Apov

As much as I would have liked to, I didn't spend the rest of the afternoon kissing Harper. She eventually told me she had to start weighing the options for our next move and while I attempted to go over some of the chemistry chapters, and worked on a couple of quiz sites she'd recommended for me, it was mostly something to do to stay out of her way.

Once I'd gotten my head on straight, I had other things on my mind.

I'd kissed Harper. I'd actually kissed her, after so many years of trying not to force myself not to think about it, it finally happened. Now I had no idea what to do next.

'As if things with Charlie hadn't been bad enough.' I thought, but really, did it even matter anymore? He was never going to forgive me. And even if he'd been considering it before, now he really would never forgive me. Not now that I was dating his sister.

'Actually,' a small voice in the back of my mind whispered, accompanied by a strange, anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. 'Were we dating?'

I hadn't thought about that. I glanced up at Harper who'd manage to fall asleep on top of an encyclopedia surrounded by notes and several smaller books. There was a mark on her cheek where it had brushed against her pen and I grinned. I was pretty sure only Harper could look that adorable completely passed in a pile of books. Or maybe that's just how it was when you cared about someone this much. There would always be something that reminded you of how much you liked them, no matter what they were doing. Even if it was nothing.

'Focus on getting through this quest.' I thought shaking my head and turning back to my text book, trying to get a hold of myself. 'Then you can take a look at your relationship status.'

I couldn't let myself get distracted. We had a time limit, a dead line. And I wasn't helping Harper and our current situation if I just sat here staring at her.

She'd fallen asleep over an hour ago, scribblings notes and translating bits and pieces of information the Athena cabin had gathered over time and pouring over the world map she'd spread across my blankets, I figured it was probably best to let her rest. My mother had said she'd be back for dinner, and just as I had expected, it hadn't been true. It was almost three am, no doubt some crazy emergency had popped up at the hospital and she was the only person in the entire universe who could resolve the situation.

'Maybe it was better.' I thought vaguely, deciding to abandon the chemistry book in front of me and finally give up on waiting for my mother. 'If she's out all night and the morning, we might be able to be out of here before she starts asking too many questions.'

In all honestly, it was probably a blessing in disguise.

This, I figured, was the best way to look at it and in the meantime, I didn't have to figure out how to explain everything that was going on to my her without my mother calling Chiron, or Harper's father.

Her father…

That was something I hadn't even considered. I liked the twin's dad and judging on the number of weekends and vacations I'd spent with them, I was pretty sure he liked me, but that had been as Charlie's friend. Now that I knew about the prophecy about her, seemed to be an active part of it… I had a feeling that his relationship with me was rapidly going to change.

I felt a pang go through me, and it felt like something close to anxiety. I wasn't exactly small, especially for a teenager, and while he might have been an author now, the twin's father was ex-military and looked it. He might have been retired, but from the bits and pieces I could string together, he'd been involved in some high-level operations, stuff that even the twins weren't allowed to know to this day, and he was still on the speaking circuit visiting bases, and talking with the higher ups about projects he'd been a part of, or might be still involved with. If anyone could make someone disappear, even a demigod, I was pretty sure Landon Davis could.

I'd just stumbled across this very unpleasant thought, when I heard the garage door opening and felt a pang of shock go through me as instantly, my stomach began to knot itself in tension.

'Well' I thought a little dryly, standing up and feeling my joints ache from being stuck in a computer chair for so long. 'I guess I'm going to have to face this after all.'

I glanced at Harper, wondering if I should wake her, but remembering my mother's expression from before, decided against it. No need to drag her into the situation if I didn't have to. Quietly, I made my way out of the room, hesitating for only a second, before stepping onto the stairs, mentally preparing myself for what I figured was going to be a very long conversation.

It didn't take longer than a moment after reaching the middle floor to see she'd gone into her home office and hear she was on the phone with someone. Probably her assistant.

"I can't make the symposium if they reschedule it for September." She said and I heard a 'thunk' that told me she'd dropped her bag on her desk. "I've promised to do a series of lectures in New York that month. I can't put it off again."

As usual, she sounded frustrated but there was something else to it. An edge to her voice. She sounded strained, stressed even which was odd. Annoyed was one thing, irritated and exasperated were par for the course, but stressed? That wasn't like my mother. She didn't stress over things. She was too organized for that. She didn't allow it.

