, and Percy felt warmth bloom in his chest. There were very few benefits to this job, but being able to make a lost child smile was all he would have ever needed.
"Your dedication is truly admirable, Perseus," he turned to face the warm eyes of Hestia. He smiled; she was probably the only one of the Olympians that he could truly say that he liked.
"I’m just doing my job."
Hestia tilted her head "Maybe, but not many Olympians would go out of their way to help a single demigod."
Percy grit his teeth "And that’s exactly the problem."
The goddess nodded "Family is so often forgotten, especially by immortals. To so many of us, the life of one mere mortal or half-blood is little more than a blip in our existence, a short memory that we share with another before they are gone and we continue."
He shook his head "Its still not right," he remembered Luke confessing how Hermes had never truly cared for his mother, how he had abandoned her to be consumed by madness and left Luke alone. He thought of Annabeth and how she had confessed to him how her mother had killed her mortal family just to try and unlock her potential. It was all sick.
Hestia nodded again, a sad look upon her face. "But that is our nature, its why I swore off ever sharing that kind of love with a mortal. It leads only to heartbreak and suffering"
Percy looked down at Holly sleeping softly in his arms. "But it can also lead to greatness, it can lead to heroes."
The goddess of the hearth tilted her head, her eyes glowing a soft warmth "Is the life of a hero truly one of happiness?"
He thought of Luke, strong amazing Luke, dying to save a world that had scorned him. He thought of Nico, sweet kind Nico gone before he even had a chance to experience the world. He thought of Grover, his first friend, sacrificing himself so that they could escape the labyrinth. All of them heroes, all of them gone.
"Those who walk the path of a hero always walk alongside death and tragedy, it is the unfortunate nature of all those born of the divine and the mortal, those born of two worlds that were never meant to truly touch" Hestia looked up at him with a sad smile "It is why I commend you, Perseus; you could have asked to be the patron of anything, yet you asked to be the patron of heroes and demigods. It is not an easy calling"
Percy let the goddesses’ words wash over him, like so many things, the goddess of the hearth was right. He looked down at the glowing symbol in his palm "It seems I’ve been called to walk down that path once again," he tried to not let the anger seep into his words.
"Yes, the prophecy has been spoken. The seven must unite if they are to defeat the earth mother." She looked straight into his eyes as she spoke. "And they will need a god at their side if they are to have even a chance at victory."
Percy shook his head, tears of frustration burning behind his eyes "It wasn’t supposed to be like this, we won! It was supposed to be over! we already gave everything we had for that stupid prophecy, and now there’s another one!?"
"Only in death does the duty of a hero end Perseus"