Heroes of Olympus (The Throne of Stone)

Chapter 33 Island Girl

Chapter 33

Island Girl

Autumn

I brushed off my awesome shades, neon frames with rhinestones on the rims, of my many flaws, vision impairment was one of those wonderful things. Still you have to admit, my glasses are awesome. Emma had moved into the guest room for the time being. Sure, I was pretty surprised when Emma’s aura suddenly showed up on Destiny, but you know, I just go with the flow. I wish I could have videotaped Leo’s reaction though. That, was hysterical.

It was my shift on deck. It was late, the stars were in their prime, bright and casting an eerie glow on everything. Leo’s shift would be next in 2 hours. I stretched getting ready for the next 2 boring hours of steering and keeping guard.  

My muscles are sore, dang, fighting monsters makes you really stiff. I was so excited to meet Leo’s “friend”, it was obvious it wasn’t a friend. They way he talked about her, it seemed like he knew her for much longer than he actually did. Either way he was way over his head.

“Hey,” I whirled around. Emma was coming up from the ladder, rubbing her eyes.

“Hey sleepyhead. You should catch some rest while you have the chance. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day.” Emma stood next to me and leaned on the railing, the churning waves below.

“Autumn, honestly, stop hiding.”

“What?” I rubbed my arms, it was chilly out here.

“You’re scared. Really scared, but you went on this quest so you could look after Leo. But you only care for him as a friend. But this is all happened too quickly for you and you’re panicking inside. You feel you’re not ready, you haven’t even figured out your powers yet and you’re going to take down Gaea. But your only reason is to protect those you love. But you're not even sure if they love you back.” Emma looked at me. I was shell shocked. How did she know that? All of my doubts, my worries, she knew them all like the back of her hand. “It’s okay, I’m the same. You’re not alone.” I lost control and I hugged Emma. Before I knew it I was crying. “Hey, you’ll be okay. We love you too Autumn.” That just made me cry harder.

~

“Whatever happened to your dad?” I was an hour into my shift and my eyelids were heavy. I needed a good story to keep me awake.

“My father, he was mentally traumatized after she left. I did check on him though.” Emma leaned on the rail next to me. Even if she was a head shorter than me, she was much smarter. “He seemed to be getting better. Last year he even started talking again, but he would never really be the same, no matter how much time he had to heal. His eyes were always glassy and he looked like he was in another dimension. But there was always this look of terror he had on his face.” Emma looked down at her hands. “I went to check on him a month ago. He was better than he’d been before. He said that he forgave me for running away, and that he didn’t blame me, that he was a low rate dad. I disagreed, this wasn’t his fault, it was my mother’s. It was her burden not his. And I will never be able to forgive her for that. It was never his fault that this happened to him. I’m pretty sure that if this hadn’t happened to him he would have been a great dad. But, then I wouldn’t have been born. I stayed the night with him, which was a mistake. When I woke up I had attracted monsters. 5 held my dad hostage. They said that they were working for their patron, Gaea. When I refused to collaborate with them…” Emma looked down again, hiding her face. But I could tell that her expression was filled with pain. “I blacked out. I think it was my mom’s way of saying, “Sorry I was so stupid” because when I woke up I wasn’t in the same place. I was in the fields somewhere in Minnesota. But I couldn’t help feeling that she was responsible. But I’ve learned to channel my anger at Gaea. There are just some things that I can’t do anything about, and I’ve come to accept that.”