Skyler's pov:
I wake up in a comfortble bed. My head is aching as usual and my shoulder is very soar. When I look around I see I'm in an infermary.
"I don't mean to bother you right away, but you might want to test out that shoulder." Athena says.
"Yeah, that's probably for the best." I agree.
I sit on the edge of the bed for a moment before getting up. Feels like I slept forever. I probably did too, with all the time I spent in between worlds.
I get up and start doing some stretch exercises for my shoulder. I try to raise it as high as I can. It's worse than last time. I can raise it right above my head, but it hurts very much and I need to use my hand to keep it there.
When I let go it lowers quite a bit.
"Try and raise it to the side and see how long you can hold it." Athena suggested.
I do as she asked and raise my hands again. After about a minute they drop to my side again.
"Is that it?" Athena asked.
"Well yeah, it hurts quite a bit." I reply.
It's definitly getting worse quickly.
"You're sure there is no way to reverse it?" I ask just to be sure.
"I've told you before Skyler. There isn't." Athena says.
I sigh. I know she's right. I just don't feel like believing it.
Suddenly my stomach growls. I'm so hungry. I haven't exactly eaten that much lately so I make my way out of the infermary and up to the dining hall.
When I enter it's completely empty except for little Sam whose playing with a spoon in a bowl of soup. I hear him talking with Hestia.
"Sam don't play with your food please." Hestia says.
"It's not like there's much else to do..." The kid responds.
"Sam please. Not this again. We talked about this." I hear the slight pain in the voice of the goddess.
"I know, but it's just not fair. I'm not old enough to go to battle with them, but they leave me to defend an entire base and a bunch of outposts to watch over on my own." He continues.
"Skyler and Athena are still here." Hestia suggests.
"Yeah, unconscious. Great help." Sam mutters.
I can't help but clear my throat behind him. Sam jerks up and spills some soup on the table.
"Uh... Sorry." I apologize.
"You're awake." Sam states the obvious.
"Yeah. Where are all the others?" I ask, sitting down next to him.
A bowl of soup appears in front of me as well. Happy with some food I put a spoon full into my mouth.
"They went to battle with Nemesis and her forces. We had an advantage and they took it." Hestia explained.
I spit out my soup. It's not my reaction. It's Athena's. Apparently she has something to say and didnt feel like waiting for me to swallow.
"They went to battle?! Without me?!" She exclaims.
"Well you weren't exactly useful with your host unconscious. Besides you had other issues to solve first." Hestia states bluntly.
Athena grumbles something as I put a new spoon filled with soup in my mouth.
Demeter's pov:
I hate battles. It's bad for the environment and it tends to end in a bloodbath everytime.
I was currently strangling a set of cyclopses in some vines. Next to me Hera whipped a minotaur. Such a nice day to be out with your sister.
"Demeter, can you give me a hand over here?" Apollo said, speeding past with a couple of satyrs on his tail.
"Yes, one moment." I say.
I reach deep into the earth and find a set of roots. With the strength that I somehow have left I urge them to come up. Slowly they start digging themselves up from the sand, making the satyrs trip.
"Demeter, behind you!" Janae warns me.
I turn around and block an attack from my dear daughter. This is why you check on your children regularly, you don't want to just find them on the opposite side of a battlefield, trust me.
"Persephone what are you doing?" I ask her.
"What you taught me mother. Always following my heart. Or something along those lines." She raises her shoulders.
Next she squats and kicks down my legs from underneath me. Not a moment later I fall into the sand. As I feel it getting everywhere I crawl back a little.
Before she can do anything else a tidal wave takes out my daughter and several other monsters. I manage to get back up to see my brother nod at me.
"Sweet timing." Janae thanks him.
"My pleasure." Poseidon says with a dip of his head.
Then he runs of to help Artemis, while blasting water from his trident at pretty much any enemy he can find.
Hestia's pov:
Sam was bored and I had no idea what to do with it. Sam rarely ever got bored. Usually he could find a way to keep himself busy, but right now nothing seemed to interest him.
I wasn't exactly a fit entertainer either. I was good with kids yes, but when they get bored with what I have to show them the story ends.
Yet suddenly something caught his attention. He was watching as Skyler was drawing something. After cleaning up the mess of the soup we figured we could just go to the common room and keep ourselves busy.
