"Her…" Viva agreed sadly. "She… was flirting. With my older brother. He was 21 at the time, I was 10." She explained haltingly, aware that her explanation probably made no sense, but she was in no mood to go into the details of the incident. "She was charmspeaking him, I think. But… He wasn't himself. I was trying to talk to him. But he wouldn't listen. He was infatuated, even though he had just met the woman. I was young. Confused. I got so, so frustrated I just… I just screamed. When my dad - Apollo that is, visited me in a dream years later, it turned out that I had, for a second, channeled his divine power in my own form of charmspeak. And it swayed Aphrodite. Just for a second, she froze and did what I wanted. So, that night I had a dream, and she said…" But Viva couldn't go on and she began to sob.
Lewis held Viva in his arms, then realized he was still wet from his swim. "Ah! I'm sorry!" He was a little frustrated at his impulse to physically comfort her, but he figured she wasn't so worried about getting a little wet.
"I'm sorry, Viva. You don't deserve it. That old snake of a goddess…"
"Siren," Said a voice in side her head, "Siren, Siren, Siren," The voice said over and over again,"Siren, Siren," Siren started to get annoyed said simply,"What?" The voice wouldn't stop saying,"Siren, Siren, Siren, Siren" Siren realized ,The voice can't hear me but it can it hear my thoughts? "Yes, I can. I can hear your thoughts," The voice said. Siren asked,Why are you in my head? "Siren listen, you know that vision? It was all in side your head. It wasn't me. It was another god against me." Who was it "I don't know. That you'll have to find out yourself. Bye Siren" Even when the voice said 'bye' she could still hear faint whispers saying "Siren" over and over again.
Lewis held Viva in his arms, then realized he was still wet from his swim. "Ah! I'm sorry!" He was a little frustrated at his impulse to physically comfort her, but he figured she wasn't so worried about getting a little wet.
"I'm sorry, Viva. You don't deserve it. That old snake of a goddess…"
"Th-thanks Lewis," Viva stammered. She took a deep breath. She owed Lewis the whole story after he had told her everything. She dropped her gaze from Lewis and stared at the ground, willing herself not to burst into tears again.
"She said, exactly these words, I'll never forget them. She said - Hear the words of Aphrodite child, whoever you love, you will loose. When you look at someone and love them, you will remember the moment when you crossed me. Because they will die." Viva's voice choked up, but she forged onwards. "Now, at the time, I just thought this was a bad dream. My mum and brother had no idea my father was Apollo, and nor did I. It wasn't until S… until later, that I realised these words were more than just a nightmare."
"Oh." Lewis was curious about what had happened, but he dared not dig deeper for answers. He nodded and patted Viva's shoulder. "Maybe there's a way to break it."
Viva shuddered, her voice tiny and broken. "I don't think so, but maybe. Trust me I've tried. It's monstrous." She wasn't sure why she kept talking, but now that she had started the story, she needed to finish it. "When I was 12, I had almost forgotten those words. The monsters started coming after me then, me and one other boy at my school. His name was Sam. One day, w-we were walking together and a cyclops loomed out of the shadows. I-I was so scared, but after we'd been running for almost 10 minutes, Sam called this lightning and the cyclops died. I went home and tried to tell my mum, but she didn't believe me. I got taken to… to countless psychologists, but no one could convince me it was an illusion. It was the same for Sam, so we ran away together and we grew really, really close. We travelled together for over a month and, and one night we finally, FINALLY kissed." Viva's voice grew softer as she swallowed past a gargantuan lump in her throat. "It was the happiest I had been for so long Lewis. I went to sleep that night, while Sam was on watch and I dreamt about the lady, that I now know as Aphrodite, again. She said the same words as the last time she had come to me in a dream, a-a-and then she said, "wake up intefering child." And I woke up with this feeling of absolute dread, because I knew now that nightmares were never just nightmares for demigods." Viva's voice was almost inaudible now, and she began to sob as she continued her story. "He was dead. Ripped apart…" Viva couldn't continue.
