𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑, luke castellan

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

Very few beings could make Keira Blackwell refrain from throwing sarcastic and shady comments for a while.

One was Ligia, her siren friend, given their shared background story and Keira's respect for her intense powers.

Another was her mother, Athena.

Keira hadn't seen Athena many times in her life, but after getting to know her, she would never forget her voice. Despite having also met other gods of Olympus before, her mother was the only one who could genuinely evoke admiration in her.

Naturally, Keira wouldn't disrespect Zeus or any of the other gods, knowing they could turn her into ashes with just a snap of their fingers. She had too much of a sense of self-preservation to do something so foolish. However, when it came to her mother, it was different. Keira felt genuine reverence toward her.

Perhaps it was because Athena was the goddess of wisdom and intellect, qualities Keira considered more important than any other.

Perhaps, simply, because she was her mom.

She gazed at her mother's long, dark hair and her gray eyes, unable to utter a sound. Athena was dressed in cargo pants, similar to Keira's but in gray, and a white t-shirt on top. Her clothing style, though casual and typical of what she wore outside of Olympus, bore a striking resemblance to her daughter's attire at that moment.

"You fought very well last night. I'm proud of everything you achieve," commented the goddess, directing her gray gaze to her daughter's eyes. There was a tone of pride in her voice that made Keira feel satisfaction. She usually didn't care much about other people's opinions, but when her mother, the goddess of war, praised her performance in battle, it couldn't help but evoke certain feelings. However, Athena's tone took on a more reproachful note as she continued, "although I'm not entirely in agreement with your methods sometimes."

Keira felt a bit embarrassed, a rare emotion for her. She cleared her throat and responded to her mother, attempting a tone of apology and flashing a timid smile, "I suppose I'm still a kid. Got some lessons to pick up."

"I don't think you're still a kid. You're old enough to make a hotel reservation in my name," pointed out her mother, crossing her arms in front of her chest and raising an eyebrow slightly. Keira couldn't decipher if she was genuinely upset or not.

"Turned sixteen a few months ago," she offered, "Figured a night in Malibu could make a cool present."

"It's fine," her mother responded, and by the way the words left her mouth, Keira assumed that her two-hundred-drachma debt with Apollo didn't matter much to Athena.

"Thanks for saving me," Keira murmured, looking down uncomfortably as she hugged her knees.

She wasn't used to the feeling of being indebted to someone. While being saved by a god wasn't something one should feel ashamed of, Keira despised the sensation of owing someone for doing something for her.

"I didn't save you," her mother corrected, honestly meeting her eyes. Keira didn't know if it was better or worse that her mother had witnessed the fight and chose not to intervene. "When you passed out, I just brought you here so no one would find you lying in the square. I gave you time to sleep and recover."

"Cool. Thanks for picking me up and bringing me here, then."

"It's nothing," Athena replied casually. "You have a quest to complete."

"Yeah," Keira affirmed as she slowly got up from the ground. Up until that moment, she hadn't noticed, but her combat wounds were healing, leaving only whitish scars on her still-tanned bare arms despite it being almost winter. She ran a finger over them to inspect.