SEULGI

I understand Wendy’s pain...her emotions… and all. 

Well, I may not have been the one living with her all this time, but my sister and I do exchange some letters, once in a while. She talked about Wendy and Yeri a lot, it almost feels like I personally know them. She even sends me pictures, from time to time. 

I still remember all those letters she sent me, where she would tell me all about Wendy.

My sister left me here at Camp so she could find Wendy. It was a ‘favor’ she did for Mars. Wait, no, I think it was Ares… Yes, definitely Ares. Modern day Amazons are considered honorary daughters of Ares anyway. My sister was one of the best warriors there. She defeated an entire pirate crew somewhere in the Sea of Monsters (Bermuda triangle to you). She survived the giant war, helped in defeating Orion when he came to haunt us all. Well, that’s not my story to tell, so-yeah… 

Uhh.. where was I?

Yeah, back to Wendy. Ares asked my sister to go and find Wendy (no explanations why, you just gotta do it. He’s spoiled like  that). As per instructions, she should do it alone, and that she could find Wendy somewhere in the West coast. (meaning to say, she’ll know when she gets there) and that she is to Wendy back here in East Asia. Why? Beats me. But my sister did it anyway. I have no grudge against her for leaving me here. I totally understand why she accepted that seemingly ridiculous quest. The reward is what she has been dreaming of for years.

She wanted to quit being an Amazon. She’s tired of being a warrior, she’s tired of the unending wars. Tired of building relationships with her comrades, just to lose them again. She wanted a way out. She wanted to see more of the world, she wants to know how it feels to live a normal life. 

Guess my sister is so special she wanted to just be… normal. 

We all yearn to be someone we are not, eh? Maybe not everyone wanted to just accept their fate--who they really are. Maybe my sister’s like that. She wants to live her own life. Be free of being gods’ pawns. 

And you know what? That is exactly what Ares offered my sister. She’ll grant her a normal life; no monsters would hunt her even if she’s a demigod--if she succeeds. My sister obviously accepted the quest. And as you can see, she succeeded. She says she found Wendy in an orphanage, but there was another little girl who grew fond of the Wendy, (totally inseparable) so she took them both. And since she’s a little fluffball in the inside, she grew attached to the girls, and went out of her way to adopt them. My sister is lovely like that. (It runs in the family! Which means we share that same characteristic.) 

The three of them lived at a nearby village, where she served as the small community’s teacher. She taught kids how to read, write, and sometimes she sings! She has a really good voice (again, runs in the family)

So when she died, I knew exactly what Wendy would do. And I have to stop her. A journey to the Underworld is not impossible, but it is suicidal. And I can’t have Yeri lose her too. Wendy’s the only family she has left.

“Wendy, whatever you are thinking, that is not a good idea.” I told her, looking as calm as I can.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Do you know? One of the perks of being a daughter of Bellona is that you can share certain attributes to your legion (your battalion; at Camp Jupiter, we call them legion) which is very beneficial in a battle. So whatever attributes I have, bravery, wisdom, resiliency, anything that I know my legion needs. So, this is what I’ll use on Wendy.

One of the best characteristics of a good warrior is knowing when to fight and when to surrender. To yield does not mean you are a coward. On the contrary, it shows how strong you are. Not everybody is strong enough to face their realities you know. There are humans who constantly try to run away from their obstacles and end up in less fortunate situations. 

And most of all, this is not what my sister would want her to do. She’d want us to continue living with the memory of her. Humans never really die, not as long as we keep them alive in our memories. 

With all of my concentration, I forced Wendy to feel what I am feeling, showing her options, helping her choose which path is the best way to move on. 

And hey, thank me, it worked. She went to me, hugged me tight, and I let her cry her heart out. “That’s it… let it all out, Wendy. And don’t worry, you have me and everyone else at camp, okay? Yeri needs you…”

After what seemed like hours of no one talking, just Wendy crying, she finally lifted her head from my shoulders. (Ha. Hope Joy was here, she’d be mad. Her green hair suits her, iykwim)

Once she was done, I called on my wolf, Flavus and Joy’s boarhound Felix to accompany Wendy back to the camp. Miyoung-eonni’s probably waiting. And this girl deserves to sleep. 

Me? I need to talk to Lady Diana first. There are things I need to clarify with her. 

“M’lady…”

“I need to go now, Seulgi.”

“There are no myrmekes in this forest..."

"..."

"You went after Siwon and killed him and his men… didn’t you?”

“...”

“Why?”

Instead of answering my question, she gave me a small vial of pink liquid. It kind of glows in the dark.

“What is this?”

“Drinking that potion would erase Wendy’s memory of ever meeting me. What you did to her would not completely erase her hate towards me. She won’t heal with the memory that I could have saved her mom with a single flick of my fingers. The decision is yours, if you would give that to her. But… you know I’m right…”

“Why are you doing this?” I know she’s right… she’d forever be the ‘what if’ and I can’t do that trick forever just to keep Wendy alive. (Figuratively and literally)

“Seulgi...I don’t want to live for thousands of years knowing that there was a maiden who hates me… you know why, don’t you?”

No… I don’t get it. “Yeah… yeah, okay.”

And with that, after a quick burst of a silver light, she’s gone.

(happening consequently; somewhere at Mount Olympus)

“My love… the girl has been living in that place for quite a long time now… and you still haven’t told me what you are planning to do with her. I even freed one of my best pawns of slavery just for that. A shame my pawn just died.”

“Oh, believe me. The plan has already started.”

“Whatever you say. Well, I’ll go down to the chaotic world right now, see if there’s any hmm… more chaos I can stir. It’s getting boring here.”

(the other one leaves with a blinding red light; another one remains in the throne room, alone)

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“Artemis… let’s see how you’ll play my little game. Now, you have entered my domain.”

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a/n

Hello again :) 

Next chapter, we'd be jumping back to the present time, now that we have established some backgrounds for our characters! Hehehe. 

Aaaaaaaand I don't know why I'm feeling excited, I just want to update all day, all night. But yeah, work calls, reality calls, ghorl needs to take a break. 

I hoped you enjoyed this chapter ")

Keep safeu! <3 

Oh!!! and thank you for the upvotes and subscribes too! Appreciate it a lot :D