The Impact

Chapter 79

"----hang up ---you know what? Just turn it off---turn it off---or throw it away----throw it away and get a new one, I'll get you a new one---"

"Okay, calm down. It's off, now what's wrong with you?" I ask, picking up my bag, which Z was carrying for me but now dropped in his panic. I was walking to work and calling Slade in the hopes that he would have information that would make Z totally forget about our date tonight.

"That person---whoever he is---that you know---how do you know him?" Z asks, calming a little.

"Slade is a former FBI agent who helped us out when your brother sent his monsters to attack the world," I say, slowly, "Was that your daughter?"

"Yes, Persephone," he sighs.

"And why'd you hang up on her?" I ask, annoyed.

"Because," he sighs, tipping his head back and forth, "Ahhhh---my brother, who was ruler of the underworld---who I was always afraid of to begin with...little bit more so after he basically became Death----kidnapped Percy, my daughter, and dragged her to the underworld and made her his bride---"

"He raped her," I say, flatly.

"---yes. yes he did. and we covered how I'm afraid of my brother to begin with----so when Percy's mother told me what had happened-----and as we said I was afraid of my brother to begin with---- well, I got our other brother, the one I'm looking for, Sy, and asked him to help me get my Percy back and rescue her but funny thing was, by the time we figured out a decent plan to go get her and all turned out she didn't entirely need rescuing she'd killed our brother and taken his place as ruler of the underworld," he says, haltingly.

"Good for her," I say.

"Yeah I know, right?" he says, nodding, "I mean my idiot brother deserved obviously for what he did to my girl that goes without saying----"

"But now you're frightened of her?" I confirm.

"More than a little bit," he says, nodding, "She's now ruler of the underworld and she had power from me and her mum."

"Does she blame you for what happened?" I ask.

"I don't know—"

"You haven't asked her?"

"It's not so easy to go to the Underworld in fact it's basically impossible now she can journey out but not for long and other than to see her mother she basically doesn't," he says, shrugging.

"What does her mother say?" I ask.

"Her mother doesn't say anything to me she blames me as far as I'm aware when I didn't know obviously that was going to happen or I'd have done something I'd never let anything like that happen to my girl," he says, looking down sadly, then back up at me, "You understand you have your child."

"I'd never let anything happen to them," I say.

"Right---and I was going to go save her she just---didn't need the saving, as it happened," he says, shrugging, "She doesn't need me anymore."

"Well she just said hello to you and panicked," I point out, "She wanted to talk to you!"

"No, she didn't she wanted to scare me because she knows I'm mildly frightened of her now," he says, nodding.

"She wouldn't do that," I say, shaking my head, "She probably wanted to talk to you."

"She doesn't and she would," he says, following me, "She's just like her mother they like being cruel to me. She always wanted to live with her mother instead of me if she'd---"

"If she'd been with you it wouldn't have happened?" I finish for him.

"Yes! I could have protected her," he says, frustrated.

"Don't you think maybe she knows that?" I ask.

"No, I think she wants to frightened me now and come crawling around stinking of the Underworld and rubbing in my face that I have all this but I couldn't keep her safe," he says, waving his hand at the all this. It is now overcast.

"Maybe give her a chance or better yet, tell her you love her. She has to know that you are hurting too," I say, reasonably. God, I have so many problems of my own why do I always wind up helping other people through theirs?

"She won't listen," he predicts.

"You never know until you try. And you miss her, don't you?" I ask.

"Of course I miss her," he scoffs, "She's my little sunshine I can't stand to think of her in the dark down there."

"Then talk to her. you can't just go on avoiding her forever----oh this has been going on for like a thousand years hasn't it?" I ask.

"Close and yes I find avoidance works wonders," he says, nodding.

"Talk to her. Please?" I say, "You love her, you'll never stop loving her she's your daughter. She's in a bad place after what happened and even if she does take her anger out on you you're the mature one---stop shaking your head like that you are---and you are her father you have to be there for her. she probably just wants to be told she'll always be your little girl no matter what."

"You could be right," he says, taking a deep breath, "I'll talk to her."

"Okay, I need to go to work because I'm about to be late and I'm already having dinner with you tonight so---yeah um, I'm going to go in now, bye," I say, walking in to the building.

"All right. I'll see you tonight," he says, nodding.