SANITY; heroes of olympus

02.5

[act two; chapter five     -     wheat-y days]

Zara had ventured down to one of her favourite spots to just sit and think. It was under a willow tree, one that she used to always visit with Andromeda. In fact, their initials were carved into its old bark.

When she reached the tree, she ran her fingers over the now smooth letters, A + Z. She remembered the day they had done that, when Andromeda had, for some reason, pulled a pocket knife from her pant leg and began to carve the messy A, which was followed by a messy Z. They had been sitting there listening to music, the voice of Abba blowing in the day's light breeze. Her sister had been mumbling the words of her favourite song, Dancing Queen, when it came on as she blew on the wood, trying to get rid of the little pieces that could cause a splinter.

But now Zara didn't have to worry about getting a splinter, she didn't have to worry about any of that anymore. All she had to worry about was the fact that her sister was missing, and so was her boyfriend. She worried about the fact that her mother knew something and wouldn't tell her. She worried about the fact that Adonis was dead and she didn't know why. She worried about the fact that Percy had shown up and knew Andromeda, yet they seemed to describe two different people, though Zara now knew the reason for that. She worried because she was about to go on a quest and rescue a god that mirrored the god of love, two of the most dangerous gods if you asked her.

And she knew that if something were to go wrong, perhaps death would be more merciful than love.

With a heavy sigh she slumped against the tree and looked up at the sky. It was still early in the day, and they were all preparing to leave. Yet here she was, just leaning against a willow tree, the one that reminded her of simpler times. Of the days where all they had to worry about was getting up on time for training or school, or keeping their rooms clean and making sure their armour and weapons weren't covered in disgusting sweat. That went for their clothes as well.