A.N. So Son of Neptune. Did anyone else wanna smack Nico upside the head? Or is it just me? Cause I felt the need to jump into the book, and beat him upside the head. And the ending? Don't even get me started. I have to wait a whole other year? SERIOUSLY? The one thing that I REALLY wanted to read, and I have to wait a WHOLE OTHER YEAR? Gr…..
Anyways, it was still an amazing book.
Has anyone seen those Scion commercials with "Zeus"? I laughed so hard seeing them.
Thanks for the comments guys, they mean a lot. But, I was wondering, if instead of having the 2 out of 300 people who read my story comment, if like 5 can? That would be awesome.
Oh, and these like next chapter or two (not sure yet), will be Marina and Chance in Olympus, and when they get back to camp, more characters will be involved. Oh, and a shout out to Theminotaur'shorn, your comment made me laugh so hard, I almost cried. Thank you so much!
And now we continue.
Chance's P.O.V. (again, if you want Marina, cause I kinda wanna write in her point of view, please comment!)
I stood there, jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it. She was raised by them?
"You're going to attract flies." She was quiet, and patient.
"So wait, you're telling me, that these people that you have told me so much about, that the people that everyone makes such a huge deal about, that a whole week is dedicated to, are the same people that raised you?" She nodded. "Oh."
We both remained quiet. I still wasn't settled into this life, but even I could tell that this was a big deal.
"That shirt?"
"Yah, it was Percy's. I have some of their clothes still here. That was their apartment. I just couldn't get rid of everything. I couldn't bring myself to do it." She held her head in shame. Like she was embarrassed to admit that she held onto the past for so long. "That's why I admire you so much. I can't get over them, and it's been 7 years." A silent tear rolled down her cheek, and made its way onto the blessed ground. I took my hand and cupped her cheek, lifting her face up so that I could see her wounded eyes, I wiped away the tear's trail with my thumb.
Her eyes were so sad. I could see the loss she had, the pain, the regret.
But all of that didn't keep me. The colors swirled, almost as if a whirlpool was stuck in her eyes. I could feel myself leaning into her. Her auburn hair swayed with the light breeze, and tickled my face. Her lips looked so soft. I glanced back between her eyes and lips, wondering what she would say, or let me do. I could feel the pressure of her face, as she leaned in more, heat radiated from her face with the blood that creeped up, and spread. She was leaning towards me to.
Our noses touched, and brushed. Her eyes closed slowly, as she tilted her head. Oh my gods, I'm going to kiss her. Our lips grazed, like a whisper. I was closing the lingering space between us.
"Marina!" Gods damn it! We jumped apart, with our breathing barely under control, and our cheeks a slight shade of pink. A woman that I had seen in the meeting.
"Lady Athena." Marina's smooth voice cloaked her nervousness and embarrassment. Athena walked up to us in a white toga like dressing. Her brown hair was up in a tight bun thing, with strings of gold holding it in place. She had an air about her that radiated power and superiority. Her gray eyes were cold and analytical.
"Marina, Chance." She nodded. "If I could borrow you Marina. I wish to speak with you. Alone." She turned and walked away.
"I'm sorry." She didn't meet my eyes. "Please, just wait right here. I'll be back in 10 minutes." She hurried off behind the goddess.
I could only stand with wide eyes. I almost kissed the most beautiful girl I have ever seen (A.N. I think he likes her. I'm the writer, but even I'm not sure). A girl that I barely knew, that would willing share with me her past. A girl that I was so willing to share my own history with. And she left me. To follow a goddess.
I'm going to need a nap after this.
I stood around for a few minutes, and decided that I was bored out of my mind, and wanted to look around. I subconsciously walked the way that Athena and Marina had gone. The path had lead me down through a garden area with different plants, and things. Yah, not too sure what they were, I'm not a plant guy. In all the quiet, I could hear two voices. I walked to their origin hidden behind some hedges. I peeked through the branches and leaves, and saw Athena and Marina, deep in conversation.
"-to see you."
"Thank you, Athena. I missed you too." They were hugging. Weird. Athena's once judgmental eyes were now soft and caring. Really weird.
"How are you, My dear? How are you holding up?"
"I'm ok. It really hurts though. Chance um- He found my scars."
"And what did you tell him?"
"I told him, what I tell everyone else. That I got it fighting off, and killing that damn drakon that took their lives." She had so much pain forced in her words. It actually scared me.
"Oh Marina." The goddess took the demi-goddess into her arms, and stroked her hair. "You don't deserve to go through that. You are so strong to be here today. You remind me so much of your mother, that it scares me."
Marina sniffed. "Really?"
"Of course." Athena nodded. "You know, when ever your hair is up, you look just like her. I can see some of the gray in your eyes. And, when you actually let your hair down, those waves come from her." (A.N. If anyone gets it at this point, yays. And Congrats!)
