TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

five.

NORMALLY, VAL WASN'T an angry person.

That changed when her eyes fell on her dad.

"Of course you're down here," Val pulled her gaze from him as soon as she possibly could, opting to look at the ceiling. Blackstone. Not the type of material she would've used, but it worked if you wanted to creep people out. "Not helping out in the war."

"Valentina . . ." Thanatos said, and Val could feel him reaching out before sighing. "Now that you have the curse, I cannot help you out."

"It's not like you ever helped me out," Val glared over at him. "When have you ever? When Cupid brought me to Paris? That was all him. During the battle of the Labyrinth? That was all me. When have you ever helped me, once in my life?"

Thanatos sighed. "I know, I've been a horrible father. But if you give me time to explain—"

"I don't care about explanations when you abandoned us for years," Val's voice broke, and she turned away from him to hide her tears. "I watched as she got the curse, and threw up flowers every day of my life for ten years, and I watched her die in front of me. What is there to explain? You left us."

A tear slid down her face, and she sniffed, wiping it away furiously. "You left, dad. It's as simple as that."

She sat in the corner of the room, staring outside at the view that she could see. Of Elysium, and the wonders that were there. A pull in her gut told her that Beckendorf was down there, as he should be.

And, god, the tears slid down Val's cheeks as she relived those ten years all over again. She was left there for hours, staring out into the horizon and not knowing who she wanted more — her mom, or Annabeth to comfort her.

Eventually, she heard someone sit behind her, far away enough that she felt isolated enough. "I'm sorry, Valentina," Thanatos said quietly. "I know that those words will never fill the void of what has happened those ten years, and I know that these words won't reassure you of those ten years, but I will spend the rest of your life protecting you, and being a good father to you, as I should've done. Without your curse, I couldn't do anything much, but with it . . . I can help you."

"What makes you think that I need your help?" Val asked, putting her chin on her propped up knees again.

"You came down into the Underworld to prepare Perseus Jackson to fight Kronos, didn't you?"

"I didn't even know that that was what we were doing," Val protested. "But . . . I think the war is coming."

"Which is why I'll help you," Thanatos said earnestly, and Val looked over her shoulder at him. "I swear on the River Styx."

She stared at him, and shock filled her entire body. "You swore on the River Styx for me?"

"Of course I did," Thanatos frowned. "You're my daughter, Valentina. The reason you have this curse is because I didn't protect you enough. Now I have the opportunity to."

Val felt the tears well up in her eyes again, but she turned and threw her arms around her dad.

"Thank you," she whispered. She knew that she would be called too forgiving when she told Annabeth, but her dad cared and that's all that mattered to her.

She felt small when he wrapped his arms around her, letting out a sigh.

And Val could've stayed there forever in his arms, but then she remembered that Nico and Percy existed.

"I need to get back to them, dad," Val pulled away from him. "There's a war coming, and—"

"I know, Valentina," her dad smiled down at her. "But first, you have to listen to me. Aphrodite gave you the curse, and that has caused infighting between her and Cupid."