Promises last forever
Two days had passed since our encounter, two days that felt like a decade. I started wondering if all demigods were meant to be broken people, forced to leave their homes because of cruel or absent parents. It was certainly the case for the four of us. I started thinking back to our first conversation once we were safe, I can't help but feel a smile form on my face when I think about their promise, their promise to always be a family. It was like gaining two older brothers who were cool but also understood you.
"Hey Christina! Stop doing that and go sit down! How are you going to get that shoulder better without rest huh?" asked Luke with a smile. Luke was the boy with blonde hair, the black haired girl's name was Thalia.
"I can do this you know? In fact I am great at it!" I exclaim proudly in an attempt to convince him to let me help set up the walls of the shelter. The attempt however ended in a failure.
Unlike when I was alone with Annabeth, being four people made things easier. We didn't have to always be in abandoned buildings or under bridges, now we could build small shelters if we worked together.
"Here have a bit of this." said Thalia while handing me a small cube.
I raised my eyebrow at this, however I have eaten much worse and much weirder things in the streets, especially before meeting Annabeth, so I didn't mind it and took a bite. In an instant, I felt my shoulder's pain lessen while the slight bruises I recently got on my body started disappearing. With wide eyes I look at Thalia, who simply remained there while smiling. "Hahaha, I am awesome I know!" she said with a wide smile, making me chuckle.
"What is this." I say, still astonished by what just happened.
"That, my dear Christina, is ambrosia. The food of the gods!" said Thalia. "We got our hands on some of it a few days ago and I figured you could use some." continued explaining Thalia.
"I see..." muttered Christina. She couldn't help but admire Thalia and Luke a bit, she had been trying so hard and the best loot she ever got was the spear point and shield made of Celestial bronze, and only because they stole it while a gryphon was away. Thalia and Luke on the other hand were able to actually get healing food, it was awesome!
"Aww don't look at me like that. We only got it because we were lucky, you on the other hand were able to make a knife for Annabeth out of a broken spear, that requires actual skill!" encouraged Thalia.
A smile appeared on Christina's face as small tears started forming on the corners of her eyes.
"A-Ahh, hey don't cry... I am not sure what I said wrong but I am sorry okey? So don't cry." said Thalia while panicking slightly. "I meant it as a compliment of course, so don't cry okey?"
Christina jumped forward and hugged Thalia, as small tears started falling down her cheeks ands started sobbing. "Uwaaaahhhh." cried Christina while hugging Thalia tightly.
"Shhh, I am right here okey? So don't cry, e-everything is fine." said Thalia while caressing Christina's hair. To be honest she was quite confused about what just happened, but for some reason it felt like she got herself a little sibling, she started wondering if Jason would hug her like this had nothing gone wrong.
"We will be a family right?" asked Christina between sobs.
"Yes." answered Thalia while smiling kindly.
"You won't leave us right?"
"Of course not. I promise we will always be together, and promises last forever."
While Thalia was kindly answering her questions, still hugging her, Christina was crying like a little girl. She wasn't sure why, but suddenly being praised like that brought back buried feeling, feelings associated with long forgotten memories. She felt like a small child running to their older siblings embrace, begging for protection and help while wishing to be praised and encouraged. She couldn't remember her mother ever praising her and the memories of her past life were already gone, leaving behind nothing more than pent up feelings she hadn't been able to deal with. Her cries continued for hours until she finally fell asleep on Thalia's warm embrace.
When Annabeth and Luke, who had been practising combat returned, they where met by the sight of a sleeping Christina and Thalia beading her hair.
"Did you give her the ambrosia?" asked Luke while entering the shelter.
"Yes." replied Thalia while finishing the braid on Christina's hair.
"Good. She will be able to join us in combat practise from now on." continued Luke with a kind smile on his face.
"What is ambrosia?" asked a curious Annabeth as she made her way to the sleeping Christina.
"Ambrosia is the food of the gods." started explaining Luke. "It heals injuries as long as it is eaten in a small quantity."
"Really?!" asked Annabeth extremely impressed.
"Yes, now Chris won't suffer from her shoulder injury." said Thalia while standing up and placing Christina on the bed, which was nothing more than a blanket over a box.
Annabeth went to check Christina's shoulder as carefully as possible and was surprised to see that her wound was no longer there, only a scar remained. "This is amazing!" exclaimed Annabeth. "Where did you even get food of gods?" she asked curiously.
"Well we met a man a few days ago, right before finding you actually." said Luke while grabbing some food. "He had a bit of ambrosia left from a long time ago and gave it to us before... before he left." continued Luke. Annabeth was quite curious about the man, but she decided not to ask further when she noticed the sad expression on Luke's face. She had learned a bit about reading expressions thanks to Christina, as well as some cool acting advice.
"Well let's eat." said Luke as we finished preparing the food, which was three sandwiches, one for each.
As Thalia, Luke and Annabeth were eating, Christina was immersed in her dreams, dreams which soon turned to nightmares.
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Author note:
Anyway a small detail that not anyone might know is that ambrosia tastes like your favourite food. This will be a bit important later (like much later).
In this chapter you might be a bit confused about why Christina started crying, well it was in part because the taste of the ambrosia reminded her of her favourite food from her past life, however since she no longer has those memories it simply brought back the 'feelings'.