Melpomene (PJO)

23. Sunshine and shrouds

Her brother was dead.

Mari's brother was dead. Lee was dead. The sun was shining and her brother was dead. It made Mari want to scream. How dare the sun shine so brightly when her brother was dead?

The funeral was the next day, in the afternoon. Mari stood next to Will, trying not to cry and doing a poor job. Almost every cabin had lost someone. Some had lost multiple campers. It could be argued that by comparison, cabin seven was lucky. Mari didn't feel lucky. They lit the burial shrouds in cabin order, so the Demeter cabin went first. They'd lost five. Then, the Ares cabin, led by a stony-eyed Clarisse, who'd lost nine. Annabeth's cabin had lost one. Cabin seven was next.

Lee was wrapped in a beautiful golden shroud that shimmered in the afternoon light. Mari was glad for the presence of the fabric, because underneath... it didn't look like he was sleeping. Children of Apollo sent their dead away a little differently. When it came time to set Lee's shroud on fire, the seve-six of them filed down the amphitheatre and stood in a line with their bows, arrows notched and at the ready. These arrows were commissioned by Apollo thousands of years ago, made specifically for his fallen children. Like it was a regular occurrence. Mari remembered with a jolt, that it was. The points were specialised to start burning as soon as the arrow was released.

Mari decided that she hated the arrows.

Michael had been given the option to provide a eulogy, but he'd refused. There were no words. Mari thought about what Lee had said to her, when he'd found out about Mason weeks ago. How he'd made a vow on the Styx not to tell anybody. It turned out there had never been a need. Mari sniffled. Lee would go to Elysium, there was zero doubt about that. She hoped they had sunshine there.

Chiron stomped his uninjured hoof twice, and the six of them let their arrows fly.

Lee's shroud lit up like the sun.

Then it was time to go.

Goodbye, Mari thought as she and her siblings filed out of the amphitheatre. When they got to cabin seven, Michael sat them all down in a row on Kayla's bottom bunk, pacing in front of them. He looked sick. Mari realised with a jolt exactly what Lee being... gone meant.

Michael was cabin counsellor now.

"Alright," Michael huffed. "Listen up, parasites. Things are going to be different from now on, okay? No more skipping training, no more slacking off, no more messing around. Whenever Kronos tries to attack next, we're going to be ready. We - this isn't going to happen again. None of you are going to die. I forbid it. Do you all understand? Nod if you understand."

They all nodded. Well, most of them.

"Sean," Michael said. "Why aren't you nodding?"

"I don't want to do more stuff." Sean pouted. "Lee wouldn't make us do more stuff. When is Lee coming back?"

Austin whimpered. Mari pulled him into a hug and felt a wet patch form on her shoulder. Michael sat down on Mari's bottom bunk in front of them, head in his hands. He wasn't crying when he looked up but he looked like he really wanted to.

"He isn't coming back, Sean."

"But where did he go?"

"Away," Will said, because Michael looked like he was about to break in two.

Mari wasn't sure how long they all sat there for. Hours, definitely. Nobody really spoke. Mari realised she'd taken the steady, comforting presence of her brother for granted. Lee had always been there, no questions asked, no matter what happened. A friendly smile and a warm hug. Now, his absence was palpable. Like someone had taken a sledgehammer to the cabin and knocked down all the walls. He was just... there and then he was gone.