Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. I don't own any works credited to his name. I'm not Cassandra Clare, either, and I don't own any works credited to her name, either. I'm simply just me, and I only own works credited to my own name. Check out my profile if you'd like to see those! (Writing Desk's Raven, previously JustAnotherChapter, Fangirl Queendom, and some other name I don't remember.)
Previously on More Than A Friend:
"She's known it about as long as I have, and confided in me her thoughts, which I shared, and she has sworn to tell no one of your identity." Aphrodite answered.
"Who?" I asked quietly.
Just before she flashed away, she said a name I'd never have expected. "Aliya."
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. One of my best friends knew I was alive.
I'd thought of Aliya as more a sort-of friend before I lost that friendship with my 'dying', not realizing how close we actually were until I'd lost that friendship. So when I found she'd become close friends with Sage, I was delighted to be able to hang out with her and have some of the closeness back, even if it couldn't be the same as before.
But for her to have known, all along, that we were already friends, already close, and for her to have to pretend that that didn't ever happen like I'd had to pretend... That must've been hard.
I heard the front door open downstairs and quickly left the room. I couldn't have Sage finding me in there by myself, he'd wonder. And it wasn't as if he wasn't smart, but the enchantment helped to keep everyone from figuring out who I was. It hadn't worked for Aphrodite or Aliya because they'd had real possibility to go by.
I went downstairs and entered the living room just as Sage came in from the entryway. "Eleos, I wanted to-" I cut him off. I really wasn't trying to be rude, but I had too many things on my mind.
"Can't talk now." I said quickly, walking past him and stopping before Aliya. My voice came out slower this time. "You knew."
"I did." She responded. Sage was looking at us with a confused look.
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked. "If you knew, you could've talked to me."
"While I was sure, it wasn't one hundred percent, and I didn't want to take that off chance and be wrong. That would've hurt more than it did pretending I didn't know you. But I knew, especially with your attitude and your demeanor and behavior, I knew it was you." She told me. I didn't say anything else, just threw my arms around her and hugged her. She hugged me back, and whispered low enough Sage couldn't hear. "I missed you, Mick."
A tear fell down my cheek as I pulled away from her. "You and me need to catch up, sometime, alright?"
"Yeah, we will. You're not getting out of my company that easily." She teased. I laughed.
I turned back to Sage. "We can talk later, okay?" I offered. "Aphrodite said she told her son I'd meet him and explain things because when she went asking around about an oath made to one of her children, he figured it out."
"So, Aphrodite, her son, and Aliya know who you are?" Sage asked. I nodded. "How did Aliya know?" He turned to her.
"Same way Aphrodite knew." Aliya winked at me and I blushed.
"I'm guessing you're not gonna tell me?" He asked.
"I do wish I could, but even having Aliya, who swore not to tell, Aphrodite, who is very aware of the consequences if anyone finds out, and Aphrodite's son, who I know wouldn't tell a soul, is dangerous. I can't let more people figure it out." I told him quietly. Aliya gave me a sad look.
Sage stepped forward and hugged me. I hugged him back lightly. "You just do what you need to, Eleos." He said. "We can talk later. I'm sorry."
I pulled back, gave him a small smile, then flashed away.
There was about ten minutes left until the end of classes when I arrived at Jacob's college, where he would currently be a senior. I found his car in the parking lot and leaned against it to wait for him.
When classes ended, crowds of students began pouring out of the building and heading to their cars or to talk to their friends. I didn't see Jacob, so I guessed he was still inside whatever building his last class was in.
"Who the hell are you?" I turned around to see none other than Annika standing in the parking lot in front of me.
"I don't need to answer to you. And you don't need to know." I said simply, picking at my nails. She glared.
"As Jacob's girlfriend, I think I have the right to know who's leaning against his car." Annika spat.
"Ex." I corrected. "You aren't with Jake anymore."
"That'll change soon, and it's none of your business, anyhow." She growled.
"You really think he'll take you back?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I have my ways." She gave me a little smirk. "And a magician never reveals her secrets."
"Cordelia!" Annika's head shot up at Jacob's voice, but I kept my gaze on her and didn't look when he called to me.
