Heir of a Titan - Book 2 PJO

Chapter 18: Snap Back To Reality

The guys pulled me away from the house. I was still trying to spit out the awful taste that lingered. We raced back across the highway and up the little path we had taken.

Back at the cliff, Mrs. O'Leary had found a friend.

A cozy campfire crackled in a ring of stones. A girl about eight years old was sitting cross-legged next to Mrs. O'Leary, scratching the hellhound's ears.

"Hello," she said, while also accompanied with her sign.

"Lady Hestia." I smiled and bowed my head.

She smiled. "Eleanora. Nico. Please sit. Join me."

Nico bowed to the little girl. "Hello again, Lady."

She studied Percy with eyes as red as the firelight. Percy glanced at me and Nico who had already bowed and settled down.

"Chill dude." I signed. I saw his hand itching closer to his pocket. He glanced at us again and then bowed awkwardly.

"Sit, Percy Jackson," she said while still signing. "Would you three like some dinner?"

After staring at moldy peanut butter sandwiches and burned cookies, and the taste of the sour Apple acid smoke lingered, I didn't have much of an appetite, a d shivered in slight disgust. But Hestia, as the small girl waved her hand and a picnic appeared at the edge of the fire. There were plates of roast beef, baked potatoes, buttered carrots, fresh bread, and a whole bunch of other foods I hadn't had in a long time. My stomach started to rumble. It was the kind of home-cooked meal people are supposed to have but never do. The girl made a five-foot-long dog biscuit appear for Mrs. O'Leary, who happily began tearing it to shreds.

I scraped part of my meal into the flames, the way we do at camp. "For the gods...SOME of them. The few who haven't made my life difficult." I signed as I set my plate down again.

Hestia smiled. Percy and Nico had done the same thing.

"Thank you. As tender of the flame, I get a share of every sacrifice, you know."

"I recognize you now," Percy said. "The first time I came to camp, you were sitting by the fire, in the middle of the commons area."

"You did not stop to talk," the girl recalled sadly. "Alas, most never do. Nico talked to me. He was the first in many years. And then Eleanora and I had a beautiful visit just recently one early morning. Everyone seems to rush about. No time for visiting family."

"You're Hestia," Percy said. "Goddess of the Hearth."

She nodded. I rolled my eyes. I'm pretty sure I said her name, but I guess his mind was too busy flashing the big neon danger sign.

"My lady," Nico asked, "why aren't you with the other Olympians, fighting Typhon?"

"I'm not much for fighting." Her red eyes flickered. I realized they weren't just reflecting the flames. They were filled with flames- but not like Ares's eyes. Hestia's eyes were warm and cozy. I had subconscious inched closer to her, like I was trying to warm myself.

"Besides," she said, "someone has to keep the home fires burning while the other gods are away."

"So you're guarding Mount Olympus?" I asked.

"'Guard' may be too strong a word. But if you ever need a warm place to sit and a home-cooked meal, you are welcome to visit. Now eat."

🔆

My plate was empty before I knew it. Nico and Percy scarfed theirs down just as fast.

"That was great," I said. "Thank you, Hestia."