Chapter Eight

When Layla finally came to she found herself in the infirmary and next to her were both Damon and Theo. Her head throbbed as she sat herself up on the hospital bed. She gripped it between her hands and groaned as the room swirled with her sudden movements.

“Take it easy,” Damon said, reaching behind her to prop up a pillow.

Theo watched like a hawk, ready to dive if anything remotely suspicious stirred.

“What happened?” Layla asked softly. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“You passed out,” Theo said. He leaned in closer, “after you used your powers to get us out of the Hall and stop the two of us from blowing apart the building.”

Her eyes widened as she remembered the moments before she blacked out. The tension between her and the two males. The feeling of power she knew resided in them as she placed her palms on their chests. She didn’t tell them that through that, she could feel the slight longing for her between the two.

She shook the thought off.

“So that wasn’t a dream? I really was about to use my powers?” Layla questioned looking up at both of them expectantly.

“It was all real sweetheart,” Damon said. His face seemed softer then it usually was. He touched a curl, tucking it behind Layla’s ear. She felt herself shiver, and remembered that Theo was present. She glanced at him quickly.

Theo stiffened and cleared his throat, “The doctor said that you may have used too much power all at once. It’s something that you’re not used to or that you haven’t been trained to use, so it wiped you out. You used almost all your energy.”

Layla looked at her hands and then her gaze shifted to the tattoo on her wrist.

“Does this really mean that I am a child of Nyx?” She asked.

They both nodded.

“The only thing is, that this is something that doesn’t occur often. The last time a child was recognized was almost two centuries ago. Children of Nyx are unpredictable and even more dangerous than all of us and our parents. Nyx is primordial. Ancient. She was here before the Olympians that we know today” Damon said.

“So that’s why you’ve been watching me, because you think that I could possibly be dangerous,” Layla voiced. She was slowly starting to understand why she always saw him around. But that wouldn’t justify the feeling that she felt when she was keeping the two boys apart.

She cleared her throat, “So everyone has just determined that I am going to be some dangerous grumpy demigoddess? What is there to be afraid of?”

Theo and Damon looked at one another. Damon tipped his head to Theo in a way that seemed to say “it’s your turn to explain,” as he sat back in his chair getting comfortable.

“Her children are all children of chaos in some way. They bring with them destruction and uncertainty. And they cannot be challenged just as she cannot,” he replied.

Theo continued, “Even our fathers have learned though ancient issues that they’ve had with her that she was not to be tried. They couldn’t do much and both ended up falling back once they realized that some things just weren’t worth her wrath.”

“She is one of the frameworks or pillars that support existence itself in a way,” he said.

Just then the doctor came in to check on Layla. Both boys stopped talking, rising out of their seats after greeting the doctor. They left to give her some privacy and talk to the doctor.

“We’ll be waiting whenever you need us,” Damon called out as he walked through the door.”

“Layla, I’m glad to see that you’re up. Your vitals look good and it seems that you’re ready to head to your dorm.” He said as he looked down at her chart.

He continued, “I’m sure that the boys told you what happened. You almost burned ourself out. You should be glad that they were there to see what had happened. Good friends I see. They didn’t leave at all until now,” he chuckled as he closed her charts and began getting some paperwork ready.

He handed the papers to her, looking sternly, “These have your instructions on them. Take a rest day today. If you still want to go to class, you may, but there is a note and ORDER for you to not use any power today. You need to seriously rest.” He said raising his eyebrows at her.

“Understood,” she said with a nod as she grabbed the papers.

“I’ll let you get changed and let the boys to wait for you in the lobby, I hope I dont have to see you in here again,” he smiled.

She huffed a laugh as she said goodbye to the doctor.

She rose out of bed to get her clothes that were folded on the counter. Her head was swimming and her body sore, but she would mange.

She decided that she would go to class. She couldn’t afford to miss any lessons, but she would use her note to get out of using her powers. As much as she hated to admit, they scared her just as much as they seemed to scare everyone else.

She eventually came out of her room and made her way to the lobby, where Damon and Theo sat on opposite sides for her waiting. Looking at the clock she saw that it was already around eight am. She would have to hurry to make sure that she made it to breakfast in time. She was sure that Perse was already wondering where she was. She was usually up and ready before everyone.

She knew that the other students were probably rushing to their respective classes and such by now.

When she exited the infirmary, she was met with a cooling breeze outside. What’s more she noticed that she was met with every pair of eyes that surrounded her. As she begin the trek to her room, she realized that there were people staring at her. Students were whispering amongst themselves and their friends.

“They said that she summoned a wolf at dinner, and last night,” she heard a voice say as she walked past.

A wolf? She wondered if that meant the wolf that she’s had been seeing all this time.

“It’s been said that only Nyx can do that? Are we sure?” Someone else asked in return,

The voice from seconds ago answered. “I saw it running out of the garden once, and as i kept going into the garden I saw Layla and she looked shaken.

The whispers were all around Layla, and she soon realized that there was nothing that could stop the noise at the moment.

