Chapter 20: We Have To Go

Hey, so I'm gonna drop a bit of a surprise on you immediately in this chapter, then later on. For your information, Ari, Selena and Estelle are all 16. Larissa, Calix and Michael are 16. Achilles is 15 and Urion is 14. Sapphire is 9 currently as well. I have no idea how old percy is by this point, probably like mid-thirties technically though he looks like a 21 year old. Okay, I should start writing this now.

Chapter 20: We Have To Go

Arianna P.O.V.

I sat on the bed gripping my mother's hand tightly. Estell was on the opposite side, holding her other hand, while Dad stood behind me with tears in his eyes. He'd stayed all last night to properly say goodbye, and today he brought us. I couldn't believe this was really happening. My mom was going to die, and I couldn't do a damn thing to save her.

Nine years ago, my mother was diagnosed with cancer, and it was nine years of treatments that she had to endure. As you can see, it didn't work. Now, my mother lay on a hospital bed, struggling to stay awake. She was tired, I knew that, and I knew she wanted nothing more than to just close her eyes and go to sleep. But I also knew she would never let herself do that until she'd said goodbye to her family.

Because we all knew that once my mom went to sleep, we'd never get the chance to speak to her again. Never get a chance to say goodbye.

Still, even through all this, she never ceased to try and be the greatest mother the world could offer, and of course she accomplished it. Despite being bedridden for days or even weeks on end in recent years, she always went out of her way to talk with us and discuss problems we had with life and school. She was always there for us, though we weren't necessarily always there for her.

She endured pain and discomfort for years just to go out of her way and get that 30 seconds of interaction with us per day. I couldn't have asked for a better mother, but I sure as hell could have been a better daughter.

I cried as I gripped her hand tighter, and my mother smiled at me. "I don't want you to go, mom. I don't want you to leave me." I told her, still sobbing. "I don't want to leave either of you, either. But, my time has to come eventually." She said, but I still couldn't believe it.

"Mom, I'm sorry." Estelle said, and my mom turned her head to face her. "Sorry? What for?" She asked, confused. Estelle broke down, still clutching her hand. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you were sick, I wasn't there comforting o-or helping in any way. I just ignored it. I'm sorry I didn't try to spend m-more time with you w-when I could, and now there's n-no time left." She sobbed, and I almost broke down too.

Mom started crying as well, while Dad just stood behind me with tears running down his face. "Oh no sweetie, don't think like that. Honey, believe me, you did everything just right. I could never blame you or get mad at you for things like that. We had our time together, and I think we spent it well. I love you, Estelle. Remember that." She said, and my sister buried her face into my mom's shoulder, letting it all out.

My mom turned to me expectantly, and I didn't know what to say. "I'm angry, mom. I'm angry at the world for doing this. For taking you away from me. You're the purest human being in the world, you don't deserve this. You deserve to be happy and live out your life, not this. Not like this." I said, betraying myself by letting a few tears slip through.

Mom wiped the tears away and smiled. She always knew how to be the most calming person in the room. "I don't know what you're talking about, Ari. I did live. I lived my life to the fullest, I had children, got married, got an education, and lived in happiness for years. If that's not living, I don't know what is." She said. Then, still stroking my cheek she said. "I want you to live, too. Both of you." She said, looking at Estelle who had lifted her head from Mom's shoulder.

"Go out there and live your lives to the fullest. Go to college, go partying, get a football star boyfriend, spend the next morning hunched over the toilet. Do all the things I never got to do in my younger years. Do it for me." She said, then looked over. I gaze met Dad's, and they both frowned. He nodded, and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Arianna, there's something we have to tell you." She said.

I tilted my head in confusion, and Dad came to sit down by me. Estelle also looked confused so I assumed she wasn't in on this. "What is it?" I asked, hoping it wasn't something bad. Mom bit her lip anxiously, looking at Dad for help, and he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Arianna... we're not your real parents." He said, and then my whole world came crumbling down. Tears flooded from my eyes as I stuttered. "Wh-wh-what?" I asked, scared. For the first time in a long time, I was scared.

Mom rubbed my back comfortingly as Estelle looked on in horror. "What? So... Ari's not my sister? Or am I adopted too?" She asked, tears coming to her eyes as well. Mom shook her head. "No, you are our daughter. Arianna was adopted as an infant and since you were the same age you were raised as twins. In reality, Arianna was born two months after you, Estelle." She said, and I started hyperventilating. "So what? It was all a lie? Who are my parents, then?" I asked, panicking.

Mom shushed me softly. "No, you are our daughter, Ari. Maybe not biologically, but in every other way you are our daughter, and we love you just as much as we do Estelle." She said, and I looked at Estelle with fear in my eyes. "So... who are my parents?" I asked.