Lewis was silent. He was shocked that she had been willing to share everything. He kept his hand on her shoulder as reassurance.
Viva took a deep breath. She would finish the story. She would not be beaten. "Sam was courageous and funny and thoughtful and amazing and Lewis, he died because of ME. Because I was stupid enough to cross the goddess of love. That is my deepest and darkest fear. That I will kill someone I love again." Viva couldn't contain her sobs anymore and she slumped to the ground and just broke down.
(Ari breaths in the backround)
Lewis wrapped his arms around Viva. He admired her courage to do the thing he couldn't: share his deepest fear.
"Viva… it's okay, dear."
"It's not!" Viva sobbed. "Because, any minute, it could happen again. How can I control my feelings for someone? If I care about them I have to not care about them, but I can't!" Viva's voice dropped, "Lewis, I think I'm in love with Miles, a-a-and I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if he died because of me too."
(AHHHH Miles is Aphrodite's kid, isn't he????)
"Well, we're going to break that curse, then," Lewis said confidently, "I'm sure I can learn a bit more about magic and maybe help you find a way around it."
(Also, I totally just thought of this thing in Demigod Diaries where the Stoll brothers spray painted an apple gold and threw it in the Aphrodite cabin, and I was going to make a joke/reference about it, but it would've killed the mood.)
"Thank you," Viva said to Lewis as she pulled herself together and stood up. "Thank you so much for understanding and just being here for me. And Lewis, at least now we know it isn't necessarily the future." she gave him a small smile as they headed back down to the cabins.
(XD. i was literally just reading the demigod diaries last night and i laughed so hard when I read that part…)
Ari sat watching Lewis and Viva from a distance, having nothing else to do. She couldn't hear them, but knew what they were talking about. Thanks a lot Eleos. She thought sarcastically.
"That's right," Lewis stated, trying his best to smile back. He felt a little guilty he hadn't shared everything. He returned to his cabin to change back into his clothes.
(XD. i was literally just reading the demigod diaries last night and i laughed so hard when I read that part…)
(I haven't read them yet though……………………………………what'd they do???)
(XD. i was literally just reading the demigod diaries last night and i laughed so hard when I read that part…)
(Yessss I love those boys so much)
Viva headed over towards where Ari was. She didn't want to be alone, as it would only give her more time to torture herself over what she had seen in her vision.
(XD. i was literally just reading the demigod diaries last night and i laughed so hard when I read that part…)
(Yessss I love those boys so much)
(i was so sad when I found out that Travis had left to go to college in the hidden oracle)
Ari looked up at Viva. "Hey. Are you okay?" She asked gently, seeing the tear stains on Viva's face.
Sienne looked up at Viva and Ari, Ari looked concerned and Viva looked sad. She walked over to them, "You ok, Viva?" she signed.
"Yeah," Viva replied before signing it as well, her voice still hoarse from singing her heart out on Half-Blood Hill. "Just, talking 'bout some stuff with Lewis. Are you ok?" Viva wasn't sure what Ari and Sienne had seen in their visions, but it couldn't have been good. In the distance, Viva could see Miles still sitting by himself, but she didn't want to go over. It was for his own good that she needed to avoid him.
Ari nodded. "I will be. Come here." She motioned for Viva to sit on her lap.(XD me and my friends do this all the time)
(XD. i was literally just reading the demigod diaries last night and i laughed so hard when I read that part…)
(Yessss I love those boys so much)
(i was so sad when I found out that Travis had left to go to college in the hidden oracle)
(at least they're alive)
(yeah. I would be SO upset if they died…)
Viva went over and sat in Ari's lap, still slightly wet from the hug Lewis had given her. She couldn't even put into words how grateful she was to have such amazing friends, so she settled with, "thanks" and a smile.
Sienne nodded, perhaps a little too hard. She was still shaking from the visions, but she didn't want Viva to have anymore on her plate. She made sure to hide her hands because they were trembling vigorously from the memory of the vision.
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