Olivia Smith and the Titan's Curse

The Isles of the Blessed

Song For This Chapter: Smother - Daughter (perfectly describes Olive's thoughts)

Ch. 27: The Isles of the Blessed

     "I knew you'd show up, eventually." The voice echoed in my head, pulling my heart up into my throat, making me feel a new, unfathomable pain - comparable to the one I'd felt before. 

     I shook my head softly, not believing what I was actually seeing. I wanted to be wrong; I wanted to wake up now. Swallowing the lump that had quickly developed in my throat, I took a shaky breath, trying to figure out the game that was being played in front of me.  

     "Aphrodite?" My voice dead-panned as I watched the red-haired woman smile softly at me from the beach front, not wanting to dip her bare feet in the water. Her hazel eyes sized me up, appreciatively, but they were unchanging. 

     The woman's smile grew, displaying her quirky, not quite straight teeth and rosy lips. She patted down her flowing, flaming waves and giggled, ducking her head as I watched a tear streak down her cheek. "No, baby."

     My unsure frown dropped down into a lip-quivering grimace, eyes pooling with a salty liquid that stung worse than sea water. The woman watched me stand in the water, not making any move to come closer, testing the way I was reacting.

     "No," I resolved, shaking my head, tears splattering against the surface of the ocean as I did. "That's not possible."

     "Oh, Oli," She broke down her strong standing, and rushed towards me, wrapping her long, tender arms around my shoulders, pulling me in against her chest like she used to do when I was a small girl. 

     I made no move. I made no sound. I was terrified that if I did anything too rash, I would be pulled from this nightmare before I could properly see her, talk to her. Leaning against her, I breathed her in, the familiar scent overtaking me in waves, tears spilling so often from my eyes that I figured she would need to change her shirt soon.

     "M-Mom," I croaked out, fingers trembling, knees quaking as the warm ocean waves lapped against the calves of both of us, "Ho-ow?" I begged her, slowly lifting my arms around her, testing the boundaries of my dream, and hugging her tight when I realized I wasn't about to wake up.

     Sobs shook my chest as I remembered days we'd have when I was little, birthdays where we'd go to the zoo, Sunday night football and spaghetti, laundry fight Saturdays, all those seemed worlds away, as if they were only something that had happened inside a dream when I was young. A faint memory of another life. 

     But, now her she was, holding me tight. And, all I could think about was the wasted time alone, unable to forget my Mother and Penelope. I had almost forgotten how much I'd missed the two of them. Some how, Percy had made me forget the pain for a little while. 

     "Shh," My mom sighed, patting down the back of my hair, soothing my fit, "It's alright, it's alright, baby."

     I took a minute or two to compose myself, rubbing my raw eyes from the salty residue. I took in the scenery, regaining my breathing, and realized that we were on a large island that had Greek buildings in the distance, but it seemed mainly empty. "Is Penny here?" I asked, raising a brow once I had been able to put together a coherent sentence.

     Scarlett worried her bottom lip, a furrow developing on her brow. I took this moment to notice that she didn't look a day older since the last time I'd seen her. She looked young, even. As if she was only a mere five or so years older than I. "No, Olive. She's not here, she's....," she sighed, stopping herself, "Follow me to my home, there are some things we should probably discuss over a cup of -"