This Cold Year ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase²

―xxi. come home

NAOMI WAS IN ACTION BEFORE HER BRAIN EVEN REGISTERED THE DISASTER. "Your bow!"

Frank didn't ask questions. He dropped his pack and slipped the bow off his shoulders.

"Naomi, let me—" Hazel started, but Naomi shook her head.

"I've got it," she said. "Hold one end of the bow, and don't let go."

She grabbed the other end, took a deep breath, and jumped into the bog, the earth closing over her head.

It was colder than she expected, like she'd plunged into an icy lake. She kept a firm grip on the bow, and reached down with her free arm, moving her hand back and forth, feeling around for Percy.

Before she could find him, she was sucked into a vision.

Someone was holding her. Her ear was pressed to someone's chest, and she could hear the heartbeat and the vibrations as they spoke. She caught snippets, about a legion and soldiers and honor, but she was too sleepy to take it all in.

Outside, there was the sound of a wolf howling. Others joined in. The person stopped talking.

"Daddy, are there dogs outside?" Naomi asked, lifting her head with a newfound excitement, suddenly wide awake.

Ben laughed quietly. He was older than the pictures Naomi had seen back at Camp Jupiter. Naomi had the distant feeling that that wasn't right. "Not dogs, komori," he said. "They're wolves."

"Can we go see them?" Naomi asked. How was she talking? She was a baby when her father... this didn't make any sense.

Ben smiled softly. "Not yet, Naomi," he said. "But one day, you'll go to them."

"Like Del?" Naomi asked.

"Like Del," he confirmed.

"Then I'll be a soldier, just like her!" Naomi said, delighted. "I'm gonna be the best!"

"I know you will, komori," her father murmured. "The best and the brightest."

"This isn't real," the real Naomi whispered.

It can be. The voice that came was familiar, but in the way a voice from a dream would be. This is the life you should have had. The gods stole it from you.

Naomi shook her head. "My dad—he's dead. He died when I was a baby."

Because the gods sent their young to kill him, the voice murmured. To kill you. You were only a baby, but they were ready to kill you. Is that just?

Naomi tried to focus on what was really happening, but her father held her tighter, his warmth everything Naomi imagined it would be. Was this what it was like, to have a happy childhood? To be raised by someone who loved you? To have a father who was alive, not dead before she could even form a memory of him?

Her grip on the bow was loosening.

The gods stole everything from you, the voice murmured. But I can give it all back, and more. Take my offer this time, darling. I will forgive you for your error in judgment.

This time...

Perseus and Annabeth will live.

"You," Naomi breathed. "You made me that offer. You're—"

I am the one who has watched over you your entire life, she murmured. It was my power that guided your parents together, that led to you. Come home to me. Forget these gods who would see you dead at such a tender age. I will protect you. I will love you.