Chapter Text
Two weeks before the lightning thief
Camp half-blood
It all started on a rainy Thursday morning. Cassandra and Achilles were eating peacefully in the dining pavilion, they were one of the last ones to be sitting there.
There were only 5 more people sitting in that pavilion, Mr.D and his two sons Castor and Pollux, Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin and Darla Anemoi daughter of Zephyrus.
Cassandra and Achilles were quietly talking while eating, yet Cassandra or Cassie as she likes to be called, had her attention on Lee Fletcher.
He felt familiar to her, like she knew him from before, which would be crazy as this was Lee's first life and she had never met the 15 year-old boy before. What took her interest in him was his dark brown, almost black unruly curly hair, the colour was something he definitely couldn't get from Apollo as the god of prophecies was blonde. And godly genes always ruled out the mortal ones, unless the other parent is also a god or goddess or someone more powerful than gods, which in Lee's case would be unbelievable as he is a mortal demigod.
Cassandra found herself protective of the boy, she didn't knew why given her history with Apollo. She found many things about him familiar. Familiar in way that reminded her of people from her family. Like his curly dark hair reminded her of her once dearest grandfather, his soft green eyes so similar to that of her grandmother's.
But that didn't really matter as Achilles began talking to her.
“Dessa thinks we are going to get claimed tomorrow and Rhea has a feeling that she and Krios won't get claimed by the deity that would claim Dessa. What do you think?” Achilles asked his cousin, looking up from his plate of figs and crackers, the only things he can stomach these days.
“I think Rhea might be right. What do you think, your mother will claim you by tonight? Or are we still going to pretend your not ignoring her?” Cassie asked the man sitting next to her finally looking away from the young son of Apollo, instead looking at her cousin.
“I am not ignoring her, she-…. she is just hard to talk to after all these eons, it has been over three thousand years since I last saw her. I'm worried she might not think of me as she used to.” The man voiced his worries not looking at his cousin, fidgeting with his fingers, softly pressing his thumb nail into his pointer finger, enough to be hurt but not enough to be painful. Sadness and distress evident on his face.
“You are her son ‘Chillies. She loves you, she always has we both know it. And out of the two of us it really should be me worrying.” The girl said, trying to reassure her favourite mortal cousin while attempting a weak joke at the end.
“Yeah you really should. We can never know who will claim you, maybe your mother, your father or even grandfather.” He teased her back a smile finally coming to his face, it was small and still full of uneasiness, but it was still a smile none the less and Cassie will take it.
“I think everyone would be surprised if grandfather claimed me. Is it wrong that I miss him, even after everything he has done?” Cassie asked him, a look of melancholy coming to her face.
“No, no it isn't wrong to miss someone you knew most of your life. Even if they did terrible, terrible things.” The man said wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into his side.
They sat at the Hermes table quietly for moments just leaning into each other, both of them thinking about the past and what is to come.
---
Camp half-blood Beach
Rhea and Krios laid in the sand, neither of them caring about if it got into their clothes. They were quietly talking and enjoying each others company.
“I had a dream last night.” Rhea said turning to face her blonde brother, her face full of sadness like she was remembering old memories.
“Another memory?”
“Yes. You were in it, so were *them*.”Rhea said curling into her brother more. They both knew who she meant, their dreams often the same.
He just pulled her closer so she was almost laying on him, it came naturally to them. He wanted nothing more than to keep his little sister safe and away from the horrid memories plaguing them both. Yet he knew they both felt like something or someone was missing, they both knew who but they preferred not to think or talk about it.
Her mind wandered as he held her. To a past that was once theirs. To the laughter of children whom once looked at them with undying love and trust. To a little boy with the most beautiful electric blue eyes and the curliest black hair she had ever seen. To a little girl who was never her daughter but her son. To a little girl with golden eyes and black hair looking just like her father. To a boy who found her one night afraid of his own father, who in that moment became their son.
She knew they were her children, their children, yet she could not recall more of them. She felt horrible for it.
