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'm sorry." I said quietly. He put an arm around me, but didn't press. I was thankful for that.
When we got to the cabin, Nikita, Cypress, and their two friends sat on the chairs and couches. Cypress and Nikita shared a chair, and Rain and Adam shared a couch. I went through the door that we had gone through before, and Jay and Kiernan followed me.
This time, when I entered, it was a normal room, a bit large, and not the hallway of our home in Ohio. The walls of the room were painted white, and the floor was a light colored hardwood. A box spring and full size mattress sat in the corner, no bed frame, making them easily moved. The only other things in the room were painting supplies. There were a few blue plastic tarps, a bunch of gallons of different color paints, and many different cups of paint brushes, large and small.
I went over and sat down on the mattress. Jay sat on one side of me, while Kiernan remained standing.
"Are you alright, Lee?" Jay asked quietly.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. Stressed at the so many things going on, but I'm alright. I promise." I replied.
"What are we all going to do here?" Kiernan asked.
"I don't know." I admitted. "The closest place I've been to a place like this is our uncle's farm. I love Blackmeadow Range. Jay, do you think we'll be able to go there ever again?"
"I'm sure we will. Once this is all over, we can go straight there, and spend some time with our family. I'm sure Uncle Liam would love to have us over. And Orianne seems to love visitors. As for Ben, he can be a jerk, but he's a pretty good guy. And Mika loves her sister in law." Jay told me, an arm over my shoulders.
"Well, this is a very empty room." Nikita said from the doorway. The three of us looked up at her. "I IMed Chiron to tell him we got back. He and Mr. D want to see you."
"Now?" I asked weakly.
"Yeah. Chiron wants to know what happened, and Mr. D wasn't up there, his punishment keeps him down here, except for super important events." Nikita said.
"Can't you tell them? You were there for everything." I said.
"They need to hear it from you. I'm not in your head, I didn't see everything you did. They want to know what happened. Everything." Nikita said, saying the last part with meaning.
I really have to tell them? I can't just keep it at you and the gods who know? I signed.
Mr. D will know the moment he sees you. He's a god. And it's better if you don't leave out any details. Chiron will likely ask about your past, after what Tartarus put me through all my life. Nikita signed back. I sighed and stood.
"I guess I'll be back." I said to Jay and Kiernan. I followed Nikita out of the cabin, and walked with her to the large farmhouse.
When we entered the living room, Chiron and another man, likely Mr. D, looked up. "You got to and back from Olympus safely, then?" Chiron asked.
"Yeah." I said.
"What all happened after breakfast?" Chiron asked.
"I brought Lyric to the Hermes cabin to grab her stuff, then to my cabin. We found a new edition, which was obviously meant to be hers. But when we went through the door, we were in her house in Ohio. Her mother appeared. She spoke to us. Then we put her stuff in her room and went downstairs, and we found her mom talking to two of her friends, one of them the half sister of one of the new demigods." Nikita started.
"Hermes spoke to Mom real quick, told her to explain things to Maddie and Lydia, he said they can see through the Mist. Someone from our town is a camper here, and she's going to try and change her image at school and things. Then Hermes brought us to Olympus." I continued.
"When I told Zeus about why we were there, Ares said they should kill us. Zeus said that that was a good idea, tried to start a vote. But Physis appeared in the throne room." Nikita said. She gave me a look, telling me to be the one to tell them the next part.
I looked down at the ground. "She said that they better not harm her daughter and unborn grandchild, or Nikita." I said quietly.
"That mother of yours can be quite intimidating." Mr. D said. I was glad he chose not to comment on my current condition.
"After that, we went out to the garden with Athena. She managed to get rid of the bond, like she did for me. The same things happened to Lyric, except she hallucinated before the memories, and her hallucination was different." Nikita said.
"Would you mind explaining the memories and the hallucination?" Chiron asked gently.
I spoke, not moving my gaze from the floor. "It was like everything froze in place. The sky darkened, well, more turned to night. Three figures appeared. A cloud moved away from the moon, and I saw who it was." I looked up at him, tears threatening to fall. "He had a knife to their necks, Jay and Kiernan. He told me I had to choose one of them, or they would both die. When I stood up, I collapsed from a pain in my head. I watched as he slit both of their throats, and then I had to relive so many horrible memories."
"What were the memories?" Chiron asked.
"My childhood with my father. A year or so of cruel foster homes. The times my father tried to get to me even after mom adopted me. His dead body after he stabbed me and shot Kiernan, even though I had passed out from blood loss and didn't see it." I said.
