Trivia glanced at him and the sorrow in his eyes. It made her heart twist painfully in her chest.
“I know how it feels to yearn for your mother,” he said.
Trivia squeezed his arm, her eyes closing for a moment. Gods, she was so full of regret and shame. The agony of her mistakes, her choices that had cost so many lives… It was too much to bear.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Your mother would still be alive if it weren’t for me.”
Sol said nothing for a long moment. And after a while,Trivia expected he wouldn’t respond. Perhaps they had reopened a wound that hadn’t fully healed yet. She wouldn’t blame him if he still hadn’t forgiven her.
“My mother was always haunted by Gaia’s banishment,” Sol said suddenly, his tone thoughtful. “I think she blamed herself for not defending her friend. When the opportunity to defy Apollo presented itself, my mother didn’t hesitate. I think she was waiting for her moment. I think she always knew she would die opposing Apollo. In fact, shewelcomedit. She had always been a warrior, and there is no greater shame than living a long life as a coward. She would have preferred to die this way, I think.”
Trivia wasn’t sure how to respond to this. From what little she knew of Hestia, this made sense. But it still didn’t erase what Trivia had done, nor did it absolve her of any guilt.
And that’s okay,she told herself.This isn’t about you—it’s about Sol and what he needs. Forget yourself for a moment and focus on him.
“I know you didn’t have the closest relationship with her,” Trivia said quietly. “But I’m glad you knew her well enough to understand her like that.”
Sol looked at her, expression contemplative. “You’ll come to know Gaia in the same way. I’m sure of it.”
Trivia offered him a weak smile, but it didn’t lessen the sharp pang of fear that sliced through her at the thought of Gaia dying somewhere alone, with no one to help or comfort her.
A sudden bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, mutedby the dense fog around them. Trivia jumped, eyes widening. “What was that?”
Sol didn’t answer. He went completely still beside her.
Then, they heard it.
The shrill, piercing screams of sirens.
Another flash of lightning. Then another. The screams grew more anguished. More desperate.
Trivia’s breath hitched. “What—What’s happening?”
“I don’t know. Something is attacking them.”
“It can’t be a Titan—can it?”
Before Sol could respond, everything fell silent. The lightning ceased. The screams subsided. Nothing but an eerie stillness settled around them.
Trivia didn’t like it one bit. She tightened her hold on Sol’s arm, unable to shake the sense that they needed to run. To flee. Tohide.
The ground trembled. Trivia ducked, crouching low, expecting more cracks to form in the earth.
But this was… different. The ground continued to quake and quiver, but it wasn’t as violent as before. And there was a strange rhythm to it.
“Trivia,” Sol said sharply.
She stood, drawing closer to him. Only then did she realize the shaking was coming from a loud, distant thumping.
Footsteps.Enormousfootsteps.
“Oh, gods,” Trivia whispered. She frantically looked around, searching for a place to take cover. But they stood in a wasteland, surrounded by cracks and mist. Perhaps if they lay on the ground, whoever was coming wouldn’t see them?
“I know that smell,” Sol muttered. “Shit.”
“What is it?”
The thunderous footsteps were almost upon them. Each step was so loud it drowned out all sounds.
