Percy Jackson: The Firstborn

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Rhea

In an instant, the world changed around the red-haired god. When he appeared again, instead of being in Olympus, he found himself surrounded by green hills, trees, and a simple stone path that led to a large old house, one that at first glance looked very well cared for, at least.

The air smelled of fresh earth and damp leaves. There was nothing really out of the ordinary. Without a doubt, Damon found it fitting; it was the kind of place where his mother could live if all she wanted was peace.

For a few seconds, he only looked at the house. Yes, this was completely ridiculous. He had entered Olympus as if it were nothing, had faced countless enemies, and yet now he was having doubts while looking at a simple wooden house. Damon let out a low sigh, more annoyed with himself than anything else, before starting to walk down the stone path.

When he reached the door, Damon stopped and raised a hand to knock, but before his knuckles could even brush the wood, the door opened from inside and a woman appeared on the other side. She had chestnut hair, with a few golden strands woven through it, and tired light-blue eyes.

Rhea was surprised to see someone standing in front of her door. She had not felt anyone arrive on the island, and that alone was enough to put her on alert. But that surprise slowly disappeared when her eyes locked onto Damon’s. The color, the feeling behind that gaze... there was only one pair of eyes similar to those that she could never have forgotten, no matter how many years passed.

Honestly, the titaness thought this had to be a cruel joke from the Fates. She had already had enough cruel memories, enough dreams where her beloved eldest son appeared before her only to disappear the instant she blinked and tried to call his name.

The truth was, it had been driving her mad little by little. Rhea’s lips began to tremble slightly, just like the hand that was still holding the door. Damon saw understanding reach her eyes before she took a step toward him.

He truly did not know whether to approach and hug her or wait for her to do it first. The chestnut-haired woman was still as beautiful as he remembered, even with the exhaustion marked on her face and the weight of the years in her eyes.

”Son...?”

The word came out low, clearly on the verge of tears, and that made Damon feel something tighten in his chest. Yep, no amount of practice could have prepared him for this moment.

”Hello, Mother...” the redhead said slowly. Rhea needed nothing more the moment she heard his voice. In the next second, the titaness crossed the distance between them almost desperately.

”Damon!”

The cry came out through tears loaded with years of waiting before Rhea threw herself toward him. Damon barely had time to react when she jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck while her legs clung to his waist. By instinct, Damon’s hands went to her thighs to hold her, making sure she would not fall while she buried her face against his neck.

The redhead’s eyes grew a little wet, but he did not dare let a tear fall. He had not even dared to show this with his family in Olympus, but when it came to his mother, how could he not... One of his hands moved up to her back while the other continued holding her carefully.

”I’m here,” Damon murmured, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to control the knot in his throat. ”I’m here, Mother.”

Rhea let out a low sound, something between a tired laugh and a sob that did not fully come out. Her arms tightened more around him, as if she still did not fully trust that he was real. ”Truly...” she murmured against his neck, her voice trembling. ”It really is you.”

Damon only held her tighter, not knowing what to say. Any excuse sounded insignificant compared to all the years that had passed.

”Yes,” he finally said, his voice lower. ”It’s me.”

Rhea let out another cry, and this time Damon felt her tears wet the skin of his neck. She clung to him more, as if she were begging for this not to be a dream, and if it was, then she did not want to ever wake up. After so many years, all she wanted was to feel him with her own hands and convince herself that he would not disappear again.

”I waited for you every day from the moment they told me you would return someday...” the titaness sobbed, trembling in the redhead’s arms. ”Even when the others said otherwise, I never lost hope that you would come back to me.”

”I know, Mother,” Damon replied quietly, kissing the top of her head as he held her tighter. ”And I’m truly sorry. I’m so sorry for making you wait. I was a fool for leaving you here.”

Rhea shook her head against his neck without letting go. ”No,” she murmured, her voice broken. ”Don’t say that. You’re here. That’s the only thing that matters now.”

Rhea’s tears would not stop falling while a small comforting breeze passed softly around the titaness, clearly Damon trying to calm her without saying anything else. Little by little, she stopped trembling and pulled back just enough to look at his face, though she did not let go of him at all. Her legs and arms were still wrapped around him with no sign of wanting to get down anytime soon.