Skyler had passed by her room real quickly to pick up some art supplies. She said it had been way too long since she let her mind create a new world to get lost in.
As Skyler drew I saw her eyes light up sometimes. She wasn't doing this alone. Not truly at least. Athena was helping her, probably without either of them knowing.
Somehow they were able to capture Sam's attention.
"They work well together don't they?" Sam asked me.
"They certainly do." I reply.
"Skyler?" He turns to the older girl.
"Yes Sam?"
She doesn't look up from her drawing, but we know she's paying attention.
"What are you drawing?"
"Would you like to see?" She asks, looking up.
Her grey eyes hold something inside of them. That something is called passion. It's a fire I know all too well and a fire I love to tend to.
Sam nods a little shy.
"Is that okay?"
Skyler nods in return.
"Come over here." Skyler gestures for Sam to sit with her.
Instinctively he goes to sit in her lap. He used to have an older sister where he'd always do the same. Sadly she died of leukemia a year ago and Sam came here.
I notice how Sam finds a lot of his sister back in Skyler. Suddenly some of Sam's memories bubble up and wash over me. It sort of takes me by surprise. It doesn't happen very often.
I see an 8 year old Sam sit with his older sister on a hospital bed. He knows his sister likes to draw, maybe that will make her smile again.
"Amara, will you draw me a dragon?" Little Sam asks.
"Sure. What does your dragon look like?" Amara asks.
His sister manages a small smile for her little brother. He can't know she's silently saying goodbye.
"My dragon is big! He has a long and sharp teeth! Claws and a long tail. And big wings so he can fly! But he's a nice dragon, because he is a protector." Sam explains.
Amara writes down her brother's requests.
"Anything else?" She asks.
"He has a blue head, a purple body and green paws."
"And his tail?"
"His tail is red."
After everything is written down Amara goes to work. With every pencil stroke she explains what it's for.
"This line will become the dragons tummy."
"Wow. Can you make him have scales?"
"Sure, just add this line and then put another like this. You see now he has scales."
"Oh oh, make him breathe fire!" Sam adds.
A genuine chuckle escapes his sisters mouth.
Skyler's pov:
Sam sits in my lap as I continue my drawing.
"So what are you drawing?" He asks.
"I'm drawing a building that I had to design a while back." I explain.
"You make buildings?"
I see his fire colored eyes light up with wonder.
"I don't make them. I just design them. I come up with the ideas for them."
"Wow..." He breathes.
It is silent for a moment.
"What is that you're drawing now?" Sam questions.
"It's part of the balcony. By adding the shadow it will seem as if the railing is truly made of metal." I answer.
"It does look like metal."
Sam reaches out towards the paper and let's his fingers glide over the paper for a moment.
"I can feel it." He says.
"I'm standing there."
I'm dumbstruck. How is he standing there. That building isn't even made or anything. It's just a design I made a while ago. There's no way he can-...
"And yet he's there." Athena says.
"He's there with his spirit. You're drawing made it come to life for him."
As soon as Athena's voice leaves my mouth Sam shocks up and backs away. He's still afraid of her it seems.
His breathing picks up and his hands begin to shake slightly.
"Sam it's alright. She isn't going to hurt you." Hestia's voice leaves his mouth.
"You don't know that! You're afraid of her too! You don't trust her either! Why should I?!" The boy says, fear evident in his voice.
"That's not true Sam." Hestia tries to reassure him.
"Yes it is! You saw what she did! She can make soldiers appear from no where."
"So can Raymond."
"Yeah, but he's only ever used them for a good purpose!"
What the hell...
Okay this is freaking me out right now.
"Athena? What is he talking about?" I ask.
"There is no good or bad Skyler. There is only what is right. Even more so in war." Is the only thing Athena says.
Sam takes another step back. Then out of nowhere a feeling of comfort spreads through the entire room. A feeling of warmth and home.
I can see an orange glow around Sam. The same color of his eyes. The same color as fire. I assume this must be Hestia's aura filling the room.
At the blink of an eye Hestia is standing in the room with me.
"I'm sorry. This is the only way I can calm him down right now." She explains.
I just nod.
"May I speak with Athena please?"
Even if I would've known what to answer I didn't get the time to as my bones started shifting and that icey feeling chilled my entire body.