Crimson Red. (a Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Five

After that incident, I was immediately put in cabin 9.

It was understandable. Hephaestus was the God of fire and forges. And I was a kid who had been found unwounded after being roasted like a chicken. By myself.

Surprisingly, I got acquainted with a lot of new friends over there. They were so good, so nice to me. They treated me like I was their real brother. Actually I was their half brother, haha. They were so much better than ones at the orphanage. My life had completely changed since then because it was like the first time in forever I felt like home.

But for some reasons, I still didn't feel belonging. Like my father was not Hephaestus. But I had never actually told anyone about it.

And here was one afternoon when I finally decided to share my doubts with one of my new best friends. I was sitting on my bed, thinking about it when my fellow camper Celes came and sat down. He looked at me weirdly.

"What's the problem? You look sad." Celes asked.

"Not sad, I'm just...Thinking."

"What? You have new ideas for a new invention?" he sounded so eager. Typical son of Hephaestus.

"No, not really. I'm not good at creating things, or at using things. The last time I held a screwdriver, I nearly screwed my fingers off." I said.

"WHAT! Seriously? Wow... That's..."

"Was just a joke," I wasn't smiling. "because I've never touched a screwdriver, not really. Cel, I think ... I am not a son of Hephaestus."

"Haha, you are hilarious". He laughed, but then he realized that I wasn't laughing with him."Oh wait, you're serious. That can't be... How can you... Why do you even think of it?"

"My dad died in an accident! That's why !"

"Huh. That's what you're told. Besides, your sword caught fire! You didn't burn yourself! The only possible explanation is-"

"Not entirely true. There's still someone else."

"Who? Ares wouldn't make your sword go down in flames, Ken. Speaking of which, nice fight that day."

I went silent. I didn't wanna talk about the fight, or Luke, or Leo. Everytime I had to cross Luke, I tried as much as could to avoid looking into his eyes. And I never actually saw Luke at the Sword Fighting Arena again. He must have felt really bad.

"Sorry, I forgot you didn't like the subject."

More silence.

"Anyway, who's the other God you were talking about, that could cause fire? I can't figure out any."

"Yes you can. Bianca told me about the Gods, including..." I paused for a second "the Goddess of Hearth."

This time, my friend went silent. His expression went blank.

"No. Just no. It's impossible. She's a maid." he started talking again. "Look, I don't know why you think about it like that, but her, that Goddess you were thinking about, she can't be your mother! It's just... Can we not talk about it? Can you.. not tell this to anyone? It is not something to joke about, Ken." he said, I somewhat heard fear in his voice.

"It's just a theory." I said, tiredly.

"Your theory is wrong. If it's nothing... Cheer up, then! I need to go to the Armory, but I'm meeting you at the Dining Pavilion later, eh? Now go out and enjoy the air!"

I didn't reply. Instead I got up, walking toward the door, heading to the Dining Pavilion.

>>> <<<

There was still something that I kept to myself, the reason why I had the theory about the Goddess of Hearth. I though I'd share it with Celes, but he seemed to be frightened of my idea so... never mind, I guessed.

Anyway, it was my dream, the recurring dream I'd always had, about my parents. In my dreams, I was a little child, about one or two years old. My dad was holding me in his arms as my mom called for him. I did not know why, but I heard, so clearly, that she called him 'Aaron'. I guessed that was why I ended up having Aaron as my middle name. And my mother, though I couldn't see her face, even a bit, was surprisingly youthful and warm. Her voice made me feel safe. Being with her felt so cozy, like sitting next to a fireplace with everybody you love around. Looking at her was like looking at a burning fire, not too intense and hot like Hephaestus' fire, but warm.

And then my dream started to shatter, to break into pieces. It had always been like that. I guess that was the only memory of my family I had left. And because of that dream, me being a son of Hephaestus wasn't making any sense. And I knew sharing this to anyone would scare them or even piss them off, because this Goddess I was talking about, is a maid. A maid. A virgin for the rest of her life, which is forever. Chastity would always be the priority.

She's so much like Artemis. Artemis stays away from boys, and has an 'army' of girls who would stay young and virgin forever. That didn't sound too good for me. You live forever, you don't love. You even hate boys.

But still, this made me think of Athena, as she is also a maid. Just take look at Cabin 6 now! Lots of campers are there! She didn't break her oath at all because she kind of gave birth to her children through her mind, so what if the Goddess of Hearth also did it? No one knew! That, was why my theory seemed so right.

But I didn't want to piss anyone off. Didn't want to freak anybody out either.

So I kept it to myself for a while.