chapter 26: amends

She stared at the stony corridor of the maze.

To Hoa's delight, Nico made the decision to begin returning to camp, telling her that he had decided that the war was now worth fighting. Now they were sitting down, getting ready for the long journey. They ventured just far enough away from Eurytion's house to avoid being found easily. 

Once Nico found a spot satisfying enough for him, he immediately forced Hoa to rest. "It's not healthy for you to stay up this late. Let me take first watch."

"Can I take second watch?" she asked.

"There won't be one."

"Nico di Angelo."

"Hoa Pham."

She threw her arms up, giving up. "Fine." Her back hit the ground and she was out like a light.

~•~•~

"Hello, daughter."

She found herself in the jungle again, the faint sounds of soldiers shooting guns in the distance. In front of her was a man with familiar red eyes.

"Deimos," she sneered. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything," he replied simply.

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "Since when did you not want something? You're a deceitful, narcissistic, greedy—"

"I want to be on better terms with you."

That caught her off guard. "What?" This was unusual. It wasn't every day when a god actually wanted to be on better terms with their child.

"As I said before, the Ancient Law prevents me from showing the amount of affection I want to show to my children. But it doesn't prohibit me from making amends."

"Amends? Why do you need to make amends?"

"You're dying soon, Hoa. And I can't stand sitting by and watching my daughter die."

She froze. "You can't be—"

"As much as I wish I was joking right now, I'm not."

"Deimos, if you're going to 'make amends' with me, there are a lot of things you need to hear first."

"So be it." The god of terror stepped closer, spreading his arms out for a hug.

A hug? Why would he want a hug? Hoa stared incredulously at his outstretched limbs. There is no way he's serious.

"First of all," she stated, "you're a shitty father."

His eyes burned red in fury, and he opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

Hmm, she thought. Almost a total switch from the Deimos I met before.

"You neglected me. Even though it has happened to many other demigods, you had the choice to interfere a little bit, yet I am technically supposed to be dead from old age. You claimed me and proceeded to refuse to acknowledge that I ever existed. And the moment we met, you decided to fight me because, apparently, I'm not strong, and I can't win in a duel."

"It was a test—"

"Test my ass," she retorted. "You should be able to have faith in me."

He bowed his head. "And I'm sorry for that."

He seems sincere... Is he serious?

She started at the god who bowed his head to her, unmoving. Hesitantly, she touched his hair, pushing his head back upright.

"Thankfully, you have the nerve to apologize," she said, her voice growing softer. She let go, letting him tower over her. "Unlike some fathers. You've shown me the man my mother always yapped endlessly about rather than the god of terror anyone else talks about."

He stood there for a moment, surprised. "You—"

"I forgive you? I don't have a choice since I'm dying soon, huh?" She couldn't help but still feel a little salty.

He grabbed something from his pocket. "I wanted to give you something before you leave. Two things. Both of these are gifts I gave to your mother."

Her eyes widened slightly. "What?"

Okay, so that's a large bomb he just dropped on me.

"One," he said, "is this."

In the palm of his hand lay a ring. It was a simple gold loop with a ruby embedded in the middle.

"This was your mother's wedding ring," he explained.

Oh.

"I enchanted it," the god said. "Tap on the ruby, and that sends you a boost of strength delivered personally by me. And the other one..."

Deimos pulled out a hairpin. He handed it to her, explaining the meaning behind it. "I knew that there wasn't really some 'Vietnamese hairpin,' but I wanted something nice for your mother. So I made this."

Hoa inspected it. It looked Chinese and was decorated with a blue bird sitting on a cherry tree. Her hands shook as she nearly dropped it.

"This—this is—"

"Yes," Deimos said. "My beautiful Chim wore this all the time. Sadly, I never got around to telling her that it could turn into a weapon."

Hoa put a hand over her mouth as she glanced at it with tears. She gently used her thumb to push the beak of the bird down, stepping back as it elongated into a machete-looking weapon.

She gave the dao a few swings before flipping the beak back up, letting the weapon shrink again. "Whoa. What's it called?"

"Canh."

"What, like the soup?"

"No, like wings in Vietnamese."

"You pronounced that terribly. There's an up accent. Cánh."

He sighed. "Anyway, I hope you fight your hardest, Hoa. And no matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you."

She thought back, glancing into the rainforest. She could remember how her mother never went anywhere without her hairpin. She wore it all the time—Hoa couldn't recount a time her mother hadn't worn it.

Hoa opened her mouth to speak. "I—"

She chokes. She lost the ability to formulate words, letting out a large sob.

Deimos stepped forward again, setting her down. "Shh," he muttered. "I promised Chim I would be a good father to you, and I know that I failed at that. Let me try to redeem myself."

Hoa sobbed as her father patted her back, comforting her. She took deep breaths as she felt an external force gently press waves of calm against her. She immediately knew it was her father's doing.

"Everything will be alright, Hoa. I wasn't there before, but I vowed that I would be now."

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hi im madi, your loyal author ♥️

i feel like this part isnt very well written. i couldve made it more sentimental and realistic, but wtv.

anyways

check out muse! its a jax x reader (from tadc--the amazing digital circus) and doesn't have many chapters yet, but still! plsplspls take a look.

and that one murder drones book is (still) popping off.

anyways

how was the chapter?

also, what are some questions of your own?

anyways, tysm for reading this crappy book! 😃