Her eyes moved over Damon’s face with a mixture of relief and affection while her hands passed over his face and his hair, still partly in shock that he was really here after all those years. The titaness tightened her grip on the fabric of his clothes, still clinging to him firmly.

”You’ve grown so much,” the titaness said with a soft voice, before lowering her head and kissing the redhead’s chest affectionately. The last time she had held him this close, Damon had been very different. Now he was taller, stronger, and she could feel it in a way only a mother could understand. But at the same time, underneath all of that, he was still the same... her Damon, the one she had loved more than anything from the moment she first held him in her arms.

Damon smiled softly at her, his hands still firm on her thighs. He could feel how much she wanted to ask, how much she wanted to know. But for now, no question seemed more important than simply having each other.

The redhead looked toward the open door. ”We should go inside.”

The titaness nodded quickly, as if she had only just remembered they were still standing at the entrance of her house. ”Right, right.”

Damon entered with her still in his arms, looking around. The house was not large. There was simple furniture, some folded fabrics carefully placed aside, old books on a table, and fresh flowers near a window. It was not much, the truth was, but it was clean and cared for. It was clear Rhea had tried to make the place into something close to a home, even while being alone.

Rhea pressed her face against his chest, a little embarrassed when she noticed Damon looking around the interior. Her fingers tightened more around his clothes. ”It isn’t much,” she murmured shyly. ”But it’s all I have.”

Damon glanced down at her, a hint of disbelief flickering in his eyes at her words. Then he let out a small laugh, not mocking her, but because the idea of his mother feeling embarrassed in front of him over something like that seemed absurd.

”Mother,” he said in a softer voice, adjusting her better in his arms. ”The last thing you should feel with me is shame.”

Rhea lifted her gaze toward him a little.

”You know perfectly well that I lived for many years inside Kronos’s stomach,” Damon continued, not looking away from her. ”Believe me, the fact that you aren’t surrounded by luxury is not going to make me look at you differently. I’m not like that.”

Rhea opened her mouth as if she wanted to answer, but Damon continued before she could.

”I don’t like that you’ve lived here alone. That does bother me. But not because of the house.” His voice lowered a little, though it did not lose its firmness. ”It bothers me because you are far too precious to me for you to have had to get used to this. You deserve much more than all of this.”

The titaness looked at him in silence, and her eyes grew slightly wet again. Damon brought his forehead to hers for a moment. ”So don’t feel that way. Not with me.”

Rhea did not know what to say. She was deeply grateful to Damon, even since that incident with Kronos when he had barely been a baby. Rhea truly treasured the moments she had with him. If there was someone who had not stopped thinking about Damon every day, it was her. She replayed each memory again and again in her mind: the laughter, the moments alone, the conversations about any topic, and the simple company of having him close while he listened to her attentively.

Her fingers tightened around the fabric of his clothes again. She had truly missed him too much. For years, she had lived in that house trying to convince herself that it was enough, that the silence was peace and not abandonment. But hearing him say she deserved more made her heart beat strongly with happiness.

Damon looked toward one of the nearby pieces of furniture and walked over to it with her still in his arms. He tried to lower her carefully so she could sit, but Rhea immediately shook her head, tightening her arms around his neck.

”No,” she murmured quickly, almost afraid. ”Don’t leave me.”

Damon stayed still for a moment. Then he let out a low sigh, with soft resignation. ”I’m not going to leave you, Mother.”

Even so, Rhea did not let go of him. Her legs were still clinging to him and her hands remained firm on his back. Damon understood that trying to separate her would only make her feel worse, so he stopped insisting. Instead, he sat down on the furniture himself, settling her on his lap.

Rhea hid her face against his neck again, breathing in the redhead’s scent with a small smile. Damon said nothing more for a while, feeling the titaness’s small breaths against his neck as they both slowly calmed down with each other’s warmth.

The silence lingered for a while as Damon gently ran his hand along the titaness’s back. For Rhea, it was more than enough to be with him. Even so, the questions kept piling up in her chest, leaving her no other choice but to ask.

”When did you return?” she finally asked, still not fully lifting her face from his neck, her voice muffled. ”I felt something happening in Olympus, but I didn’t know what it was. For an instant, I thought it was another war.”

