ATLOP: Trial by Fire

A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

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I was back in the cave with Lara. She was running her fingers over the shell necklace she wore.

"Are you alright?"

I turned to see Medusa coming over, stiffness in my joints.

"Oh... yes... I just... I miss home."

"Were they not cruel to you? Were you not abandoned there? Why would you wish to go back to such a place?"

Lara shook her head, "No not- it's not them."

She studied the wall. "The villagers, they didn't like me... but the tutor that took care of me was kind. He came to the village when my mom died and took care of me. He taught me a lot but... he was away when... when the accident happened."

Medusa settled beside her, "I see, where did the tutor come from?"

"He said my father sent him. I was never sure if that was the truth, but he made sure I was safe and encouraged me to do what I wished. He was kind, unlike the villagers. They always treated me like I was something to be pitied at best, hated at worst."

Medusa snarled, "Ridiculous humans. Just because you can't see doesn't make you any lesser than them. Your father shouldn't have abandoned you to their cruelty."

"I think he did his best," Lara murmured. "He left me this necklace and sent me the tutor. I was never uncared for, and I never wanted for anything."

She scoffed, "The bare minimum."

]"I never minded," Lara insisted. "If my mother spoke the truth then he's a God, and surely very busy. Despite that he still made sure I was safe and cared for. He couldn't have foreseen the villagers reactions to the incident."

Medusa stared at her doubtfully. "If you say so."

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The next afternoon, June 13th (seven days before the solstice), our train rolled into Denver.

We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, a bit after our stop at Kansas City. We hadn't taken a shower since Camp Half-Blood.

Thankfully with my waterskin we'd managed some careful maneuvering in the bathrooms and managed to clean off the grime. I'd gotten pretty clean in the bubble of purity in the lake.

I ended up lending Annabeth one of the shirts Triton gave me, one of the flowy ones. It was loose enough to fit her despite her being a few inches taller than me. Grover was using my extra camp shirt and I was wearing one of the clasped shirts.

"We should try to contact Khiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

I nodded, reluctant. I don't like Khiron all that much, but he was basically the head of the camp.

"How will we do that?" In the sea we used scale-line, or messenger shells, or some people could afford higher quality enchanted mirrors for communication. What did the land Godly world use?

"You'll see."

We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, I didn't like it.

It felt too hot and reminded me of the Khimaira. It made me tired too, I felt all dried out.

The Rocky Mountains towered over us, they made me think of the dream I had, with the different figures made of swirling currents, and brilliant light, and burning pain. The Mountains remind me of the figures that were tall and steady.