Cordelia was my middle name, something very very few people knew. Only my father, Lindsey, Erin, Christian, and his husband, Jacob, Aliya, and Sage knew. And no one would think twice about Jacob calling me Cordelia because for all they knew, that could truly be my name. I never went by it, so no one would draw the conclusion that I wasn't who I said I was. And he couldn't quite go around calling me Mikayla, or even Eleos, in case the wrong ears were to hear. I also hadn't worn my diadem because I didn't want to take the risk of wearing it anywhere but Olympus.
"Hey, Cordy, I'm so glad to see you!" Jacob said as he got closer.
He stopped short when he saw Annika standing there. He looked at me, then at her, then back at me. I sighed exasperatedly. "She doesn't know anything, Jake. She just showed up." I told him. I went over to him to speak in a low tone. "Says she wants to get back with you. I know it's been a long time and you've gotten over her, but don't let anything she says fool you. I want you to use your powers, see if she really does like you. I don't suggest getting back together anyways, but I don't you want you getting hurt again, alright?"
"I do have a girlfriend, Cordy. I'm not gonna just leave her for the likes of Annika." He whispered back.
"You know where to meet me." I told him. He nodded. "Come find me when you're done here."
I looked at Annika. "You're no magician. You have two mortal parents and you do not follow the goddess of magic. You have no power, from any source, and you're not even clear sighted. I could have four heads and you'd never even know the difference." I told her. "Not that I do, though. I'm perfectly normal for a being of my circumstances."
Her jaw dropped, and I smiled at her before flashing away.
Jacob soon caught up to me at the park, sitting on bench in a secluded area of the park where no one usually went. He came over and sat down next to me.
"So, how'd it go?" I questioned.
"Same as it has been going every week for the past two months. She wants to get back together, I don't. I tell her I'm already dating someone. She tries to convince me but I don't fall for it. She just likes my popularity, not me." He explained.
"Well, you are quite popular, aren't you, Mr. Star Quarterback." I teased.
"It's only college football..." He looked down, his cheeks a little red.
"You'll do great, and you'll be doing this for however long you want to be doing it." I told him. He ducked his head again at the compliment.
"How about you tell me about how things have been for you?" Jacob suggested. "Last I saw you, it was what, almost a year ago? We all thought you'd died. There was a funeral and everything. Closed casket, of course, for the mortals."
"Yeah, some things happened..." I trailed off. "I don't even know where to start."
"How about you start at the beginning?" He suggested.
So I did. I told him everything, beginning with the order from Zeus to follow all our orders, and ending with right now.
"So, you're some big shot immortal goddess now?" Jacob asked, a grin pulling at the side of his mouth.
"Kinda. I'm still a mortal, but I've got eternal youth." I answered. "I am invincible, though."
"That's kinda cool." He said. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, glancing down at it. He smiled. "Hey, I gotta go, but you better visit again sometime, alright? Angie's waiting for me."
"Angie?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He blushed.
"She's my girlfriend. Tomorrow's our one year anniversary, and I've got a date to the aquarium planned. It's her favorite place on Earth. Today, we're going to go out for dinner at this little diner she showed me." He explained.
"Favorite place on Earth, huh?" I asked. "You getting serious with her?"
He blushed even redder. "Um, yeah..." He trailed off. "I'm going to propose to her tomorrow. In front of the sharks. She loves them. The only thing I'm worried about is that it might be a little too early, but I really, really love her."
"She'll love it." I told him. "Now, you go ahead and go find your lover. I'll visit again sometime."
When I got back to Olympus, Aliya and Sage were playing cards at the island in the kitchen. I went over and sat beside Aliya as they finished up their game. Aliya won.
"That was fun, but my mistress calls for me, and you two need to talk." Aliya announced, standing. She gave us each a look that told us we'd better talk and make up, and she flashed away.
Sage gathered up the cards and put a rubber band around them, then tossed them in the drawer on the island. He pulled a slightly bent envelope from his back pocket and tossed it down on the island between us.
"My cousins and Orianne, none of them know, uh, about what's going on, at all, right now. So they don't know that I wanted to talk to you and to apologize, and they're forcing me to go and spend some time with them because I haven't really been visiting. So I wrote this while you were gone, and, um, yeah." He explained. "I really am sorry." Then he walked out of the room and out the front door.
I watched after him for a moment, before picking up the letter and going to my room to read it. I laid down on the bed and opened the envelope, unfolding the paper inside.
