Titan Of Life

Chapter Eleven: Growing up.

BETA : Inperiosus
[March 4th 2016]

There were several things that Percy and Hemera never spoke about, these were the no-go zones. The incident with the mirror was one of these things, after falling into a pitiful, tearful sleep, he had bounced right back the next morning -seemingly like his old self again. Hemera, however, saw right through Percy's façade. Oh, she saw how he would scowl to himself when he thought she wasn't looking, she saw the concerned glances he'd direct at the mirror, the faraway look he'd unknowingly get in his eyes, oh she saw it all. And yet every time he smiled that odd lopsided smile (no matter how forced it sometimes seemed) she couldn't help but to smile back. Hemera loved the way his eyes would light up every time Briares would babble about nothing to him, she swore that Percy positively glowed when Briares first word was 'Percy' - well his first word was 'Per-key' but Percy'd ignore her if she tried to tell him otherwise.

The mirror incident took place over a year ago and Hemera hadn't failed to notice that Percy hadn't allowed his hair to grow back into it's old shaggy self, he seemed to be wearing his scar with pride. Another one of the no-go zones was Percy's family (more specifically his brothers and father). Hemera didn't question him on his family and he left the subject of her family alone -even though they were technically cousins but she'd rather not think about it.

It didn't take long for her to realise that Percy was absolutely hopeless with children. Sure, she'd admit that he was good at some aspects (playing with him mostly) he'd always managed to find a way to keep all of Briares' one-hundred arms occupied but as soon as he'd start crying, Percy would panic and hand Briares back over to her looking like he was about to start crying himself. Hemera had had to sit Percy down several times and explain to him that Briares crying was not his fault. Percy would assure her that he wouldn't panic again but always came back to her with the same upset look on his face. She'd long since given up.

It also didn't take long for Percy and Hemera to realise that Briares aged twice as fast as a normal immortal would until they learnt to change their age. Hemera felt oddly disappointed about this. She knew that she should be happy that she didn't have to bother Percy any longer than she already was, and yet she found that in the small space of a year Percy's small cottage tucked away in the woods more like home to her than her own temple would ever be. Even then a small voice would whisper that, it's more than the cottage you'll miss, and Hemera knew, she knew, that it was right but she would always argue, he's my friend, she'd hopelessly respond, nothing more and nothing less.

No matter what she'd tell herself, looking out of Percy's kitchen window and ignoring the blood of the animal she was gutting staining her chiton, no matter what, she knew this little voice was right. Staring at Percy trying to keep Briares occupied with that ridiculous grin plastered across his face -she knew then that she'd miss more than the small cottage tucked away in the woods but rather she'd miss it's occupants. She could get used to a life away from responsibilities.

~ Ψ ~ Ψ ~ Ψ ~

Percy'd never admit it (his pride would never let him) but he'd rather enjoyed having company. He'd never enjoyed being alone but found it necessary for his own survival, he'd rather not be visiting his uncle down under anytime soon thank you very much. But if there was one thing Percy liked more than company was a challenge and Briares certainly provided exactly that. When he was still a few weeks old, Percy had absolutely no clue about what to do, when Briares cried or needed something Percy would just lean over Hemera's shoulder and watch. He'd also store away the information in his mind for later use, yet when he tried to use the information from the memories he'd stored away Briares would just cry more, disheartened, Percy would hand him back to Hemera.