Sup guys! I think this chapters a little shorter, but its cute and you find everything out. Well, you find out everything that LENA HERSELF knows. But Lena doesn't know everything! ONLY I DO! MWUAHAHAHAHA!
I've been excited for this chapter too! You get some info and theres some really cute fluffy stuff too!
YAY!
VIRTUAL HUG TIME!
TO: ReadingGurl07, The Avian-Olympian, Blackrosesroit, and Meepmeep123.
REPLIES:
ReadingGurl07: Ha! Don't worry, Chiron knows about her. You really think Perce and Annabeth wouldn't tell him? PSH! Hahahahaha! ;)
The Avian-Olympian: Hey, I understand that. Haha. As I said, I barely ever read authors notes. And I know it did but I wanted it to be very clear how Zack felt. And, ha, if I finish this story and have enough people wanting me to, yeah, I'm planning on doing a sequel. Ha! I creeped on you. Your one-shot. Hey, in your bio you said something about Thalia's name and DOA records? What ya mean? I'm now curious! :O Ha, in this story I use caps lock a lot because italics doesn't like transfer over when I copy-and-paste. So unless I have a big italics part, I usually just caps lock instead. And aw! Thats so sweet. And personally, I'm not all that against Twilight. I actually enjoyed the books, but I'm not a die hard Twi fan. I'm a die hard Percabeth fan! WOOTWOOT! I don't count the days to the next Twilight move, I COUNT THE DAYS TO THE NEXT PERCY JACKSON BOOK! F*** YEAH! HAHAHAHA! But even so, that you think this is better than Twilight, means SO MUCH! Thank you!
Blackrosesroit: Well, we always knew Zack was in love, didn't we? It's Lena who's kinda strugglin with that. :) Haha. And no, its not a cross over. :)
Meepmeep123: Thank you! Glad theres another swimmer! But I've been swimming since I was little, and I'm still one of the slowest on my team, but I'm pretty good with long distances, but I still hate the 500. In my lane for practices, we go in speed-order. When we do long distance free, I'm in the front, when we do sprint free I'm like second or third (theres about seven of us in a lane), when we do anything else (kick or stroke) I'm like "Yup, I'll be in the back..." Hah! And Canada, really? I feel like in media, at least in US, the Canada is a lot like WI. Only brought up when it's gonna be ripped on. No offense. Are you farther North or closer to the US? I don't need specifics (you know, so no one can stalk you), but I'm curious. :)
Here you go guys! I may not update this again because 1) I'm not totally sure what to do with the next chapter. 2) I'm gonna work on chapter 3 of 'Here We Are, I guess' and a couple other stories/series of one-shots. So, yeah. :) Plus, I may hang with friend later, but that'd be later in the day.
Song: Nothing. Watching How To Train Your Dragon again. Haha!
Lyrics to Monster by Paramore:
You were my conscience, so solid, now you're like water
And we started drowning, not like we'd sink any further
But I let my heart go, it's somewhere down at the bottom
But I'll get a new one and come back for the hope that you've stolen
I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world
From turning into a monster and eating us alive
Don't you ever wonder how we survive?
Well now that you're gone, the world is ours
I'm only human, I've got a skeleton in me
But I'm not the villain, despite what you're always preaching.
Call me a traitor, I'm just collecting your victims
And they're getting stronger
I hear them calling.
I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world
From turning into a monster, and eating us alive
Don't you ever wonder how we survive?
Well now that you're gone, the world is ours
Well you find your strength in solution
But I liked the tension
And not always knowing the answers
But you're gonna lose it, you're gonna lose it
I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world
From turning into a monster, and eating us alive
Don't you ever wonder how we survive?
Well now that you're gone, the world...
I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world
From turning into a monster, eating us alive
Don't you ever wonder how we survive?
Now that you're gone, the world is ours.
Several meanings can be taken from this song, each verse referring to a different point in Lena's life, some current, some past. I'll let you decide.
Disclaimer: _
READ ON!
We drove for hours. Each minute I kept expecting Zack to bombard me with questions, I knew I would be if I was him, but he didn't. I guess that was the thing. He wasn't like me, and I wasn't like him. We were near polar opposites, but for some inexplicable reason, it worked best that way.
Artemis was high above us before Zack finally spoke.
"What happened with your parents, Lena? I mean, what's the truth? You seem like you were really close with your step-mom."
There was more than one question on the table.
I gripped my steering wheel with a steel grip. Around us, there was nothing. We were in the middle of nowhere.
"She's not my step-mother," I mumbled.
"What?"
"I said she's not my step-mother!" I shouted. I took a deep breath. "She's my real mom."
"So...you're not a child of Athena?"
I took a deep breathe. "Technically? No, but I wasn't COMPLETELY lying. I do have some Athena in me."
He frowned in thought. "I don't understand."
"My-mom-was-a-daughter-of-Athena," I sputtered in one breath.
"You...your MOM was a daughter of Athena? So you're...what? A quarter-blood?"
I shifted in my seat. "Not...not exactly. Technically I'm still a half-blood, just...not in the traditional way. My, uh, my dad was a, um, a demigod too." Not just A demigod. My dad was THE demigod.
"Oh. Of who?"
I bit my lip. I mumbled 'Poseidon' under my breath.
"I'm sorry Lena, I didn't catch that."
I took a deep breath. "My full name is Silena Chase Jackson. I was named after a demigod who died in the Second Titan war after giving up her life to help fight a Drakon. My parents knew the demigod because they fought in the war themselves. In fact," another deep breath. "they led the war, because," I looked Zack in the eye, "My parents are Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson."