Dear Eleos,
I'm really sorry about what happened. I should never have tried to kiss you. I was drunk and I was way out of line.
He seemed to forget that I was kissing him back, and that I wasn't even the least bit drunk. I'd touched no alcohol whatsoever last night.
I didn't mean to say that, and I'm sorry that I made you cry. I just... I really, really loved her. I was going to propose to her, I had it all planned out, before everything happened and she died. I never even got to tell her I loved her. But it was a stupid idea from the beginning, because I never even knew if she felt for me more than as a friend. I just knew that I really, really loved her.
Tears started dripping down my face. It wasn't a stupid idea. I really, really loved him, I'd just never let myself think about it before.
But that's not the point of this letter. The point of this letter is to explain why I said what I did, and to apologize.
Eleos, you remind me a lot of Mikayla. The way you talk, the way you act, your personality. You're so alike her, yet you're still unabashedly you. And I fell for you, Eleos, really hard.
Sometimes, though, I get caught up thinking about the past, and even when I think I've put it out of my mind, it's still there, in the back, not completely gone. That's what happened last night. That's why I got so drunk, in the first place, actually.
And then I saw you, and I was just... Speechless. You were beautiful in that dress, but what struck me the most was how beautiful your eyes looked. And then we were talking, and laughing, and I couldn't help but keep noticing your eyes. And then I kissed you, and everything happened.
I'm really very sorry, Eleos. I have felt horrible all day since I woke up and remembered making you cry. The look on your face when I accidentally called you that... It broke my heart.
I'm also sorry that what I did made it so that I did not go to you in the night, like I usually do. It would've been extremely awkward, and neither of us would have wanted to be in that scenario, and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you after your nightmare. I was so drunk that I got home and was out like a light.
I really hope you can forgive me. If not today or tomorrow, then someday. I'm really sorry, Eleos, and I would do anything to make you forgive me. I really do love you.
With love and apologies,
Sage Tucker
I set the letter down on the bed. Tears were streaming down my face now. I came to a conclusion that I knew I'd already been at for some time, but that I refused to acknowledge until now: I was deeply in love with Sage Tucker.
~Sage's POV~
"Sage, what is up with you?" Orianne demanded.
"You don't visit us for like forever, and then when we get you down here, you don't even do anything or say anything. You just sit there dejectedly." Brady added.
"Yeah, is everything alright, cuz?" Bailey asked.
I didn't answer, just stared out the window. I wondered how Eleos had reacted to the letter. I'd given it to her seven hours ago.
"Whatever you're thinking about is obviously hurting you." Dustin said.
I continued staring out the window. I didn't really want to talk.
"Sage, whatever you're thinking about, you need to quit it." Hayden told me.
"We're starting to worry." Whit said.
"It's nothing you guys can help with." I said quietly, shifting into a more comfortable position on the couch.
"What happened?" Quinn asked gently.
"I screwed up." I said simply.
"What-" Orianne was cut off by a knock on the front door. She got up to go answer it.
The moment she'd opened the door, she said "I think you need to leave."
Whoever was at the door started to say something, but Orianne cut them off, and I realized who she was speaking to. "He's been spending all of his time up there with you, recently, and he won't even basically speak to us when he is with us. You can go wait up on Olympus-"
"Let her in, Orianne." I called. I heard Orianne sigh, and then two pairs of footsteps entered the living room.
I turned to look at Eleos just as she started crying. I was immediately out of my seat on the couch and standing in front of her. "What happened? What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's Aliya." She said. "They don't even know if she's going to be okay."
"Whatever happened, she has to be okay, right?" I asked. "She's still a goddess."
Eleos shook her head. "No, no, that's not how it works." She told me. "The damage is so bad that they're thinking of revoking her position as Aphrodite's assistant just to let her die and not have to suffer anymore. I don't know what to think about it. I don't want to see her in pain, but I don't want to lose her."
"They're thinking of putting her down like a dog?" I asked incredulously. "We need to go see her."
"No, you can't leave the farm, Sage!" Eleos insisted. "You need to protect your family. You're stronger than them, you always have been. They're actually somewhat afraid of you."
"Who?" I asked with a growing sense of unease.
"My enemy." Eleos said. "My enemy figured out that I'm corporeal now. They figured it out, and they saw that I'm close to her, that Aliya's my best friend."