"Thanks. I miss them so much."
"I know dear. I know." They sat in silence, and my head spun. What the Hades were they talking about, gray? What is going on?
*snap* I looked down, at the broken twig under my shoe. Shit. I could have sworn my cover was blown when they looked my way.
"Hey! Athena!" The two quickly looked on the other side of the clearing. A man walked in. He had blond hair, and blue eyes. He held a cell phone, with snakes? Ok.
"Yes, Hermes?"
"Oh, hey Marina? What's up?" He gave my friend a one arm hug. "So, Athena, Zeus said that he wanted you. Something about a war, and strategy. I don't know, I stopped paying attention to that decades ago." Hermes rambled, Athena rolled her eyes.
"Thank you, Hermes for your elaborate explanation for which our father calls upon my presence." Marina laughed.
"Any time, Sis." Athena shook her head, and rolled her eyes.
"Good-bye my dear." She gave Marina one more hug, turned and left.
"So…."
"Yes, Hermes, I am fine. I know what today is. Yes I miss them." She gave the god a sad smile.
"Oh. Well alright then, Ms. Know-it-all. You are way too much like your grandmother. And your mother as a matter of a fact. And she was right, you look just like your mother." They both smiled. I DON'T GET IT! WHAT IS GOING ON?
"Thank you." The two continued to talk as I zoned out.
Ok, so wait. She just said that. Wait, no. So, they just said that she looked just like her mom? Did all the gods, like know her? I was still thinking about this, when I noticed Marina heading this way. So, I did what every smart, teenage guy would do. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.
I made it to the place that Marina had left me, trying to catch my breath. I could see her walking my way. I turned my back to her, so that she couldn't see me so out of breath.
"Hey, Chance." I turned around. She had a smile on her face. "Sorry I took so long- are you ok?"
"Hmm? Oh, yah. I'm ok."
"Are you sure? You seem out of breath."
"Oh, yah, no. don't even worry about it."
"Okaaay." She didn't seem sure, but she let it go. She started to walk away.
"Hey, wait." I ran to catch up with her. She didn't stop. I finally matched her pace. And we continued walking in an awkward silence. How do I talk to a girl that I almost kissed (when we had only known each other for a few days), that I also found out some confusing information about to.
The path put us past, Hazel and Elm trees? Yah, I think that's it. That's when we got there.
The trees made an arch way into a huge marble building.
"This, is the Library of Olympus. It is surrounded by Hazel trees, which mean hidden wisdom, and Elm trees, which stand for strength of will and intuition. The building itself was created in honor of Athena. The goddess of Wisdom. It was designed to look like the Parthenon, a temple created for the Goddess of Wisdom in Greece, that stands on the Acropolis. The Acropolis, carries several other temples for the same goddess, along with multiple statues." She decided to walk up the multiple steps to enter the library.
Several pillars wrapped around the temple to support the huge marble top. I followed suit.
The inside of the temple, took my breath away. On all sides of the building, books covered every available inch. There were rows, and rows of shelves of books. There weren't any people in the library, I could easily hear the wind gently blow through. I then heard the soft footsteps of someone walking towards us. It was a girl.
"Polymatheia." Marina nodded. "How are you today?"
"I am fine, Demi-goddess. What brings you to the Library of Olympus today? Is it for the literature that you constantly crave?" Marina blushed.
"No. Not today. I am here with-"
"Chance Sterling. Son of Zeus. Yes, I am aware."
"Yes, well, the Son of Zeus is unaware of most of the histories of the Olympians. I have brought him here to educate him." The girl nodded. She studied me. She circled me, almost as if she were trying to figure out if I would steal anything. Or maybe she was trying to figure out the best way to kill me.
"Yes. You know where the legends are kept." She turned and walked away.
Marina walked across the lobby towards one of the multiple book cases. I hurried and caught up.
"Um, who was that?"
"That, another reason why I am here, was Polymatheia. She is one of the muses. She is a daughter of Apollo, and the muse of knowledge." She still won't look at me. She took me deeper, and deeper into the library. The books started to look older, there was more dust, less light found us. I got nervous. "We're here."
The last shelf stood in front of us. It was smaller than the rest, but the books were much larger than the others. They were also a heck of a lot dustier. Marina grabbed the closest one, and threw it into my chest.
"That is the text that establishes the birth of the original six gods, how they came to be from Kronos and Rhea. That can be where you start. Read some of that, get the main points. There is to much here for all of us to really know. I don't even know all of the legends, and stories. When you get the basics, I can go through some of the other books with you." She said. And she didn't seem like she was going to keep going. I opened the huge heavy book.
The letters were all in Greek, they floated off the page, until they started to for words that I could read and understand. Why am I doing this again? That's when I looked up at the girl sitting on the ground across from me, leaning against the opposite book case, reading some book. Oh. That's why. I sighed and jumped in.
