The blazing storm

Chapter 29

"And then I was in the forest." Darcy looked down at her hands. 

Names nodded.  "They took me back to Greece." He looked at Leigh.  "Then Leigh saved my arse and now I'm here."

Darcy looked at Leigh and smiled.  "Thank you." She whispered.

Leigh returned the smile.  "I was pregnant and ready to pop, I was getting restless." She looked at Leo.  "I also wasn't allowed to see Leo and I figured I would do something for his best friend."

Leo smiled back at Leigh and took Amelia from her arms.

"Now," Leigh advanced towards Darcy.  She took her half blonde half black hair.  "Do you want to keep it like this or shall we let the Aphrodite kids dye it?"

Darcy toyed with a strand of her hair.  After a moment of silence, Darcy makes up her mind.  "Chop it."

Leigh's face goes blank.  No one says anything.  "Come again?" Leigh is the first to recover. 

"All of it.  Gone." Darcy stood up.  "I want to be done with this part of my life.  All these bad memories, all the suffering."

James took her hand and gave it a light squeeze.  "Me too."

They smiled at eachother.  Leigh raised an eyebrow.  "Alright then.  I'm sure the Aphrodite kids will be pleased to play hairdresser."

They all walk to the Aphrodite cabin where the kids are applying a fresh layer of makeup after the small chaos. 

"Two haircuts please!" Leigh called. 

Darcy and James were swarmed and hair scissors to their hair within a few minutes. 

Darcy didn't cry as her hair was sheared away piece by piece. 

"Oh my gods!" Leigh grinned at her in the mirror, holding Darcy's shoulders.  "You look fantastic."

Darcy looked at her hair in the mirror.  The Aphrodite kids and given her a pixie cut and had combed her hair across her forehead so it swept her eyebrows. 

James joined Darcy and Leigh in the mirror.  His hair was cut down to short stubs  on top of his head and shaved down to the skin on the sides of his head.

He reached over Darcy's shoulder  and squeezed Darcy's hand.  "Ready to go show Leo?"

Darcy smiled an nodded.  The three of them left the cabin and joined Leo who sat outside tickling Amelia who lay on his lap.  When he heard their approach, he turned around.  His eyes widdened and he stood up, cradling his baby against his shoulder.  "Whoa." He said, mouth hanging open.  His eyes skirted over Darcy's hair.  "I've only ever imagined you with long hair, but... you look smexy." He winked at her jokingly.

James narrowed his eyes.  "Watch it." He warned but smiled after a moment. 

There was a long and awkward silence.  "So..." Darcy began awkwardly.  "What do we do now?"

Leigh glanced at Darcy.  "I suggest you call your mother and tell her that you're not dead." She looked across Darcy at James.  "You too."

Darcy thought for a moment.  "That might be a good place to begin."

She wondered what her mother would say.  After all, she'd ben missing for over five years.  Had her mother moved on, assuming her daughter had died or had she waited all these years, still hoping?

Dying was an occupational hazard if you were a demigod and her mother knew that.

Did she have any new siblings or was she still an only child? 

"Where's the nearest phone?" Darcy asks. 

Leo smiles.  "Big house, Chiron's office...probably."

Darcy thanks Leo before heading towards the big house with James.  She paused and looked back.  "Are you coming?"

Leo shook his head.  "We need to catch up on some family time."

As if to emphasize the point, Amelia lets out a high pitched giggle.  Darcy smiles before takig James' hand and continuing to the Big House.  She was glad her best friend finally had the family he deserved. 

Once they were in Chiron's office and had permission to call, Darcy dialled her home number from five years ago, hoping her mother still lived there.  The phone rang twice before someone picked up. 

"Hello?" Darcy's heart skipped at the sound of her mother's voice.  She found herself unable to say anything and sat there in total silence.  "Anna is that you?  I thought I told you to come home an hour ago." 

Darcy's heart sank.  She had been replaced.  "Hey mom..." She said weakly.  She didn't know what to say. 

"Anna I need you home now." Her mother said, sounding like she was trying to do many things at once.  It was like she was rushing around the house, preparing something.

"Why?" Darcy ended up asking.

There was a short silence.  "Because it's Darcy's birthday."

"But I thought she was dead." Darcy decided to play along and see what her mother said.

"I don't care if she's dead or if she ran away and began a new life," Anger tinged her mother's voice.  "She's still my daughter and it's her birthday." Her mother sounded like she was about to cry.

Darcy could barely speak.  Tears were choking her, stuck in her throat like Doritos that weren't chewed well enough; the ripped her throat appart. "Ok," Tears fell on Darcy's cheeks.  "I'll be home soon."

"Good.  Hurry up please." Her mother said.

"Hey mom," Darcy said quickly before her mother could hang up. 

"Yes, Anna?" Her mother answered sounding slightly annoyed.

"I love you."

There was a silence.  Darcy thought her mother had hung up but she spoke.  "I love you too."  And then her mother hung up. 

Darcy stared at the phone.  She could barely see it through her tears.  James took her hands and hugged her.  Darcy cried into his shoulder.  Her mother thought she was never coming home.  She had another daughter named Anna now.  Her mother sounded happy with her life and there was no need to go home. 

Darcy had her family now and she loved it even if her mother wasn't included.  She could never have hopped for better. 

Darcy was at peace.