Damon nodded. ”That’s right. You aren’t far from reality, though it wasn’t really a war.”

Rhea pulled back just enough to look at him better. Her eyes were a little red from crying so much, but now there was concern in them. ”What happened?”

Damon let out an inner sigh. He really did not want to fill that moment with every detail about Zeus, the throne, the gods, the camp, and everything else. He had only just reunited with his mother; the last thing he wanted was to turn all of this into a report.

”I returned recently,” he said at last. ”Imagine my surprise when I found the entire pantheon upside down and my siblings doing nothing real to fix it.”

Rhea’s expression saddened. She knew perfectly well what Damon meant. In fact, there had been a time when she herself had told her children that, but none of them wanted to listen to her for too long. In the end, Zeus had simply ended up confining her there, far from Olympus, far from the decisions, and far from any voice that could remind him of what he did not want to hear.

”It’s Zeus, isn’t it?” the titaness asked with sadness.

Damon nodded, letting out a low snort. ”It was Zeus. I already finished with all of that and made my point clear in Olympus. That was what you felt the other day.” His hand remained firm on Rhea’s back. ”Though there is still a lot left to do.”

Rhea closed her eyes for a moment, tightening her grip a little on the fabric of his clothes. Damon noticed it instantly.

”If you’re wondering whether I killed him,” he said, his voice more serious, ”he’s still alive. But not for long, and I’m not going to change my mind, Mother. The only reason he is still breathing is because I plan to get Metis out of him first.”

Rhea stayed still against him. She did not answer immediately. Zeus was her son too, and although Damon did not need anyone to remind him of that, it did not make the truth any simpler. But Rhea had heard too many atrocities committed by her own family. And a part of her was completely sure that, if it were not for Hestia, Hera, and a few others, Zeus would have already locked her in Tartarus.

The mere thought made the titaness pull the redhead closer, a chill running through her; it was truly terrifying.

That said, she did not like hearing Damon speak about his brother’s death with such ease. No mother should have to hear something like that from one of her children. But she also could not pretend she did not understand where it came from. That was why Rhea wasn’t going to bother trying to stop him.

Damon felt the way she stayed silent against him and let out a sigh. ”Many things have changed, but instead of telling you myself, I want you to see them for yourself. That’s why I came. Not only to see you, but also to take you out of here and bring you with me.”

The titaness lifted her gaze toward Damon in surprise. ”But I...”

”But nothing,” he interrupted before she could continue. ”I don’t care. I want you close, not here alone. It could be dangerous if the wrong person finds out where you are.”

Especially someone like Kronos, the redhead thought, though he did not say it out loud.

Rhea nodded slowly, understanding his point. And the truth was, she did not dislike the idea. Quite the opposite. A part of her felt far too happy knowing that Damon wanted to take her out of there, that he did not intend to leave her behind again.

”Then... where will I stay?” she asked quietly.

”That’s the least important thing,” Damon answered without hesitation. ”If you want to stay at the camp, I can build you a cabin. If you want to stay in my cabin, I don’t have a problem with that either. Or, preferably, if you want to stay in Olympus, you only have to say so. You can stay in my temple if you want. I have no problem having your company. Or if you prefer your own temple, I can also—”

Rhea quickly shook her head before he could keep talking. ”No,” she said, pressing herself a little closer to him. Then she quickly corrected her tone, not wanting to sound too desperate. ”I don’t want my own temple. I want to stay with you... in your temple.”

Rhea looked away slightly, clearly embarrassed for having said it so quickly, but she did not remove her arms from around his neck.

Damon let out a small laugh and held her with more care. ”Then you’ll stay with me.”

A small smile full of happiness appeared on the titaness’s beautiful face. Without a doubt, she was pleased with the situation. Rhea leaned her forehead against his chest again, this time only to enjoy his closeness.

”Thank you,” she murmured.

”There’s no need to thank me. After all, this is something I should have done a long time ago,” the redhead replied.

And with that, Damon wrapped up the conversation for the time being. He held the titaness gently, pulling her close against his chest as he got more comfortable on the couch. Rhea lay comfortably on top of him, the two of them resting quietly together as a soothing calm settled over the small house, a feeling she hadn’t experienced in years.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Stones

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P@treon: Brotato up to Chapter 119