She could still remember, still hear it sometimes, the gut wrenching screaming and crying her love let out as he crouched over their than youngest son's crib. She remembered how he shook as she held him, as he begged and pleaded for her to forgive him, as he sobbed out what happened. She never faulted him for that or any of it. She knew it wasn't his fault, yet she knew that their 6 youngest children would never forget it and would never forgive him for it.
---
The Big House
Chiron, Dionysus, Achilles, Patroclus, Diomedes, Odessa, Helen and Cassandra sat around the table, silently playing a card game before lunch. The silence was beginning to be uncomfortable around them. Thankfully Chiron broke it.
“I am still surprised we weren't informed of your rebirth.” Chiron said placing his cards down and looking up, his gaze thoughtful and curious.
“I'm not. It is something her Lady the Styx and my cousin Zagreus would do.” Dionysus spoke up placing a card in the middle before continuing, addressing Cassandra. “What I'm surprised about is that you were reborn. Again might I add, how many lives you had before really?”
She spoke up her tone annoyed as she rolled her eyes at her younger cousin. “Only my third, and you know this. But the reason I got reborn this time too is because in my first life during the war of the golden age, our dearest great grandmother cursed me, to be reborn again and again till the final ruler or something like that comes to save us all and break the curse of the bloodline.” She explained to them as they continued to play the game.
“Final ruler? That sounds like something from a fairy tale.” Odessa scoffed, rolling her eyes. While her stomach settled into an endless pitt of nerves, but she didn't showed it. She knew who the said ruler was, but she couldn't tell it to anyone. Not now at least, the time is not right yet.
“Trust me I know, but….” Cassie said her sentence unfinished as her emerald eyes glazed over in gold.
“What do you see Cass?” Achilles asked, his hands already moving to steady her from one side, Dionysus moving to steady her from the other side.
“It's coming, the line of succession is moving on. They are waking.” she said her voice darker, deeper, more ancient. Her words had everyone shivering.
“What else do you see?” Dionysus asked, already having his suspicions of what she was seeing. She was seeing the rise of the titans that is coming.
“Uncle’s bolt has been stolen during winter soltice, and Hades's helm of darkness too. I cannot see the thief, I can see his body but his face is blurred.” She said her sight clearing for a moment before changing again so she continued speaking.
“I see three children, well more like teens, a girl and two boys, one of the boys have purple eyes like yours and Clio's, more like Clio's, he has Poseidon's hair, the other boy looks just like him and the girl she……she has grandfather’s hair and grandmother's eyes.” She ended, her eyes clearing of it's hazzyness and golden glow.
“They must be uncles children, the ones father has been accusing of stealing his bolt.” Helen said, speaking up before her brother did, her eyes worried and remorseful.
“But it wasn't them, Cass just said that she saw the thief's siluette, it could not be them!” Achilles protested, his hands curling up into fists under the table before Patroclus took them into his own to try and soothe his anger.
“There is no changing father's mind unless there is clear proof that they did not steal and that they bring the bolt to him by summer solstice.” Dionysus said as he handed Cassandra a glass of water, sitting back down into his chair between his sister and Cassie.
“They are just children.” Achilles said his anger noticeable, he looked ready to march up to Olympus and have some not so kind words with his uncle and godfather.
“So were we ‘Chillies.” Odessa spoke up feeling sorry for what those children would go through, yet she cannot help but feel glee that her arch nemesis was finally getting punished even if it were his children. She could not care less about those children of Poseidon.
“Yeah but your happy about it aren't you?” Achilles cut back, even if he knew she was right. “They are your enemies children so you find it appealing that he, even if it's his children, gets punished.” He continued.
“I do feel sorry for those children. But I do find it gleeful that he finally gets punished after everything he had done to me.” Odessa explained, her gaze carefully natural. “And can we like stop talking about that wretched sea god and his punny spawns?!”
“I think we would all like that.” Patroclus mumbled, looking down at his lover, rolling his eyes at what was happening.