"They can't just change an entire convention like that," she continued peevishly. "We have lives to live, operations planned out months in advance…"

I debated saying something, but she sounded busy, and knowing how much she hated being interrupted while she was working, I decided against it.

Instead, I started making my way towards the kitchen to get something to eat when something she said caught my attention.

"What do you mean the prime minister rescheduled?" she asked furiously. "You don't just reschedule major surgery."

Curious, I quietly stepped back to the office door not entirely sure as to why, but interested in the situation nonetheless.

I didn't catch all of her assistant's response, but it sounded as if it had something to do with recovery times and a meeting with the UN.

"No, he can't just change the date like that. We've got a treatment plan, hospital time, and entire medical staff on standby!" She hesitated for a moment before saying. "Besides, Ashton and I were supposed to go on a trip this year. I can't miss another Christmas."

Immediately, I felt my stomach sink as resentment started to build within me.

"Well," her assistant said over the phone after a moment and I realized with a ruffle of pages, she must have put them on speaker phone while she looked for something. "Dr. Singer could do the operation if you're willing to release the patient to his care."

"No." my mother snapped immediately, her tone harsh. "He's not experienced enough with the new equipment."

"He's gone through your trainings multiple times." The assistant pointed out. "He's completed the procedure with minimal recovery periods."

"Not on a head of state." My mother snapped.

I shook my head, leaning away from the door trying not to feel angry. She might have been protesting now, but I knew how this was going to end. My mother was one of the best surgeons in the world, and while I was proud of her and it sounded like whatever they'd asked her to do was really important, a part of me still couldn't help but feel bitter.

It was bad enough I never saw my dad, and but he was a god. He didn't belong in the mortal world. But my mother wasn't a god. She was supposed to be the normal one. A mortal. Why did I have to end up with two parents that never seemed to be able to stick around longer than a week or two?

"Well." Her assistant continued with the tone of someone knowing they were going to get their head bitten off no matter what they said. "I can alter your schedule for the operation, but that will mean on Christmas, you'll be in Europe."

"I can't believe this." My mother muttered and when I chanced a glance through the half open door, I saw she was leaning forward on her desk, her head in her hands. "He's going to kill me."

"The prime minister?" the assistant asked with alarm.

"No, my son." She said quietly. "I promised."

"Oh." The voice from across the line said a little awkwardly. "Well, there's always next year, right?"

"This was next year." She said shaking her head. "As was the year before that."

There was an awkward pause where it felt as if her assistant was steeling their nerve before she continued with.

"Dr. Singer can do the surgery."

They sounded hesitant, almost afraid even, to make the suggestion and I expected my mother to get angry, but found I was surprised when she hesitated.

She looked up from her hands and at a framed photo next to her computer, one that must have been taken a year ago when she'd finally managed to make it to a basketball game towards the end of the season.

I'd played terrible in the first half knowing she watching and trying to be perfect, my coach had thought about benching me, when I missed yet another shot in the start of the second half, but at that point Harper had taken to actually closing her book and done what she'd always done when I was freaking out.

She said it would be ok.

And just like that it was. And we'd gone on to win.

"I'll think about it." my mother said eventually. "Schedule the surgery for now and we can discuss Dr. Singer's availability at the end of the week."

This surprised me and evidently it surprised her assistant as well because when she responded, she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She said with a sigh. She sounded tired and more stressed than ever, but her assistant either didn't notice, or didn't want to point it out.

"Alright I'll email his front desk and have him call you on Friday."

"Thank you," my mother said sounding tired, ending the call going back to looking at the photo.

After debating with myself for just a second, I knocked on the door before pushing it open.

"Ashton." She said and she looked stunned, clearly having been caught off guard. "I, I didn't realize you were there."

"Yeah, I kind of figured." I said a little awkwardly, noticing that the initial shock of the situation was wearing off and she was regaining her composure. She still looked tired though, and I wondered what had caused her to get home so late after what should have been a simple follow up appointment. "I guess the cruise is off this year?"

We were supposed to go to Mexico this winter. Holidays weren't exactly big in our house, which was a start contrast to the attic full of decorations that the twins attacked their house with every year, even for the smaller occasions like earth day, but this was the first Christmas in years she'd actually taken time off for. Well, I guess it would have been.

I'd tried to keep the resentment out of my voice, but I wasn't sure I'd quite managed it because to my surprise, she winced slightly.

"I'm not sure." She said diplomatically. "I'm sure we can find a way to work around it."

