𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍‚ percy jackson

chapter three

12.15.2007

CHAPTER THREE: I Wish the Sun Would Just Fuck Right Off

I wake up confused.
Sadly, Apollo is there.
He will not shut up.

I cannot decide
Which god I despise the most.
Apollo or Zeus.

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DIANA'S DREAM WAS THE SAME AS ALWAYS. First, the steady rhythm of scuffed sneakers on concrete. Then, the tired, heavy breaths. She was running, running, running, through the streets of Manhattan. She dodged left and right, weaving through the crowd. People watched as she ran by, but no one seemed too perturbed by the sight of a child sprinting around, alone.

She knew the mortals had no sense of monsters. As Diana shot a fearful look up into the searing blue sky, she wondered if they even noticed the birds zeroing in on her.

They looked like normal pigeons, which she knew were common in New York. But the enormous flock of Stymphalian Birds was nowhere close to normal. One dove down and nicked Diana's shoulder with its celestial bronze beak. She cried out, but didn't slow her pace.

She knocked shoulders with someone. Before she could call out a hurried "Sorry!", something grabbed her arm and tugged her sideways. Diana stumbled on entry, but quickly regained her footing as concrete changed to tile and she found herself being dragged through a building by a stranger.

Heads turned as the two tumbled through the room. Some called out for them to shush, and it was only then that Diana realised they were in a library.

The stranger clasping Diana's arm let her go, and collapsed into a chair with an exhausted breath. Slowly, Diana followed suit. The girl across from her ran a hand through her tangled dark hair, and looked to Diana, concerned.

"Are you alright?"

Diana gave a breathless, wordless nod.

"We're safe here. Birds can't get us."

Diana remained silent.

"Do you know what those were?" The girl asked. "Like, you know they're not normal pigeons, right?"

"Who are you?" Diana finally questioned.

The girl ─ she was a girl, she could only be a few years older than Diana herself ─ leaned back in her chair. "Jasmine Lockwood. I'm a halfblood. Like you, I assume."

The scene changed, and now Diana was walking through the woods to a strange looking hut ─ a safe house.

Both Jasmine and Diana were heaving. Diana's feet hurt. Her right arm hurt, too.

"I don't know why the monsters are so, like-" Jasmine took another breath. "So obsessed with you."

"It's cause Hera's my mom," The young girl answered simply.

Jasmine stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"Hera's my-"

"Yeah, I heard what you said. I just... wow. I can't believe it. How do you know?"

Diana's eyebrows furrowed. "I dunno. My Dad told me."

"Your Dad knew?"

"I guess so." Diana shrugged.

Jasmine sighed. "I don't know who my Dad is." Then she shook her head, as if shaking out of a trance. "Here, let me see that arm. Monster scratched you good, didn't it?"