-2 hours later—
"Gah… Do I have to keep reading?" I glared up at the girl across from me. "Marina." I nudged her foot. Nothing. I set the book on the ground next to me, got to my knees, and leaned over to her. She was fast asleep. You have got to be kidding me. I put my book on some random shelf behind me, next to some other book. In honesty, I didn't care anymore. I took the book latched in Marina's hands, I pried them from her fingers, and put them on the shelf behind her.
What now?
"Come on Marina. What am I supposed to do. Carry- No. Oh Hades- Fine." I had seen it on movies, and in person. So, why not. I picked her up bridle style, looping my arms under her knees, and behind her back, gently lifting her up off of the ground. I leaned her into me, and her head rested on my shoulder. Her gentle breathing lapped my neck.
I somehow found my way through the maze of books, to the main lobby. Poly-something-or-other, glared at me as I walked by. Climbing down the steps of the library, the sun fell through the gaps between the trees, warming me up, from the coolness I felt inside. The light hit Marina's face. I could see the bags and the purples. They were worse than the ones that I had seen just yesterday. Was she not sleeping?
The long walk back had left people to walk past me pointing and whispering. I recognized some minor gods and goddess that Marina pointed out yesterday. I even saw some of the gods from this morning. Sorry, I mean, I saw umm…. APHRODITE! Yah, and uh, ARES. Yah. Them. Aphrodite saw us, and instantly burst into tears, Ares sent me a death glare that almost made me drop the sleeping girl in my arms; before comforting his goddess girlfriend.
I found my way back to the complex, and just in time. Marina was starting to get heavy. I took the elevator up to our floor. Oh my gods, the door. I was so screwed. Upon exiting the door, I found my savor. Charmion.
"Oh thank the Gods. I thought I was going to have to perform some magic to open the door."
"OH MY GODS! Is she ok? Oh, not again." Charmion practically dropped wha ever she was carrying, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a key. "Take her to her room, and lay her down." She all but shoved me through the door, I hastily made my way down her room, and was able to widen Marina's already open door. I placed her on her bed, removed her shoes, and covered her with her plush blankets. I even surprised myself when I kissed her forehead.
I left her room blushing to fin Charmion to be seated on one of the chairs at the kitchen counter. She looked worried.
"What happened. Did she collapse? Did she faint? Did she hit her head, cause I can message Paeon or-"
"Charmion. Stop." She stopped rambling. "She took me to the library, and made me read some legends. And when I got sick and tired of it, I saw that she fell asleep." Charmion sighed.
"Oh thank the Gods."
"Why?"
"Well. She's going to kill me when she finds out that I told you, but….. She has…. Issues. I guess you could say. Ever since Percy and Annabeth died, she's kinda been lax about her personal being. She is plagued with horrible nightmares, she doesn't eat, she is constantly training, and she never stops pushing herself. She hasn't stopped putting herself out there for danger, or to protect others. She feels like she needs to redeem herself for not dying when they did. She's been like that for the past 7 years."
"Oh."
"Yah. So when it comes to this time of year, she is either up here with us, or down in Atlantis with Poseidon. And I bring her food so that she actually eats. She hates that she can't take care of herself, but it kinda makes her seem human. She was always so strong and independent. It was the way she was raised. She grew up under the watchful eye of the most amazing demi-goddess that we had seen in centuries. It's a part of who she is." She got up and started attending to the dishes from this morning that didn't have a chance to get washed.
"Hey, um, I heard something today, and I'm kinda confused."
"What did you hear?" She said, hands wet and occupied with the plates.
"You know Marina pretty well, right? Like, you are one of her closest friends?"
"Yah, why?" She looked at me.
"I'm just gonna get to the point. Was she really born to some random mortal? Or is there something more?" She dropped the plates into the half full sink, splashing water on her shirt.
"Wow. Um… that is really something you should talk to her about. Where did you even hear that?"
"I may or may not have heard Marina and Athena talking. And I might have misinterpreted what I heard. But I think that Athena was referred to as Marina's 'grandmother', and that Marina had her 'mother's eyes and hair'?"
"Oh. Um…. Will you look at the time. I gotta, not be here." She leaped to the door, and before she could close it she managed to tell me to not wake Marina until tomorrow when she needed to get ready for the next phase of the hearing.
I could easily say, that I have never been so confused. What is going on. Maybe I'm blowing things out of proportion. My head was swimming. I found my way to the couch. I laid down, closed my eyes, and found the comforting escape of sleep.
A.N. So this chapter REALLY sucked. I kinda wanted to show more of Marina's knowledge, that she knows random things. I'm really sorry how bad this one was. It was more of a filler to kinda add more, if that makes sense. The next chapter should be the last one of them up in Olympus. Then it's back to camp, but with a twist in the relationship, and the introduction of more characters!
PLEASE REVIEW! I AM ACTUALLY BEGING THIS TIME!