Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. And so, accordingly, I do not own any works credited to that name. (Or to related names. i.e. Uncle Rick.)
Previously on More Than A Mortal:
I fell asleep leaning against Jay, which was odd, because I had literally just slept for most of that really long car ride.
"Hey, Lee, it's time for breakfast." Jay said, shaking me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "C'mon."
I stood and followed Jay and Kiernan, who followed everyone else out of the cabin. We followed them to a large building, probably the mess hall.
Jay and Kiernan had just gone in ahead of me, and I was about to follow, when I heard a familiar voice. "What are you doing here?" Her voice held no venom as I would expect from her. I turned around to see Chelsey. Her eyes held a curious expression.
"I don't know, really. Cypress and Nikita brought us here." I said.
"The new kids from school. I knew who they were when they arrived, but I couldn't tell them I was one of us, too." Chelsey mused.
"But if you know who they are, wouldn't they know who you are?" I asked.
"Oh, no. They're kinda famous here at Camp. Saved us all last year. They were the prophecy kids this time around." Chelsey said. "Anyways, did they bring Kiernan?" She looked kind of nervous and anxious.
"Yeah." I said slowly.
"Thank the gods." She sighed in relief.
"Why are you so worried?" I asked. "Last time you two talked, not so nice things were said."
"I'm not who everyone thinks I am." Chelsey said. "I might be popular, I might be a cheerleader, but my reputation is only that. Reputation. And I never meant to hurt Kiernan or anything. I knew he was a demigod."
"How'd you know?" I asked.
"I'm a child of Hecate, and I am especially good at sensing the auras of others. His is full of bright colors and sunshine. I think I know who his godly parent is. But either way, I started that relationship so I could shield his scent. I didn't tell him because it would only make it more dangerous for him, and we live so far from Camp." Chelsey explained.
"Speaking of, how'd you get here so fast?" I asked.
"I've got some friends within the Party Ponies of Ohio." Chelsey said. What the hell did that mean?
"If you were only shielding him, why the theatrics? And why did you hate me so much?" I asked.
"I never hated you. I just didn't trust you. I didn't know what you were, or if you even knew you weren't mortal. Your aura is very earthy. I've never sensed an aura like yours." Chelsey told me. "And the theatrics, I was just trying to keep him near, and away from you. I thought you might be a monster or a god in disguise, just someone up to something. I didn't go about it very well."
"What about what you said about Chase?" I asked.
"Please. Me with him? No. I've never been with anyone like that. Most I've done is kissed, and not much at that. Though Kiernan's friendship with him wasn't ruined for nothing. Chase has been trying to get in my pants since high school began, and that's not something you try when it's your best friend's girlfriend." Chelsey told me.
"You're a much more likeable person here than back home." I observed. She laughed.
"Yeah, well, I prefer it here. I love Ohio, but I was never able to be myself there. And I couldn't even try now if I wanted. I have no idea if anyone back home can see through the Mist. If I knew for sure that no one did, I could rework it so I could be seen as myself, but even that would be a big feat. And I'm sure that one of Kiernan's parents, at least, can see through, because that sort of thing is what usually attracts the gods." Chelsey said.
"You could just slowly try to change your image. Hang out with nicer people, be nicer to everyone. Some people may think you're on drugs or something at first, but images can be changed." I told her. She laughed.
"I'm not so sure I'll be able to change my image." Chelsey said, just as Kiernan came back outside.
"Lyric, you were right behind us. What's taking so-" He faltered when he saw Chelsey. He only looked at her with no expression.
"Just try it." I told Chelsey. She smiled widely, a much more genuine smile than I'd seen on her back home.
"I will, Lyric. And thank you, for the advice." She said. As she passed me to go into the mess hall, she whispered so only I could hear. "Tell him what I said. Explain it for me." I nodded to her.
"Why were you talking to her?" Kiernan spat. He was obviously still upset.
"Because she's a great person and she's probably saved your stupid life a million times over by this point." I told him. He looked at me, shocked.
"What?" He asked.
"Your relationship was a way for her to keep you near so that she could mask your scent from monsters. She knew you were a demigod, she can sense auras. She hated me because she couldn't tell what I was, and she wanted you to stay away because she thought I might be some monster or God up to something. And when you broke up with her, what she said was a lie, her entire reputation is a lie. Though she says your friendship with Chase wasn't ruined for nothing, he's been trying to get into her pants since high school began even though you're his best friend and she was dating you. But either way, she's been protecting you for a long time." I told him.
"I don't believe you." Kiernan said.
"I don't care if you believe me. She's a completely different person here, and she's going to try and change her image back home. Maybe then you'll see I'm telling the truth." I told him. I turned around and walked into the mess hall. I spotted Jay and went over to sit beside him.
"What took you so long?" He asked.
"I was talking to Chelsey." I said. He looked at me with a shocked expression.
"Chelsey?" Leah asked, sitting across from me. "She's a really sweet girl. Daughter of Hecate. She's got a talent for sensing auras, and she's always helped whatever demigods she comes across in whatever way she thinks will help the most."
