𝟬𝟭𝟭. perfect family
gone girl.
━━━ chapter eleven
❀
When the last day of camp arrived, Amaryllis felt too many emotions at once. She woke up to the sound of flute coming from the top bed of the bunk bed. Kayla, in a traditional annoying-younger-sibling style, decided to wake everyone up by practising her musical abilities. Austin had thrown a pillow at her, which lead to a pillow fight taking place in Cabin Seven, long before anyone else woke up. So the children of Apollo had the opportunity to pack without having to stress over preparing their luggage at the last minute, like they usually did.
Amaryllis didn't have any things to prepare, considering she didn't have any clothes or belongings and was just borrowing from the Aphrodite cabin, so she decided to help Will pack. While most campers waited for the camp van that would take them into the city, Mrs Solace always drove to the camp to get her son. Will offered to ask her if she could drive Amaryllis and Percy to Amaryllis' mother's place, but she didn't want to burden them, so she had said no.
"Why do you even take so many clothes with you, when you're always wearing the camp t-shirt?" she asked her younger brother, while he was sitting on his suitcase in a desperate attempt to make it close.
"Because... shut up!"
"Fair enough," she chuckled and helped him.
When it was finally closed, Will got up and approached Amaryllis with open arms. "I'm going to miss you, Lilly," he said as she brought him close to her chest and hugged him. "Promise to Iris-message me at least twice a week."
She snorted. It sounded funny and very much not tragic when he said it like that. "I'll miss you too, sunny. I promise I'll keep in touch," she said when she finally pulled back.
Will gave her a small piece of paper with a phone number on it. "And that's my mom's number. If you ever need anything..."
"Hey, I'm supposed to be the worried, protective older sister," she joked but shoved it in her pocket anyway. It meant a lot to her to see that he cared so much - she had a decent relationship with most of her siblings, but her and Will always shared a special kind of bond.
He grinned. "The roles changed when you got yourself kidnapped by some random god." Amaryllis snorted - it sounded funny and ridiculous, not at all tragic when he said it like that. He dragged his orange suitcase across the wooden floor the moment he heard a car horn outside. "Bye guys!" he yelled and a wave of goodbyes were heard by the rest of their siblings.
Later, Amaryllis found Percy and Annabeth standing on the top of Half-Blood Hill. The daughter of Athena just came to see them off, as she decided to stay a little longer at camp before she headed back to her father's place in San Francisco. She'd attend a private school, but even though she seemed to hate the idea, it was slowly growing on her due to the fact that she'd be away from her family.
"Maybe I could stay as well," Amaryllis said hesitantly, but Annabeth shook her head.
"You can't keep putting off visiting your mother," she said, to which Percy nodded. Amaryllis knew she was right, but pressed her lips together and didn't say anything else. "I'd come with you but I promised Chiron I'd help him with some last-minute chores."
"It's fine," Percy said and the two exchanged a weird look, like they were telepathically having a conversation about Amaryllis in front of her. "Call me, okay?" he told her after some seconds, that felt like whole minutes.
"Sure," she said half-heartedly. "I'll keep my eyes open for..."
She didn't have to say the name. Both Amaryllis and Percy knew she meant Luke, but throughout the whole summer it had been a touchy subject. They avoided talking about it as much as they could, but it was impossible not to bring him up, especially after Percy's discovery in Kronos' palace.
"Annabeth, what was the rest of the prophecy?" Percy asked, meaning the one they got before the quest. Amaryllis knew there was another prophecy, far more important than that one, but it was another touchy subject and if she was being totally honest, she was a bit scared to ask more about it.
Annabeth didn't reply, averting her eyes from her friends like she was trying to ignore them, but Percy kept pressing it. "You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," he quoted. It was the first time Amaryllis heard about that prophecy, despite having gone to the quest as well. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead.We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor. We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one. You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand. I thought it was Minos but-"
"It was Nico," Amaryllis said. "You weren't sure if he would help us or not, but he saved us."
He nodded. "The child of Athena's final stand. That was Daedalus."
"Can you both stop-?" Annabeth asked, getting paler by the second, but none of them were listening to her.
"Destroy with a hero's final breath."
"It makes sense. Daedalus died at last, to destroy the Labyrinth. But what was the last line?" Amaryllis asked and that was when she finally noticed that Annabeth now had tears in her eyes. She stopped dead in her tracks, frozen at the sight.
"And lose a love to worse than death. Are you two happy now? Are you satisfied?" she yelled at them.
"Oh. So Luke-"
"Yes, Percy. Of course I fucking love him. Loved. I-" Amaryllis went to squeeze her shoulder, to comfort her, but she stepped back, not letting her. "You know," Annabeth stared at her. "For years Luke was all I had. He was the one who cared about me. I never thought-"
Before she could continue, a sparkle of light appeared next to them, likesomeone had opened a gold curtain in the air. "You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." Standing on the hill was a tall woman in a white dress, her dark hair braided over her shoulder. It wasn't hard to understand that it was a goddess, but Amaryllis didn't realise who it was until Annabeth cleared her throat and spoke.
"Hera."
