─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆
❛ Here we are at the end of the world, waiting for the sky to break into flames─but we are together, as if the stars had aligned. ❜
Percy Jackson never thought he would fall in love with a traitor.
[completed - editing]
[p...
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✩━━━ chapter fifteen, end of beginning. ❝Death by his hand, but living by my own.❞
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IN THE LONELIEST TIME OF HIS LIFE, ETHAN NAKAMURA BARELY SLEPT AT ALL. He spent most of his nights staring at the ceiling of Hermes' cabin, lost in thought. Anxious, overwhelmed by all the unclaimed demigods forced together in a singular room. Trapped. Sickened by the smell of rotten food hidden by the teens who had barely scraped by before arriving at camp, paranoid of when a new meal would be available. The nightmares that plagued the youngest and their inability to be quiet when they broke down; the non-stop bitter mutterings and constant hissing from the oldest campers, always plotting yet doing nothing—the worst of all were those who hadn't lost hope despite everything, still clinging to the idea that they would be rescued by their godly parent soon. Cabin Eleven is a prison with no parole date. Never enough room to stretch, or move, or breathe. No privacy; constantly surrounded by the sounds of shuffling feet and sniffling noses. Feeling disconnected from the world around him.
Back then, despite his exhaustion, Ethan kept awake each night, staring at the chipped paint that failed to conceal the water damage on the ceiling above. Yet, during those restless hours, unlike the rest of Cabin Eleven, Ethan never once questioned precisely why. Why did they have such a hard time everywhere they went? Why did monsters hunt them relentlessly with every passing second? Why did no one come to their aid despite their parents being gods? Why, why, why—the sum question of a demigod's life. Ethan knew why—because they were unloved; it's as simple as that.
To him, it meant nothing. Love was never something Ethan wished for. In the same way that he entered the world alone, without a mortal or divine parent at his side, he will spend the rest of his life on his own.
Having an older cousin like Micah only made things marginally more challenging.
In the loneliest time of his life, Ethan Nakamura was blessed with Micah, or so his irritating cousin would claim. Always present after that day when Micah looked at him and saw Nemesis' features in his face, claiming they were family 'unlike the others.' Akin to a parasite embedded under his skin, with constant chatter, his unsolicited advice, the historical minutiae. His sweet tooth, his penchant for starting trouble each time they snuck out of camp—did he mention the agonizingly never-ending chatter? Always so distracting and boisterous, so arrogant—a whirlwind that swept Ethan away each time without fail. He invoked a mixture of annoyance and amusement, unable to decide whether to tell him to shut up or just let him continue his rambling. Torn between affection and wishing for the familiar loneliness that plagued his life because, to Ethan, it's obvious that the lives of demigods aren't supposed to be happy.
