Demigods, Dates and Dragons

Five minutes earlier, I was blazing. I had the urge to punch Diomedes so hard, I thought his head might go through his wall. But now?
Now, here I am bite my lip and hold my tongue. I mean. I get how he feels. Still, I am mad at him but at least I don’t want to punch him.
I gulp down everything and decide to focus on the greater task: retrieve the amulet with the lock of my mother’s hair, make sure that whatever happens, Charlie gets out of it alive and look fabulous while this whole thing goes on.
Charlie’s taking a peek into Dio’s armory, to scavenge whatever weapon or tool might come in handy. Diomedes is sitting on his couch, his fingers squirming and tapping around like he’s trying to come up with some short of tune.
I go to him. Diomedes and I were never close. And the whole getting-kicked-out-of-camp-deal didn’t help our relationship. But I know he has issues and that there’s much he’s going through.
So, despite the fact that every possible instinct I have tells me to sit in awkward silence and counting the liquid seconds for Charlie to return, I sit by Dio and do my best to shut my thoughts and actually talk with him.
I have to wipe the sweat off my palms over the couch a couple of times, before I actually feel ready. I hate them like that. I face Diomedes and he takes a brief look at me.
I open my mouth, but he’s quicker.
‘Guess you’re really nervous about whatever you want to talk to me, huh?’
I crouch back, biting my lip.
‘Your eyes turned brown. And if this weren’t subtle enough, your hair is a tone lighter than its usual pitch black,’ he tells me and I attempt to restrain myself from blushing.
‘Can’t you just shut up and talk to me, Diomedes? Just this one time,’ I sigh.
‘It’s hard. You and I were never close. And since the beginning of this night you weren’t exactly gentle with me, huh, Silena?’
‘Whatever. Can’t we talk?’ From his brooding silence I’m guessing no. I grit my teeth but decide to make this thing work, no matter what.
‘Dio,’ I whisper. ‘You made the amulet so you can come back, didn’t you?’ I’m not looking at him but I do catch his turning of the head to my side. He looks flustered.
‘You miss the Camp. Your friends. And with everything going on, you knew you weren’t exactly welcome,’ I continue whispering. ‘So, I’m guessing you snuck in the Camp a time or two. It’s not that big a deal.’ I go for his hand. I’m actually surprised he doesn’t pull it away.
‘I miss you. All of you. Beckendorf, the Stolls, the Big House, Chiron, my brothers and sisters.’ He sounds dry. He looks at me directly and I see my reflection on his sunglasses.
‘Even you. But tell no one.’
I hold the comment back and nod, with a tiny smile.
‘Silena, I hate to admit it, but we’re stuck together. The demigods. Our parents are… well, I’ll say it, horrible at their best mood, but other than that we’ve got each other and who knows, we might actually make it through this war.’ I don’t want to say anything but he does seem to be sniffing his nose.
So, I do what comes to me most natural: I hug him. It’s the one moment when the rampage of thoughts silences. Dio’s a fucked-up mess. But what he said, the words actually reverberate down to my very core.
My heart settles in my chest and I pat his bushy hair.
‘Listen to me. Whatever happens, we’ll make it through this and you’ll come back to the Camp.’
He snickers. ‘Don’t get me wrong, Silena, but there are like tons of pages in Greek mythology that disagree with you. Anyway, I think that the one who had the amulet stolen is the same who had stolen the ointment from your mother.’
All of a sudden my heartbeat rages.
‘All this time we were talking, you were thinking something else?’ There’s the urge to punch him again.
‘No. I was multitasking. Which is as natural to me as is, let’s say sleep to you. Now, you want to know who has my amulet or not?’
He’s so haughty I want to smack over the head. But if he’s the only one who knows, then he’s at least useful.
‘I’m guessing you’re familiar with Queen Sess, leader of the dracaenae, huh?’
The moment he ask I get a sting in my whole body. I murmur a reclusive, ‘Yes.’
‘She has a sister. Mean half-woman, half-snake. And for some reason really vain on her looks. Like she doesn’t know she’s half snake. Anyway, princess Kaleesha, has probably found out about my amulet and wants it for her end. I say we go in her place it, let me thank her personally for her artistic touch on my apartment and you can take the amulet and hand it over to your mother.’ He places his hand on my shoulder as he sums up.
