Beginning of a New Spring (MHA/PJO crossover)

Chapter 55

Children’s laughter and parents talking were the first things that greeted her ears. Metal creaked as it grated against itself as weight bore down on them, swinging the participant occupant with a smile on their face back and forth, higher and higher into the air each time. She wasn’t sure whether to take the metal as it screamed to be let off the wild ride it didn’t voluntarily participate in or a grumbled grievances about its existence that it had come to terms with. Ophelia didn’t know about the metal or wood that had long been silent after being torn down and shaped into existence, but she knew what the rest of the unearthed plants had to say.

Kids rode down slides, running through the grass playing tag, or the sound of quirks as they showed them off. The trees gave life to what kept them alive, along with everything else that produced oxygen, even when those around them thought they were insignificant. They cherished what life was around them, bending and succumbing to their wills with a forgiveness even she didn’t have.

A patch of circular flowers not far from the playground, a few kids sat in the center of it, making flower crowns of their own. Some exchanged it with one sitting next to them, while others placed them on their head.

Eri should have been among them; smiling, laughing, and playing, yet she wasn’t able to. Another person Ophelia couldn’t find and protect, let alone herself. How could she do it for everyone else if she couldn’t for herself? For Eri or her friends? It didn’t matter if she didn’t make it out in the end; it was protecting those she cared for so they didn’t have to live a life she had gone through.

Her life was a mess of scars, tragedy, and war, with a splash of love and rainbows that would have painted a pretty picture with the right words to make the rest look like some kind of family spat that happened every year, which wasn’t far off. Her family was messy; fueled with eons of hatred, love, lies, and unrequited love. It made any gathering unsettling she was glad her mother was Persephone. She only had to deal with the Hades, the dead or her grandmother, Demeter, when she visited. The former which she preferred. Her grandmother could drone on and on about Hades, the food she ate, or how mortals were unworthy of her mothers love. It was a jab at her father she hated, grinding her teeth together every time. Ophelia was glad when her mother shut Demeter down, telling her it had brought her into this world—a flower she had created with someone, being able to watch it blossom and grow into something beautiful.

Gods, she missed her mother. She’d even admit to missing Hades. He was her next favorite, if not favorite out of the Gods if she excluded her mother. She could have been blind and seen the way Hades looked at her mother. The devotion and love he had for her, even though they had affairs, more on Hades part, with mortals, he gave her the world, or what he could of it. And her mother thrived just as much in the Underworld as she did above, creating life through Spring.

Ophelia sighed, resigning herself to sit down on the lush grass that swayed toward her. Her eyes darted around, the blades of grass tickling the palm of her hand as she brushed them over their tips. Every smile tugged at her chest, invisible strings that had an unyielding need to rip the one thing that kept her alive out from inside.

If she hadn’t already decided to keep fighting, she might have gave in, watching the smiles pass by, chasing another who laughed out loud. They deserved to be carefree, just as any kid should. Untainted by the world around them and innocent for a while longer. She didn’t get that and neither had Eri. Ridding the world of those who sought to turn those smiles into frowns, tears glistening their eyes and rip their laughter from their throats kept her going. They were unforgivable and she’d hone into Hades powers to make it happen.

Her body stilled, hearing footsteps approach. To heavy to be a kids, yet they were slow, calm as they stopped a foot from her. She didn’t need to look over to know who it was.