Phoenix

Lennie had driven a great length of the way across the country before crossing the border, and that's when she'd finally let Lauren take the wheel. They'd been quiet for most of the hours, and Lennie wasn't willing to force conversation. She knew how much this hurt Lauren, and driving right back to where it all started right after it ended probably wasn't a big help. Lennie could feel her heart pound in her chest when they finally pulled up to the building.

"I was hoping Aspen would come." Lennie said, finally, breaking the silence. "With the way she acted towards him, well, I guess I've never had that with someone. But if I did, I know I'd want to meet their parents." Lennie concluded. They both knew they would need to get out of the car and do what they needed to do. "Makes me feel like Aspen was just in love with the idea of being in love more than Christian." She spoke, weakly.

She knew Lauren didn't have any interest in Aspen or talking about her right now. Lennie felt alone, and she would have no matter who was with her, but it didn't change that she wanted more than who was there at the moment. Lennie clutched the letter tightly in her hands. All the other letters she had given out so easily, but this one was different. Letting it go would be hard for Lennie. She glanced to Lauren. "I'm ready, are you?"

I had been a long drive suffice to stay, but a drive Lauren took every now and then when she wanted to go home to see her mother. At least this time she didn't have to do it alone and Lennie was with her. The wheel was finally handed over to Lauren a little bit after they passed the border, it just made sense, because Lauren knew better where they were going at this point than Lennie would.

"As much as I don't really care for Aspen, I was kind of hoping she would come too." Lauren said quietly. She didn't have a smart remark like she always did. Lauren so far had taken the same approach Lennie and Corinne had, she just sorta buried her emotions for the time being to focus on what she needed to. Lauren knew she had a job to do and as much as she wanted to break down and cry about the whole, she supposed she was still in shock. It didn't feel like he was gone yet, it hadn't fully sunken into her head. It just felt like he was still out on the quest and any day now he would come back.

It wasn't long before they entered the hometown that her and Christian had shared. It had been some time since Lauren had last visited her mom and even longer time since she had last seen Christian's parents. They weren't really the greatest people in the world by any means, but they did create him and they had the right to know.

"I don't really know Aspen that well. As much as I would love to make any sort of remark about her, today isn't about her and all I will say is I feel like she is trying to make it about her, so I'm choosing to ignore her." Lauren simply put, as she turned down the main street of the town, it was only a few minutes away now, maybe less than that. The daughter of Apollo didn't have much interest in talking about Aspen, she had to deal with it for most of her time being at camp. It hurt her in some ways that Christian wanted to be with Aspen but also her. He didn't know enough to make a choice. If anything that hurt the brunette in the moment more than Aspen not being there.

Pulling into the parking lot she took one of the guest parking stalls and parked the car. "Well Lennie, welcome to the building Christian and I called home for about 9 years of our lives." She said before undoing her set belt and looked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," Lauren started, "We have more important things to worry about right now, yeah? Let me know when you're ready to go in and then we will."

"I'm ready." Lennie repeated to her, before the pair departed the car, and the silence resumed. The building didn't look that nice. It had a stable layer of yellow paint on it, but it looked like it could use a new layer. Lennie guessed it was three stories tall. She hadn't grown up in a great place either, so she could relate. The pair walked in straight through the front; there was no buzzing system or lock, you could simply just walk in. Lauren walked in like she had a thousand times before, probably because she had done it everyday for half of her life.

As far as Lennie could tell, there was no elevator. There were staircases at both ends of the building and she'd seen some rusty fire escapes out the sides from the outsides. Along the hallways were numbered doors. Lauren led them up stairs, all the way to the third floor, as the pair solemnly approached their destination. Her fingertips slowly reached for the rough wall, feeling their texture against her skin. 


"Did you two ever run down these halls as kids?" Lennie asked out of the blue. "Get yelled at by your parents to knock it off? Get dirty looks from the other residents?" Lennie could feel Christian still existing like he was creeping through the walls. She wanted to be able to feel it more. To be able to know it was once real. She wanted to know all about it.

Walking into the building only gave her the sense of familiarity and nostalgia. It had been some time since she had been home last and for a moment she felt a little bit of guilt seep in for that. It was hard to think that anyone in your life could be gone in a matter of minutes or days or whatever it was. It made Lauren want to see her mom some more than she already had and maybe she would make it more of a habit to visit and spend time with her. Anything could happen at this point.

Lauren led the way up to the floor that her and Christian had lived on and on the way she could hear Lennie ask questions. It was a somber feeling that washed over her as she remembered every little detail about when they used to hang out as kids. She stopped in her tracks a little and she looked back at the centurion. "Not exactly. We did run up and down these halls, but the neighbours never really cared unless we were yelling or someone was trying to watch TV or put their baby to sleep. For the most part we used to hang out on the fire escapes a lot. Or we used them to sneak out when our parents weren't looking." Lauren said and for a brief moment a smile had slipped onto her face.

Lauren felt her hands along the wall until she came up to what she was looking for. "I'm not surprised the walls haven't been redone. We carved into the walls a bit at one point, nothing too fancy just put our initials there, you know so the place couldn't forget about us. We should keep going, is it okay if we stop and see my mom first?" Lauren asked Lennie. She knew that Lennie needed to deliver the letter, but she didn't live that far from where they needed to go anyways. Besides that, Lauren just needed to check in with her mom at this point.

Lennie didn't expect Lauren to ask to visit her mother, but then, it only made sense that they should. They were already in this building, so didn't it make sense? Not to mention, Lennie sure wished she could have a hug from her dad right now, and she was betting Lauren was wishing the same thing from her mom. "Yeah, of course. I'm sure its been too long at this point." Lennie gently nodded to the girl. She hoped it would give some solace to her.