In my head I thank the gods this isn’t immediately connected with Kronos. Yes, I have this whole issue with being conflicted on which side to support, atop the usual living Tartarus that is being a teenager/demigod, with all the bad decision this includes.
Thuds coming from the door make me jump and prepare for anything. Diomedes seems kind of taken aback as well. He holds his swords and breathes patiently.
When I see Charlie’s smiling face crossing the threshold, all I do is stammer. Half of his upper body, including his left shoulder is covered to some scraps of bluish armor. In one hand he grasps a massive hammer that’s taller than Dio and me and with the other he drops a canvas bag on the floor. Thunks and metal clatters make me cover my ear.
‘Charlie? What are you wearing?’ I stammer, running to him.
‘Ask Dio. I found it in his armory and adjusted its size as fast as I could. Here’s what else we can take with us.
I turn to Dio. He shrugs.
‘Down in Brooklyn, there’s a cyclops. He made me this Space Marine armor and hammer for conventions. It’s not celestial bronze but it can take some hits.’
Charlie’s smiling broadly at the colossal hammer. From the looks of it, it must be around six feet tall and I’m guessing two hundred pounds heavy?
‘What? I’m a nerd and I love cosplay. Is that bad?’ Diomedes asks on his way to the hangers. He picks a long denim jacket.
‘Not from my point of view. With this thing, I’m sure I can bash any baddie’s head that comes our way. Plus, Dio dude, you get extra points for the match. It’s very… Hephaestian.’
I pick a classical round shield and one of the swords Diomedes keeps around. Preparing doesn’t take long. I lose the checkered shirt and wear my hair in a tight ponytail. We fill Charlie in and in the end he whistles.
‘Guess someone needs to know that some confidence is the best look for you,’ he points out as he stands up. I kiss him on the cheek.
‘Dio, how tight you think security will be around the place?’ Charlie asks.
‘Hey, we’re not after any of the Infinity Stones so I’m guessing it won’t be that bad. Plus, getting to Kaleesha with my magic, will be a piece of nectar.’ Dio grins.
‘Wait. We’re getting there with magic? Your magic? The same black magic that got you kicked out of the camp?’ I ask, my dubiousness and hesitancy obvious.
‘First of all, ouch,’ Diomedes replies. ‘And about the whole thing of me getting kicked out of camp. I think it had to do with me starting the rumor that Zeus was bald rather than me practicing magic.’
I cannot help but stare.
‘Just one time can I get a free pass on my jokes? Gimme some minutes to locate the amulet and I’ll be right with you,’ Dio says and moves to the center of the room. I turn to Charlie. His chocolate eyes seem like molten drops on cookie dough.
I simply squeeze his hand with all my might. There are bumps over the first callouses, so he hardly feels a thing. But he does look at me and the gentleness in him, gets me by surprise every time.
I kiss him.
‘Whatever is out there, stay alive for me, alright cornball?’ I whisper.
‘Same goes for you. I mean I could build a robot-girlfriend but think of the mess.’
I give him a light punch and he kneels down and hands me over a helmet. It’s a standard Greek one, with the black brush of hair on top.
‘Don’t wear all of the armor but please take some precautions,’ he tells me, tucking a tuft of hair behind my ear.
I scavenge throughout the armor Charlie has located some things I can use. Diomedes called us to the rooftop, but I reply to them I need five more minutes, so he and Charlie are over there waiting for me.
I won’t wear a breastplate. I chose my armor so it can benefit my fighting style. Once ready, I go to the rooftop. From the guys’ reactions, I guess I must look rather awesome. All Dio does is gap his mouth. Charlie just whispered a ‘Damn,’ and smiled.
The bracers shimmer under the moon. I call out to my mother, mouthing ancient, sacred words. I ask for her favor. I promise to retrieve the amulet with her hair. My hand rests on my sword.
‘Everyone’s ready?’ Dio asks, waving his glowing hands around like he was helping a plane land.
‘Just a sec,’ I say and blink once. I can feel them change color. Become red, like the fever of the battle.
Tonight needs a special touch. After all, it is a family matter, I think before I nod to Diomedes and he casts the teleportation spell.

Notes

The story is told from Silena's pov.