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/ᴹᵉˡᵃⁿⁱᵉ ᶠᵃˡˡˢ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵃ ᵖʳⁱⁿᶜᵉˢˢ/
𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯
"𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 I'𝚖 𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝"
Have you ever felt free? Really free. Like you don't have to worry about anything in the world and you can just be who you are. I'm not talking about the feeling when you finally have holidays or are on vacation, when you no longer have to write tests or have given up a big responsibility. I'm talking about truly free. As if nothing in the world could upset you. Have you ever felt like this? The answer is no. Because you can never really be free. You could feel like this or imagine that you are free, that you no longer have any limits. But you'll never be truly free as long as you're alive. There is always something that keeps you tied to the ground. Be it gravity or a feeling. It's the things that keep you alive, that make you human. Life takes you prisoner. But not in a bad way. It shows you beautiful things. Yes, I know, often terrible ones. But that goes away again. It is important that you value your life and recognize that even if you are not really free, because you are tied to life, you are not limited. You can achieve anything you imagine.
"There is always something in life that gives you wings. And even if it holds you to life and you are not free, you are still limitless. Don't let your shackles influence you and do it anyway. Who knows, maybe these "Shackles", are, a kind of protection for you. Don't give up on your life just because you're having a bad time. There's always a new day, with new colors and new sun",
that's what a person once told Melanie that was unbelievable was important. Too bad she hadn't seen her in years. But she would always carry these words in her heart. Always. No matter what.
♛
When the monsters were taking a break, Melanie didn't complain. She was happy about it. Her body needed to recover. And she had plenty of time for that. For two days the group of demigods sat on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. They were never attacked. There were no passengers who suddenly turned out to be vampires, nor any shadows in the ground. It was quiet. Without a doubt the quietest two days in recent times. But something was bothering Melanie.
She didn't relax. It was all strange to her. She didn't know exactly what it was, but her demigod senses were on overdrive like a volcano about to erupt at any moment. She knew they were being watched. From above and from below. Every single one of their steps was observed, recognized and recorded with keen eyes. then put on the gold scale to decide whether they made a mistake and deserved to be struck by lightning or swallowed by death itself. As they all walked through the city, Melanie noticed the posters with Percy's face and name. She ignored them. Even though she wanted to annoy Percy for it, she found that she shouldn't. If she attacked him now, he would fire back and an argument would break out. This led to even more attention.
