Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Athena’s Visit

 

            When Emily awoke again, the sun was just barely peeking over the waves, causing the clouds to almost glow yellow, orange or pink. The camp was practically silent. The only noises were of the timid birds chirping in the woods, the waves lapping against the shore, the tree branches rustling in the wind, and, if you listened very closely, the gentle snoring of the campers. Everything seemed peaceful – safe. Emily couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this relaxed. She was in a safe place, with food, water, friends even. It was a relief not to be running around anymore, fighting back the monsters, trying to explain her situation to those who could never understand, barely scraping by with what little she had, being forced to run from one foster home to the next.

            Her vision cleared and she saw a woman standing over her. She was beautiful and powerful with dark hair tumbling over her shoulders, knowing grey eyes and a powerful presence about her, as she seemed to be emitting a soft silver light. Her face was timeless and kind as she gazed down on Emily. When she spoke, her voice was calm, gentle and full of confidence.

            “My dear, how strong you have become. Just like your mother,” she paused for a second, “my favorite daughter.”

            The longing in her voice was unmistakable.

Emily sat up in bed as straight as she could. The calm, collected confidence from the woman seemed to be brushing off on her. She quickly analyzed the situation in her mind, associating what she saw to something she knew from Greek mythology. She looked like a goddess. A grey-eyed goddess.

            “Athena.” Emily whispered in an awed voice, gawking up at her favorite goddess of all time. She was the one who had conquered and punished the ancestor of those nasty, bloodthirsty spiders. She was the patron of the capital of Greece. She had never created monsters, hurt heroes, or was vengeful without reason. She had helped bring about happy endings in all the Greek myths she was part of: reuniting Odysseus with his wife and son, giving Perseus (one of the few heroes with a real happy ending) the means to slay Medusa, one of the worst monsters of Greek mythology. She had helped hundreds off Greeks, demigods or not, to overcome their challenges, from the Trojan war to the invention of the chariots. Joy swelled up inside her. Emily’s mother was the goddess Athena’s favorite daughter. That meant that Athena was Emily’s grandmother. Everything was getting better and better. She’s been rescued, bandaged, fed, protected, and now claimed by her favorite goddess of all time.

            The goddess smiled, her eyes glittering with pride.

“You are intelligent my darling, one of the various traits you have inherited from me.”

            Emily felt like she had just been injected with ambrosia. Blissful warmth circulated through her body. Athena, her grandmother, had called her strong and intelligent. Not a mistake, a wimp, a freak, a weakling, a mess, nothing she usually got.

            The goddess returned Emily’s wide grin and handed her a book wrapped in leather with a silver owl glinting on the cover with the name Emelye Jackson inscribed below in the same silvery color. Emily stared at it. She had never known her full name. She had been abandoned, found along the roadside near a farm in Connecticut when she was only eighteen months old. No one had told her how they had known her name was Emily. No one knew her last name. It changed from home to home, as she had been pushed out of and shoved into foster home after foster home.

            Emelye Jackson. The puzzle pieces clicked into place, revealing a bigger, grander picture. Andrew Jackson’s parents had been a daughter of Athena and a son of Poseidon. Emelye Jackson’s mother was Athena’s favorite daughter. The daughter who had married the son of Poseidon and had two kids, one had been in camp half-blood for nearly their entire life. The other had just arrived, sitting up in a hospital bed in the big house, eyes wide with realization as she stared at the silver letters etched in the leather bound book her immortal grandmother held.

            “This will never burn, and nothing written can ever be erased. I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self. This journal is a tool for you to use, use it wisely. It may help you find your faults and correct them before it is too late. Your enemies are the first to discover your mistakes, but if you find them first, you may have the advantage. This may also help you find happiness in time of need, for happiness depends on us.”

            The goddess placed the book on Emily’s lap, smiling at the girl’s astonished reaction.

            “Remember- Act quickly. Think slowly.”

With that, the goddess vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving Emily to pour over the leather bound journal. She held it with reverence and gentleness, gingerly opening the cover to reveal the blank pages in which Emily was to write. Emily turned back to the cover and stroked the silver owl lovingly, relishing in the new knowledge that she was the granddaughter of the grey-eyed goddess. On the third stroke, a pen appeared in her hand. It looked like a regular ball-point pen, but it was grey-blue, and, as Emily started to fastidiously write in the journal, it gave produced a dark inky-blue ink that almost seemed to glow in the semi-darkness of the early morning. Her curly blonde hair fell down over her shoulders, nearly concealing the presence of the journal Emily was pouring over. In the distance, the sun rose even higher over the long island sound.

After only a few hours, the sky was a clear blue spotted with cotton white clouds here and there. All evidence of the storm was gone, and bird merrily chirped away in the woods as the campers began to get up for the day to come. Emily’s stomach rumbled and she realized it was breakfast time.

            Emily gently put the journal down and slid out of bed. She straightened all she could, laying the sheets smooth across the surface of the cot and making sure that everything was the way it was before she had come here.

            Grasping the journal in one hand (the pen had disappeared once again) she continued out the door, turning in the same direction she had seen the others go. She wasn’t quite sure where she was going, but figured that she’d probably meet up with some other demigods from this camp who would probably lead her to wherever everyone ate breakfast. There, Emily could probably find some familiar faces: Lauren, Alex and Andrew. Andrew Jackson.

            Her heart began to pound with anxiety. How do you break the news? Just go up to him and say, Hey! According to Athena, you’re my long lost brother!! Surprise!!

            Not exactly the sort of thing you say to people, especially those who you just met yesterday.

            She continued all the way down the hallway, finally coming to the exit. The sight nearly took her breath away. Strawberry fields stretched beyond a small river that cut through the camp. Lush green hills surrounded the camp like they were protecting the camp from the outside world. On one hill glittered something gold glittering in the early morning sunlight, hanging from a branch on the pine tree. Birds chirped in the woods, which loomed beyond the shed-looking building and what Emily guessed to be a training arena or something. One sound didn’t make sense- the neighing of horses from above. Emily looked up to see majestic creatures soaring freely through the clouds. A wide grin spread across her face and her eyes lit up with delight like someone had told her it was Christmas.

            For a few minutes, Emily watched in awe and adoration as the winged horses- Pegasi- relished in their freedom, flying high above the rest of the just-waking camp. Her eyes followed one Pegasus as it swooped down back to the stables, lying just beyond the strawberry field. She grinned in anticipation, and began to sprint toward the stables.