DIVINE » l. valdez

traumatized by naked dad

nobody said life's fair

The chimes stilled leaving an eerie silence within the grove.

Hina's mouth felt dry as she stared at the tree in horror. It had to be a mistake- the bronze fire-eater, the four-seater. 

Her hand covered her mouth, afraid of throwing up.

Meg watched Apollo wearily. Her glasses nothing but spiderwebbed glass in cat eye frames. 

"That prophecy," she said. "Did you understand it?"

"Perhaps. Some of it. We'll need to talk to Rachel—" Apollo started.

"There's no more we." Meg's tone was cold. "Do what you need to do. That's my final order."

Hina felt a punch to the gut, shocking her out of the trance that had overtook her. "What?"

"Meg, you can't," Apollo tried weakly. "You claimed my service. Until my trials are over—"

"I release you."

"No!" Apollo cried. "You can't possibly believe in Nero now. You heard him explain his plans. He means to level this entire island! You saw what he tried to do to his hostages."

"He—he wouldn't have let them burn. He promised. He held back. You saw it. That wasn't the Beast."

"Meg," Hina pleaded.

"Nero is the Beast. He killed your father," Apollo said.

"No! Nero is my stepfather. My dad...my dad unleashed the Beast. He made it angry."

"Meg—"

"Stop!" She covered her ears. "You don't know him. Nero is good to me. I can talk to him. I can make it okay."

Regardless of their victory, Hina would do it all over again if she could protect Meg. The girl was young, her reasoning irrational and beyond help.

Apollo edged forward, but Peaches snarled.

Meg backed away. "We're done."

"We can't be," Apollo said. "We're bound, whether you like it or not."

She gave them one last look through her cracked lenses. Hina wished Meg would grin and blow a raspberry but instead she fled. Peaches followed and the two melted into the trees.

It was just Apollo and Hina. They stood in silence, eyes locked on where Meg had once stood. The wind picked up, playing random notes on the wind chimes, but this time, no voices spoke. 

"We should go," Hina whispered, giving up any hope Meg would return.

Reluctantly, Apollo turned. Hina led the way, her head hung low. 

Behind her, Apollo stopped. Hina glanced towards him and watched as he reached down to pick up a stray arrow with green fletching. 

How it had gotten there, Hina wasn't sure but she continued on, too dazed to make sense of it. 

When they made it back to the entrance of the grove, Austin had freed the rest of the hostages.

They looked like they had been dipped in a vat of glue and cotton swabs, but otherwise they seemed remarkably undamaged. Ellis staggered around with his fists clenched, looking for something to punch. Cecil sat on the ground trying to clean his sneakers with a deer's thighbone. Austin had produced a canteen of water and was washing the Greek fire off of Kayla's face. Miranda Gardiner, the head counselor of Demeter, knelt by the place where the dryads had sacrificed themselves. She wept silently.

At the sight of Hina and Apollo Kayla ran forward pulling Hina into a tight hug. While Apollo spoke to Paulie the geyser god, Hina held onto Kayla a little longer than usual. She needed the support to stop her mind from spiraling.