The goddess smiled at her. "You found the answers, as I knew you would. Your quest was a success."
Amaryllis scoffed, earning Hera's attention. "Too many people died for you to call it a success."
She knew that she couldn't easily get away with talking like that to the Queen of Olympus, but her audacity rarely had limits. Besides, it was Hera who was saying stupid things like that in the first place. Why should Amaryllis respect the gods when they didn't give a damn about anyone?
If Hera's look could kill, which probably could if she wanted to, then Amaryllis would be dead. The goddess looked like she wanted to say many things to her, but instead she ignored her and looked at Annabeth once again. "Our family is safe," Hera insisted. "Those others are better gone, my dear. I am proud of you."
Next to Amaryllis, Percy balled his fists. "You're the one who paid Geryon to let us through the ranch, weren't you?"
Hera shrugged and her dress shimmered in rainbow colors. "I wanted to speed you on your way."
"But you didn't care about Nico. You were happy to see him turned over to the Titans."
"Oh, please." Hera waved her hand dismissively. "The son of Hades said it himself. No one wants him around. He does not belong." She looked at Amaryllis like she was challenging her, like she was testing to see if she would speak up.
Amaryllis was now furious. She wished she could draw her sword and attack the goddess, she wished she could call her a bitch, because that was exactly what she was. She played with other people's lives, children's lives and ignored everyone who didn't fit her perfect image.
"How dare you? If it wasn't for him, the quest would have probably failed!" she yelled at Hera, who smirked as if she was amused to see that the young girl had taken the bait. "You're the goddess of family but you don't care about anyone else but yourself! If you cared so much about your family, then you'd help Nico, you'd help me."
For a moment, she glowed dangerously bright. "Στην τέλεια οικογένεια δεν χωράνε ψεγάδια, Αμαρυλλίς Καλομίρη. Και σύντομα θα συνειδητοποιήσεις πως τελικά ίσως η μεγαλύτερη βοήθεια που θα μπορούσα να σου προσφέρω θα ήταν να σε αφήσω να σαπίσεις στην Ογύγια."
Silence. Annabeth and Percy didn't seem to understand everything that was said, but from the sight of Amaryllis gritting her teeth and keeping her finger dangerously close to her ring that could turn into a sword if she touched it, they understood it wasn't good.
She had turned bright red - she wanted to scream, curse her, throw something at her face or choke the goddess out. When she looked at Hera's eyes, she could almost see a wave of fear flashing for seconds before returning back to her normal state. But it couldn't be fear, because Hera was the Queen of Olympus, the wife of the most powerful god of all and Amaryllis was a mere halfblood with no powers. It couldn't be fear, because Amaryllis was nothing. Hera could kill her anytime she wanted to, by just looking at her and no one would bat an eye, because life was like that - big fish eats small fish.
"Mar's right," Percy growled next to her, seeing how upset his friend was. "You only care about your perfect family, not real people."
"Watch yourself, son of Poseidon. I guided you more than you know in the maze. I was at your side when you faced Geryon. I let your arrow fly straight. I sent you to Calypso's island. I opened the way to the Titan's mountain," Hera turned to the girl that hadn't spoken for a while, much less warmly than before. "Annabeth, my dear, surely you see how I've helped. I would welcome a sacrifice for my efforts."
Amaryllis looked at Annabeth, who was still as a statue. She knew her friend well enough to know that she'd never succumb to bullies like Hera. That was one of her favourite things about her - she wasn't scared to get in trouble if it meant being true to herself. "No. Mar and Percy are right. You're the one that doesn't belong, Queen Hera. So next time, thanks... but no thanks."
Hera's sneer was worse than an empousa's. Her form began to glow. "You three will regret this insult. You will regret this very much." They averted their eyes as the goddess turned into her true divine form and disappeared in a blaze of light.
And just like that, the hilltop was peaceful again. Amaryllis sighed, rubbing her temples. The day hadn't begun well and if anything, now she felt more stressed than ever.
"What did she tell you?" Percy asked her.
There is no space for flaws in the perfect family, Amaryllis Kalomiri. And you'll soon realise that in the end, maybe the greatest help I could offer you would be to let you rot in Ogygia.
"It doesn't matter," she replied sharply. "Come on, we better get going."
❀
During the trip, Percy and Amaryllis barely spoke to each other. She could see him glancing at her every now and then, opening his mouth and trying to find the words to comfort her, but in the end he didn't say anything. Meanwhile, Amaryllis was constantly running her hands through her hair and cracking her fingers, eyes wide and staring into space. Her heart was beating a little too fast to be considered normal.
She couldn't help but remember. Memories of her mother that she used to replay all the time once again flooded her mind - teaching her how to cook, racing with their bikes, play-fencing using plastic swords and sticks after Amaryllis first watched Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, having breakfast in the beach next to their house back in Thassos. Ioanna Kalomiri's hug felt like summer and smelt like chocolate. She'd never be able to forget those things, no matter how many years had passed.
When they finally found the house and got out of the van, Amaryllis pressed her lips together. "This is it."
"It's not that far away from my house. I think I've seen this neighbourhood before," Percy noted, but then he looked at her. They were standing in front of the door, but Amaryllis wasn't knocking. "What are you thinking about?"