Sally sighed, and Paul gave her her wallet. She reached in for a moment and pulled out a picture, smiling at it. I knew what picture it was. I'd witnessed Mom just staring at the photo with a smile on her face for hours on end. It was a photo of our late older half-brother, Percy, who died before I was young. He didn't look too much like Mom, she said he greatly resembled his father. Everything from his messy black hair to his sea-green eyes were paternally inherited, apparently.

She smiled, showing the two of us the photo. "You were given to us by the father of your brother, Percy. Your mother had died in childbirth and he was unable to take care of you, so he left you with one of the few people he knew could raise you right." She said, and I looked at the photo. I imagined an older version of Percy, perhaps with a beard, and I realised for the first time that I looked a lot like my older brother.

"So... my m-mom's dead?" I asked, crying again, and they nodded. "She is buried in Los Angeles, at Rosedale Cemetery. Her name was Kylie Washington, she was an actress. Your father gave me this." She said, pulling out another photo.

It was of a young woman, in her early twenties. She was pregnant in the photo, not on the verge of labor but not in the early stages either. The photo was taken at the grand canyon as she leaned against the railing, smiling for the camera. She was beautiful. Long black hair flew behind her in the wind with eyes hidden by aviator sunglasses. Her pearly-white teeth complemented her sun-kissed skin nicely. She was quite fit, skinny but she definitely looked like she could take someone in a fight.

My jaw dropped. "She's beautiful." I complimented, and my parents laughed. "That beautiful is where you came from. It's really a shame what happened. She had her whole life ahead of her." She said, staring off into the distance.

I shook my head and hugged both my parents, nodding to Estelle to get in on it as well, which she did. "Think about it, though. If it didn't happen, I wouldn't have been raised by you guys and been given the incredibly awesome life I had now. Plus, LA is a bit of a shithole, so who knows what would've happened to me there. At least in New York I'm relatively safe." I said, and my parents both looked at each other worriedly.

Then, Estelle spoke up. "Wait, so who is Ari and Percy's father then? Is he still alive?" She asked, and Mom chuckled. "Yes, he's still alive and kicking. It's the nature of your parentage that's the worrying part, though." She said, and I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Dad looked me in the eyes. "Honey, how much do you know of Greek Mythology?" He asked, and what he told me next shattered my world into pieces.

I listened to them carefully explain everything, how I was a demigod, how the Mythology was all real, how all the gods were still alive and lived on top of the Empire State Building. I thought they'd lost it until they said something that completely shook me. "Your brother was a demigod, too."

Estelle's eyes widened even further beyond humanly possible, as did mine. "Percy was a... a demigod?" I asked, still not quite believing any of this. Mom nodded, leaning back and smiling. "You share the same father, so yes. He was also a son of Poseidon. I raised for 11 years, hidden away from all the troubles of the Greek world, until he couldn't stay hidden anymore, and I had to let him leave the nest." She said.

Then Estelle asked the question neither of us had asked in a very long time. "Well, what happened to him?" Mom smiled. "He grew up, fought wars, defeated countless monsters, apparently became the greatest hero in history, and then he... he sacrificed himself to save them... one last time..." Both Mom and Dad's faces fell, and we all sat in silence for a while.

Then, Dad looked up. "Sally... She'll have to go. She won't survive without training." He said, and I looked between them confusedly. "What? Training? Where am I going?" I asked, scared. They both looked at me solemnly. "Ari, there's a place for people like you. A camp out on Long Island for demigods called Camp Half-Blood. You need to go there. When I'm... When I'm gone, Dad will drive you out there. You'll be safe." She said.

I cried, burying my head into her neck. "No! I don't wanna go! I wanna stay with Dad and Estelle!" I said, and she patted me on the back. "No, it's not safe, Arianna. Monsters can smell you. None have shown so far but it's only a matter of time. Plus, you need the training for when it does happen." She reasoned, but I was still unsure. "I don't want to leave you." I said, and Mom just smiled. "You can't, because I'll be there every step of the way."

We all sat there, crying. "We love you, Mom." Estelle said, and she smiled, brushing a stray lock out of Estelle's eyes. "I love you too."

Five minutes later, she flatlined.

We returned home, and in silence, I packed a bag. I only packed what I need. Clothes, my Nintendo Switch, photos and a teddy bear I'd had since I was little all were crammed into a backpack just before I entered the living room. "Ready?" Dad asked, and I nodded. He and Estelle were going to drop me off, get everything sorted and then pick me up in a few days for the funeral.

