Aymee Parker B2 - The Cursed Mark

Chapter 10 : Promise

Aymee hardly woke up the next morning. Her mind was cottony and she was only half aware of what she was doing. Classes paraded faster than clouds and she vaguely felt that stuff was going on around her.

As usual, Aymee had free time in the afternoon coming and as usual, Aymee went into exile to Treeponent's clearing. Perhaps it was due to the conversation with Pomfresh the day before, but she felt a blow of slack. Finally, Aymee pulled out a drachma from her purse and created a rainbow with her wand.

"Kosta Larson, in New York."

The image gradually detailed. Kosta was on a bench in a park, filling out a bio card on his school bag. He was carefully reading a question. His eyebrows were frowned under the concentration and he was chewing the tip of his pen. He jumped when he saw Aymee.

"Ah! You scared me!"

"Sorry. Bad time?"

Kosta glanced around.

"No, it should be fine... We are out of school in Central Park. We must 'detail the biodiversity of this green enclave in one of the most polluted cities in the world'," he explained by making quotes marks with his fingers.

"Oh. Like making a list of animals in the park? What's there apart of the squirrels?"

"Birds, insects..." he listed before shaking his head. "But I don't feel like you're calling me to find out my homework. Did something happen? Usually, we talk on Mondays evenings."

He left his voice trail, as if to invite Aymee to conclude. The latter looked away a little. She played with the grass around her. Kosta was her best friend. Her confidant. Besides, he was a demigod, like her. He was bound to understand, right? He wasn't going to lecture her like the other adults.

"It's just..." Aymee looked for her words. "What's the point of studying and everything?"

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"Well, you know. Half-gods don't live—"

"NO!"

Aymee jumped. Kosta reached out as if to grab her shoulders, but stopped just in time. He probably remembered that if he came into contact with the Iris message, it would evaporate.

"Do not say that!" he exclaimed. "We are both going to finish our studies, have our diploma, go to college, find a boring job that will make us groan in the morning and then get ma—"

Aymee tilted her head, an eyebrow in the air. Kosta stammered as if he was looking for his words, but his tongue disobeyed and meant something else. Was he so upset one of them could died? It was a strong possibility for the demigods. He shouldn't be so shocked. He even looked almost angry.

"...Get many things since we'll be rich! Enough to live on vacation until hitting the centenary!" he concluded, red and with strong breathing. "You are not going to die! Why do you say that!? It's bad luck!"

"I'm realistic, that's all!" stubbornly answered Aymee. "Besides, even if I lived long enough to graduate, I don't even know what I would do with the diploma. You don't have that problem. You, you already know what you want to do. It's your childhood dream to be a vet!"

"Yeah well you'll find something too. Even if you can't find it, you already have a whole bunch qualities and experiences you can use."

"Huh?"

"You are persistent, helping, strong and you always work super hard. Look at your lessons at camp! You could open a dojo, or somehting. Be a sports teacher."

Aymee blushed a little. Her? Helping and strong? Yes, perhaps that was how it was interpreted by others, but Aymee knew the truth. She was afraid. She was simply terrorized one of her friends would die, or worse, that one of them sacrificed themselves to protect her, as her father had done so many years ago. That was why she trained like crazy and pushed others ever further. She had seen the strongest die. No one was immune to bad luck.