The Life of a Demigod

Chapter 19

Chiron stood in front of the crowd in a black dress shirt and slicked back hair. He looked back over all of the campers from both camps. Blacksword and Half-Blood alike. They were all dressed up in black in respect to their fallen comrades.

"We are here to honor those killed in another battle with monsters. Something happened, a simultaneous attack on two camps, one of which is very new and underpopulated. Lily Andrews, daughter of Iris. Ethan Moore, son of Hades. Alice Earl, daughter of Apollo. Sherman Yang, son of Ares. Alice Miyazawa, daughter of Hermes. These fallen warriors will not be forgotten." He held up a fist and people started to move.

Nico Di Angelo stood with a few of his cabinmates as different cabins brought their dead, all wrapped in shrouds. Each placed them onto the big bonfire in the center of camp, black with mourning. Tears rolled down my face in silence as I watched my friends, fellow campers, even strangers that I never got the chance to talk to float off in drifting, flaming ashes.

I turned to the left to lean on Jake. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and my crying intensified. Footsteps stomped off and I heard some light swearing from my other side and another set of footsteps walking away. People all around were weeping in each other's arms, no longer paying attention to Chiron so he could move the service along.

"Children, please, let us honor our friends with our memories. Just another hour is all I ask." Most people looked up and dried their tears but some couldn't look up without crying even more. "I would like to call some people up to talk about their fellow campers."

He looked at someone in the front and motioned for them to stand up to speak. I saw a girl with tear stained cheeks moving to speak.

"Ethan Moore was my half-brother, one of the few children of Hades. He stood out, but not because he was gloomy like people generally assume. Just the opposite. He would flirt with every girl he came across. He's probably flirted with half the people here. I was never close to him, I barely knew him past what he let people know. I never really liked him," she looked down and wiped a tear from her cheek, "but he was family. He had so much left to live for, so much left to learn. I can't speak much for him, but his fellow campers at Blacksword could."

She took her seat and someone else walked up. I recognized Jess but just barely. Her hair was completely black and done in multiple intricate braids that contrasted from the simple dress she wore. She shook her head and wiped her eyes before speaking.

"If I am up here to speak for Ethan then I can't say much. I had barely met him. But I know Lily, she was my half sister. A sister to the Iris cabin before she left. A cousin to Riley on the mortal side, if you couldn't tell. I knew her for the summers before she started to feel left out. She went home to her family during the school year and had memories and friends there. She acted more like a child of Hades, choosing to be dark and antisocial compared to any others. But she was one of us. When I saw her at Blacksword, she thrived. Lily talked to people, laughed, she had more fun in the few moments I saw her there than most of the time she was at Half-Blood. I knew when she was leaving-" The whole time that she was speaking her voice shook but at this point she was silent. Her head was bowed down but I could see tears run down her face as her whole body shook with overwhelming emotion. Someone stood up to help her but she just shook her head and ran away from the water, away from the shore, away from the people who all had their eyes on her.

"Children," Chiron said as he stepped back in front of the seats that we had set up for the conjunct funeral. "she is mourning. Let her be. With time she will heal, we all will."

Chiron said we should continue on but I couldn't take any more of this. As the next person walked to the front to talk about another dead camper, I decided to walk away and follow Jess to the Iris cabin that she undoubtedly went to.

I knocked on the door and waited but there was no answer. I knocked again and had the same result despite the crying I heard from within.

"Jess," I heard from the other side of the door. I looked around warily but my curiosity got the best of me. I hoped that I'm not the cat in this case as I continued to listen. "I understand that it is difficult, but you can not hope to heal if you-"

"You don't understand! She was my sister! I already lost one sister by being a demigod, and then I lost her! You don't get it!" 

"I have lost both my parents... I believe I can understand more than you wish to think I can. Would you prefer me to leave you alone?" 

This was too personal. Jess and her boyfriend were mourning just as much as I was, but I realized I couldn't be around people. Not when everyone is like this. Not when I could lose so many more people. 

A solo warrior. A young "greenie" out on her own. A demigod who would fight any monster without remorse, and who is destined for solitude. Me. Riley Andrews. A survivor of monsters, Greek mythology, bullying, and abusive parents. I would have to be stronger than any other demigod in history because if I wasn't, I wouldn't survive the world or what it had in store for me. I'd have to be different, and if anyone found me after I closed myself off, I guess I'd tell them that the life of a demigod is nothing glamorous, and only welcomes heartache and trouble. The life of a demigod is the worst kind of life someone can have. It's what finally broke my spirit.