and they drink the stars
Competion: The Oneshot Challenge by Tackattack
Length: 576 words
He never wanted to be a hero. Some people do. They want the adulation. The praise. The endless fawning and respect. The power. They thought it would help them.
He knew better. Gods, there was nothing he knew better. The praise is empty, the respect is hollow. He is hollow. He is a shell. Not that he was ever truly a hero.
He watched as she died, the one with pride in her heart and storms in her eyes. He watched as she persevered. She took the knife for him, and the gods know he wished she hadn't. He watched her lose hope. Lose her life.
"You can't, you can't die. Your my best friend. You can't. You just fucking can't."
She looks at him, with a broken heart in her eyes and a sadness in her heart. It breaks her, and he knows it. He isn't a hero. He's a murderer. Her blood is on his hands.
They all cheer, afterwards. The Hero of Olympus, they call him. But he knows better. Oh gods, he knows better. Deep in every one of their hearts, a bitterness nestles. He didn't do good enough. He let them down, because this person is dead, and that one is gone.
They cheer, but it falls on deaf ears. He doesn't hear them. All he hears are the shouts of condemnation, every torturous bit. Because he killed her, and he let them die.
When the daughter of the doves arrives at camp, he spends every waking moment with her. She reminds him if the girl, the one with storms in her eyes. They would have been friends. They would have been best friends.
They were so fucking alike, so could you blame him for taking solace in her?
He feels despicable, and gods it hurts, but he can't tell the difference now. They are the same. They both cry, "Evil! Evil!" He is a murderer. He is a cheater. He is despicable.
When the moon-eyed girl - the goddess - vists camp, it hasn't gotten any better. In fact, it is about to get worse, because with the goddess comes the tree-scented girl. The one with lightning in her fingertips.
Gods, it hurts to see her again. It hurts to breathe the the same air as him. She is a coward. He is despicable.
He sees the glances she shoots him when she thinks he can't see her. He hears the words she whispers when she thinks he can't hear her.
"I never should have abandoned you."
It doesn't help, to know her regret. He is still despicable. She is still a coward.
He sees her, at nights. They go to the now abandoned Big House - after Chirons death, it fell into disuse. They do it because the pain is to much. Because godsdamnit, they never asked for this.
These nights, he can forget the pain. Forget his sins. He can love once more. They are the only thing left in his life.
Because, fuck, it's painful. He barely gets by. He thinks of ending it often.
He doesn't. He waits for the dusk, and then they drink the stars.
They say that everyone fears someone. That one face triggers that primal instinct. He doesn't fear anyone. Nay, the only one he ever feared was dead. Now, all he feared was the dawn.
Obviously, I've stomped out canon here. Oh well. My first attempt at a non-canon pairing. Er...if you caught any mistakes, I bid thee tell.