DIVINE » l. valdez

tea and crackers with chiron

all i know is your someone i have always known

After hours of silence, Meg spoke, "We should go inside."

"And abandon them?" Apollo demanded, a hat of snow covering his dark hair.

"Don't be stupid." Meg was completely hidden beneath her winter coat, only her bright red nose poking out from her hood. "You two'll freeze out here."

Despite the frost, Meg looked unbothered by the weather and Hina wondered if the power of Demeter kept her protected. 

"They were my children," Apollo spat, his words icy. "I should've done more to protect them. I should have anticipated that my enemies would target them to hurt me."

The implications of his word choice weighed heavily over the group, Hina shuffling in her spot to hug her knees.

Meg chucked another rock at the trees. "You've had a lot of children. You take the blame every time one of them gets in trouble?"

His silence spoke volumes. It was obvious Apollo had never cared for his children until he was forced to know them. He had been around for millennia and had countless children. Why would the loss of one hurt when he had thousands still standing?

Hina knew even when cornered by the Fates, Apollo had felt no guilt for Hina's death, only sorrow for the loss of souvenir: a reminder of his past love.

That was what made Hina despise her father. The world revolved around him, and if he could not see the tragedy of the demigod life, then it did not exist.

She shifted uncomfortably, placing her hand into the freezing snow.

"It's my fault Python retook Delphi," Apollo said, breaking the heavy silence. "If I had killed him the moment he reappeared, while I was still a god, he would never have become so powerful. He would never have made an alliance with this...this Beast"

Beside Hina, Meg tensed, her head lowering making her rhinestone glasses slide down her nose.

"You know him," Apollo guessed. "In the Labyrinth, when you heard the Beast's voice, you were terrified."

Hina wasn't sure what Apollo was talking about, but she knew it was big. This Beast was dangerous and no doubt lurking around, waiting to kill the god once and for all.

"Meg, he wants to destroy me, somehow, he's behind these disappearances. The more we understand about this man—"

"He lives in New York," Meg interrupted Apollo.

Apollo's eyes bored into the top of Meg's head, and Hina worried if he stared any harder his eyes would pop out. 

"All right, that narrows it down to eight and a half million people. What else?"

Part of her considered bashing Apollo over the head with her water bottle. It was obvious Meg was taking her time to open up, no doubt fighting against the fear she felt.

Meg picked at the calluses on her fingers. "If you're a demigod on the streets, you hear about the Beast. He takes people like me."

A pit grew in Hina's stomach, her heart diving deeper into her chest. "Takes people..." she spoke, turning the word around in her head. "Why?"

"To train," Meg said. "To use like...servants, soldiers. I don't know."

Seeing the loud and abrasive girl so broken, made Hina even more terrified for what lay ahead. She placed a hand delicately on Meg's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. Hina wanted her to know, that no matter what, Meg could count on her.