Disclaimer; I do not own either the wardstone chronicles or Percy jackson& the Olympians, sonce I'm not Joseph delaney. Or Rick Riordan, for that matter. I'm not even a man, so...
Lamia's heart stopped beating, her throat felt suddenly very dry and she actually felt like she might faint. She had not felt like this in a very long time. If she already had felt something like it. A mix of immense nervosity, anger and a bit fear. The last time she had felt something similiar to this was when she had discovered she was pregnant. And had to tell Zeus. She had been scared, happy and nervous at the same time. Scared, because she didn't know if he would consider it positive or negative. Happy, because she had been in love and wanted his children. She wanted them like nothing she had wanted before. And nervous, because it would be difficult even if he would be as happy as she had been.
She remembered that day she told him. How she had told him she carried his children. He had looked so happy, so peaceful. She had never felt so much love for someone as she had felt for Zeus at that moment. And she had never felt so much pain when he had betrayed them and their children had died. Their beautiful, innocent, perfect children. My children. One of the best things that ever happened to me and he distroyed it. Let it be destroyed. Didn't even seem to care. Were we not more than a toy? A pleasant way to pass time? Lamia thought, anger rising. She almost screamed it. The question that had bothered her all those decades, all this time. Why. Why didn't you help? Why did you let Hera destroy them? Why didn't you care enough to save them? Why. Why. Why.
Lamia still couldn't understand him. He might be a god, but that doesn't give him the right to do such things Lamia thought, not even aware of the throbbing of her skin. Of her nails changing into claws. Of her eyes narrowing. Her blood was running fast, her senses increasing, her anger overwhelming. " Why..." she whispered, but it sounded like an hiss. " Because they want to see you, Lamia" Dionysos responded. She looked at him, at one of them. He was still smirking, seeming to enjoy the show.
Lamia looked around and saw the frightened faces of the members of cabin six. She looked down, at her hands which were now claws. She realized she must look like horrible, frightening, her anger had caused her to change into something she wasn't anymore. The monster she had once been.
She willed her body to change back, to become something less frightening. She concentrated until she felt claws change into hands, eyes widening and losing improved sigh, fangs changing into normal teeth again and the start of a snake tail becoming legs again.
She took a deep breath and looked around, at all the Athena campers. Their expresions were all different. Some looked utterly shocked, others scared. Some looked angry, ready to run forward and attempt to kill her. She licked her dry lips, aware of how she must have looked like. " Sorry for that. My emotions got the better of me. It won't happen again, I promise".
Mr.D reacted before anyone else could. He raised his eyebrows, still smirking. " Oh really? Because if I remember correctly, Lamia, one of your.. hobbies is killing children. Drinking their blood. You're a monster and can you ever trust a monster"? he purred. Lamia saw some people shifted, looking away from her. Some of the smaller children took a step back. Others, the bigger and stronger ones, took a step forward. Their bodies tense, their hands on their swords. They looked fierce and angry and who could blame them? In the past, she had been a monster. She had killed children and taken countless other lives. She had done things so horrible that she still had nightmares sometimes. She still felt guilty, even if she was a entirely different person back then. A crazy person.
She looked at Dionysos, her eyes narrowing. She didn't like what he had said, even if part of it was true. He had just said it to cause trouble. To challence her.
He was still smirking and that was what made her decide her reaction to his words. Go To Tartarus with him, right where he belongs she thought and grabbed his t-shirt, pulling him closer. "Listen, Mr.D" she said, her voice full of sarcasm and more an hiss than anything else. She saw his eyes widen, fear and suprise in them. She figured he was suprised she dared to touch a god. Except she had met scarier things than him and was absolutely not afraid to touch one. The only thing Lamia was afraid of was losing her children or going back to being a monster. And she wouldn't let that happen. " That was long ago and the reason I became like that was because of your annoying, useless family. True, I have done horrible things. Things I feel horrible about, but the past lies in the past. I can't do anything about them, except trying to do good instead of bad. I'm not a monster and I certainly won't hurt those children" she said, her voice cold even when she was being quite aggresive.
She let Mr.D go, who rubbed his T-shirt absently. He smirked, apparently over his fear/suprise. " I wouldn't touch me, a god, ever again Lamia if you want to live. Isn't that what got you into so much trouble in the first place"? he asked, his eyes going up and down her body. Lamia smiled, but it wasn't a particulary nice smile. It was a very misschievious, close to evil, smile. She tilted her head, seeming to think about his comment. " You mean when I was so stupid, like countless other women no doubt, to touch your father? You know, there is a reason I was pregnant so fast. Your little father couldn't keep his hands of me" she said, her voice resting on Dionysos's lap for a second when she said little. She smirked, her eyes now looking into his eyes. " Apparently, you have inherited something from your little daddy. Poor boy. Now you will have to use the same low ways as your father to make up for it" she said, her voice soft and caring while her face was full of contempt and she was still smirking.