"It can't have been them." I told her. I wanted to believe it. "They wouldn't have just hurt Aliya, right? Wouldn't they have gone much more public? They would've done something bigger than just hurting one person?"
"You don't understand, Sage. You weren't the one to go try and find her to hang out because the person you wanted to see was with their family." She said. "You didn't find her. You didn't find her on our porch, almost beyond recognition with what they did to her. You didn't find that note, nailed to her body. You didn't see her, and you can't see inside my nightmares, either. It was the exact same as my nightmares."
"There was a note?" I asked softly.
"All it said was 'Found you'." Eleos shuddered.
"What do you think they'll do next?" I asked. "Do you think they knew Aliya knows your identity?"
"I don't think they know, no, who I am. Even if they did, only my nephew knows I'm still alive, and Aphrodite would've said something if he'd been hurt." She said quietly. "And I have no idea what they'll do next. You'll have to stay here to protect your family, because I have no doubts they'd hurt your family just because I'm close to you. But I'll return to Olympus, and I'll find somewhere else to stay. Some of those gods may hate me, but none of them want my enemy to win. It'd be hell for them, too."
"But what about your nightmares? If they're around, and one of them actually happened, it's only going to make it worse." I asked.
"I'm just going to have to deal with it." She said, loosing a breath. "I'll just have to deal with it."
"Stay for tonight, at least." I said. "Let me help a little."
She looked up at me. "I can do that." She took a deep breath. "Tomorrow, I'll go back up. Aphrodite offered for me to stay in her home, the one she uses to get away from everything, that practically no one knows the location of."
I turned to look at my cousins. "Call everyone, and get them here as soon as possible. Call all our parents, call Nikita and Cypress, call Grandma Whitney and Grandpa Samuel and all the other grandparents. Call Mason. Dustin, call your grandparents and your aunt and uncle and your cousin, and call Andrea. If they're a member of this family, get them here. And get Anita, too." I ordered. "And let's all hope to God that those wards are still up from when Chelsey worked on them." They all nodded and began pulling out phones. Whit and Dustin disappeared with her necklace.
"Come on, Eleos, let's go upstairs." I said quietly. She just nodded silently and let me pull her gently up the stairs and down the hall to my old room. It was still my room for when I visited, but my cousins borrowed it when visiting more than I did, spending as much time as possible at the farm.
I pulled her over to the bed, sitting her down, and then went over to my dresser. I rifled through the drawers, trying to find something that might not be overly large on her. When I found something that I thought might fit her, I went over to the bed and gave it to her. "Here, you can sleep in this. It'll be more comfortable than your jeans, but I don't have bottoms that would fit you, so I grabbed something that'd be a little long on you." I told her.
"Thank you." She said quietly.
"It's no problem." I told her.
Eleos started thrashing around in her sleep sometime around two in the morning. I shook her awake, and she sat up, gasping for breath, tears running down her face. I wrapped my arms around her, and she leaned into me.
"Everything's going to be alright, Eleos." I murmured against her hair. "Nothing's happened, and nothing's going to happen."
"You don't know that." She said. "You can't tell me nothing will happen because you don't know." I had no answer to that, but I just held her tighter.
Maybe half an hour later, I spoke. "I'll be right back, okay? I just have to go the bathroom."
"Please hurry." She mumbled against my chest.
I assured her I'd be back soon, and got out of the end and left.
When I got back, Eleos was lying on her stomach, the sides of the shirt I'd given her lying to her sides. She must've unbuttoned it because of the heat. It got really warm in my room in the summer. I went over and laid down beside her.
My movements must've stirred her, because she lifted her head to look at me. "Did you really mean it?" She asked quietly. "What you said about how you feel about me?"
"I meant every word." I responded. "I love you, Eleos."
She smiled. "Good. Because I love you, Sage Tucker."
She moved so that she was straddling me, her knees on either side of my hips. I sucked in a breath when her lips landed on my chest.
"What, um," I swallowed hard. "What are you doing?"
She traced a path up my throat, along my jaw, and to my ear with her lips. Her fingers traced lightly across my chest. "I love you, Sage Tucker." Her voice was low. "I love you, and I am not going to allow myself to leave this life without ever having been with you."
She pressed her lips to mine, and I wrapped my arms around her back, pulling her flat against me.
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