Persephone's Cage [Connor Stoll]

chapter five

Hades had left back to his domain, and the air felt a bit happier. Lilly was in her cabin by her bunk, a bag sitting in front of her. She was terrified, but she couldn't show it. She was unfortunately the brains of this quest, as Connor wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Plus, she was the leader. She had to be brave, no matter how scared she was.

"How're you feeling?" Will's voice filled her ears, causing her to face him. He gave her a small grin, tucking his hands in his pockets.

Lilly shrugged, turning back to her bag. She placed some clothes into it. "I'm alright. Just...saving a goddess, you know? It'll be okay."

"You're allowed to be scared, Lilly. It's normal." Her brother said. "It's how you use it to your advantage."

"How is being scared going to help me?" She asked, finished packing. She placed her bag on her back.

Will smiled, and brought her into a hug. "Your adrenaline is at its peak while you're scared. You can do amazing things under that rush of adrenaline. You can do anything."

Lilly looked up at her brother. His blue eyes stared at her happily, but she saw the hidden fear. He was scared, too. It made sense. The Apollo cabin was notorious for losing the most campers. He didn't want to lose another sibling.

"I'll come back, Will." Lilly patted his shoulder after pulling away from their hug. She faced the rest of her cabin, her other siblings staring at her with sadness. Some were crying. Some were proud. "I'll come back to all of you."

"I'm gonna miss you!" Her little sister jumped at her, wrapping her arms around the older girl. Fiona Ward sobbed gently, and Lilly smiled at her. She wiped her tears away, and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"We all will." Austin Lake had a hand on his hip, giving her a proud smile. "But we know you'll bring honor to our cabin."

"Yeah!" Ameer Hassan cheered. "We'll be behind you!"

Lilly smiled at her siblings, a feeling of hope filling her chest. "I promise, I'll make you all proud."

"You already have." Kayla Knowles said. "We've seen how hard you work. So, we sorta got you a gift. It's from all of us." A charm bracelet was held out in front of her, Lilly's eyes going wide.

It was made of gold metal, and a little sun charm dangled gently off of it. "It's not only a bracelet. Come on, tap it!" Ameer laughed, too excited for his own good.

Lilly hesitantly listened to her little brother, tapping the charm. In an instant, it jumped out of Kayla's hand, growing bigger, and in a new form. Lilly gasped in shock, catching the object before it fell to the ground. "It's beautiful."

A sleek bow sat in her hand perfectly. It looked almost as if it were solid gold, shining in the sun's rays coming in from the window. It was stringed with a black string, and had intricate designs carved into the hilt.

"We knew your original bow broke when Gaea attacked, and that you've been using a cheap training bow." Austin began to explain.

"So, we got some of the Hephaestus kids to help us out." Fiona smiled.

"And then Lou Ellen charmed it, so it won't break as easily." Ameer added.

"It's made out of wood, but it acts like solid gold. It's pretty durable." Will patted her shoulder. "And it's all yours."

Lilly stood still, her eyes unable to leave the beautiful bow. "I..I can't even begin to express my appreciation." Her eyes watered up. "Thank you all, so much."

"Anything for our sister." Kayla laughed, bringing the girl into an embrace. The other siblings followed suit, smooshing Lilly inbetween all of them. She laughed and smiled with them, happy tears falling down her cheeks.

***

"You look like you've been crying. Are you okay?" Lilly glanced at the boy next to her. Landon bent over to get a closer look at her face, his brown eyes filled with concern. She shot him a smile.

"I'm fine. My siblings just gave me a cool surprise and I got a little emotional." Lilly spoke, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist.

Landon laughed. "That's sweet. I wished my siblings did things like that." He shuddered. "But they're all so mean."

"Not all of them are mean." Lilly shrugged. "I know a couple, and they're pretty nice. Though, I guess you are their brother. What do I know?"

"You know a lot more than you think." Landon complimented. He shoved his hands in his pockets, his messy brown hair ruffling in the wind. "You honestly need to give yourself more credit for things."

Lilly shook her head. "I couldn't. I don't deserve that. I'm honestly...a weak link. No matter what you guys think."

"You wouldn't be leading a quest if the Gods didn't think you were ready." The son of Aphrodite said. "Your fatal flaw is inferiority, right? You think less of yourself. It's hard, but you have to get over it. It'll kill you if you don't."

Apollo's daughter frowned. "I just can't. Not yet." She took a breath, wrapping her arms around herself, as if to protect herself. "I'll admit. I've helped out camp plenty of times, but there are so many better people. Like Percy Jackson. That kid; he's amazing. He's strong, confident, attractive. He's like this perfect little demigod, and compared to him, I'm nothing."

"But even Percy has flaws." Landon led the girl to a lone bench near the stables, setting her down gently. "He's not as confident as he looks. Even someone like him is weak, weaker than the underdogs like us. People like you and me, we have an advantage over people like that."

Lilly's blue eyes locked onto his, confusion swirling around. "And what is that?"

"We have each other." Landon smiled, and for a second, Lilly felt her heart pound. "Us in numbers, we could become as powerful as people like Percy Jackson. They wouldn't stand a chance. But of course, I'm just using Percy as an example. He's the villain in this analogy."
Lilly smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She stood up. "I have to get going. I'm sure Aiden and the idiot are waiting for me."

"Of course! I hope you save her. It'd be a shame if spring never came. Very devastating." Landon stood up, and patted her shoulder. "Don't forget what I told you. Even the underdog can rise up to power."

As Landon walked away, Lilly couldn't help the lingering feeling of butterflies in her stomach. He really was as charming as the other Aphrodite kids.