She saw Dionysos freeze when he realized what she was implying, but she continued talking before he could say anything. " But no worries, I will never touch you like I did with your dad. To be honest, I would rather be dead than that so you don't have to worry about me touching you. That will never happen" she said, taking a step forward. She patted his cheek affectionetely before she stepped back and smiled. The kind of smile your mother gives you when you have to eat burned brussel-sprouts.
To her great satisfaction, Lamia saw Mr.D was pale and very speechless. He stared at her, suprise in his eyes. And something that looked like embaressment. She heard some campers snicker and saw they looked relaxed now. Some smiled at her and Annabeth gave her a thumb-ups. Mr.D couldn't see it anyway. Not from that angle and not while he was in shock.
He didn't move, just stared at her. She smiled, a sickingly sweet smile this time, and raised her eyebrows. " I am ready. Do I need to meet them now"? Mr.D seemed to recover, his eyes looking at her with annoyance and contempt instead of shock and, she could have sworn, disappointment. Lamia frowned at the possibility Dionysos liked her. Another god. She really didn't want that. It is unlikely he likes me anyway. Just focus on the meeting she told herself, still smiling at Dionysos.
He narrowed his eyes, which were glowing a little. Lamia almost rolled her eyes. The I'm-An-Almighty-God thing really didn't impress her anymore. It only annoyed her and brought back bad memories. Memories she was trying to forget and kept coming back lately. Not aware of this, Mr.D took a step towards her , his eyes now glowing purple. " Do not try to embarress me or show such disrespect, Lamia. Don't forget what I am. I'm-". " Oh, I won't foget, believe me. Sorry for interrupting, but I have an idea we are in a hurry. Oh, and I don't like purple" she said cheerful. She heard the campers snicker again when Dionysos closed his mouth and stared at her. He looked stunned, unable to say anything. She sighed. " Mr Dionysos, please tell me when I can see them if I need to see them. My time is valueable, and yours is too, no doubt.
Mr.D blinked. Once. Twice. And finally managed to say something. " Yes, Yes. My time is very valuable indeed. The gods can see you in a few hours, get ready" he said, still a stunned look in his eyes. Lamia almost laughed at loud at his expression. A mix of disbelief, suprise and uneaseness. He ressembled a caught boy, caught when he was stealing cookies or who-knows-what, rather than an 'almighty' god. Lamia raised her eyebrows. " Very well. I will. Anything else, Mr.D"? she asked the god who seemed frozen to the spot. Mr.D took a step forward, opening his mouth, but closed it just as fast. He shook his head. " N-no. This is all. We will see you in a few hours, Lamia. A servant will come to get you" he said, speaking rapidly. Lamia nodded. " Thank you. I will be there" she said. Mr.D nodded and tuned to walk away, almost running.
When Lamia was sure he couldn't hear them anymore , she laughed. Annabeth soon folllowed. Soon, everyone was laughing. " Oh g-god, did you see his face" Annabeth managed to say when she stopped laughing for a second. Lamia nodded, laughing really loud. " Y-yes, it was h-hilar-rious! He didn't know what to say. Him, one of those almighty gods" she said, almost rolling on the floor laughing. Annabeth nodded. " Y-yes! I have never seen him like that before, and I have come here for a long t-time. He f-finally stopped being so a-arrogant". Lamia didn't respond, laughing too hard to be able too. She just loved the idea she had finally done something to those gods. Even if it was something this little.
When they all finally stopped laughing, the other children looked at Lamia. They all sat on the ground, in a circle. They looked at her with newfound respect and Lamia felt herself smile, so happy they didn't really see her as a monster.
One of the younger girls, a girl around the age of eight, got up and walked towards Lamia. She had blond hair, which looked like gold and seemed to catch the sun's rays, and big, grey eyes. She tilted her head and smiled at Lamia. " I think you're really funny. And Mr.D is mean" she whispered, like she was sharing a big secret. Lamia smiled, touched when she saw the vulnerbility in the child's eyes. " Thank you. What's your name"? she asked. The little girl smiled. " My name is Tawny" she said, pride evident in her voice. Lamia smiled. " What a beautiful name. Mine is Lamia, but most people call me mrs Ward. Some call me Zenobia" she whispered. Tawny smiled. " Those are beautiful too. What do they mean? Mine means green field, which is weird, but people who are independent and strong leaders are given my name, so my dad decided to give it to me".
Lamia nodded. " I like it. I know Lamia can have the meaning ' glitter' or ' glisten'. And Zenobia, well.. it means life of Zeus. I don't like the meaning, but I like the name" Lamia said softly. Tawny frowned. " Then why do you use it if you don't like it"? she asked, her grey eyes full of curiousity. Lamia shrugged. " It wasn't my original name. That was Lamia, which was an ordinary name in my time. I just have bad memories from it, so I prefer to use Zenobia. That's how some friends call me".
