My eyes narrowed and my lips formed a thin line as I stared ahead of me, thinking to myself very deeply.

At Camp Half-Blood, almost all of the kids never saw their godly parent. It was an honor too; there was usually a crowd surrounding one or two children as the others constantly pestered them about what it was like, how it was seeing their beautiful, charming parent. I suppose I could see why kids would think that way, but now, as I stared at my father in front of me, my mind was blank and no answers came.

"Hello," I whispered, though not intentionally. I raised my voice into a higher tone. "Hi, Dad."

I didn't say his name, like most other kids did, because it just didn't feel right. Although he'd never been with me for about half of my life, I knew calling him 'Hades' wouldn't give me a warm or fuzzy feeling. My thoughts set in my stomach like a rock.

"Hello, Pyrena," Hades—sorry, Dad—said back, opening his mouth only slightly to let words out. He had a droning, flat tone to his voice, and I couldn't help but feel like I was going to jail. "Good morning. How—how are you?"

He said the last bit like it was weird he was meeting me, looking at me with his pitch black, purple-flecked eyes, able to reach out and touch me since I was there. I was in front of him.

I continued, "Did you meet Aiden yet?"

And he nodded. He had thin, greasy, horribly black hair, and I thought that everything about my dad seemed to be dark and brooding. He had an aura around him that reeked of death—not, like, the smell of death, just death. Like it was all he could think about.

"You and your brother are impressive." Hades licked his chapped lips. "I'm proud of you, Pyrena."

I kind of wanted to let out a tear, as I felt water well up in my eyelids, ready to break any second now. I sniffed, my nose clogging just a bit. "Thanks,"

"You grew up beautiful," he said with a hushed voice. "You grew up so much from the last time I saw you."

I folded my hands together. I smiled, too, thinking I could help kill this awkwardness with a bit of happiness. "Really?" My shoulders tensed, "When did you last visit me? I never saw you,"

Hades looked to the side distantly. "When you were six or so. Your mother was happy to let me see you. I—I left quickly, however, I thought it was best if I watched you from afar."

I agreed, silently, in my head. I don't know—to me, it just would've been weird if I'd been exposed to my godly parent so quickly. I didn't want to be like those kids who'd been stuck living in the past with small memories of their parent, memories washed away by time and forgetfulness. I wanted this. The real thing.

Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around my dad weirdly. He was wearing a cotton black cloak over a deep purple dress shirt, and a pair of black jeans and suede shoes. He was well dressed, if you'd ask me, but the cloak killed it as I tried to give him a hug. "I'm glad I could see you again," I said into his ear.

"Me too," he replied, hugging me back.

He let go of his grip around me after a second or two but I stayed, still not giving up my grasp. It felt too good just to be able to touch my father again. I wanted this moment to last, longer, before I'd have to say goodbye for another ten years again.

I missed my father. I missed him so badly I didn't hear myself as I sobbed silently into his shoulders, though they were happy tears. I sucked in air repeatedly and still hugged him, and he patted my back, closing his eyes and feeling my sad emotions.

Other campers stared at me and made faces at my emotional meeting with Hades, but their expressions weren't full of laughter. It was a familiar expression, one I could relate to easily—they too had known what it was like to finally meet your parent, to say hello just once before they vanished off to wherever. Aiden, who was sitting on a bench behind me, smiled, too. He said to my head clearly, "I'm happy for you."

I was happy for myself, too.