³Kingdom Come.

005.

KINGDOM COME
━━ chapter five

━━ ABILENE WASN'T SURE what to make of this Sammy look-a-like that was apparently named Leo ( and took offense to being asked if his name was Sammy ). When she first met him in the Mess Hall, he seemed like any child of Mercury she would meet—a sly grin, constantly tapping fingers, and darting eyes. When she looked closer, he looked exactly like the aged photo of Sammy that had been left in Alaska—scrawny, tan skin, sharp eyes, and curly black hair. In a world of gods, reincarnation wasn't that far off of an idea; Abilene could easily believe Leo to believe some reincarnation of Sammy here to torment Hazel. Part of her wondered if Gaea had her hand involved in this, too. She always seemed to.

No matter what, no matter where Abilene seemed to look, Gaea's influences were felt. Obviously, as the ( evil ) Earth Mother, Gaea had her hand on everything the earth touched—nature, mountains, animals, and no matter how much the other gods wouldn't want to admit it, even things they controlled. Gaea could control earthquakes the same way Neptune could; she could create storm clouds using the right conditions from the earth like Jupiter; Gaea could control gems and use them as weapons the way Pluto can. She is the Earth. She created life, and she felt that she could take it away too.

Abilene knows thinking that way is only going to drive her crazy, but after learning what she has, she only thinks it's fair. She had been lied to for years, thinking her mother was Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture. For years, she prayed and prayed to Ceres, hoping for a sign—then she had a sign. Viridis. Not long after Jason disappeared in October, "Ceres" spoke to Abilene; This sword will be vital to you, "Ceres" said as the falx sword slammed into the altar in Ceres's temple. There's a reason I named it Viridis—it will bring a better, younger age to my name. Of course, now Abilene realizes the goddess that spoke to her was never Ceres—it was Gaea. It had always been Gaea. It made Abilene physically sick to think about all those years she went around calling herself "Ceres's daughter." Ceres could have struck Abilene at any point for falsely calling herself that—but she didn't. Abilene didn't know why. Part of her wondered if Ceres just shrugged and went along with her day like Well, I guess I forgot about this one. It wasn't like Ceres never technically claimed Abilene; Leila, whom Abilene still considered a sister despite everything, saw Abilene grow some plants and went around with Abilene, arm-in-arm, saying she had a new sister. No one argued. No one would think a demigod who could grow plants wouldn't be Ceres's kid.

She never had much time to think about it since first learning the truth. She started questioning her godly mother when Percy arrived and claimed he was seeing a face in the earth; a face he swore that had to belong to Gaea. The idea was fleeting; What if that sleepy voice you hear isn't Cerss, but is Gaea?; but she would quickly push the thought away, unable to admit it to herself—until Phineas, the blind seer. It made sense he knew—as a seer, he could see; if his visions of the future didn't tell him, then Gaea did. But that doesn't mean him knowing she was questioning everything didn't shake her to her core—for years, who she thought was Ceres ( who she also thought was her mother ) spoke to her; for years, Abilene went to Ceres's temple when she needed advice; the day after Jason Grace disappeared from Camp Jupiter, Abilene went to Ceres's temple and asked the goddess for answers. And Gaea gave Abilene a sword—Viridis. After that, Abilene had no more answers until Gaea appeared as Barbara Briar as Abilene and Percy almost drowned in muskeg. Phineas had to have known that, whether from his visions or because it was relayed to him from Gaea and her minions. He had to have known of the desperation Abilene felt to be close to Ceres, only to start questioning who she thought was her mother when Percy Jackson arrived at Camp declaring the face that Abilene had been seeing for years was Gaea.