Jay just looked even more shocked at Leah's description of her.
"She actually asked Chiron to send someone to see what was up when all those bizarre storms started happening up in her hometown. She thought it might be connected to one of the new kids, but wasn't sure. Her powers don't go far beyond manipulation of the mist and the ability to sense one's aura." Leah said. I blushed slightly.
"That was me. The storms and and the weird aura." I said. I looked around at the tables. Chelsey was sitting close by, a table away. I caught Chelsey's eye and waved. She waved back, smiling.
"I thought she hated you." Jay said incredulously.
"She couldn't tell what I was. She thought I might be some evil thing." I said with a shrug. Kiernan came back into the mess hall and sat next to me.
"Look over there, Kiernan." I said. I pointed to Chelsey's table. "She's different here. She's smiling and happy because she doesn't have to uphold a reputation to keep a fellow demigod safe."
Kiernan turned to Leah. "What is that, the popular table?" Kiernan asked, ignoring what I'd said.
"No." Leah said, covering a laugh. "Those are her siblings. At Camp, we sit at the table of our cabin, which we share with our siblings. Sometimes people sit elsewhere, but Chiron tries to keep it from being a huge mess. Like, Di Angelo sits at the Apollo table, because he's got a doctor's note, which everyone knows is a total sham because the doctor in question is his boyfriend, but he doesn't typically have anyone to sit with anyways, so it's excused. It was not fun being chased around by skeletons when they hatched that plot in the first place, let me tell you. And during the Summer, when they're all here, the Seven like to sit at the Poseidon table, along with Di Angelo and Solace and a couple others. And then you've got Nikita, all alone at her table, but Cypress and Rain and Adam will usually sit with her. Those four have become inseparable, Cypress and Nikita moreso."
"Are they dating?" I asked. "They seem to like each other."
"No, they're not dating. But everyone except them knows they like each other. They might as well be dating, after everything they've done for each other. She killed herself to save him and her friends, and he took a dip in the Styx for her." Leah said.
"Killed herself?" Kiernan asked.
"Yeah,the gods gave another chance after what she had been through." Leah said.
"Jay, what's that above your head?" I asked. A holographic symbol of a staff with two snakes twined around it floated above his head. Jay looked up, and poked it. It did nothing.
"He's been claimed!" Someone shouted excitedly, causing everyone to look over as the people at our table cheered. Chiron stood, and he had the bottom half of a horse. Honestly, not the weirdest thing going on right about now.
Chiron bowed. "All hail Jay Tucker, son of Hermes, messenger of the gods and goddesses of travel and thievery." Chiron announced.
Leah came around the table and hugged Jay. "Looks like you're our sibling." She said. She returned to her seat, and I looked down at the table. Jay moved closer to me and put an arm around my shoulders.
"Hey." He said quietly. "You're still my sister. I don't care who your mother is and who my dad is. We've still got mom, and we'll always have each other, okay?" I nodded.
"Hey, Kiernan, you just got one." Jay said, looking up. I looked, to see a bright rainbow floating above Kiernan's head.
Chiron announced Kiernan the way he had Jay. "All hail Kiernan Ashton, son of Iris, goddess of rainbows and communication." A few tables away, a table two thirds full of children and teens dressed in bright colors cheered.
"So that explains the aura." Chelsey said. I recalled what she had said about him having a bright and sunny aura.
"Wait, Kiernan, did you know only one of your parents was your actual parent?" I asked.
"Yeah. Dad cheated on mom almost eighteen years ago, and I happened. Lydia knows I'm only her half brother, but I don't know if they've told Mason." Kiernan said with a shrug. "That's how Lydia's only a year younger." I nodded.
Breakfast was just ending when I was claimed. The first campers were getting up to leave when Kiernan spoke. "Lyric, your tattoo."
"What?" I asked. I pulled my shirt up a little and looked at my hip. It was normal. I out the shirt back down and gave Kiernan a curious look. He pointed above me. I looked up, to see a holographic version of my tattoo, an exact replica of the flower on my hip.
"Huh." I said. Jay was staring at me. "What?"
"You have a tattoo?" He asked.
"Oh. Yeah. It's on my hip." I told him. He just looked surprised.
Chiron stood and bowed. "All hail Lyric Warren Ashton, daughter of the Primordial Goddess Physis, Primordial of nature." Nikita clapped. Everyone else seemed stunned, except Cypress, who had gone with us to see Chiron.
Everyone soon resumed their activities, leaving the mess hall, though there were some whispers and stares. Chelsey hugged me on the way out, and Jay and Kiernan were pulled off by their new siblings. I stayed in my seat, and a tear rolled down my cheek. I wasn't really sure why.
Nikita came over, followed by Cypress and a boy and a girl, who I guessed were Rain and Adam.
"Hey, you can stay in my cabin until you've got one. Or, it might just be a cabin for the children of Primordials." Nikita told me.
"Alright." I said. "My stuff's in the Hermes cabin."
