LOVE BRINGS PAIN

PAIN AND LOSS

PERCY POV

Life these past six months have been pretty hectic; getting the demigods to safety, it was a pretty easy gig for me. I mean, I have been fighting monsters for years, ever since I was introduced to the Greek world. 

I have saved a lot of demigods since I got this job, which includes delivering 12 demigods to Camp Half-Blood, 11 to Camp Jupiter, and 9 girls ( 7 demigods and 2 mortals) who were wary of Mans, or had been hurt because of One. The kids I had delivered to the camps or the hunt had named me THE RONIN "the samurai with no master", because I always dressed like an Assassin, which I got from the year-long training I had received in Japan. They all knew that I was Percy Jackson and always delivered a message I had for Chiron or the campers.

I was sitting in a log in the middle of the woods making a snow flake from my powers, thinking about Khione. Ever since I had met her and had to leave her, she was a lot on my mind and thinking about her or feeling the cold wind of winter had always soothed me. She had been one of the only people in the world  with whom I had grown so close as to share my deepest and darkest secrets. Like smelly gabe, I had told her about the abuse I went through as a kid and how I survived that.

Speaking of which, I'm on my way to rescue a girl from the hands of her uncle. I arrived in front of the girl's house and immediately knew that this was going to be bad. I took a step and melted the door off its hinges using my powers from Hestia. The stench of filth at the house from beer and rotten foods overwhelmed my senses and made me want to gag, and I flinched, remembering smelly gabe. Even after all these fights and power, he still made me feel like a little kid, helpless to stop the monster from hurting me. Pushing those thoughts aside, I went further in.

I stepped ahead to look for the girl and found her shivering from the cold, her whole body riddled with cuts and bruises. I went to reach her, but she flinched with every step I took. My whole body was shaking with anger, but I suppressed it down and crouched down to her level, took a hold of her hands and sent warmth & hope to her. Little by little, she relaxed. She was still wary of me but calmed down a little and was looking at me with pleading eyes like she was hoping that I wouldn't hurt her. She was about 7 years old. It broke my heart that a child this young had to go through this and lose the innocence they should have. 

"Don't worry kid I'm not gonna hurt you." I said soothingly to her and she looked up at me. For the first time that night her eyes were clear to me, and they were startling gray like storm-clouds, and I realized with a start that she was a daughter of Athena. I stomped down the hurt that was still lingering inside me cause her eyes reminded me of Annabeth, and it brought all the betrayal and pain I was forgetting. "Promise" she asked with the same hope and joy lingering in her eyes that Annabeth had whenever she would describe something she was passionate about. "I promise now what is your name little one?" I asked her. "Sophie" she answered, and smiled, and it melted the walls I had made in my departure. I nodded and smiled at her, as she reminded me of the future I had always hoped for, where Annabeth and I would have a kid just like Sophie. I couldn't help but imagine her as my daughter.

"Now Sophie I'm going to do something that will feel strange but its gonna make you feel better but you have to trust me. Okay?" I asked her and she nodded. I put my finger against her forehead, and her body was engulfed by the fire from the hearth. When healing began. It took about a minute because she had a lot of bruises. After she was all healed up, she looked at herself, then at me, and said "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you" and launched herself at me and hugged me so fiercely that it would've rivaled one of Tyson. I chuckled and said "You don't have to thank me Sophie its my job to look after kids like you." Then she curiously asked me how I healed her wound and how I knew she was in danger. And kept asking me dozens of other questions causing me to roll my eyes. Leave it to a daughter of Athena to annoy you with just questions, despite all that I liked her (it was hard not to).