~ ☼ ~

Michael Yew was from Boston, but I think his family was from Singapore. I only knew this because I'd gathered it from eavesdropping.

Where are the Gods?

Nowhere to be found. Apollo was not there to save Michael.

To honor him.

To warn him.

Or to warn us.

Apollo was only here when he had to be, when he'd be in danger otherwise.

I was heartbroken, but I was also fuming. And I was also disgusted with myself, disgusted that I was his daughter. Disgusted that I'd kissed someone who, for two summers, had been my brother. Disgusted that I'd done it behind my sister's back, my sister who surely would never look at us the same.

Riley had screamed. In some sort of panic, she'd climbed up onto the nearest car and began jumping from roof to roof, down the highway. It'd take her another half hour at that pace.

I just sat down on the dirty sidewalk.

I gave up. Because what did it matter if everyone was just going to die anyway?

I don't know how long I sat there for, my legs pulled up to my chest. I just sat there and cried.

Maybe Riley would find Alec. Maybe she would confirm I was not dead. Maybe it'd just be us forever, as Michael and Will, Kris and Jake and Malcolm and Lacey died too. I held Liakada close to me, choking out sobs.

Then, I felt a sparkling breeze.

It took me a moment to feel the August heat disappear around me. Then, slowly, I looked up, and saw her. Not like I saw her in my dreams, nearly human, but much, much bigger. Like a golem of starlight, she laid her head across the highway, her white hair going everywhere, her gray eyes looking out at me from under heavy lids.

"Here you are, kid," she said. "Alone. Didn't I tell you as much?"

Her voice was a rumble, but it was beautiful too, like silver. Like Lucas' eyes. I had to consciously try not to focus on it - to not let it distract me.

"Theia," I whispered, and she smiled.

"You finally figured out my name. Good job."

It felt like a teacher giving me a gold star sticker. I felt my entire body go cold.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

"I'm Hyperion's wife. Sister. Whatever you'd like to call me."

"Who are you?" I repeated.

Now, she gave me another smile, and somehow, this one seemed slightly more genuine.

"I'm the wide shining," she murmured. "I control sight and clarity. I am what makes jewels shimmer, what gives them their value. And I know what matters."

Hearing her finally say it, no longer a mystery in my dreams but a truly ancient titaness, made me feel more epic than I ever had before.

"What have you done?" I whispered.

"Nothing, child. Only tried to guide you." She reached out one giant, pale finger and touched my head like I was a cat. It felt like the cool side of the pillow. "But you don't listen."

"Why would I?"

With my mouth dry, I watched as she lifted herself, finally, as the water of the river below us sloshed. Now, she picked me up, and I would've screamed, but some part of me felt like I was still dreaming. If not dreaming, then separated from time and space somehow. Maybe I was hallucinating. It would make sense if she was the titaness of sight; of course she'd misuse that.

She placed me in her palm, then began to wade through the East River. Trying to keep my breath steady, I held onto her finger like it was a banister.

"Shall I give you some backstory?" she asked. Before I gave her an answer, she started: "I raised my brothers as if they were my own children. Our parents were the universe and the Earth, so, of course, they had little time for us. But Hyperion - Hyperion was my equal. Hyperion was my best friend."

"The other titans were jealous," she added. "Kronos especially, of course. We learned quickly to not let ourselves shine as best we could."

"Then why side with them?" I yelled up to her.

She looked at me in distaste. "You don't need to shout, child. I can hear you loud and clear."

I had to restrain myself from stabbing her in the palm with Liakada; it would most likely just feel like a needle prick to her.

"Kronos came around in time," she explained. "We're shining now, aren't we? Hyperion is Kronos' second in command."

That seemed like settling, but I didn't say anything.

"We were able to have three children together anyway - Helios, Selene, and Eos. Unfortunately, the three of them faded with time, as people chose your father and namesake instead. But to have you on my side - that would certainly be a slap in the face to Apollo and Artemis, would it not?"

I said nothing. There was no way that was her whole goal - just to get me to side with her like I was some possession she could dangle above my father's head. He wouldn't even care!

She did not expand on what she meant; she just kept wading. To my distaste, she was heading northwards. Then she stopped, suddenly, pointing towards Yonkers. "Do you see that?"

I did. I saw a giant pillar of fire in gold armor, shorter than Theia was right now but just as bright. He was marching towards Manhattan, an army around him on the streets. Hyperion.

"Hyperion," I whispered.

"Indeed," she said. And then, to my surprise, she sniffled. "Look at him go. I'm so proud of him."

I looked up at her in confusion as she dabbed at her eyes. Then she shook her head. "No matter. You and I need to have a chat."

She lifted her hand, slowly, until I was looking directly at her. I felt like an ant under a microscope. And, this close, I realized with a start that her eyes were not silver after all, but like a prism. They were everything at once, clear and yet rainbow, a million rays of light bouncing around inside. The cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Riley's dad wasn't a classic rock guy, but maybe he would appreciate that reference.

