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AELIA FELL ASLEEP LOOKING At the bulletin board again. After she arrived home, exhausted that was, she headed straight for her bedroom. It had just been such a long day— she wasn't even sure it was a day. First Percy, then Nico hiding something, then being chosen to go on a quest where they will die— but, hey, at least they'd free death.
She offered Nico to stay with her (she did have a pullout sofa and there was also her abuela's room) but he shut down the offer quickly. He stated that he had to go back to the Underworld to see his father. Aelia tried to understand what that must be like. Pluto was everything death related but he was also a father— a father that offered his demigod son a place in his palace. The concept of a god loving their children that much seemed foreign to Aelia. She's heard the stories of Venus and her Misericordia, of the luxurious parties they held and of all the benefits they were rewarded. It was stupid how all she got was curses and an occasional acknowledgment by some other god. She's never even spoken to her mother.
The only good thing the infuriating goddess of love ever gave her was Jason, and now that too was taken away from her. He had been dragged across the country and back but Reyna wouldn't allow her to go to the east coast for him. She couldn't possibly put their Misericordia Maximus at risk now that one of their praetors was missing too. Aelia declared this stupid. There was no telling what Jason was going through. What if he had been kidnapped and was held against his will? What if the Greeks were monsters too?
She knew of the Greeks, mainly due to the fact that she could sense their energy. She also knew that there were two sides to this story, and she only knew of one. Percy Jackson must've come from somewhere and those demigods the legionnaires fought in Mount Tamalpais were certainly not Roman. Lupa and the gods could try to continue to gaslight her all they wanted, she wouldn't budge. She had kept her mouth shut the entire time, but Juno was playing with matches and the world was a stick, waiting anxiously to burn.
She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice herself drifting off to sleep. While other demigods showed no sign of resistance, Aelia frailed. She moved, she cried. While sleeping her emotions appeared to be amplified.
In this vision, she appeared to be younger. She was in Malibu beach, and suddenly she remembered what day this was. It was June, approximately 9 years ago, and a young Aelia had practically begged her abuela to take them to the beach. It wasn't her fault, she had just finished watching a Disney channel movie titled 'Starstruck' that took place somewhere around here.
Growing up, her Abuela Soledad was very careful to not let Jason Grace near large bodies of water. She watched her younger self, smiling happily looking around her like crazy. This was just such a change in life, differing even from that time her abuela took them to hike for Jason's eighth birthday. Jason totally enjoyed it, the little bitch could quite literallyfly, but Aelia had complained the whole hike. Now, as payback she was taking them to the one place Jason hated most in the world.
