gnossienne
n. the realisation that you didn't actually know someone as well as you thought you did
- - - - -
'Look, I never wanted to be a half-blood.
Let's start from the top, shall we?
My name is Cassandra Jackson, but everyone usually calls me Ca...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Luke spotted him first. He sat up and narrowed his eyes behind my head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, following his gaze.
A man stood further along the shoreline about fifty-metres away, ankle deep in the water. In the gentle moonlight, I could see he wore khaki Bermuda shorts and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots patterns. His skin was deeply tanned and his hair jet black, like mine. Even from here I could his face had that same brooding look that had always branded Percy and me as rebels. His sea-green eyes stared intensely in my own sea-green eyes.
"Poseidon." I muttered, not looking away from his eyes. I stood up with Luke, brushing off some sand.
"You should go see what he wants." Luke told me. I tore my eyes from my godly father's. I placed a quick kiss on Luke's cheek.
"I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
He nodded and said, "I love you." I couldn't help but smile.
"I know." I called after him, cheekily as he made his way back to camp. His shoulders shook with laughter.
The smile on my face fell as I turned back to my father. He took a step forward out of the sea and onto the sandy floor. I guessed that was my cue to start walking towards him.
Instead, I made my way to a large rock that jutted out from the sand and hopped on it, pulling my legs up to my chest, waiting for him to join me. If he wanted to talk, he could come to me. I didn't look at him when he appeared out of the corner as my eye. I felt his eyes on me and I got the feeling he didn't really know what to think of me.
He sighed and took a seat next to me on the rock. We stayed in silence for a few minutes, just watching the tide roll in and back out again.
I broke the silence. "Are you here to return my memories, Poseidon?" My tone was clipped and uncomfortable, my body tense.
"You didn't come with your brother to Olympus. Why?" Poseidon ignored my question. We didn't look at each other as we spoke.
"I wanted to see if Hades had returned my mother," I couldn't stop myself and added, "the one you left to raise two kids by herself." Poseidon shifted.
A dry chuckle escaped him. "I see you have your mother's fiery attitude."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really? She always said I got it from you."
Poseidon hummed. "Yes, I suppose you did in some aspects. The sea doesn't like to be restrained after all."
"Why are you here?" I asked, growing more anxious as the seconds passed.
The god of the sea, my father, was here finally after all these years. He was still a dead-beat, but a part of me wished he wasn't. It would be nice if he had always been there for Percy and I. To have someone help us out if we needed some fatherly advice. Instead, we got lumped with Smelly Gabe.
