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

Crazy, huh?

Cassius is meticulously painting my nails after I begged and pleaded with him for a solid seven minutes (I timed it). He can claim to embody her 'Spartan aspect' or whatever all he wants, the boy is still the son of the goddess of beauty. He can give a damn good manicure. If I'm going to potentially die on this quest, I might as well have killer nails.

"This is such a stereotype," Cassius grumbles as he paints the glittery beige polish over my nails. "It kind of feels like harassment, actually."

"Harassment?" I repeat, bursting into laughter. "Really?"

He grins up at me, amused by my reaction. He can't even hold himself back.

"Yes! You only asked me because of my mom!" he retorts.

"That is-" a single look from him cuts me off, "-absolutely true!"

We both laugh, hard. He pauses his work as he tries to catch his breath, trying not to smudge the (truthfully flawless) nail polish.

"I'm absolutely asking you to charge my cellphone next time it dies, then. See how you like it," he smirks, and I snicker.

"Portable phone charger. I can do that. I could even roast us some marshmallows or something, probably," I boast ridiculously, and Cas snorts. He sets the bottle aside and closes it after finishing the second coat. He blows lightly on my nails to speed along the drying.

"You're having way too much fun with this whole demigod thing," he says, rolling his eyes. I shrug. He grabs a gel top coat I have and unscrews the lid, getting started. "It's not exactly supposed to be a positive thing."

"It's a thing I can't change, though. I hate my dad, and I'm not changing my mind on that. But I can at least have fun with the powers I got from him and Hecate and Achilles," I reason. He shrugs, nodding. "I really do need to learn how to do magic. I mean, my mom could, so I probably can too if I try really, really hard. Right?"

Cas hums, thinking. "That's not really how it works, to be honest. But, then again, nothing about either of us is typically how things work. I think you could do it if you put in the work." He carefully smooths the top coat on the last nail.

"No offense, but the gods are weird when it comes to you. You and your dad are problematic, but that's pretty normal. It gets weird because Apollo has his creepy prophet claim on you- that he really needs to get over, by the way. One way or another. Then, Achilles is, um, Achilles. And Hecate is...how's that going? You're good, right?"

I think over his words. I hesitate.

"I think so," I say slowly. "Her magic has protected me all these years, so I imagine she must like me well enough. I certainly like her the best." Achilles clears his throat obnoxiously loudly in my head. "Of course, not including Achilles."

Cassius laughs, nodding. I wave my hands to help my nails dry faster.

"Of course," he agrees. He's quiet for a minute before he laughs again. I raise my eyebrows. He snickers before whispering, "Yer a wizard, Audra."

I roll my eyes, laughing as I smack his arm playfully. "Okay, Hagrid."

He takes my hand and taps my nails, nodding in approval. They're dry. I thank him, and I get back to doing a whole lot of nothing as I lounge on his bunk bed. He stands up and grabs his backpack, starting to pack up some things for the quest.

"I still think it's dumb that we have to leave for the quest, like, the day after tomorrow," I say, thumbing through the Turkey travel guide Chiron gave me.

It has a lot of maps and interesting information. I don't know how useful it'll be, exactly, but it's fun to read. I also have some informational articles that I printed out when I talked Chiron into letting me use his computer. He was just happy I wasn't complaining about the quest, I think.