The Last Olympian: Apollo's Daughter

Really This Is Getting Repetitive

Skyler's POV

My shoes echoed in the tall obsidian room. I had torn the velvet curtains around the bed to shreds with Ilios.

"Now, that's just rude." Someone clicked their tongue a few times from behind me.

"No, what's rude is being held as a hostage." I turned only to come face to face with Persephone who crossed her arms over her abdomen. "Sorry..."

She waved a hand dismissively then snapped her elegant fingers. A skeletal servant came forward and held out a stack of clothes to her. She handed most of the stack back and held up a peplos of pure gold, much like the greek robes my father wore on Olympus. She hummed in distaste to the fabric and stuffed it back into the bone arms of the skeleton.

Persephone mumbled something and pulled another robe from the stack. This time dark purple fabric rippled through her fingers like a field of lavender. "This will do." She mumbled and held the peplos out to me. "A gift to me from Aphrodite herself,"

"I don't do dresses," I said, eyeing the fabric. "Why should I-"

"Lord Hades wants you to be presentable. And at the moment, you are the furthest thing from that." Persephone rolled her warm eyes and forced the dress into my grasp. "And do something with that hair..."

She left the room with her skeletal servant in tow, the mahogany doors closing behind her with a thud.

I looked down at the purple dress in my hands, scrunching my nose at the fabric. "They expect me to be presentable? To be a bargaining chip?" I scoffed, dropping the fabric on the tattered bedding.

...

"I told you to get dressed."

I sat up and looked towards the door. Persephone stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. "If they want me so bad I don't think they'll be worried about my clothes," I said. The purple dress still lay discarded on the bed next to me.

"You can get dressed by choice or you can be made to get dressed. Your choice Ms. Cross,"

I looked down at the dress and waved my hand towards it. "I guess I have a dress to put on then." I gave the goddess a tight-lipped smile, and she returned it with an equally forced one.

"I'll be outside the door then." She said, "Make it quick."

Her shoes clicked as she stepped outside, closing the mahogany doors behind her. I muttered in annoyance as I picked up the dress.

I peeled off my tattered orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, running my fingers across the bullet holes and slashes in the fabric. "...Percy would probably state the obvious... Like 'the river worked' or something" I mumbled with a sad smile.

I lay the ruined shirt down on the bed, pulling the dark purple tube of fabric over my head, pinning the shoulders with the golden femur-shaped pins. I lifted the skirt and thought about taking my jeans off but then thought against it. If I was to be used as a weapon I'd rather not have to fight in just a dress... And I wasn't going to make it this easy for them. So fighting wasn't off the table.

"I'm sorry..."

I turned to the door to find Nico standing there. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets and he kicked at the obsidian floor.

"It's fine," I said coldly, pulling my braid over my shoulder. The braid was disheveled, loose blonde locks stuck out in odd parts of the plait and my hair was still damp from the dip in the Styx.