"Your father stabbed you?" Chiron asked. His voice held a very surprised tone.
"He told Jay he was one of my dance instructors. I was at Kiernan's, he's our neighbor, actually, so Jay called me. I told him to keep himself and mom away from the door, and I told Kiernan's parents, who were in town, to call the police. I went out to speak to him. A Lot of things happened. I didn't help things by speaking to him in Greek. I was confused when he said he hadn't taught me it, like I thought, but when I realized I was getting to him, I just wouldn't stop." I said. I took a deep breath. "He hit me a couple times, shoved mom into the side of the house, shoved a knife through my hand when I pushed Kiernan out of the way, and then shot at me when there were many police officers around. Mom said he was shot seventeen times."
"He shot at you, but it was Kiernan who was hit?" Chiron asked.
"He pushed me out of the way. Instead of me getting a bullet to the heart, Kiernan got a bullet to the side. We both went to the hospital, but we both passed out before they got an ambulance there. I had pulled the knife out of my hand just before the police arrived." I explained.
"And after Athena rid you of the bond?" Chiron asked.
"We went to the cabin. Then Nikita said you guys wanted to see me a few minutes after that." I finished.
"Chiron, Athena said to prepare the campers for war again." Nikita said. "Lyric is powerful enough that if he ever gets to her, he'll be able to use her at any time."
"I will alert the campers. We will have to set up patrols and have the campers train every minute possible." Chiron said grimly. Chiron sent us to wait in a room set up with a ping pong table and many chairs.
A horn sounded through camp, different than the one that had signalled breakfast. This one held a grim and ominous tone.
Soon, campers started entering the room, all quiet and serious. There were a lot of campers, but not as many as the camp held. Nikita told me we were having a counselor's meeting. This was the camp's war council.
When Cypress entered, he came over to us. Nikita stood, and he sat in her chair. She sat back down in his lap. She probably did it only because there didn't seem to be enough chairs in the first place, but it was obvious to me that they liked each other and didn't know it.
When everyone was seated, Chiron spoke. "We must discuss the threat of Tartarus rising."
"Didn't we get rid of that threat last winter?" Someone asked.
"We thought we had." Chiron said. "The threat is even larger this time."
"How is he doing this?" Someone else asked.
"Lyric was claimed at breakfast this morning by a Primordial." Chiron said. Most of them already knew that.
"So we just protect her until whatever the date is passes." Someone else said.
"It is not that simple. Her power is enough that if he were ever to get to her, he could rise at any time." Chiron said. The room went dead silent.
"Then what do we do?" A camper asked.
"We find a way to keep him down for awhile, if not for eternity." Chiron said grimly. "But as of now, camp is on high alert. Every demigod needs to be brought back to camp. I fear this time around, things will be much bloodier. The Athena cabin will head organization of patrols and training. Ares cabin will help. Apollo cabin, set up infirmaries. The rest of you, you know what you are to do."
With that, the campers got up and left, rushing to complete their tasks. Cypress, Nikita, and I were the last to exit. "Lyric." Chiron called. I stopped in the doorway, and Cypress and Nikita stopped as well.
"Train. But do not go on patrol. You need to stay well within the camp's borders. The same goes for you, Nikita. And I suggest it of those you care for." Chiron said. I noticed and followed them out.
"Why can't we help on the camp's borders?" I asked as we walked toward the cabin.
"Because last time, when Nikita did that, she was kidnapped." Cypress said, tossing an arm over her shoulder. She held his hand with her own.
"Can we train?" I asked.
"You'd need a weapon, first." Nikita said.
"I have one." I told her. She raised an eyebrow and I held up my left arm, showing her the charm bracelet.
"Alright, then. But we should go back to the cabin and get your brother and friend. So that they can train with us." Nikita said. I nodded.
We went back to the cabin, got Jay and Kiernan, as well as Cypress, and then they led us to the armory. So Keiran could get a weapon. Jay's box had held a ring, which apparently turned into a sword.
Kiernan ended up finding a long sword, made of the same bronze metal that almost all these weapons seemed to be.
When we went to the arena, there were very few people there. I assumed most would be off preparing for the high alert the camp was now on.
"Alright, let's see what you've got." Nikita said to me. She chose a spot and drew two swords. Cypress did the same with Jay a little off the side. I tugged a little on the charm, and in the blink of an eye, I had a sword in my hand, modeled exactly after the charm. It was a bronze blade, with a normal steel crossguard, and a leather hilt.
"Ready?" Nikita asked. I nodded.