"I've been looking forward to this moment for so long but... I don't know if I'm ready."
"We can stay here for as long as you need," he said and he squeezed her shoulder. It was a simple gesture, but it filled her with courage. She took a breath and rang the bell. Her heart was pounding so loud against her chest, that she could barely register the footsteps. And then the door opened.
It wasn't her mother, but her godfather. Mr Orfanidis, as she was used to calling him in her head, was looking very different than how she remembered him. He had grown a beard and his black hair were slowly becoming grey. Instead of the suits he used to wear all the time, he was now wearing a robe and bunny slippers. She almost didn't recognize him, but he certainly didn't recognize her.
"We've already bought plenty of boxes from the girl scouts, thank you," he said with an apologetic smile. Unlike Amaryllis and her mother, his Greek accent wasn't obvious at all.
He went to close the door, but thankfully Percy reacted faster than Amaryllis, who was as still as a statue. "Uh, it's not like that, sir."
Percy nudged her, signalling her to speak. "You don't recognize me?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"I'm Amaryllis. Amaryllis Kalomiri." It was infuriating to see that he still didn't remember her. How was that possible? It had been four years, not four decades. She quickly changed the subject, "D-Does my mother still live here?"
"Your mother?"
She balled her fists. "Ioanna Kalomiri. She used to be your best friend when you were kids back in Thassos. You baptized me."
Something flashed across his face, but she couldn't understand what. "Ioanna. My wife?"
Amaryllis turned her head to look at Percy. He seemed just as confused as she was. His wife? Did he marry her? And if he did, how the fuck didn't he remember Amaryllis?
"I'm sorry, I- I don't understand. Where is my mom?"
Mr Orfanidis stared at the two teens like they were aliens, but eventually he managed to call "Ιωάννα! Σε ζητάνε!" Seconds passed, but it felt like hours before a woman finally came down the stairs, looking as unbothered as ever.
"Is this your mom?" Percy whispered to Amaryllis. He sounded suspicious and she knew why - the situation was very weird. Maybe it was a trap, an illusion someone created with the Mist. But she didn't care about any of that, because the woman was her mother.
Her blonde hair, her warm brown eyes - they were always told that they looked just like each other. Amaryllis was her mother's daughter through and through. They were always a bit too similar, not just on the outside but on the inside as well.
Amaryllis couldn't think of anything else at that moment, she just knew that her prayers had been answered. While she was in Ogygia, she didn't know whether she'd see her mother again or not. But now there she was, standing in front of her and Amaryllis couldn't help but jump into her arms.
It broke her heart to see that her mother wasn't hugging her back.
"Mom?" she pulled back and stared into her eyes. "Mom, what's wrong? I'm okay, I'm here."
She wished this was all a huge misunderstanding and that the reason why she was looking at her daughter like it was a stranger was because of the shock, but then Ioanna Kalomiri spoke. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Who are you?"
"This girl claims that she's your daughter." Mr Orfanidis had ushered Percy into the house and closed the door behind him.
"Is this a joke or something?" Amaryllis stuttered. She felt physically ill, like she wanted to throw up. "Mom, how can you not remember me? It's me, Amaryllis! I know I've been gone for a while, but it wasn't my fault and now I'm back-"
Her mother's eyes softened and there was a moment of hope. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you must be mistaken. I don't have a daughter. Maybe you got me confused with someone else?"
The tears started blurring her vision. She turned her head and looked at Percy. "I-Is this a dream? I don't-"
"She knows about Thassos. I don't know how," Mr Orfanidis told her mother, who suddenly seemed more freaked out than pitiful.
"Μαμά, σε παρακαλώ. Πώς γίνεται να μην με αναγνωρίζεις; Είμαι η κόρη σου!" Amaryllis yelled at her. She thought that maybe her speaking Greek would somehow break whatever spell that was, but it didn't do much.
She felt someone grabbing her hand. "Mar, maybe we should leave," she heard Percy.
"No!" she screamed and her voice broke. She felt like a madman that was just about to be put into an asylum and that was exactly how Mr Orfanidis and her mother were looking at her. "Something is wrong. Why don't you remember me?"
"Mar-"
"Maybe we should call the police?" the man suggested. "Maybe they'll be able to help you find your mom-"
"No! No, no, no!" Amaryllis yelled. And as her voice got louder and her throat started hurting, something happened. The ground beneath them started shaking, pictures were falling off the wall and glass was breaking somewhere in the distance. She felt Percy trying to drag her out of the house, trying to calm her down.
"Mar, please take a breath."
"Let me go!" she continued yelling and the ground shook even harder. She heard voices from inside the house but eventually they stopped, as did the ground.
The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was praying to whoever was listening that this was nothing but a nightmare.
𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.
▊someday ill edit these chapters, i swear. but this will not be the day <3
▊... i warned you that there'd be angst. well. what's a hero without a super tragic backstory? and this is just the beginning hehe.
▊last but not least... never forget that hera sucks.
❛ gone girl. ❜
( part 𝒐𝒏𝒆 of gone girl series )
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