Hera POV The next morning at breakfast we see as Nova gets two of everything for her and Karma. -What's wrong with Karma? N-He's depressed and a bit sad but he's getting there. She keeps getting the food ready when we hear Karma yelling for Nova. Ka-Nova? He appears by the hallway and she gives him a smile before he gives her a crushing hug. N-Did you got scared when you didn't saw me with you? He nods still hugging her and she laughs at him before he hugs her tighter leaving her without breath and we have to intervene. -Karma, stop it. Ha-You're crushing her breathless. He let's go of her and she takes a deep breath before she gives him a kiss on the cheek and they sit down to eat with us on the table. Ha-Now then, why are you so close this morning? N-Nothing really. -Where were you two yesterday? They keep quiet and don't answer my question to them. I don't mind it much but I leave them at that. They finish eating and they go back to their room. Nova POV After eating Karma follows me to our room and we talk low between ourselves. I put him by the window posing for me and I take my notebooks and pencils to draw him. -Come on Karma, just pose for me for a bit. Read a book if you like, as long as you keep still and quiet. Ka-Paint me cute. I give him a look before I laugh and he does as well. I start drawing him slowly with careful strokes and as I finish the drawing I feel like something's missing, I have him painted but I still feel like something's not quite right. I finally realize what I'm looking for and I take the color and I trace a thin black line around him making it barely visible but still there and present. I smile satisfied with my result and I stretch out. I go back to my bed and I see as Karma looks at it and smiles. Ka-He's cute. -Is you. We laugh and he lies down on bed with me. Ka-You have lots of talents. And they are even cuter when you concentrate on them. You always exceed on everything you do. -Can we go somewhere? Ka-Sure, where? -Let's all go to the beach. There is something I have to confess to you but I don't want anyone to know besides you. He looks at me expectantly and a bit worried now. I try to not look at him by resting against his chest. He hugs me but I don't feel better this time around as I try to think on how to speak with him about what has been happening to me lately. Before long I stay asleep on his arms and as usual I have yet another nightmare.
Nightmare I start to feel as my body gets heavier by the step. I am attacked by a thief and as I'm about to stop him with my aura I notice that I have only the strength of a human child and I grunt trying to evade his attacks. I manage to evade any deathly hits but I still get hit. I look for a weapon and when I find something I try to keep him at bay and away from me but then I notice that he's too calm for someone trying to kill me. Just as I get ready to attack him back and fight for my life a second person appears with a gun in hand and he shoots the thief on the head before he comes to me and with a calm demeanor he takes the knife he ends my life. I wake up to Karma waking me up worriedly. Nightmare over.
I wake up and I have trouble breathing and as I reubicate myself I notice that Karma is looking at me worriedly. Ka-Nova? Baby sister, are you okay? I pull him into a hug and I cry on his shoulder softly and he rubs my back gently trying to soothe me and calm me down. Ka-There there, calm down, I'm here, everything's fine. You're safe, you're with me. He kisses the top of my head gently and he takes me and he tucks me under the blankets softly before he gives me a kiss on the forehead and goes away. When he comes back he has a snack and a couple beers. He smiles at me and I laugh softly as he hands me one beer. -Where did you got this? Ka-Secret. Now drink, relax and you'll feel better in no time. He opens it and before long we're both drunk to the max. We are drinking what must be the hundredth beer when dad comes into the room, for a moment nobody says anything before I stand and go towards him with a beer for him. -Look who wants to join the party. Let's give him a beer. I hand him a beer and he takes both of them from me and gets them out of my reach. Ha-No more. -Come on, don't be like that. Relax a bit and get all that stress out of you. I turn to Karma and we have the same thought as he comes and holds dad down and we force him to drink the whole can of beer before letting him go and he turns to look at us clearly shocked at what we just did to him. Ha-You dare? -What you going to do about it? Ka-You would never harm us. We get together and we jump and jump around the room drinking our respective beers and dad goes away taking two beers with him. We laugh and joke around and we make a lot of stuff there. He gets some exercises done and I model about half of my closet to him. When we run out of beers we get out together and we go to the store to get more and we keep the party going. We