Caliginosity [ Leo Valdez ]

Apate Reveals Herself

Livana woke up with her face planted in dirt.

There were noises like muffled voices surrounding her, but she couldn't understand them- at least, until she lifted her head out of the soil. She was in her cabin, and underneath her was a large heap of black soil spread in a circle. The lights in the cabin were off, so the only brightness in the room came from the stars on the ceiling.

Her siblings sat in a circle around her, holding hands and closing their eyes. Each of them looked exhausted. Damon had massive dark circles, the purple stripe in Erica's hair looked more faded (which they never let happen), and Beatrix looked like she was going to pass out any second.

Erica huffed and let go of their siblings' hands. "Damon, we can't try again. We already saw she's okay. She just went to bed and will be safe for another night. We can't watch her all the time. It's too draining!"

Damon opened his eyes and scowled at them. He had two different colored eyes; one green and one mauve like Livana's. Except now, the eye similar to hers looked white, like all the color was stripped from it. Livana wondered what had happened to it. "Erica, we need to. This quest is too dangerous for her, she's already gotten hurt so much. And that damned gnome..." His face turned beet red. "I can't believe Leo let him get away with that! You should never do that to a lady! I should have never trusted Leo with her. It was deserved when his zipper was stolen."

Livana felt embarrassed at the events from earlier that day. She had no idea her siblings were watching over her. How long had they been doing that?

"Damon, I know. But she's not as little as you think she is. She's our sister, and we know how strong she is. The quest will be hard, yes, but she can do it. We know she's safe now, but working this hard..." Erica looked over at Beatrix sadly. "It's not good for us. We are already being blocked from Iris messages, and the fact that she's across the world right now doesn't help either."

"But wouldn't you rather know she's safe?" Damon said.

"Yes, but you're not getting it. We haven't rested in ages. The power of watching through dreams is extremely difficult when you try and force what you want to see. The fact that Bea can do it and isn't dead right now is amazing." Erica rubbed their temples in frustration. "Think of your sister!"

"I am thinking of my sister!" Damon snapped. "I am her older brother and I need to make sure she is okay! I can't lose her again, Erica. You just don't get it because you never had to lose someone so close to you and have it be your fault-"

"Damon," Beatrix said. Her voice was quiet and scratchy like she was sick. "Please don't get mad at Erica."

She could barely keep her eyes open. Her usually mahogany brown skin looked like it lost it's undertones, making her look almost transparent. Her brown hair and white stripe birthmark were flat and lifeless. Livana knew this was the hardest on her.

Damon rubbed his face and pushed his hair back. "Right. I'm sorry."

The room was silent for a moment.

"Damon, please," Erica spoke up, "let's rest. You and I leave for college in just a few months, plus we have lookout duty this week. We can't be half-asleep for that. We'll be stuck with chore duty until the summer ends."

They reached forward and put a hand on Damon's arm. "I know you care for her a lot- we all do. But she can take care of herself. Let's go to sleep and we can try again in a few days."

Damon took their hand and held it. "Okay. Bea, I'm sorry. I'll make you an extra pillow tonight and hopefully that'll make up for it."

Bea mumbled sleepily and nodded, staggering as she stood up. Erica guided her to bed as Damon created a pillow from shadows. He glanced over to where Livana was and frowned. "Take care of yourself, okay? We'll see you soon."