We all left the apartment in silence, down to the garage and into Dad's car. I sat in the center-back seat, staring out the front absentmindedly. Dad started the car and drove off, while Estelle stared out the window at the buildings passing by.

We drove for a while, but I wasn't all there mentally. I was- no, we were all still trying to grasp the fact that Mom was gone. None of us could believe it. We stopped at a gas station, and Dad handed Estelle $10, telling her to go in and get us some soda. She did so, not saying a word, and it was just Dad and I in the car.

"I love you, Arianna. Don't forget that. Poseidon may be your father, but I'm always gonna be your dad." He said. I nodded, swallowing what little saliva I could produce in my dried up mouth. "I love you too, Dad. And you don't have to worry about being replaced as my Dad." I told him.

He smiled, and then without warning, broke into sobs as he rested his head on the steering wheel. I didn't say anything, I didn't make my presence known, because I knew what he was going through. I finally knew what it felt like to lose someone you love.

Estelle entered the car, silently slipping Dad's drink into the cup holder and handing me a coke. Dad calmed down, wiping his eyes as he started the car up again. We took off from the gas station, silently sipping our sodas as we set off towards this camp again.

"He was a great guy, you know. Your brother, I mean." Dad said out of nowhere, and our ears perked up. Neither of our parents ever really talked about Percy. It was a sore topic for them, so we were excited that our Dad was actually talking about our mysterious half-brother.

"I didn't know him before he found out, but I started dating your mother when he was 14. He was skeptical of me at first, since he thought I was supposed to be her tutor, but when he found out, he was really welcoming and nice. We didn't have the typical hate relationship that children usually have with their stepfathers, in fact, he once told me that I was more of a Dad to him than Poseidon could be. He was a great guy, that Percy." He said, wiping another tear.

I nodded. "How exactly did he die?" I asked, and Estelle looked over at Dad waiting for an answer. Dad gulped. "I didn't get the full details. From what I can tell, there was a big battle against some bad guy. Your brother... sacrificed himself to kill the guy and save everyone." He said, and I looked back out the window.

It was scary knowing that the world I was about to enter had killed my brother. It could just as easily do the same to me. "I doubt you'll have a hard time fitting in, Ari. Apparently everyone loved Percy, so it probably won't be hard making friends." Dad tried to reassure me, but I still gulped. "That just means I have a lot to live up to." I said.

Dad shook his head. "You don't have to live up to anything. You don't have to prove anything to anybody. If you want, you can just get the training and leave, live your life out normally from there." He told me, and I smiled, liking the idea of everything being normal.

I still sat staring out the window, staring at all the signs that my dyslexia wouldn't let me read. Estelle suddenly spoke up from the front seat. "I'm gonna miss you, Ari." She said. I just looked at her through the mirror. "I won't be gone long. Just gonna learn some self-defence and come back home, okay?" I promised, and she nodded.

It was the dead of night now, the only source of light being the headlights shining on the highway in front of us. I started to drift off, just wanting to get the day over with. Estelle was already asleep, and as my eyes started to close, I saw a large bulky shape appear in the middle of the road.

Then we crashed.

Dad cursed and swerved, trying to avoid the thing, and I heard a guttural roar. It sounded like an angry bull, but scarier. I gripped the seat tight, as Estelle was shaken out of her sleep by the commotion. Then, the car flipped.

There was a lot of banging and crashing happening around me, I even felt disoriented as my head hit the roof of the car. My ears were ringing as my vision blurred. I looked out the window. The world had turned upside down, which mostly meant that the car had too.

I forgot about my family for a moment until I heard a groaning from the front seat. Estelle rubbed her head in pain as she pushed a tree back that had poked through the broken window away. Then, she looked over at Dad and gasped, covering her mouth.

Dad's limbs were bent at odd angles, his arms barely moving. His legs were clearly broken and there was a large gash on his forehead. I fought the urge to scream, and he coughed out blood. I unclipped my seatbelt and fell to the ground, or roof rather. Estelle did the same, whimpering in pain as she pulled herself up.

We both crawled through the broken glass to our father, who was struggling to breathe. I cried harder than I had all day. I was prepared for my mother's passing, but now my father? This couldn't happen. Why was this happening?

He tried smiling as hard as he could as I felt liquid pooling around my knees and legs. I looked down, and could smell two distinct aromas. Blood and Gas. The car's fuel tank had leaked.

Dad undid his seatbelt, and we held him as he fell down, cushioning his fall. He leaned against the car door and looked at us. "You have to go. Run, girls." He said, and we both shook our heads. "No, we'll call an ambulance. You're gonna be alright, you-" Estelle said, but Dad cut her off.

