Umbra

Chapter 20

Pollux's mother was too sweet.

It made no sense to Emilia how this woman could ever have liked someone like Dionysus. She barely knew him but everyone at camp collectively agreed that he was... definitely a character. Of course this woman had attracted his interests– she was a biologist who happened to have been adopted into the Riboli wine family.

Emilia was given a tour of her little house, filled with photographs of their family. There were six albums stacked and filled with pictures of Castor and Pollux as they were growing up, including some pictures of them in orange t-shirts, taken by a different camera than the one she'd used for the majority of the pictures.

Dionysus was present in a few of the pictures from Camp. He was more present in the twins' lives than any other godly parent. He'd spoken to their mother at length about a timeline for when they should go to camp. He sent her updates the entire time, he arranged for meetings in New York so the boys could see her without being too far from safety.

Maybe he wasn't so bad. Ms. Riboli had such great things to say about him. She even missed him now that he wasn't able to make contact with anyone outside of Olympus. He'd been a father to his children, he'd respected her as more than just a woman who gave birth to his children. It was more than what could be said about the other gods.

"What are you thinking about, honey?"

She glanced up as Ms. Riboli as she came to sit beside her, holding two glasses of wine. "Pollux is trying an Iris-message to that nice girl he mentioned, Krista," said his mother, smiling and offering Emilia a glass. "Want to try it? It's sweet, you'll like it."

Emilia accepted it. She mimicked Ms. Riboli by swirling it around the glass, then took a sip. Her eyes lit up. "Wow. If churches had wine like this, I would have wanted to do communion more often."

She laughed, still so full of life. "I'm glad you like it. Pollux said you'll be going to San Francisco and San Diego after this. You excited?"

"For SF, yes," she said. "I'll be glad to see my aunt again. SD... less so. My family wasn't so..." She gestured around at the house, "Whole. How did you do it? How did you come to terms with the fact you were with a god, that you were going to have children with him, that they were going to be at risk all their lives?" She stopped when she saw a pensive look on the woman's face. "I'm sorry, Ms. Riboli, I shouldn't be prying–"

"Nonsense," she said, waving her hand. "And please, call me Lucia. For starters, it was confusing once he finally told me the truth. The twins were so young, I was almost still a child myself, not much older than you when I had them. I was lucky to have had the privilege of a good family name. Other demigod parents aren't so fortunate. It took several weeks to come to terms with it. When he had to go, I felt empty. My boys were my only solace. Eventually, seeing them leave, it broke me. I didn't want to let them go but I knew it was for the best. I couldn't protect them here. As a parent, all you want to do is see your children succeed. How could I be sure if they would when I had nothing to contribute?"

"You contributed a lot," reasoned Emilia. "Pollux always speaks highly of you. They were both great boys. I'm..." She didn't know what to say about Castor, but Lucia seemed to understand.

"I know it was not your fault," said Lucia. "I don't blame the gods. I don't blame the demigods. I blame... bad parenting. Pollux has explained to me what's been going on, in pieces. One bad parent makes another and the cycle continues until everyone is forced to heal from something, everyone has to grapple with choices where someone always gets hurt. Kronos, he was hungry for power. It made him dangerous but it also left him vulnerable. He overlooked the strength of family, of friendships, of love. Gaea will be different, I think. She's bringing the giants back, she loves her children too much. She wants to give them the world, she wants them to tear down the lineage she thinks was tainted. It will make her more cunning, more precise in her attacks."