Everyone was whispering about her. She thought about the things that Damon and Theo had told her. And about the fact that she necessarily shouldn’t be alive at this moment. Well, rather she was something rare that had almost burnt out because of the extreme amount of power she used.

She thought to herself that she would have to finish the conversation that they were having before the doctor arrived later. She wanted to hear more about what they knew.

But despite all of this, Layla was glad to learn that she wasn’t delusional. That someone else had even seen the wolf and what happened. But also another part of Layla was terrified to find out what had happened to it- the wolf- but as it turned out it was just hanging out with other people

She walked towards her room, ready to hop in the shower so she could wipe all the dirt and grime off of herself.

When she arrived, she immediately stripped naked and ran a cool shower. She had to get herself together. After the morning that she had had, she wasn’t sure that coffee would even be helpful. So a cold shower. The frigid water hit her shoulders first with a piercing iciness. Like the chill on a dark stormy night. Making her hairs stand on her body.

She caught her breath, and exhaled slowly, trying to calm her breathing.

When she finally was out of the shower, she walked over to her close, quickly getting dressed for the rest of the day. She opted for comfortable black sweats and a matching black hoodie to go with it. She looked under the bed for her white Nikes and slid them on. She looked at her phone, still sitting in the charger and made her way over to it. There she saw she had a text from Perse.

“Don’t forget that we have a class meeting in the dining hall for lunch, be there or be square!”

Layla groaned and grabbed her backpack as she made her way down the hall to head to lunch.

_____________________________________________________________________

Layla sat with Perse and Javier, slowly eating from her fruit bowl as Dr. Thalia stood before their student body.

“Today we will have the upcoming Divine Convergence!” She announced from her podium. The sounds of cheers filled the room. She waited for everyone to quiet down again.

“This will be your chance to show honor to your Houses. By showing your power, “ she said looking around the crowd expectantly. Her eyes lingered on Layla a little longer.

“Some of you may not have been claimed yet, and this is exactly what you’re waiting for today. For a display so amazing, your parent shall have to claim you. Your house will,” she said, continuing to move her eyes to the rest of the students. The weight of her eyes relieved Layla when they were off of her.

“So do your best, and most importantly, have fun doing it!” She finished.

The lunchroom was in an uproar of cheers and clapping as she finished her short pep talk and made her way down to the main level of the dining room.

By the time she had hit the bottom stair, everyone was getting ready for lunch and quieting down. But for some reason Layla noticed that she was making a bee-line straight for her. She glanced at her friends trying to figure out what was about to happen but they just shrugged, waiting for Dr. Thalia.

When she approached, she came behind Layla, making the hairs on her neck stand as she bent forwards to whisper into Layla’s ear.

“You will only be a guest observer this year. I dont want you to strain, we can’t have you back in the infirmary,” she said.

Layla could have sworn she was smirking but she didn’t want to turn to look at her face. She just nodded curtly. Something about that woman felt so off, but again Layla shook the feeling.

When Thalia, was finally gone. She realized she’d been holding her breath.

“What does a guest observer mean?” She asked her table mates.

They glanced at each other before Javi, spoke up.

“It means that you dont get to participate, but you get to watch. You’ll most likely sit with Dr. Thalia and watch the events take place, but you wont do them with us.”

She was a little taken aback. She didn’t expect that she would be barred from attending something like this.

She groaned. The last thing that she wanted was to be under Dr. Thalia. She was sure that she had some sort of issue with Layla, but Layla couldn’t figure out what it was.

Layla sighed and mushed up her breakfast. This was just another thing she would have to process later, she just wanted to her day over with.

A figure moved to the seat next to her. Before she even looked, she knew that it was Damon. She glanced over between her curls, using them to keep him from seeing her. But he was already smirking like he knew she was watching.

She thought she might as well take in the view properly. In all her run-ins with him, she hadn’t taken the time to properly study him, or Theo for that matter.

His hair was dark, like ink and it covered his eyes. He had a coy smile, and dark eyes that made her shiver as her gaze met his.

“Take a picture,” he said, a laugh behind his words.

She blanched for a second. “What do you mean?” She asked, shoving her bowl forward.

“Why are you even sitting here?”she continued.

“I wanted to talk to you. I figured that Thalia told you to hang back and just watch the Convergence, and i figured that you might want to go against it. I think you should sit out. It could be dangerous for you, and it’s really more than what she makes it. This is a…test. A power display disguised as ceremony.” He finished.

“I wasn’t thinking of going against anything, but thank you for he heads up…i guess” she replied. She turned her head and looked at her friends in shock.

She couldn’t believe that he’d come to her just to tell her not to think about getting involved. He seemed to notice what she was thinking and lightly touched her shoulder, “ I just don’t want you to possibly burnout again. That’s something that shouldn’t be risked.”

She nodded. He did have a point.

He squeezed her shoulder and got up from his seat, stalking back to her area of the dining hall.

“Well that was interesting,” Javi said raising an eyebrow at her.

All she could do was shake her head and sigh, placing her head in her hands.