the prophecy | p. jackson

prologue

FOR AS LONG AS SHE HAD LIVED, DAWN DELGADO WOKE UP WITH THE SUN. when she was younger, her dad would joke that he did good with her name. when she turned seven, she began going onto the roof through her window, clad in her pyjamas and blankets, to watch the sunrise.

she grew up on isla de tarifa, an island in spain. she remembered nothing of her mother, she only knew what her father had told her— he went to greece for a college trip, and she was a native. they stayed together for the entirety of the year, and then, right as he was leaving for spain to go home, she called and told him she was pregnant.

she was born at 6:42am on november 3, 1993 in isla de tarifa.

she grew up close to her father, the two of them spending every free hour at the beach. they lived in a house directly on the beach— her father, carlos delgado, always told her that her mother gave them a lot of money when she died.

she was always told her mother went back to greece to break the news to her family, but she never came back. carlos had said that her mother told him that her mother had died. aurora aetos— that was her mothers name.

when she was thirteen, right at the start of the school year, before she turned fourteen, her father told her she got accepted to a boarding school in bar harbor, maine. a whole ocean away from her father, who'd really been her only friend.

after lots and lots of tears, dawn eventually accepted her fate. in september of 2007, her and her father flew all the way to maine to get her set up in the school.

dawn hadn't really been all that troubled as a kid. sure, she'd act recklessly sometimes for the fun of it, but that was all. she hadn't ever thought anything was odd about her. she was smart— really smart, at the top of almost all of her classes, and half of her room back home was full of books.

once she got to westover hall, she was surprised how quickly she made two friends. bianca and nico di angelo. bianca was a year or so younger than her, and nico was almost four years younger than her. she didn't really mind, though. she liked playing mythomagic with nico and gossiping with bianca at lunch and in their dorm.

she was overjoyed when her and bianca's dorm had very easy access to the roof. all she had to do was open the window, and she could sit and watch the sunrise.

a month into the school year, in october, a new boy showed up. grover underwood, was his name.

dawn had noticed him sitting alone during lunch. bianca and nico had decided to skip class that day, solely because they were both tired, so dawn, too, was sitting alone.

without much thought, she grabbed her tray and sat down across from him.

"hi," she smiled.

he looked at her like a dear in headlights.

"i'm dawn. i saw you sitting alone, so i figured i'd sit with you."

he didn't respond, but dawn didn't really mind. she could talk about just about anything if she really tried.

"if you want me to leave, you can say so, but i know how much it sucks sitting alone. i'm an exchange student from spain, so my first day here, i didn't know anyone. i sat alone for a few weeks until i met bianca and nico—"

"bianca and nico di angelo?" the boy asked, finally speaking. dawn grinned wider. thank god, she wasn't really sure how much more blank staring she could take.

"yeah! do you know them?"

"uh.. i have them in a class or two, i think," he finally answered.

"oh, that's cool! are you an exchange student, too, then?"

"not really.. i'm from new york."

dawn gasped, "new york? oh, my gosh! i've always wanted to go there! is the statue of liberty really that tall?"

he nodded.

"i'm gonna go to new york one day and see for myself," she declared. "i also really want to go to greece, but that's only really because of my mom."

his eyes widened and he looked at her like he was studying her, "you're—"

"half greek, yep. my mom was from there. at least, that's what my dad says," she shrugged.

"do you.. not know your mom?"

"no, she died when i was a baby. but.. anyway! uh.. your name is grover, right?"

"yeah," he nodded.

"cool! well.. i promised bianca i'd sneak her and nico lunch since they skipped today, so i gotta go. but if you ever need a lunch buddy, come find me!"

🌅

THE MORNING OF DAWN'S FOURTEENTH BIRTHDAY, SHE SAT ON THE ROOF OF WESTOVER HALL. she watched the sunrise with a smile, her blanket wrapped around her to fight the november chill. snow fell all around her, a peaceful, snowy runrise.

peaceful until she saw something that had to be her lack of sleep kicking in. below, at the steps of the school. a lion-like creature was walking around, but it was far too big to be a lion. it almost looked like the manticore from nico's game, but that was ridiculous. those didn't exist— mythomagic.

and then, the lion-like creature looked up and made eye contact with her. her eyes widened, and she was too frightened to look away.

"— dawn!"

she gasped and spun around, a hand over her heart. she sighed in relief when she saw it was just bianca.

"what are you staring at—"

"nothing! sorry, i— i thought i saw something."

"saw what?"

she paused, trying to think of a lie, "uh.. my dad. i just.. i'm not used to celebrating my birthday without him."

"oh," bianca gave her a sympathetic smile, "well, the sunrise is over, so come inside before you get pneumonia."

dawn cleared her throat, "right. sorry."

🌅

TAY'S CORNER!
dawn is such a cutie patootie