"The patient or me?" I asked a little bitterly but when I saw her expression, I relented a little. "Sorry." I said though I wasn't sure how much I really meant it. "That sounded important. We can go another time."

"I'll figure it out."

"Ok." I said unenthusiastically, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the door frame.

She looked at me for a moment.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"No." I said honestly. At this point, why would I?

"Ash-"

"It's fine," I said cutting her off with a sigh. "I guess I can just spend the break at camp or something."

"At camp?" she asked looking confused. "Not with Charlie? Wouldn't that be in the middle of your season?"

At this I let out a stiff laugh.

"I don't think I'd be very welcome to spend Christmas with Charlie at this point."

This caught her attention, and for the first time in a long time, I saw genuine concern cross her expression.

"Why not?"

"I really don't want to talk about this." I said avoiding her gaze.

"Because I'm your mother?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because it sucks." I said surprised to feel my throat going a little tight.

"What sucks about it?" she asked leaning back in her chair fixing me with a contemplative look.

"You're a surgeon mom," I said shaking my head. "Not a therapist."

"That might be true." She said with a shrug. "But you don't need a degree to listen to your son."

I looked at her indignantly, almost angry. Since when did we ever talk about anything lately? Other than how badly I was doing in school or sometimes basketball. But felt something crack within me when I caught her expression.

I wasn't sure what it was, the expression of love and concern she was giving me, or that I felt I rarely ever got to see it anymore. Maybe it was the words, or even just the way she'd said them, but I soon found myself telling her everything. How I'd met the twins, and how sometimes, I wasn't sure if I'd done the right thing choosing to be Charlie's friend over trying to fix things with Harper. About the nightmares I'd been having, tutoring and archery lessons with Harper, and James, then, finding out about the prophecy and leaving camp with her. Then the fight with Charlie.

"It just feels like, it doesn't matter what I do. I always end up failing." I said quietly, not wanting to meet her gaze and instead looking at the floor. "Whether it's school, or my relationship with Jasmine and Harper, I pretty much nuked my friendship with Charlie and for what? I couldn't even keep that idiot James from screwing her over." I said a little desperately. "There's hardly a week left before the deadline expire and Olympus comes after her. How is it possible to screw up everything in your life this bad, this fast?" I asked wondering why she was looking at me like that, like she was thinking, but also, like she was heartbroken. "How is it possible to be half god and your son, and be such a failure? Why do I always have to mess everything up?"

My mother didn't answer for a moment, she just looked at me seeming to be working up to something. Just as I was expecting a half way tolerant speech about not wallowing in self pity and just having to try harder next time, I was stunned to see her cross the small office space and pull me into a tight hug.

I stood there for a second, stunned, not entirely sure what was going on before I realized she wasn't letting go. This wasn't a brief sort of embrace, the kind you gave someone after you hadn't seen them for a bit or a family member that just happened to be in town. Or even the sort of thing you'd do when you'd missed someone and were really excited to see them. This was something only a parent could do. Something that was meant to contain misery inside you and pull it out, making the burden lighter and lighter with each passing moment of the embrace.

I wasn't sure how long we stood there, or when I'd started to hug her back but eventually, she relaxed her grip and put her hands on my shoulders.

"Ashton." She said quietly and once again, I was surprised at the gentleness in her tone, even more so because it seemed sincere. "This is not your fault."

"If it hadn't been for me-"

"You are seventeen." She said cutting me off, sounding a little incredulous. "This is not your responsibility. Where are Harper's parents in all this? Her brother? The rest of her family?"

I hesitated for a moment, thinking of Charlie, who was probably continuing through his break down, their father, who'd made him promise never to tell Harper about the prophecy about her, and Athena, who'd dumped her on this path in the first place. Whose affection had gone only as far as to not immediately hand her over to Zeus. Just to allow her the attempt at restoring any portion of her mother's honor that she could.

"It's complicated." I said not wanting to go into the firestorm that was currently the Athena cabin. "I don't think you'd really understand."

She let go of me with a sigh and shook her head before she leaned back on her desk, fixing me with a long, considering look.

"You know, sometimes I wish you weren't so much like me." She said softly.

"Like you?" I asked so indignantly, I barely held back a laugh.

She had to be kidding.

"Oh yes," she said with a nod, contradicting my not so subtle rejection of the statement. "Exactly like me."

I looked at her, unable to tell if she was being serious or not.