"No, listen to me. There's no time for an ambulance. That wasn't a deer we hit, it was a monster, and it's looking for us. For you. You both have to run. If he finds you, Estelle, I doubt he'll leave you alone." He said, and I cried. "What about you, Dad? What'll happen to you?" I asked, and he just smiled and cupped my cheek.

"I'll be fine, Ari. I'm mortal, it has no reason to kill me. It'll get distracted looking for you in the car and then leave. You'll be long gone. Just run up the road until you find a dirt track leading up to a hill. Follow it, and you'll be safe." He said cryptically. I nodded, grabbing Estelle's hand, but Dad grabbed her.

"Estelle, take this. You might need it." He said, pulling out a butterfly knife and giving it to her. My eyes widened. I didn't know my Dad owned knives. And where was mine? Did I not get a weapon? She nodded, grasping the handle tightly. "Okay. I love you Dad." She said, crying her heart out. Dad smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "Love you too, sweetie."

He turned to me. "You're going to do so much good, Ari. Be safe, and remember: when you're ready, come home. Don't lose yourself to that world like Percy. You don't need to fight forever." He said, and I sobbed. This felt like a final goodbye. "I love you, Dad." I said, wondering what would happen to him after we left. Would he survive long enough for the ambulance?

He smiled. "I love you too, princess. I love you both so very much, don't forget that." He said, gripping both our hands. We nodded, wiping our eyes and crawling out the broken window quietly.

We got out, ending up falling down a ditch behind some trees. We crawled away, looking out for this monster, and Estelle gripped her knife like her life depended on it. Then, we saw it. A huge monster, three or four times the size of the average man, with huge horns coming out either side of it's head. It held something like, and I almost gasped as I realised it was an axe.

It approached the car and violently shook it, and I heard Dad groan in pain. Through the moonlight I could see him reaching into the glove compartment for something. Did he have a gun? The monster sniffed loudly, shaking the car again.

The two of us crawled further along, and of course, it all had to go wrong. Estelle was in front of me, and when I took another step, it was right on a twig. The snap could be heard for miles. The monster snapped it's head up and looked in our direction, roaring loudly.

"GO! RUN GIRLS! RUN!" He shouted at us, and I looked at him. He held a match against a matchbox, and I couldn't find my voice to tell him not to do it. He smiled. "I love you girls. Goodbye." He said, then lit the match.

The flame licked the leaking oil, and both the car and monster exploded in a fierce orange glory.

"NO!" Estelle screamed, but I still couldn't find my voice. I grabbed her arm tight and ran up the road, looking for the dirt path. After maybe 100 metres, I saw it: a small dirt path leading up a hill towards a tree. Estelle was still crying into my shoulder as I looked back at the flaming wreck. "Goodbye, Dad. Say hello to Mom for us." I said, turning back around and helping my sister up the hill.

There was another roar, and a large man came rushing out of the forest behind us. Unlike the other monster, he instantly spotted us and charged. We screamed and ran, me still holding Estelle's hand. I could hear the monster's booming footsteps getting louder with every second.

We reached the top of the hill and I kept running, but I felt Estelle's hand leave mine and turned around. My sister stood there, banging on an invisible wall like a mime while crying. My heart dropped, and I rushed towards her. I grabbed her arm and tried tugging, but she could come anymore forward.

Tears streamed from my eyes as my world began to crumble. "No, not you too. I can't lose you too, Estelle." I said, trying my hardest to pull her through. "Please, Ari. Help me! Please!" She begged, and I started hyperventilating, scared and confused about what to do.

Then, something happened that I am eternally grateful for. Without it, I would have lost my sister, and by proxy, the last member of my family. I would be alone.

As the monster got increasingly closer, and all hope seemed lost, there was a silver flash, and Estelle fell through the invisible wall. At the same time, an arrow went through the monster's head, and it just exploded into dust.

I breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down next to my sister, checking to see if she was okay. "Estelle! Are you okay?" I asked, happy she wasn't dead. My sister was hyperventilating, her hand pressed against her chest trying to feel her heartbeat. "I'm fine, just a bit in shock."

"What happened?" She asked, and before I could answer, someone beat me to it. "I saved you." I female voice rang out from the shadow behind the tree. We looked over, and the person stepped out to reveal themselves.

It was our sister-in-law, Artemis, smiling as she put her bow away.

Okay, so this might be the last chapter for a bit over a week. Probably not, but you can never be sure what happens with school. So, I'll work on it over the week and try to get it published. I leave on Friday to go visit family, so there won't be the usual weekend chapter. Other than that, enjoy your day, and now we're on to the actual story. Rip Sally and Paul btw.

Word Count: 4107