Revenge

Chapter 41

"You'll write to me, won't you?"

"Of course."

"And we'll still see each other, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"You promise? I don't want this to be a one-time thing."

"I promise. It's only for a couple months anyway."

Beck squeezed Michael's hand. "I'm so glad we're not having that conversation."

Her boyfriend looked over at the two kids who were hugging tightly, both close to tears. One was a full time camper in Cabin 9, and the other had only been at Cabin 17 for a few weeks.

"They'll never last."

Beck pushed him, snorting. "You're so mean."

"Hey, my dad's the god of prophecy. I know things."

"Or maybe you just don't like Justin."

Michael shrugged, smiling a little. "Yeah, maybe that too."

Beck laughed and pulled him along towards the beach.

They walked through the sand together, a little ways from the water. Michael always let Beck choose how far they were from the waves, since she was the one who had the issue with water.

"Do you ever wonder why you're so scared of your father's domain?" Michael asked absentmindedly after about fifteen minutes of walking.

Beck shrugged. "I always guessed that it was a curse of some sort. Many gods with evil magic dislike Poseidon. Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that it's a very tactical maneuver if someone wanted to unbalance Poseidon, you know? His only demigod daughter, afraid of him? Someone wanted to pull a power move there, but you don't seem to resent your old man."

She snorted derisively. "I resent him plenty. But not because he's the god of water and I'm afraid of it."

"Why do you resent him then?"

Beck raised her eyebrows. "I'm very sure you know why."

Michael shrugged. "I mean, I'd still like to hear the reasoning."

"Because- Because he left me! He left me and Mom to fend for ourselves and because of it we began to resent each other! I hated my mother for years because I believed she drove my father off, and she hated me for the same reason. Our life was never, never normal-"

"And I'm very sorry for that, my child."

Beck turned sharply, startling at the deep voice to her right.

Poseidon was dressed like that one dad at the beach who was way into the whole 'embarrassing my kids for a living' deal. 

She crossed her arms, watching him. 

"Are you really though?"

The god of the sea frowned in confusion. "Of course I am-"

"Really? Because Percy still talks in his sleep, asking why you didn't help him when his evil step-father beat him and his mother half to death day after day. He has full on panic attacks in the cabin some nights, and I've watched him break the fountain in our cabin over and over, only to put it back together because he knows that it's his best communication device-"

"Easy, little sister."

Beck gritted her teeth and turned to Percy. "Well I'm right, aren't I?"

Percy looked at her, then at the awkward god standing a few feet away.

"Yeah, you are. But there's no point in arguing it. That's just how it is, the gods pretend to care so you can fight for them when they need you to."

"That's not true, Percy-"

"Save it." He shook his head, putting an arm around Beck. "It's not worth the fight."

Beck was going to drop it, she really was. But then she looked up at Poseidon and saw a flash of anger in the god's eyes.

"Are you so blinded by your immortality that you can't understand how horrible you act to your children? This is the first time I've talked to you, ever! I'm almost seventeen!"

"You have to understand, Beck, we can't talk to our children-"

"You're all-powerful immortals, you can do whatever you want! Everyone else who's more powerful than you has faded or been imprisoned!"

"Easy Beck-"

There was no stopping it though. Beck had this pent up for years. It was all coming out now and she wasn't going to stop.

"Just because you outlive the consequences of your actions doesn't mean that those consequences do not affect you!" 

"You have no right to talk to me like that, I understand that you're upset but that is not how you talk to your father! You need to respect me-"

"YOU DON'T DESERVE MY RESPECT!"

The world shook.

Michael yelled as he was knocked off of his feet. Percy barely kept his balance, and even Poseidon stumbled a little bit.

Beck stopped short, staring down as the sand settled once more.

The first person to react was her boyfriend.

"That's the coolest thing ever! I'm dating an Earthbender!"