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

Well, now you've done it. Achilles is mad.

The dining pavilion is not great. I don't like the way people pretend not to stare at me as I cut my way to the front of the line. I pass by Cassius, who stands talking to one of his brothers, and he smiles reassuringly at me. It doesn't help.

The food looks good, at least. I grab a portion of grilled chicken and salad. I'm not very hungry. I also take one of the goblets.

"You're supposed to sacrifice the best part of your meal to your godly parent," a girl from the Demeter cabin says helpfully when she sees me staring at the brazier.

"Why?"

She shrugs. "They like the smell. I think it feeds into their egos, too."

I smirk. "Well, there's no way my dad is getting anything from me."

"You kinda have to sacrifice," she points out. I shrug.

"Fine." I pick up a small piece of my chicken and clear my throat. "To Hecate, because she actually gives a shit about me and my family."

Chiron is pale. Well, if everyone's going to be staring anyway, I might as well give them a reason to.

"How do you sacrifice something to an ancestor?" I ask Chiron.

He stares at me a moment. "A libation."

"Wonderful. And where would I get something to fill this cup with?"

"Just-" the girl next to me stutters, shaken, "just say what you want."

"Grape juice, I guess, if I can't get wine," I say. The goblet fills. I dump it into the magic brazier. "And this is to Achilles and not Zeus."

I hear Achilles laugh in my head. You most certainly have my rage.

"Rage that could topple cities and defy fate," I mutter with a smirk, going to the table marked with a one.

I sit at the table and pick at the food. It actually tastes pretty good. I stab at few pieces of meat. It does wonders for my irritation. I keep to myself as I try to block out the noise. I startle slightly when Cassius suddenly sits down in front of me.

"Well, you're not my brother," I joke.

"Thank the gods for that," he smirks. "But even if I was, we still wouldn't be the weirdest thing the Greek world's ever seen."

"Fair." I tilt my goblet at him. "So, not that I'm not happy to have company, but I thought you weren't allowed to sit with me or something?"

"Oh, I'm not. But if Achilles could defy fate for Patroclus, then I can return the favor and defy Chiron's dumb rules for you," Cassius grins. I blush, shaking my head.

"Cute," I giggle.

"Thank you," he says proudly. He gestures at the pavilion. "So what do you think of camp so far?"

I shrug. I flip over a few pieces of lettuce on my plate.

"It's nice, I guess," I say. I lower my voice, "I miss my aunt."

He nods sympathetically. Cassius reaches across the table and takes my hand, squeezing lightly. It's comforting. I can almost relax. Until, out of nowhere, a chill runs down my spine. The last thing I see before my vision blurs to nothing is Cassius' worried eyes.

"His descent was like nightfall," I hear myself whisper, panicked. My heart is racing out of my chest as arrows fall from the heavens like shooting stars.

Screams echo in my ears just as the blood rushes through them. Men are slaughtered by the piercing rays, and those who aren't dead die slowly from a divinely-induced plague.