I was nothing like my mother. My mother was, well, she like the twins, or maybe even their mother. She was brilliant, confident about it too, the sort of person everyone looked to first in a crisis, and was always topping every leader in her field. Even if that person was herself.

I couldn't even pass my chemistry final.

She fixed me with an appraising expression that was familiar, but for once, it didn't seem critical. It seemed as if she knew exactly what was going through my mind.

"You care far too much about what everyone else is thinking about you, you always do. And you let that anxiety control the choices you make in life."

I looked at her uncertainly for a moment.

"You own your own practice." I said to her slowly. "You're the boss. No one tells you want to do."

People waited months to be seen by her, worked their lives around her work schedule. She had people booked out for consultations over a year in advance.

"Everyone tells me what to do." She said crossing her arms over her chest and letting out a weary sigh. "Do you think I want to be scrubbing in on Christmas? Or flying to New York this fall, lecturing a bunch of pre-med students who have no idea what I'm talking about, for a bunch colleagues who were mean to me in college? Of course, I don't." she said shaking her head. "But I have to."

"You don't have to do anything." I said a little annoyed. "No one is making you go."

It was hard to have sympathy for my mother in her career when it had always taken priority over me with not a single exception in memory.

"And no one is forcing you to fix the mess your friend's mother has created. Or deal with Charlie's tantrum." She pointed out with a shrug. "If you don't want to, don't."

I looked at her for a second, considering her statement, not entirely sure how to argue against it. Objectively, she was right. I didn't have to do any of this. The only problem was, you'd have to be a sociopath to justify it that way.

"Not so easy, is it?" she said dryly, her smile showing that clearly she'd caught the tenor of my thoughts.

"It's not the same." I said shaking my head. "Harper's in real trouble."

"And so is every person that ends up on my operating table." She said and while her tone was firm, it was also a little weary. "I could argue that someone else could help your friend, and you could argue that another doctor could take care of them. But is that going to change either of our minds that we are the best person to take care of the situation? The only person really, who should be doing it."

"I don't get what you're trying to argue." I said irritated. "Yeah, I get your job is important. That's why I don't complain about it."

"Maybe you should." She said with a shrug and felt my eyes narrow slightly.

"What?"

"Maybe you should complain about it." she said quietly. "If it bothers you."

I stared at her, not entirely sure what I should say next. My mother didn't look angry, but I couldn't ignore the sense of anxiety that was going through me at her words that made me feel as if this were some sort of trap.

"You want me to be mad at you?" I asked suspiciously.

"Of course I don't want you to be mad at me." She said shaking her head. "But maybe if you were. I could have justified being a little selfish every once and a while."

She must have realized how this sounded when she caught my expression, because as continued, she sounded a little upset.

"I'm not blaming you Ash," she said. "You're a kid, I get that. But it's hard to understand the damage of something you're doing when seemingly nothing bad happens because of it. You were always such a good child, you never complained when I came home late or missed a tournament. And in think somewhere over time, something that started and understanding, turned into expectation. You got used to me not being around, I got used to you being ok with it. And like me, you'd rather keep things moving smoothly rather than disrupt the waters. But that doesn't mean you should let the current pull you under just because that's the way it's always been headed." She said quietly. "And maybe, if one of us had decided to be a little selfish and get angry, we wouldn't be where we are right now."

"So you want me to yell at you?" I asked grinning and she frowned.

"No." she said looking slightly alarmed at the thought. "But maybe you should stop making so much room for other people problems in your life. Even if that means me as well."

"No," I said shaking my head. "Look I get it, that surgery. That sounded really important." I said realizing the offer that was implied in her last statement. "Like, international politics important. With like… real consequences if something goes bad." I said and she grinned a little. "And I'm not going to stop helping Harper just because she's ended up having like, the worst luck ever."

Somethings people just couldn't control.

"I wasn't talking about your friend Harper." She said mildly and I frowned.

"Then what are you talking about?"

She hesitated for a moment, before saying.

"Do you ever think sometimes, that Charlie might be a better friend if he thought his behavior might make him lose you?"

Her tone was careful, despite this I immediately felt the urge to defend Charlie. It was more out of habit, however, rather than any belief that it was true.

"He's scared for his sister." I pointed out. "It would be weird if he wasn't upset."

"Maybe, but from what you've told me, he's not merely upset." She pointed out. "While he's busy throwing a tantrum and feeling sorry for himself, he's left sister is alone. He's not talking to the last person who's seen her, and he doesn't even know where she is. Who exactly is he helping right now?"

