¹On This Spring Day, percy jackson & the olympians

017.

ON THIS SPRING DAY
━━━━━ chapter seventeen

━━━━━ NO MATTER WHAT, Violet couldn't shake the realization that her mother knew. Dahlia knew that they were descendants of the Queen of the Underworld. She knew that, and yet, still thought she could hide it all from Violet.

               It irked her more than she thought possible. All the lies Dahlia had told Violet over her life—lies about their family, the lies about her father, the lies about ... everything. The more she thought, the more she remembered something Dahlia told her that didn't make sense.

               "So ..." Nico started, squinting at the sudden burst of sunlight from the clouds. "Your mom wasn't some secret goddess. Only a legacy of Persephone."

               "Funny," sneered Violet, stomping down the streets of New York. "Jokes aren't what I need right now, Nico. I need to talk to my mom."

               "Are you going to talk to her, or are you going to yell at her?" asked Nico, raising his eyebrows.

               "I—" The daughter of Eros faltered. "I don't know."

               She really didn't know. Emotions were high, and her brain was fogged with said emotions. All she wanted to do was cry—from anger, from shock, from exhaustion, from all three. Even some part of her felt weirdly betrayed by Dahlia.

               "What would you do Nico?" she asked.

               He stared at her. "What would I do?"

               "Yeah." They stopped at the corner of a street. She looked at him, frowning. "What would you do?"

               "Well, when I first realized I was a son of Hades, I tried finding a way to bring Bianca back," he admitted. "Still trying."

               Violet's gaze hardened. "I meant learning if your mom ..." She trailed off. "Oh. I—I forgot."

               Nico's mouth formed a thin line, and he looked off. "I don't remember my mom."

               Violet knew that. It was one of the small things—one of the only things—she knew about Nico's past. And from what she understood, it was one of the few things even he knew. It was like his memory had been completely wiped away.

               "I don't know what I would do," he spoke up, arms crossed. "I would probably want to yell at my mom if I learned she lied to me my whole life."

               With each step Violet took, getting closer and closer to the Beaumont apartment, the more her heart lodged in her throat. She could practically feel it with every step. It drummed in her throat like a tambourine, shaking and trembling.

               The more she walked, the angrier she became. Lies upon lies, her brain whispered. All lies. Your whole life. Dahlia lied. She knew. She knew it all.

               Dahlia lied. And she knew it all.

🌷

Seeing her mom made Violet want to puke. She really did think she could vomit her heart up right there, right on top of the Welcome front door mat in front of the white door to the Beaumont apartment.

               "Apartment 506," Nico said aloud.

               "Shut up, you're making me nervous."