Zack's eyes widened. "I-I didn't know they had a daughter."
I returned my eyes to the road, thankful for an excuse to not have to look him in the eye anymore. I was admittedly afraid of what I'd see. "No one does except for a select few. Originally I was kept a secret so I wouldn't have to grow up in the world of gods and monsters and half-bloods. Then, well..." I cleared my throat. "Then some other factors, er, came into effect."
"The gods," Zack correctly guessed. "Why do they hate you so much?"
"I'm not sure HATE is the right word," I told him tentatively. "FEAR is the one my parents used."
"Fear? Why would they fear you? I mean, no offense, but you don't exactly hear about gods fearing demigods. Typically it's the other way around."
I snorted. "Yeah, well, tell them that. And the way gods deal with fear is that they strike down whatever induces the emotion. Hence, my running from monsters my entire life. Anyway, it's not all gods, just most. Some help protect me, shield me from Zeus's and the other gods vision. Often the only way I'm found is when I stay in one place too long, or a monster finds me, thinking I'm any old demigod."
"Why do they fear you?" Zack repeated.
"Honestly? I'm not a hundred percent sure. It's, uh, it's complicated." He looked at me, silently edging me on. I took another deep breath.
"From what I understand, it's mainly about the mixture of Athena and Poseidon." I grasped at air for the correct words.
"You mean their demigod powers."
I clenched my jaw. "Partly, but that's not all of it. A lot of it is about the...the QUALITIES of their demigods or something." Zack just looked at me perplexed. I sighed. "Each god has a pattern of internal qualities within their demigods. For Apollo, it's a friendly quality, for Hermes it's a troublesome quality, for Athena and Poseidon...things get...complex. Athena's demigod qualities are, of course, the obvious answer of intellect and wisdom. But there's also bravery and loyalty. For Poseidon, theres even more loyalty and theres even more bravery and theres calm under stress. To the gods, this combination is the epitome of heroism." I looked over at Zack, and he still seemed lost.
I tried a different tactic. "You know about the whole Athena-Poseidon feud right?"
"Of course."
"Well, the feud runs deeper than the whole 'Oh the people of Athens liked me better'," I mocked, using a falsetto voice. "Or 'Medusa and I were just TALKING in your temple'," I this time I used a deep voice. "Poseidon and Athena is a very dangerous combination, and that fact is what is really at the core of every feud they've ever had. And, possibly, it could be what is at the very core of what drew my parents together."
"I still don't understand."
"Welcome to my world."
"So what...what happened in the fire? You...you shouted 'Mom' and 'Dad'."
I shouted that out loud? I felt my face redden. "It's nothing." I hoped he'd drop it.
He didn't. "Lena..."
"I, uh, I saw an old memory of mine." His frown deepened in concern. "I saw my parents die." I clarified.
"My gods Lena. I'm so-"
"I'm fine." I snapped, even though I was sure I was far from.
It was nearing midnight when I pulled over on the side of the road. "We're gonna camp out here. I got blankets in the trunk." I stepped out and walked over to the back of the car, pulling out the blankets. I tossed him a blanket. "You can sleep in the backseat." The backseat was sort of a couch so it was more comfortable, but I'd slept on worse. Zack, on the other hand, had spent his life sleeping in comfortable beds.
He seemed uncertain. "Lena..."
"Go." I was not in the mood for chivalry. He seemed to sense that. He sighed and moved to the back seat and stretched out, preparing to sleep. I took my blanket, the thinner one, though I hoped he hadn't noticed, and curled into a ball, trying to convince myself to sleep as well.
I was extremely unsuccessful, but I never fell asleep quickly. ANother side-effect of spending a lifetime on the run.
"Lena," I heard Zack say.
"What?"
"Theres room back here if you'd like to join me."
I bit my lip. I admit. I was tempted. I could still feel Zack's warmth when he held me after jumping out of his building. But my personal pride wouldn't let me do it. "I'm fine Zack," I snapped eventually.
I heard him sigh, as if he knew about my indecision as well.
I tossed and I turned. Perhaps an hour passed, maybe less, maybe more. I looked back and saw Zack's eyes were close.
Shit.
I swiftly found myself lying beside him. At first, I kept a gap between us, but his warmth was too alluring. Before I had really realized what had happened I turned to face Zack, squirming myself under Zack's arm and laying on his other shoulder.
For the first time since I could recall, I fell asleep in minutes.
ZACK'S PoV
I'm not sure when I woke up, but it was still plenty dark out. At first I found nothing out of the ordinary, but then I realized that there was an extra set of breathing occurring in the back seat.
I opened my eyes and saw a puddle of black hair. Lena had curled up next to me while I had been asleep. I slowly, as to not wake her up, moved the hair from her face. I felt my breath catch.
I had seen many expressions on Lena's face. I'd seen laughter, sarcasm, disgust, annoyance, suppressed fear, true fear, and A LOT of anger.
But complete peace and content? I had never seen that. Before now.
When Lena slept she made this little whistling noise. Her breaths were long and full. Her face was completely relaxed, though I did miss seeing those beautiful eyes of hers.
Lena had fit herself in with me perfectly. My arm was around her waist, as if she had curled beneath it. Her hands rested on my chest and her legs were intertwined with mine. Awake Lena would shy away from this much contact, but asleep Lena seemed perfectly okay, even happy, with this arrangement.
She took a deep breath and snuggled closer. She said something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'I love you, Zack,' but perhaps that was my own selfish desire.
Either way I leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
"I love you too, Lena."