Daughter of Death

IV

Hallez wasn't too sure what to think of all of this. How did they get from the Mojave Desert to this...place, for one. She doubted this was Rome as in Rome Rome, in Italy, halfway across the world. She would've thought that it would be either late night or very early morning in Rome at the moment, because of time zones and all. But the sun's position didn't change much. For another, they were in a large, wide valley in the mountains. Tall, imposing stone peaks stretched upwards around the edges of the valley. The tops of the mountains were white with new snow, and near the bottom, lush trees clung to the cracks in the stone.

Behind her, a river rushed south, the river that she was just dumped in.

Hallez wondered what a legion was, and why Fiona was looking for her, and why there were monsters chasing her, what that shield thing was, why did the monsters want it, where Hallez and Fiona were, and, most importantly, where Cade was.

Gosh, Cade.

Why had she left him behind? What kind of friend was she if she left him in the hands of some bloodthirsty monster?

Not that you were his friend in the first place. He wouldn't want to be friends with someone who left him to die.

She wasn't sure why she cared so much about Cade.

Plus, didn't you always want to be alone? Alone, where there's no one there to judge you? No one to find out about yourself?

Fiona interrupted her thought process. "Also, by the way, I never got your name. You already know I'm Fiona. What's yours?"

"Hallez..."

"Hello Hallez! Anyways, you're probably very confused, but first, we need to find the praetors and consuls and have a very serious discussion about—"

Suddenly, there was a ripple of movement in the crowd, and the legionnaires parted, revealing three more people, two of whom looked barely older than Hallez, and the third only by a few years. They wore the same armour, but with the addition of a purple cloak, or cape, with golden lining. It must've been a mark of authority because everyone moved out of the way, and bowed their heads as they passed through.

The trio stopped in front of Hallez and Fiona.

"Fiona," the older one greeted. He was taller than Hallez, and much more muscular, but he stood in a way that made it clear he didn't want to be threatening.

Fiona quickly bowed her head. "Timothy, Sir, this is Hallez, the one who we detected."

Detected? Hallez thought. That definitely explains it. Not.

"How many times have I told you to not call me 'Sir'?" Timothy said, shaking his head.

Then, to Hallez's surprise, "Timothy" turned to her with a kind smile, and held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you, Hallez," he said warmly. "I'm Timothy, or Tim, or Timmy, whichever you prefer. I'm one of the consuls, a son of Jupiter, the god of the sky in Roman mythology."

Hallez was stunned. Timothy, or Tim, or Timmy just...openly admitted his parentage. Maybe Hallez would be accepted here after all...

But sons of Jupiter were common in the old myths. It wouldn't be so hard to believe. Unlike her...

Hallez knew about the gods. She knew about the heroes and demigods as well. She just didn't care much about them. Why would she? It wasn't like they cared about her, so she didn't care about them right back.

Hallez made her face impassive, and shook his hand, briefly, before retracting it. "Nice to meet you too. And you already know who I am."

"Actually, I don't," Tim corrected. "We detected strong magical energy coming from the Mojave Desert, where you were I guess, through the new version of Demigod Detection app on— Ah, sorry, you're not here to hear about that, are you?"

A few people in the crowd chuckled good-heartedly. Hallez was starting to feel uncomfortable about the large crowd and was wondering why they were still there.

"My point being, we only knew that a demigod has come into contact with a magical item," Tim continued. "We sent Fiona here, daughter of Fortuna"—Fiona held up two peace signs and gave them an awkward smile—"to find you and bring you to us. But we don't actually know anything about you. So, judging from the lack of reaction you had to my statement about my parentage, I would say with reasonable certainty that you are also one of us—a modern demigod—and judging by the way you just stayed with that cold, serious expression of yours, I'd say that you don't particularly like it."

Hallez was just perhaps a little stunned at Tim's observation skills. He was right about all of that. It must've shown on her face, because he laughed softly.

"I'm impressed," Hallez admitted. "I don't say that to a lot of people."

Tim nodded. "I get that a lot. And thanks. Don't underestimate a son of Jupiter, as I always say. Anyways, who is your parent? On the gods' side?"

Hallez hesitated. She was nervous now, more than ever. She didn't want to tell them, but...it felt wrong not to. It felt like telling them her heritage was the main key to being accepted. And yet, what if they didn't?

Tim saw her hesitate, and correctly took it for her being nervous. He held up his hands in a non-threatening way. "If you don't want to say it, it's fine. But I can't promise that I won't try to guess."

Hallez sighed inwardly. "No, no, you don't have to. H-he's—"

Did I just stutter? Hallez wondered with amusement. She had never talked to anyone about her true father before, apart from when her mother and step-father had told her before they passed on, but that technically didn't count since that was when she first found out. She was having great trouble getting the words out. It felt surreal, that she was talking about a subject she had been quietly burying, careful not to think about, after all this time.

She had to bury the thoughts; Sometimes, she would get small tantrums that could go in several different directions—when she was in her annoyingly luxurious bedroom in their group's place at an oasis, alone—just because she thought about it for too long.

It didn't take a rocket scientist genius to tell that she hated the subject.

Who would even want to be near somebody with her lineage?

It would be better for everyone if she lived alone, as much as she hated that thought. She wouldn't have to worry about other people, or their thoughts or their judgment if they knew. And they wouldn't have to worry about bad omens, or cursed luck, or death hanging over their heads all the time.

She hesitated a long while. Then she finally stood up straighter, looked Tim in the eyes, and said in a loud, confident voice (she hoped);

"My father is Death. I am the daughter of Letum, the god of Death."

---

I think I should be concerned.
Soon there's gonna be a big ol' gap between updates—
(Not that anyone cares or reads it—)

-Lunya