Kiernan was just leaving the cabin with his stuff, following a girl from his cabin, when I went in. Jay was sitting on the bed they'd given us earlier. I guess it'd be his now. I sat down next to him and hugged him. He hugged me back, but I didn't let go, instead just letting him hold me. It wasn't like this was such a big deal. Why was I being so emotional about this? It's not like I was losing my brother, he just had some other siblings. I knew none of them could compete with our sibling bond, not that most of them would likely try.
When I let go, I grabbed my stuff, carrying my pillow and blanket in my arms while my bag was on my back. I exited the cabin and followed Nikita to another cabin, at the edge of the forest, in a mostly secluded place. You could still see the other cabins, but this one was kind of in its own private place. It was taller than the others, almost like one and a half floors. And it was shaped differently, a square originally, but with an edition off the side, as tall as the house itself.
"Well, that's certainly new." Nikita commented.
"What is?" I asked.
"There was no edition before." She replied. "I'm guessing that's your room." I followed her inside.
She gave me a mini tour, pointing out her room, the bathroom, the little loft, the couches and chairs, and the mini kitchen. There was an extra door in the middle of one of the side walls, near to the little kitchen area. Nikita told me that that was the new edition.
I gasped when we entered. It wasn't a room, like I had expected. It was a hallway. A very familiar hallway. It was the upstairs hallway of my house. Down to the last detail, I noted, seeing the drops of paint that had dried by one of the doors.
"What is this?" Nikita asked.
"It's... It's my house. This is the upstairs hallway." I said.
"What?" She asked.
"Yeah. I don't know if this is supposed to be some replica or if we're actually in Ohio." I said slowly. There was a flash of warm light and an earthy smell, and then a woman was standing in front of us. She was beautiful, with honey blonde hair and mossy green eyes. Her skin was tanned and covered in dirt smudges. She wore a long flowing dress that looked like running water, and a Halo made of flickering fire. She smiled at me.
"It is wonderful to finally meet you, Lyric." She said. I stared at her, while Nikita curtsied quickly. "I am your biological mother."
"What?" I asked quietly. This was my biological mother. I mean, I knew she was supposed to be some big powerful goddess or primordial or whatever, but this was... Suprising.
"I am Physis, Primordial Goddess of nature." She said. I wanted to cry. "I am sorry I was never there as you grew. I was not allowed to be, just as Aether was not allowed to be there for Nikita. He was nearly banished away when he healed her after the Styx. I would have come, done anything to show you that I did not leave on choice. To show you what you believed about love was wrong."
"I know it wasn't your fault. He said he made father hate me. It was his fault." I whispered. She smiled sadly.
"He was a lovely man before Tartarus got to him. Had you grown up with that man, I think your life would've been much different. But, as things have gone they way that they did, it was a good thing that you were taken away from him." She told me.
"When he... When he was killed, did you mourn him?" I asked. "I did, even though I didn't want to."
"I mourned your father years ago, when the man I fell in love with disappeared. But you, you never knew anything else. It was okay to be upset." She told me gently. "And the news of anyone dying like that will come as a shock, no matter what they were like."
"Just, why? Why did they shoot him seventeen times?" I asked, tears threatening to fall.
"As your mother told you, that is what happens when you shoot with so many officers on the scene. He knew he would not make it, not with so many officers." She said.
"It was my fault. I wouldn't stop. I could tell it was hurting him and I wouldn't stop talking." I said quietly. A single tear fell.
"No, Lyric. It was not your fault. The hate was too deeply instilled in him. Had you done what he wanted and went with him in the first place, he still would have tried to kill you. I know you realize this, deep inside. There was only so much he could handle before he snapped." Physis said.
"I can't believe my own father tried to kill me." I whispered. Physis stepped forward and tried awkwardly to give me a hug. I hugged her back, and she held me, stroking my hair.
"That was not your father. Your father was the man I fell in love with, a man called Warren. The twisted man that you knew was a man filled with hate who went by many names." She told me. She let go and stepped back.
"Now, other things are to be discussed." She said. "As you've discussed before, you can use your power, though Nikita cannot use hers."
"I really don't want to go through any of that again unless I absolutely have to." Nikita shuddered.
"After we finish here, you two must go to Olympus. I'll have someone send you. You must ask for them to break the bond. Nikita, you know what I am speaking of. He worked her much the same he did you. Only, she will be at her peak next Friday. Today is Saturday. You must keep her safe until the time passes. And even after. I fear her power anchoring her to this world is the very thing that will allow him to use her at any time he wishes. I think the power is enough." Physis said, worry in her eyes.
"I will protect her with my life." Nikita responded.
"While I want you to protect my daughter, don't put yourself in too much danger. I want neither of you to be harmed. Aether is a good friend of mine, and I wouldn't wish him to lose his daughter." Physis said. Nikita nodded.
Don't you just love when the godly parents talk to their kids, and the kids have no idea what to think/conflicting emotions?
Thank you to anyone who has reviewed, followed, or favorited! You are not inclined to do any of those things if you do not wish, but it would be much appreciated! I send my love to all of you!