Tawny nodded. " So how old are you? If you are the Lamia, which I have heard vagualy of, you must be really old. Not that I want to be rude, but I'm just curious" she said. Lamia laughed softly. " It doesn't matter, really. Age is something insignificant to me, after all the time I have lived. But I'm approximately 3000 years old" she said.
Tawny stared at her. " That's old! You're almost as old as my mom" she exclaimed. Lamia smiled. " I know. I'm really old" she said.
Tawny crawled against Lamia, looking at her face. Lamia smiled and put an arm around her, enjoying the child's company. She just loved children, they made her so happy. The other children were just watching them, listening to her stories. They seemed relaxed and peaceful, even when their grey eyes stood serious and cautious. Tawny sighed softly. " Do you have any children? You look to young to have any, but if you are actually 3000 years old.." she suddenly said Lamia smiled. " I'm older than I look, so I do. I have seven, all boys. Although they are men now". Tawny frowned. " I expected you to have more, after 3000 years".
Lamia tensed a little. " I did. I had some other children, a really long time ago. But they were killed. And after that, I had triplets, but-". " Triplets"? Annabeth interrupted, frowning. " When did you have triplets"? Lamia shrugged. " A few thousands years ago. I loved them, but.. ". She sighed. " They were another of my mistakes. Their father, chaemog, wasn't exactly the right creature to have children with" she said.
She expected Annabeth to immediately know what she meant, but she still looked puzzled. " Chaemog? Who is that? I have certainly never heard of him before. And why were your children a mistake"? Lamia looked at her, suprised she didn't know. " They were the first Lamia witches" she said. Annabeth only looked more puzzled. " Lamia witches? What are those"? she asked.
Lamia frowned. " You mean, you have never heard of them? They were my children, and children of Chaemog, and they preyed on humans, drinking their blood. I eventually quarelled with them and they didn't want to see me again. I still feel really bad about that. Both losing them and having them in the first place".
Annabeth wanted to say something, but she shut her mouth and looked away. Lamia saw she was blushing. Lamia laughed, even when she felt a little sad now she remembered that particular part of her past. She missed her children, even if they had been evil. Annabeth looked at her again, blushing. She wanted to say something, but hesitated. Lamia shook her head. " Come on , you can say what you want. I won't be mad, I promise". Annabeth bit her lips, still blushing. " I don't know.." she said. " Ah come on Annabeth. Just say it"! some people said. Others nodded. Tawny just smiled and closed her eyes, obviously a little tired.
Annabeth sighed. " All right. It's just.. You know with the snake tail and everything, how could you you know.." she said, her cheeks now really red. Lamia laughed. " No, I don't know. How could I.." ? Annabeth looked away for a second, then muttered something. " Sorry, I didn't hear what you said. Can you repeat it"? she asked. Annabeth took a deep breath. " Have sex" she said, speaking really fast.
Lamia stared at her for a moment, not sure what to say. She took a look at Tawny, who was sleeping. " Oh. That. Well, eh Chaemog wasn't exactly what you call human" Lamia said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. All the campers frowned. " What was he, then"? A boy, named Sky, asked. Lamia hesitated. They wouldn't like this. " A spider-like creature. just think of an enormous spider" she said, speaking as fast as Annabeth had done.
All the campers froze for a second, before they jumped and looked at her with horrified faces. " A s-spider"? a girl, Chloe, stammered, her face pale. Lamia nodded. " Yes. I'm not really proud of it, but it happened" she said softly. Everyone was staring at her for a second, their faces pale and showing their disgust. " Poor you" Tori, a girl with black hair around the age of fourteen, eventually said. The others nodded. Annabeth shivered. " I can't imagine doing that. Horrible"! she exclaimed. Lamia smiled. " Well, it wasn't much worse than with him" she joked, pointing at the sky. Some girls giggled while the boys looked slighly amused.
They all sat down again and continued talking. Lamia didn't talk about chaemog anymore ( Honostly, she didn't want to) and they talked about hobbies instead. Architecture, famous books, things like that.
Just when Theo , one of the older boys, was telling Lamia about Hamlet, a nervous satyr walked inside. " Ehhm.. Hello? I'm here to escort one miss Lamia to Olympus" he said. Lamia got up, making Tawny make a soft sound of protest, and smiled at him. " Hey. That would be me" she said. The satyr stared at her, his nervousness soon replaced by admiration.
He kept staring at her and smiled. " Wow! You are.. you.. Wow"! he said. Lamia raised her eyebrows. " Yeah, I'm very 'wow'. Can we go now"? The satyr nodded. " Of course! Sure! Whatever you say". Lamia shook her head and , after some goodbyes and best wishes, followed the satyr. Ready to face her past.