"I-" I started, but I didn't have an answer for that, and she seemed to know it.

"At this point. Do you think staying quiet and putting everyone else's issues in front of your own has helped them? Or has it made them infinitely worse?"

I thought about the twins, and how much they'd been shielded from by other people. Their mother, their father, even me. No one had told Harper what was facing her as she'd been growing up, I hadn't wanted to bother Charlie with how I'd felt about her sister, because I didn't want to deal with that drama as his friend. They'd thought it was better for her not to be afraid of her future, and I thought it was easier just to the deal with the situation on my own rather than force Charlie to deal with the fact the fact that I couldn't help but see his sister as more than a friend. But if any of us had been honest, this all might not have happened. Harper might never have been tricked by James.

Hell, the situation might have been avoided entirely.

I felt a blank feeling of shock ring through me at this realization, reverberating like a bell as I considered this.

Had I been just as bad as my mother? Pretending not to see problems? Acting as if as long as no one said anything about them, that they couldn't affect me too much, or that they weren't real? But I'd seen what it had done to our relationship, how much damage it had caused. And I'd just gone right along and done it with my friends. But I wasn't the only one this was hurting anymore.

How had it taken so long to see this?

I was pulled back from this harrowing realization as my mother let out another sigh.

"You know, you're not the only person who feels like they messed everything up Ashton." She said and her expression was hard to describe. "I wasn't that much older than you when I thought I'd really screwed up my life for good."

"What are you talking about?" I asked a little confused, but when she raised an eyebrow the realization hit me.

"You're talking about dad, aren't you?"

My mom didn't like talking about her past much, especially before she met my father but from what I could tell she'd been a rich kid in a private college, supposed to marry the son of one of her Dad's business partners who had money. Like, 'friends in Washington' kind of money. That was all before she'd met my father.

She'd been volunteering as an undergrad in a trauma center after a factory explosion had all but demolished a small town near her school, the hospital had been stretched thin until, somewhat miraculously, a new doctor started working that same week, and then suddenly, patients under his care, even in the most critical condition, just turned it around making the most remarkable recoveries.

My mother was the only one apparently who seemed to notice something was strange about the situation, and in turn, maybe that's why she was the only one he had noticed.

When she found out she was pregnant her parents threatened to kick her out if she didn't give me up for adoption and delay her graduation to marry the friend's son. She'd told them to go to hell and left anyways.

It wasn't until they'd seen my name printed in a newspaper for winning a state wide basketball tournament with my current school that they reached out, supposedly offering to pay the tuition.

My mother had refused. She'd told them she didn't need their money and once again, told them to go to hell and to be honest, I didn't blame her. Relationship issues aside, I could always say that my mother never made me feel like she thought she'd made the wrong choice walking out on her parents and her previous life for me.

"You know, when bones fracture or break, sometimes, in the healing process, the break point can end up stronger than it was before." She said putting standing from her chair and putting a hand on my shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Sometimes your life needs to shatter for a bit, so you can build it back to be stronger where you thought it might never be fixed. And so you can build it into something better than it was before."

"Is yours?" I asked her uncertainly. "Better, I mean? After meeting dad."

And having me…

I hadn't said it out loud, but I knew I didn't have to.

She smiled at little at this, and I was surprised to see how genuine it was.

"It is. For all your father's faults, and there are many." She said still sounding a little amused. "He showed me what it was like to be treated with love. I'm not sure I would have ever known that where my life had been headed. And he still does, by giving me you."

An emotion spiked through me at this, so sharp it was almost painful though it was hard to identify. I wasn't sure if it was relief, or guilt. Maybe both.

"So you don't regret it?" I asked trying to keep my tone nonchalant, but I didn't think I managed because she placed her hand on my cheek in a comforting manner before saying.

"You're my son, Ash. My life is always better, because you are in it."

She gave my shoulder one last pat before saying something about going to bed and making her way towards the office door but as she reached for the handle, I hesitated and said.

"Mom?"

"Yes?" she asked looking back at me.

"Do you not like Harper?"

I'd never really thought it all that much, mostly because they'd never really spent a lot of time together, but I'd never really known my mother's opinion of her. She liked Charlie. Or tolerated him at least because he helped me with sports and had convinced me to attend and commit to keeping up with a good school, even if he was a little hot tempered, but Harper… With Harper, she'd always been a little remote. Granted, she'd sort of always been that way, but looking back, there was an obvious difference between the two that I sort of assumed had to do with the fact she hadn't talk to Harper as much. It was only now that I was wondering why.

