From Eden • Percy Jackson

1.7

WE VISIT THE GARDEN GNOME EMPORIUM
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In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong.

For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.

So there we were, Annabeth, Grover, Eden and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses.

Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."
I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in my ears. But Eden kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."
"All our money was back there," I reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."
"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight-"
"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"
"You don't need to protect me, Perseus. I'm fine on my own."
"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."
"Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.
Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.
After a few minutes, Eden fell into line next to me. "Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."
"We're a team, right?"
She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died ... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would also really suck for me... I care about you, Perce." My heart started beating out of my chest again. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't speak, and I wondered how she always seemed to know what to say. I feel like an idiot around her.

The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Eden except an occasional glint of her amber-colored eyes.
"Have you been on a quest before?" I asked her.
"Only once."
"Was it like this?"
"I guess, generally. It wasn't as life or death, I mean- it was but not on the brink of a war... you know?"
"I think so..."
Silence filled the air, only our feet hitting the ground and mumbling from behind us could be heard.

"And you used to live in Olympus? Isn't that just for the gods?"
"There's exceptions to every rule," a moment of silence passed before she continued. "I did live there, for almost five years. I don't really remember it so don't ask me to recall whether or not the furniture was all gold."
"I wasn't going to ask that-"
"I could feel it."
"What does that even mean?" I laughed.
I could tell she was smirking by the sound of her voice, "I know you, Perce." And there goes my heart jumping again.

It took me a beat to recollect myself, I had one more question.
"Why did Zeus try to strike us when he isn't supposed to hurt you? I mean you did say that, right? And he's kinda like your dad-"
She interrupted me sternly, "Zeus is not my father."
A moment passed filled to the brim with tense quietness.

Eden took a deep breath, "Zeus and I have a complicated relationship. He is married to my mother, but he is not my father." Another deep breath, "To answer your question, Hera made him swear on the river Styx that he wouldn't intentionally put me in harms way ever again." Thunder rolled in the distance.
"What do you mean 'again'?"
"It's a long story but I guess we have time... Grover mentioned to you how I was created, right?"
"Yeah but he didn't say much."
"...ok. Well, my mortal mother, Cassandra, worshipped Hera. She couldn't have kids on her own. On one particularly lonely night, she prayed to Hera for a child. She immediately got to work, mixing her ichor with human blood. She figured if Zeus could have demigod children for centuries with different women then she could have one for herself, me. She gifted me to Cassandra but Zeus quickly found out. Only a few months had passed, and Zeus was furious of my existence. He killed my mom in an attempt to kill me... Hera rescued me and I was placed under her protection in Olympus. Zeus can't hurt me. If he does then he goes against the river Styx and he goes against the Queen of the gods."