Bridge Between Two Worlds

Tragedy Follows Me

Before we start, I would like to make it clear that I do not own Percy Jackson or the Avengers.
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                               Cassandra POV

I'm at school when I get the news.  A teacher calls me to the main office, and I panic, thinking they tied me to the glitter bomb I put in Mr. Salt's classroom.  It sure made gym class more fun.  I'm in junior year, I gotta let loose every once in while.   "Miss Bennet, it appears that your adoptive mother, Crystal Bennett, has died. The hospital says it was a brain injury from a rockslide. We are letting you out ten minutes early to sort things out. There are several lawyers outside your house. I am sorry for your loss, Cass.", the principal says. I'm in shock. "Cassie, what just happened?", my friend Olivia signs to me. She's deaf, and about the most caring and standoffish person you'll ever meet. I know, it's a weird combination.  I'm crying so much I can't answer. I loved my mom so much, even though she isn't my biological mom. My birth dad put me up for adoption.

We would do so much together. She always took me to this one cafe in Queens. Cute, quiet place. Sometimes, the only people there would be Percy and Annabeth, the camp power couple, even though I pretended not to know them when I was with my mom. I am a demigod, a daughter of Hemera, and I stay at Camp Half-Blood for two weeks every summer.  I'm not a particularly powerful demigod, so I'm fine in the mortal world. I pretend to go to Rachel's house when I go to camp.  I go to Midtown High, Percy and Annabeth don't.  I bike home.

As promised, there are two lawyers in front of my house. One stops me. "Ma'am, are you Cassandra Bennett? I am Vicki Stevens, here to discuss Ms. Bennett's will and testament. You are the sole inheritor, since there is no other family left.", she says. I reply, "Yes, that is me. Tell me what you want." I try to hold back a sob.

"You are left with her apartment, car, and savings. Everything she owned, you now have, after the taxes, of course. You do have a driver's license, right? It would be in the ballpark of $200,000, after taxes. I don't let the thought of, wow, I'm rich! cross my mind right now. "Thank you. I do have a driver's license.", I say.

Leaving Ms. Stevens to sort out the money, I walk over to the other lawyer. "Hello. I am Adam Taylor. I have come to sort out where you will be staying." Oh, no. Will I be staying in some orphanage? "We have been able to locate your birth father, and he has agreed to take you in. In case you did not know, your father is Tony Stark. You have two hours to pack your things before he picks you up. Sorry for your loss.", the dude says.

Vicki comes up to me again. "The money is in your bank account. Do you want to keep this apartment? I can install payments for the rent. You will be notified of any rent increases or problems. ", she says. "I would like to keep the apartment.", I say, still sniffing a little.

I'm just a tiny bit starstruck that Iron Man is my dad. Maybe I'm fangirling. Maybe I'm depressed. Maybe I'm just sad. I don't know anymore. I just feel numb. I walk inside. I look at the pictures, the armchair I can almost see my mom sitting in, reading a book. I grab all the bags I can find. I find couple small pictures of us. Also, the one of my mom and stepdad, smiling while holding me, and the one of me and Olivia and Rachel, and Jess.

I put them in my bag. I stuff clothes and toothbrushes and hair stuff. I stare at my red, blotchy, acne covered face, and my stringy blonde hair. Even my eyes don't like me today. They refuse to go back to blue, today. They were born gold, but they normally glaze over as blue. But, the gold hue is clearly visible.

I summon a bit of light. Oh, did I mention I have light powers? One of the benefits of being a child of Hemera. The feeling of it in my palm calms me. I'm not powerless. I'm not defenseless. Nobody bosses me around except me, I keep telling myself. I pack my art supplies and my trumpet. My glasses, which I barely need anyway, I put back in their case and tuck into my bag. I tuck my Celestial Bronze dagger into the depths of the bag.  If I run into a monster, I can kill it, no problem.  Necklaces, jewelry, cash. If someone breaks in, they aren't finding anything.