The Heir of a Thousand Lifetimes (A PJO Universe Story)

I'm actually on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"I'm starving," I whine. Josie glares at me.

"That's the seventh time you've said that in the past nine minutes," she snaps.

"Maybe if you'd just stop at a McDonald's, then we wouldn't have this problem," I argue. She points accusingly at my backpack by my feet.

"Your aunt packed us snacks!"

"Well, I ate them!"

"We need to get to camp."

"A McDonald's is literally right there!"

"Oh my god. Fine. If it'll get you to stop complaining," she grumbles, making a sharp turn into the parking lot. I grin in victory as she pulls up to the drive through, and I lean over to order my food. When I get it, she says, "At least give me a nugget."

"Oh, now you want a nugget." She gives me a look. "Fine, fine. Here." I pass her a nugget and start eating. "So we're close to the ferry, right? We have to be. We've been driving all day."

She gives me another look.

"Okay, you've been driving all day. And I've been fantastic moral support."

"Yes. We are," she nods after rolling her eyes. She cracks a smile. "You're handling this a lot better than I thought you'd be."

I laugh. "I'm actually on the verge of a nervous breakdown."

I eat another nugget and play with one of my rings. I feel strangely safe with these on my fingers. They make me feel as if some lost part of me has returned home again, as if I'm finally whole. I can't begin to understand why.

I eat a few fries and wipe my hands on a napkin before reaching into my pocket. I withdraw the bag holding the letter. A lump rises in my throat. This is all I have left of my mom. Once I read it, her last words to me are just...gone.

"If it makes you feel better," Josie says suddenly, smiling, "you have a really strong aura."

I laugh. "What?"

She nods. "You do! It's like a shining bronze almost, streaked with emerald and black. I think you'll be a fantastic sorceress, regardless of...whoever...your dad is."

"I don't care who my father is," I insist, swallowing the bitter taste as it rises in my throat. "He abandoned me for all of sixteen years. My mom and aunt's mother? She taught my aunt the magic that kept me alive. I'll embrace that legacy, if I have to be part of this world."

Josie grins and high-fives me. "That's the spirit!"

•••••

Josie shakes me awake. The storm that has been going on all day has only just slightly let up. Now, it's only raining.

"Hey, we're about two minutes from the ferry."

"Do ferries even run this late? It's, like, seven," I say, looking at the clock. She shrugs.

"Demigods- less powerful ones who don't really attract monsters- run businesses. This one is headed off by a son of Hermes. It goes 24/7 for any demigods who need it," she explains. I nod, yawning as I wake up still.

"Right. Nice."

"Just finish your Coke."

We approach the ferry, and she stops by the entrance to the pier. It looks kind of sketchy at first. She hits a blue button on the stall, and a window opens. A twenty-something-year-old man is revealed, and he smirks at the sight of her. His greens eyes spark with mischief and his smile is just as, but he seems friendly enough.

"Well if it isn't Ms. Josephine," he drawls in a Southern accent, leaning forward. He moves to get a better look at me. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Audra," I smile politely.

"Show him your rings," Josie insists bluntly. Giving her an odd look, I hold up my hands. The man goes slack-jawed.

"I, uh, I- I assume- I assume y'all are wantin' to get to camp? Across the, uh, bay?" he stammers, staring at my rings. "There's no way..." To Josie, "Is she really...?"

I want to ask what the deal is with demigods seeming to know what my rings are, but I assume Josie will only give me the same answer as usual: you'll find out.

"Yes, we are. And yes, she is," Josie sighs. "I'm exhausted, Nick. We've come all the way up from Maine. Audra was attacked today."

"By what?" he asks curiously, bouncing up on his toes. Josie goes pale and shakes her head.

"I can't say it. It might attract more. But a- a," she pauses, "k-e-r."

Nick and grips the edge of the window. "No. Way." To me, he asks in utter shock, "You honestly killed it? That was your first ever monster?"

"Well, yeah. I just found out today that my dad is some selfish god who apparently doesn't care about me at all. He's just left me to the wolves all my life, and my aunt is the only reason I'm still alive," I say bitterly. He nods sympathetically.

"Yeah, it's tough. But you'll like camp, I promise. You're kinda a livin' legend there," he says with a nervous laugh. "Hope to see you again someday, Ms. Audra. Good luck."

"Thanks..."

He presses a few buttons, and the gate lifts up. Josie drives onto the ferry, and the back closes behind us. I instantly feel more at ease the second I listen to the waves hitting the sides of the boat.

I can't help but feel the familiar longing begin to creep in as the boat sets off. It's an ache as old as time, a desire for something I can't name and something I've never known. The roaring of the passing waves sounds more like the sound of clashing swords, and I wish for nothing more than to hear the song once more.

The armor is heavy on my chest, on my arms, on my shins. It shines in the sun like a star in the sky. The shield that sits before me is an object worthy of reverence, saturated in glory: a shield befitting a man sent to die the most glorious death fate could befit him.

The age-old soothing breath of the lyre singing out over the meadow, playing the last true light of the Thessalian sun, is engraved in my mind. It's as if I was there myself, as if my own fingers caressed the notes out of the instrument. The notes echo and echo and echo- thunder.

The thunder wakes me up harshly, yanks me from my vision and thrashes my consciousness around within me. It comes about suddenly. There hasn't been any thunder besides this in a few hours.

Josie is visibly nervous.

"Welcome back," she coughs out, clearing her throat.  I open my mouth to ask, but she beats me to it. "Just under half an hour."

I nod, shifting uncomfortably in the seat. "Right. Thanks."

She takes a drink of her water and runs a nervous hand through her hair. "We'll have about an hour's drive once we get to shore. Only half an hour or so, maybe twenty minutes, until then. Boat's making good time."

"Why are you so on-edge?" I ask her finally, worried as I turn to face her more fully. She scratches at her arm and pulls at her sleeve. Her eyes repeatedly flick from me to the mirror, almost against her will. It dawns on me. "We're being tracked, aren't we?"

As soon as I say it, I can read it all over her face. Her expression is guilty and uncertain, afraid. She swallows and nods.

"For the past few hours. Ever since your visions started back up," she mumbles.

"Do...do you know what it is?" She pauses before reluctantly nodding. "Well? Is it bad?" She doesn't respond. "Josie."

"It's bad," she eventually says. She whispers out, "It can't be killed, Audra. It can't even be caught. Hera- she had to have sent this after you."

My jaw drops. "Why would Hera care about me?"

Josie ignores me. "The point is, we have to get you to camp before you have to fight this. Or else, frankly, you're screwed."

"Great, thank you. That's very reassuring."