Nikita went to strike, but I blocked the sword with mine, though barely. I kept the sword up, ready to block if needed.
We sparred for about two minutes. Then Nikita disarmed me with a block so hard it knocked my sword from my hand. Jay and Kiernan pretty much fared the same against Cypress, Kiernan lasting a little longer. Then, they had us try sparring against each other. Kiernan and Jay both beat me.
Nikita and Cypress taught us little things here and there, and some techniques, but said the main thing was your gut. We were demigods, we were hardwired for battle. We practiced for the next two hours. My favorite thing was the disarming move Cypress taught us, and I seemed to be able to do it better than Jay and Kiernan.
When we were done, we all went back to our cabins to shower. I let Nikita go first, and thought of my room in Ohio. When I appeared, I was standing next to my bed. I took everything but my clothes out of my backpack, and packed a couple extra outfits, and a few sweatshirts. Then I went back to camp.
When Nikita got out of the shower, I went in. I took a quick shower, wrung out my ahjr as much as humanly possible, wrapped a towel around myself, then made my way back to my room.
When I entered my room, Kiernan was sitting on my bed. "Hello." I said.
"Hey." He replied.
I knelt down to my bag by the door and pulled out undergarments and a soft, baggy black sweatshirt without hood. I exited the room and went back into the bathroom to get dressed.
When I got back to my room, I went and sat next to Kiernan. "Why'd you leave to change?" He asked. I gave him an odd look. "It's not like it's anything I haven't seen before." I hit him in the arm, and then I saw his smirk. He was trying to be irritating. Lovely.
"So, how's camp been to you?" I asked. "Are your siblings nice?"
"They're nice and all, but none of them come close to Lydia and Mason." Kiernan said, laying back. I laid back beside him, staring at the ceiling. "What about you?"
"Camp's nice. But I just kind of feel like I'm losing my brother. I mean, I'm only one person, and now he's got a whole cabin full of people more related to him than I am." I said.
"He's still your brother, Lyric. He's not going to abandon you." Kiernan said.
"I know that." I replied. "I'm just... Apprehensive about this."
"Looks like you're finally talking to me again, huh?" Kiernan asked. I smiled a little.
"Looks like it." I replied.
Kiernan propped himself up on an elbow and looked at me. "In all seriousness, though, are you okay, Lyric? I really am sorry if I hurt you."
"You could never hurt me." I whispered. His eyes searched mine. I reached up, pulled him down on top of me, and kissed him. I can say he definitely did not expect that. After a moment, he kissed me back.
He slowly sat up, pulling me up with him. He pulled me into his lap, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, while his hands were on my hips. The kiss deepened, and his hands slid up my sides slowly. My fingers tangled in his hair. His fingers found the clasp of my bra, and unhooked it, pushing the straps from my arms under the sweatshirt. It fell to my lap and was discarded to the side.
A few minutes later, there was a dramatic voice. "Oh, my poor virgin eyes!" I pulled away from Kiernan and looked over his shoulder to see Jay standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Kiernan's hands slid to my hips as he pulled me closer to him.
"Like you're so innocent." I told him.
"You argue my chastity?" Jay asked, placing a hand to his heart in an offended gesture.
"I seem to recall you staying over at Maddie's place instead of me on Halloween." I told him. Kiernan's lips went to my neck.
"She told you about that?" He asked. I laughed.
"No, she denied it. But the blush on her face told me everything I needed to know." I told him. One of Kiernan's hands slid up to the back of my shoulders, while the other was tracing patterns on my thigh.
"Well, if you two could stop for a minute, I came to tell you lunch is starting soon." Jay said.
I was about to answer when Kiernan whispered something in my ear. I turned red. He leaned back and smirked at me. "Jay?" I asked, voice a little higher than normal. "Could you please get out?" My brother laughed and left the room.
Sometime later, Kiernan laid beside me and pulled a sheet from the bed over the two of us. He turned on his side to face me, and I did the same.
"I love you so damn much." Kiernan told me.
"I love you too." I said. "And I'm sorry about everything. Running away. Refusing to speak to you. I was afraid."
"Of what?" Kiernan asked.
"My feelings. All I had ever known of my mother was that she fell in love with my dad, had me, then left him. And all I knew about love was that it had destroyed my father." I said. "I know that that wasn't true, now, but I didn't know that before. And I was scared."
"Love isn't as bad as you might think." Kiernan told me. "I've found it can be quite enchanting." He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to him. He kissed my forehead, and I laid against him.
And there it is.
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