I used the humor as a coping mechanism. The truth was that I was terrified. Terrified and... and something else. Not attracted - I wasn't that bad - but... intrigued. The same way you are when you watch a horror movie. Freaked out, but the adrenaline almost makes you feel powerful.

"When you look in my eyes, what do you see?"

I felt like a veil was being removed from my face. I looked her straight in the eyes, almost falling forward to the edge of her wrist. And I found, under those ice-blond eyelashes, amongst the planes of the prism, images. Like I was looking in a kaleidoscope - no, through a crystal, a mirror, to the truth.

I saw these things:

She and Hyperion together, many millennia ago, shine and fire.

Having children; those children fading as my father and aunt took their place.

Hyperion and Theia being reunited from the separate sides of Tartarus in which they'd been trapped; their embrace the brightest firework, making tears come to my eyes.

And when the sparks settled? When I palmed away my tears? The image changed.

Now, I saw Alec and I, riding in the car from Brooklyn.

Me watching out the window on the LIRR, as Alec watched me. Without my knowledge.

Both of us being peaceful in Cassie's diner in the OBX. I didn't remember that. Didn't think we'd had any peace at all outside of camp.

"He's your best friend, isn't he?" she whispered.

She was manipulating me. She had to be. She was showing me what she wanted me to see. That - that she wanted me to find Alec and the two of us could go dark-mode together.

Still, I couldn't help myself; I nodded weakly. He was the Sundance Kid to my Butch Cassidy. He was my... he was my partner. And whenever he laughed, it felt like I was safe. It was the only thing that made me feel safe in all of the world.

Then, the images changed, and I saw Theia's facial expression shift to be even more expectant. Like that was only round one.

Now, I saw myself shooting archery at my first Capture the Flag game, landing a perfect shot. Slashing with Liakada just as well, if spontaneously. Playing my violin, letting the music take me over. Talking to Riley, my sister; Lucas, my could've been; Kiera, my equal; Aria, my friend. Kids from Cabin 7, kids from other cabins. The Aphrodite girls giving me the perfect outfit for my taste rather than mocking me.

I couldn't help myself. I ignored my doubting of Theia, falling into the image as more tears were brought to my eyes. If this was what she considered truth, maybe I was on her side.

"What do you want, child?" she whispered, a thousand voices at once. "What do you see?"

At first I thought that it meant all I'd ever wanted was friends. But it was bigger than that, because it was hobbies too, it was adventure, it was Alec.

Love. All I'd ever wanted was to love and to be loved.

I felt something collapse within me. But it didn't hurt or make me cry. It felt good. It was pure inner peace.

I was loved. I was loved. I was capable and talented and lovable, and I was loved.

"Love," I said. "I see love."

Theia blinked in slow motion surprise, her eyelashes like snow.

"Love," she whispered. "Love?"

"Yes," I whispered back.

"What do you see?" she asked. The images were fading now as her voice rose, like her own panic was reducing the mirrors in her eyes.

"I see my friends, and my talents, and camp and America and Alec," I said, my own voice growing faster too. My heart might've beat out of my chest with pure serotonin. "I see love."

I hardly sensed what was happening; all my focus was on the realization that she had not put those images in her eyes on purpose, after all. She did not expect me to say that - expect me to see what I saw.

Suddenly, Theia moving backwards, her face flying into an expression of anger. It was heavier than I'd ever seen before, harder than she'd looked in any of my dreams, and completely terrifying.

In her surprise at my response, she dropped me. I think it was accidentally. But she did not catch me; she was too busy raging. Either way, I fell.

And as I fell, I watched her, her eyes blazing with all the colors of the rainbow at once, her hair whipping around her like she was about to start a storm. Then, all of it was blocked out, because I'd fallen into the East River. It hurt my back like I'd been smashed with a giant slab of rock.

"No!" I yelled, but I was already underwater. I started taking in water, bubbles going everywhere. Pain shot through my back, and I moved to grab it in a knee-jerk reaction, and it was all too much.

It was my second near-death experience that day, and this time, I think it might've been more than near.

~ ☼ ~

I felt like I was gonna vomit.

Then my eyes flew open.

I was still slightly damp from when I'd fallen through the cloud, but other than that, I was dry. And I was still sitting where I'd left myself on the highway.

I stood up with a jolt, looking south first. The Williamsburg Bridge had fallen; the water had settled and the last clouds of smoke were dissipating. I think I could hear screams in the distance. But other than that, the city was once again quiet. I think more time had passed then I realized. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon.

I turned in confusion, but Theia was nowhere to be found; I was alone with a bunch of sleeping drivers and broken down cars.

"What the Hades," I said, breathing heavily, "Was that?"

I think I might've been astral projecting or something. But that made it no less real than any of the dreams I'd had of Theia. Which meant what she'd shown me was real, too.

I had no injury - only information. Only confidence.

I had to find my friends.

~ ☼ ~

A/N: this was so fun to write!! I love Theia and love the imagery of her laying her giant head across a highway <3