River.

Chapter 170: New Fate

Cassidy's P.O.V.

I stayed at the hospital overnight and went home the next morning though Roman refused to leave his dad's side.

Telling the kids about their dad was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life.

I didn't even know where to begin.

I'd called Elise, Jenna, and Logan last night and told them the news first. All three of them took it pretty hard. Jenna even hung up afterwards and hasn't answered any of my calls since.

I asked Elise and Logan if they could help me break the news to the other 3 to which they agreed.

It was harder than I thought it'd be.

Logan, Elise, and I sat on one couch while Gray, Meadow, and Kai sat on the one in front of us.

"Is this about my C in World History?" Asked Gray. "If so can we keep this little intervention between us and not tell Dad?"

"You got a C?" Asked Kai. "Dad's gonna kill you."

"Actually this is about your father...." I began, deciding to just get straight to the point. "There was an accident last night. He was involved."

"Is daddy okay?" Asked Meadow.

"He's in the hospital... They did emergency surgery on him last night but he's not doing too good-"

Before I could finish Meadow jumped up and took off running out of the living-room.

"Meadow!" I called out.

"I've got her." Said Elise as she stood up and followed Meadow.

"What do you mean he's not doing too good?" Asked Gray.

"He hasn't woken up." I replied. "He slipped into a coma shortly after we got him to the hospital."

"So he's gonna die?"

"No he's gonna be fine. We just cant lose hope."

"How bad is it? His condition?"

"He's uh... He's on life support but the doctor said we shouldn't worry too much because his vitals are still okay."

"But he's on life support... He cant even breathe on his own."

"Gray-"

He stood up and walked out... Not saying another word.

I looked at Logan and he nodded his head then followed Gray upstairs.

Leaving me and Kai alone.

"You okay?" I asked.

He stared at me with a blank expression. I couldn't quite tell what he was feeling.

"A building exploded.... It was him and Mara inside." He stated.

"How did you know that?"

"The dream I had when I was younger... When dad died.... It was in an explosion."

"He's not dead Kaiser."

"Yet."

Then he did as Meadow and Grayson did, stood up and left.

                              ...

Mara's P.O.V.

"Tell me..." Cato insisted as we sat in the hospital room with Apollo, next to his bed.

"I told you everything." I replied.

"No you didn't. Because for some reason you feel like this is your fault."

"Because it is."

"Why do you say that?"

"Remember a few years back you told me that one day I'd have to make a decision that could result in Apollo's death? Well I was forced to make a decision last night..."

"Which was?"

"I could have either saved Apollo and taken him to get help or killed Peter. I chose to save Apollo."

"And why's that?"

"Because Peter's death isn't worth Apollo's death. Yet, if I would have went after Peter and killed him maybe I would have had time to come back and help Apollo. But I wasnt thinking."

"Do you believe you made the right choice?"

"I know it wasnt the right choice. I know what Apollo wanted me to do. But I couldn't just leave him to die. He knew I wasnt gonna leave him just to kill Peter so he took matters into his own hands. He knew that using his powers would possibly kill him yet he did it anyways. He shielded me. Then he did it. All because he thought that Peter needed to die."

"Peter absolutely needed to die Mara. Had he made it to the rift and if he what he said as true about there being traitors in the rift, a lot of those kids would have died. I wasnt at the Rift last night so I wouldn't have been able to protect them. Sehrem wasnt there to protect them, Raes wasnt there, Sidonyus wasnt, Theana wasnt, Ca'sius wasnt, just Dia and Simartè. They wouldn't have been able to handle Peter and his men by themselves. We would have lost a war that hasn't even started yet. Apollo did this because he knew that. He knew that those kids are our future. He knew how important they were. And he knew that he was the only one strong enough to kill Peter. And now that Peter's dead we have the one thing we've needed most: Time. We don't have to worry about losing anyone else for a while. We can focus on becoming stronger as a unit. We can persevere longer now. We all know that one day someone's going to take Peter's place but that won't be anytime soon. This is the first time in years that those kids have been truly safe. And its all because of Apollo. He gave his life to make sure they lived. That's the most honorable sacrifice anyone could ever make. He fought until he couldn't fight anymore. Now its up to you to stand beside his son a few years from now and finish Apollo's fight. That's your fate. To finish his fight."