finish those as well and I take the kitchen and we experiment a bit with all the food we have. We decide to go crazy not caring if it tastes good or not or how it looks at all or how it smells. I get everything in the mixer and in a moment something gets stuck on the spinner and I turn to look. -Can you fix this? Ka-Why don't you do it? Get your hand inside and move it. -And risk losing my hand? Not a chance, I'm drunk crazy not suicidal crazy. He laughs and he gets a knife and fixes it and about half of the mix spills out and on his face and I laugh so hard that my stomach starts to hurt. Karma however stays serious and he cleans his face with a towel before he gets the mixer going again. When the drinks are ready we get one each and drink it in one go. I almost throw up a couple times. Ka-We didn't throw up. -We didn't. Wait no, fake alarm, no, ugh god. I run to the trashcan and I throw up everything I had for the last five minutes. When everything is over I clean myself and I take a sip of water before I get on the couch where we drink a last beer before we turn to sleep together on the couch. The next morning when I wake up I wake up by dad splashing cold water on the both of us. -What the hell? Ka-Uh that's cold. Ha-Wake up. I get back a bit before I feel a sharp pain on my head. -Mmm, my head. I get a cushion over my head before dad gets it away. -Ugh, what's the date and time? Ha-Seven in the morning of the second of June. I sprint up and I share a look with Karma that reflects the same desperation I feel and we both sprint up and towards our room and we look though the carpets and notebooks and we let out a sigh of relief when we find that we have been approved for the fall bike racing. After a moment I go to the bathroom and I prepare the tub to relax on it with hot water and lots of bubbles and I wait until is full to get in. I give Karma a book and I get in the tub and he stands at the door. Ka-What am I supposed to do with this? -I want you to read me a story. Now please. He gets a chair and he puts it at the side of the tub and he starts telling me the story.
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He reads me my favorite story of all times including some gasps to add dramatical effect to the story. When he gets to the second part he stops. -Why you stop? Ka-I'll continue later. -Fine but take me shopping. He nods and gets out of the bathroom leaving me alone. I finish my bath and then I get ready to go shopping. I wait until he's on the bathroom showering and I go towards dad. I close the door behind me and sit in front of him not sure how to start to speak with him. Hades POV I see as Nova sits in front of my desk at my office and she looks nervous to say the least. -Anything I can do for you? N-I hope so. I put everything aside and I put all my attention on my youngest daughter. N-How did Karai got her full power? Like she could use all of it and be able to control it at will? -It was painful for her or at least it seemed painful. In my opinion, I think it was more fear of not knowing than pain of what was happening to her, why? N-Will it be like that for me as well? I know I can be stronger, I can feel it but I can't use it. -Is there anything specific you want to know, did something happened to you? She holds up a finger and she checks the hallway before she turns and she locks the door afterwards. I straighten up in my chair as I know this is serious for her. N-From some time until present day, I have, I've been having nightmares and each time they are more gruesome and vivid, longer, they happen more often...... I see a single tear comes down her cheek and I go around my desk and I get her into a hug. She cries for a moment before she finally hugs me back. I reassure her with gentle taps and soft kisses with kind words. -We'll figure it out. You'll see that soon enough you'll be able to sleep peacefully again. No more nightmares will haunt you. N-Thanks. I can always count on you. -But of course you can. I'm your father and you're my baby girl. Nothing will change that. I grab her face with both hands and I clean her tears away. She laughs and I take comfort with the sound of it before she goes away again with Karma. I would feel better if I had the certainty that she will be fine by night but with our luck, we're bound to get into a fight to the death. Karma POV I go to the stores with Nova and she gets a lot of things for everyone at Olympus and triple the same amount combined for herself only. -Are you going to get every single thing they have? N-Oh no, just mom, dad and Ares. I just don't know what to give the god of war. A new sword, a shield or a battle uniform. She shrugs her shoulders and I chuckle at that. -This year's gift exchange promises to be breathtaking. N-Is the first in a hundred years and is also the first that we go. You, me and Karai. Our first gift exchange.
To be continued at Olympus during the gift exchange................
