world-ender || l. castellan

x.

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x. the lightning
thief & the world-
ender

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WHEN NOEMI GETS BACK TO CAMP, there are rumors. They're just whispers, things some of the more secretly evil kids say like the few apollo kids who hate her guts, some little demeter shits, and a lot of unidentified sons of bitches who think they're funny.

Regardless of who they come from, she hears them.

"It was her. Did you see how quiet it was when she was in a coma? That can't be a coincidence. And no one gets special leave, even after a near death experience. Why does she?"

"Zeus almost had her with the gryphon. He sent it to get it back and Dorian just got in the way. That other stuff was a cover up story. I'm sure of it."

"Of course, it's her. Do you know who her dad is? She thrives off that shit."

          So, while she's gone off to assure her family that she's well and alive, they've all turned against her and decided that she's the lightning thief. Left, not to actually see the people of her blood, but to be reprimanded by the gods. As if they'd simply summon her and give her a stern talking to if she had snatched the bolt.

Noemi doesn't make it any better, arriving at camp with a heavy aura and a black eye. Luke brushes off the comments and questions with a charming smile and a wink, but Noemi isn't like him. She walks through the borders with a black cloud hanging over her head and glossy eyes— though tears never fall when she's around anyone, only when she furrows in bed at night.

         Chiron summons her to the Big House the day after, and she's slightly surprised to see that there's a full American feast on the table, from bacon burgers and french fries to hot dogs and hot wings. The real fatty stuff they don't ever serve at camp, because to be a hero you must be fit and small (another crock of shit they have to thank the gods for)!

"Noemi," He greets when she sits. "Clarisse made it very clear that you haven't had much to eat, and that 'this goat food isn't enough after a month of nothing', which I found to be very truthful when you first woke and only had a slice of cheese. And, surprisingly, Mr. D agreed that you need a fair dose of sodium and carbohydrates to properly recover."

Noemi wants to say that she's not that hungry, but she's be lying. She just wishes it was the feast her mother and grandmother had slaved over the day before. She feels hollow, and it's not just the hunger.

The thought has her slumping into the chair, eyesight going fuzzy. "Thank you."

         Chiron studies her with warm brown eyes as she slowly piles fries and wings on a plate. "What happened in the city, Noemi?"

         Noemi doesn't know why, maybe because she thinks it'll help ease the magnetic destructiveness of the black hole in her chest, but she tells him. About everything, not leaving a single gruesome detail out. She is too numb to care about what he thinks of her or her family. He's been alive for centuries, and she thinks that while her situation is bad, he's likely seen worse.

         Still, Chiron is better than the gods because, despite being half horse, he is in touch with his humanity. "Noemi, I'm deeply sorry for all that you have suffered. For a girl so young, you've endured things that might have made a grown man weep. I have always known that you are a fierce warrior on the outside, but it seems that you're even stronger on the inside."