A Reminder of What You Lost.

You stand in front of your old home, heart heavy as Melanie stood next to you.

When the letter from the authorities had said you had to come home and see if you wanted to sell it, you felt like someone punched you in the heart. Percy immediately noticed your face blank and had the decency to not read the note and gently hold your shoulder. You were guided to your cabin to compose yourself and then to the big house to clear it with Chiron, whose somber understanding made the ache ease. You wanted to go alone, but that was where Percy and Chiron disagreed with him on that; it was simply too much of a risk to have a child of the big three out there unsupervised.

Percy nominated Melanie because honestly he knew you needed emotional support and — as much as it stung — Percy understood that he abandoned you when you really needed him and he might bring up that leftover resentment in a burst of anger.

You had let yourself forget your mom had died and you had an empty home to yourself. It had turned out that you were sole owner of the home and fully paid it off in the event of something going wrong and you being left alive while she wasn’t. In a way, it was a relief that you still had a place to go if camp wasn’t possible, but it was also a burden as you had no idea if a monster came how you were going to defend this place. In a moment of pity, a camper from the Hermes cabin (though a hecate demigod) made several sigils you could place around your house to give it a barrier. It was nowhere near as big as the one for the camp, but it wasn’t that much weaker since the space was that much smaller. You walked in and winced at just how empty the place felt as the lack of your mother tiding things up had left a film of dust everywhere. It was fortunate that the trash had been thrown out before the whole camp debacle, but you had no source of income for the bills you would have to pay.

What are you going to do?

You jolt as Melanie twines her fingers with yours, concerned and “Are you okay?”

You blink tears back as that question damn near cripples you, because the truth is...

“No.” You whisper, “I am not okay in the slightest.”

She tugs you in to a hug and you can’t help but hold her tightly, shaking as you try not to cry or scream. Melanie doesn’t even try to support your combined weight and you both slide down to your knees, her hands let your hand slide out of hers before sliding her arms up under your arms to clutch at the back of your shirt.

“Cry if you need to.” She whispers in your ear.

And you do, you sob and groan into her neck as you break down.

It takes an hour to compose yourself and much longer to clean the house and place the seals in the correct areas, but you end up sitting in the living room with Melanie slumped over you asleep. It’s late and Chiron said it was okay for you to sleep there if the seals are anchored there first. You can’t seem to settle despite the exhaustion — both emotional and physical — and closing your eyes only start a slideshow of your mother to play in your head. In the end all you do is gently run your hand through Melanie’s hair and a wan smile twists your lips as she mumbles and nuzzles into your hand. You shift so she quite on top of you and she instinctively tucks her hair under your chin; with her warm softness spreading, your eyes slide closed and you finally drift off.

When you wake up you realize Melanie is awake, idly tracing random shapes in your shirt, looking pensive. You lift your head up and she starts slightly, jolted out of her musings.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You offer quietly.

She sighs, “I just am wondering if you are the demigod from the prophecy.”

You lean your head back with a huff, “I do that too.”

“Part of me wants you to be and the other half doesn’t” She admits softly.

That takes you aback, “What?”

“Don’t get me wrong!” She says quickly, “Waking up like this makes me feel at peace, like it’s as natural as breathing. If you are the one from the prophecy, you get to live for two years at least and that’s... good. I want to be with you, you aren’t like the guys I dated before, and I don’t want to go back if I lose you. But if you aren’t and Percy is? You could die in the next two years and I don’t want you to die.”

You sigh softy and bury your face in her hair, “I can’t make promises.”

“I know.” She replies, burying her face in your chest, “I just wish...”

“I know.” You finish.

You both lay on the couch, just holding onto each other.

For now, you can pretend that you don’t have the future of the entire world looming on your shoulders and you simply invited your girlfriend over to your house. You can pretend your mom isn’t gone and is just having a late morning. You can pretend that the life you once thought was your future is possible and that gods, monsters, and titans don’t exist. You can pretend that you may very well die in the next two years or your brother may die because of a role you never asked to play. You can’t pretend that somewhere deep down you aren’t as scared of your very life as you are now.

You can pretend that everything isn’t as uncertain as it is now.