Silenced (Demigod Story)

Wrong Idea

As usual, my screams escaped my mouth before I could stop them.  I stopped my screaming and examined my surroundings.  I was on a leather couch that smelled new in the living room of a house.  At first, I didn’t recognize it because there was all new furniture inside.  Once my eyes landed on the painting of a violin, I recognized the place as my old house.  He must have gotten the couches replaced because Octavian shredded his old ones a few weeks ago, I realized.

My dad sat nervously on the rocking chair; thank goodness that Octavian didn’t ruin every piece of furniture because whenever my dad wasn’t being crazy outside while he drowned flowers he would be in his rocking chair.

My eyes studied him for a moment.  Something about him was different, but nothing was showing up to be any different about him sense I left.  Then I remembered that he would always be swaying calmly, he never looked nearly as stressed or nervous as he was at that moment.

“Hey dad,” I whispered to make sure not to startle him.  “You okay?”

His eyes stayed on the ground as he gently rocked in the chair.  “You have really grown,” he naturally commented.  He covered his face with his large hands as he continued, “And I missed all of it.”

His voice was full of regret, making me feel awful for just asking about how he was doing.  “What happened dad?  You have…changed,” I questioned as I leaned on my right elbow to face him.

He sighed, running his hands through his gray hair.  “I don’t know what had happened for the last five years.  One day I was working on poetry and then the next thing I know, I am drowning this tree with a hose,” he explained.

“Really?” I asked as I thought about it.

“A girl of dark hair had awakened me from my long imprisonment,” he continued.

“Imprisonment?  Where?” I questioned, suddenly interested in what he was saying.

He rubbed his head, trying to grasp information that wasn’t quite there.  “Goddess of the earth,” he recalled.

“Don’t worry dad.  I will defeat her.  She will be nothing but a rock when I am done with her,” I confidently stated.

His eyes widened and he did weird motions with his hands.  “What, no!  She may have tortured me endlessly for five years, but she did it for the best.”

“The best?” I questioned.  “The best for herself.  She is doing all of this for herself.”

“No,” he shook his head.  “This is your mother that we are talking about.  She is gentle but when others are doing wrong, she takes a stand to stop it.”

“She isn’t taking a stand, she is taking millions of lives.  She wants to end the world,” I explained.

“No, Gaea is just misunderstood.”

“So am I!  People think that I work for her just because she is my mom!”

“Maybe they think that because they know that you should fight with your mom,” he calmly suggested.

“I’m not that way, and never will be.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.  Stay on the safe side so you don’t get hurt,” he pleaded.

“So you want me to play on the side where everyone dies in the end?” I summed up.  “Wow dad, what a great decision.”

“That is not the deal.  If you go on her side I will be safe and you would have one of the highest ranking there is in the army.  Why would you not want to join?” he questioned.

“It is all nothing but a lie,” I told him, not quite convinced myself.

“I spent five-“

“Eight years dad.  Eight years,” I corrected him.

“Eight years?  You mean to tell me that I am 38 years old?” he joked.  It is weird how his moods can change so quickly.

“No dad, you are 54.  Keep up,” I joked back.  “But really, I just came here to see if you are alright and you look better than ever,” I commented.

“I won’t be good for long,” he told me.

I didn’t have enough time to ask what he meant before the ground started shaking.