"Your friend's little sister is fine." She said emotionlessly.

"Twin." I corrected automatically and while she looked annoyed, she let it go.

"She's intelligent, she's pretty, wouldn't get into to trouble if her mother wasn't who she was, and is exactly the kind of girl I'm sure every parent would want their son around."

"But…?" I asked, voicing the end of the sentence that had been clearly implied.

"Not every parent has a demigod for a child." She said quietly. "Harper is a good kid Ashton, and so are you. But the worst things that happen to demigods like you, well, they always seemed to get involved with it because of the women they love."

Instantly, I felt my cheeks burn and I wanted to protest, to say something either in denial or in Harper's defense, but she shook her head.

"Save it Ashton. It's written all over your face when you look at her, it always has been." She said and while she shot me half a smile, it was brittle. "It's not Harper's fault, I know that. But if there's one thing you've inherited from your father, it's how to love." She sighed but crossed the room and placed a hand on my cheek again, her thumb brushing over a cut I'd managed to get over the last few days. "You do so much for the people you care about, give everything really, and I love that about you Ashton, I really do." She released me and her eyes were sad now. "I just hope that one day, that doesn't include your life."

"Mom." I said a little surprised at just how much thought she'd seemed to have put into this. "I don't," I started. "I wouldn't-"

"Yes, you would." She said softly. "You would for either of your friends and while I accept it." she sighed. "It doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. Especially when I know the person capable of hurting my son the most, is the same person he'd choose suffer any fate for, rather than see it happen to her."

"Harper wouldn't hurt me." I said incredulously. Maybe that was why my mother didn't like Harper, because the idea she'd had of her was so wrong. "She wouldn't-"

But she cut me off.

"You are like your father Ashton." She said quietly. "You'll do anything for the people you love and you can't imagine a world in which others don't. But Harper, she far more like me." She said and for the first time, I heard a little regret in her tone. "Like her mother. People like that," she hesitated. "If it comes down to a sacrificing a part of themselves or the person that they love, they'll choose themselves."

I felt a pang of shock go through me.

It was clearly a warning, but from the look in her eyes I could tell that what she'd had hit closer to home than she wouldn't have liked me to notice. And I realized something.

"Dad didn't leave you. Did he?" I asked in amazement as I stared at her. "You left him."

I'd always assumed, that my dad being a god and my mother being a mortal, that he'd left her, lost interest or just had always assumed that it would have never worked out and gone on with his life like the gods always seemed to. But now...

"He was one of the few Olympians that had never married." She said with a shrug, but her tone didn't reflect the casual gesture. "When I reminded him things would never really work out between us he always laughed and said he had no one to hide me from, nothing to keep him from staying and when he found out about you he promised me everything, luxury, wealth, that he'd take care of us and we would have everything a women kept in favor by one of the gods deserved. Everything and more."

Most people wouldn't have heard the bitterness in her voice behind the statement, and if they had, wouldn't have understood her resentment at such an offer. Being given anything you could ever want, when ever you wanted it.

"You would have hated that." I said quietly.

My mother hated waiting around for people, she hated not having control over her own life. It was one of the reasons she worked as hard as she did, so no one could be in a position to tell her what she could and couldn't do. I couldn't have imagined how miserable she would be if she'd sat around, waited on hand and foot subject to the whims of a god. Not having her career, doing nothing but have her life revolve around him…

"And so would your friend." She said.

"I don't want that for Harper." I said incredulously. I might have been a son of Apollo, but I wasn't a god wrapped up in a world of power and legendary responsibility. And I didn't want to be. How could she think that? "And you hardly know her."

Haper and I weren't her and my father.

But she didn't seem convinced.

"I know enough Ash." she said flatly and then let out a sigh, as if knowing this wasn't the type of argument she was going to win.

"Just think about it." she continued and while her tone was light, there was caution behind it. "And remember that just because you're willing to soften your light to let others shine, doesn't mean that others are." The look she gave me at this was significant. "Harper is just as powerful and as much of a demigod as you or Charlie, and she's been in her brother's shadow for far too long." She shook and turned away from me, heading back towards the office door as I watched her walk away. "Just because you're willing to stay there, doesn't mean she is. Not even for you."