"Will you forget him?" Her voice cracked as she asked the question. She hated to let that small hint of weakness escape from herself. She locked it down again, making sure to speak with confidence and sound nature once more. "That's what I fear most, Lauren. Is that he isn't remembered for long, and that when we all finally do pick up these pieces and move forward, that it's without him." Lennie looked down shortly after. She didn't like discussing fears, lest they be used against her. Lennie shrugged off her own sentiment, before continuing to walk passed her, signaling that they should keep moving.

Hearing the confirmation that they could go and see her mother, she felt a small sense of relief. She really did want to see her mom and to be honest she still wasn't sure how she was going to tell her mom about Christian. He had almost been like a son to her as she would have always said. Any time her mother Camilia thought that Christian didn't have enough food for the day she would feed him, or often times they would do little camp outs in the living room. Christian had been included in almost anything that they did and he really had been part of the family at that point.

Lauren heard the crack in Lennie's voice and she could only sympathize with the centurion about her fear and her worries. She walked closer to Lennie and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lennie." She started softly, not for Lennie's sake but for her own. "I will never forget Christian. Like those initials are etched into the wall, he is etched into my heart and my life forever. You don't forget someone like him, not when you spent your whole life with him. We had a wedding once." Lauren said to try and lift the mood a little with a small grin as she removed her hand and turned around to walk towards her apartment, before she knocked on the door.

Lauren's hand on Lennie's shoulder made the girl want to cry. It had been the first time she'd let someone touch her in that way since he'd gone. Corinne had tried, but Lennie had always just been quite literally one step away. Lauren's words worked to soothe one of Lennie's deep fears. Even though she felt her fear soothed, it didn't change the nature of the situation. She'd given the optio a grateful nod. Then, they went forward to locate Lauren's mother's apartment. She almost yearned to see someone reunite. Just so her mind would leave him, just for a minute.

Even still, as Lauren knocked, she felt the parchment between her fingers. It was rough and flaky. She looked down at it, and the writing carved into it. "Mom & Dad" is what the front of it read. She looked up as the door opened, and as she carried the image of Lauren's mom for the first time, she suddenly was no longer with Lauren. She was standing in front of the door herself, holding a different letter. One meant for Lauren's mom.

Then, Lennie was knocked back into reality from the image before. She hadn't even acknowledged either of them in the moment. "...Good afternoon, Ms. Cardona." Lennie nearly jolted from her trance.

It had been a few moments that passed until she could hear the deadbolts unlock and soon the door swung open to reveal her mother. Lauren was almost a replica of Camilia, growing up it was often remarked on all the time how similar the two looked and honestly Lauren could never be prouder of that. Instantly Camilia had made way to let the two of them in and when she heard the greeting from the other girl she gave a smile.

"Please, just call me Camilia or mom if you want. Don't know how comfortable you feel with that, but I'm used to it, most of the kids in the building call me mom." Camilia said with a small smile as she walked further into the apartment.

Lauren walked in and ushered Lennie to follow behind her. Once inside Lauren took her shoes off in the little entry way before it opened up with the kitchen on the left side and the living room on the right side.

"I didn't know you were coming Lauren and I didn't know you would be bringing a friend with you."

"Sorry mom. We were in the neighbourhood and I wanted to stop by to see you. This is Lennie by the way."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Lennie. I worry about Lauren sometimes, she never really got a long with others very well." Camilia said jokingly. "You know what Lauren, maybe I should get the photo album out! You and Christian were seriously the cutest ever." She said as she began to walk out into the living room.

Lauren turned back to look at Lennie and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry.'

Lennie hadn't ever really had a mom, and her dad struggled with her growing up to teach her how to be a young woman, it just wasn't something he knew how to teach. Hearing Camilla say to call her mom made her internally size the woman up. She'd found it in her to be a kind demigod. Lennie wondered how the hell someone could learn that living in the real world, away from New Rome. At least without dying.

"Lauren's good with people. She just likes to stay one step ahead." She said, giving a smile to both Camila and Lauren. She'd taken care to place her boots with the other shoes in the house. It felt so strange to do. Lennie hadn't been in someone's home outside of New Rome for as long as she could remember.

When Camilla mentioned the photo album, Lennie felt dread. She was sure Lauren felt it worse though, considering whatever embarrassing pictures were in there focused on her. When Lennie looked at Lauren and saw her mouth her words, Lennie just gave her a nod. Lennie finally did what she knew she should have done, and tucked the parchment into her back pocket, and awaited the Cardona mother.

Camilia had finally pulled the book out and started to make her way over to them, but the minute she tried to open the cover of it, Lauren shut it immediately. Whatever photos were in there Lauren didn't want to see them. Not now. It wasn't even the fact that some of them were probably embarrassing, it wasn't even about the fact that Lennie would see them, Lauren didn't care about any of that. She just knew seeing him in those photos, seeing how happy they were growing up, it would hurt her. Lauren didn't want to feel that hurt.

"Lauren, come on now, don't be that way." She said as she tried to open the book again, but Lauren had been quick enough still to close it.

"Mom, please."

"They aren't that embarrassing!" She made the teasing comment.

"It isn't that mom. I think you should sit down." Lauren said with a heavy heart, she knew in some ways it would hurt her mother, but she had the right to know. Once her mother had taken a seat at the dining room table Lauren sat in the chair near her. "The real reason why Lennie and I are in the neighbour hood is because Christian wrote a letter to his parents and we are here to deliver it." She put simply not getting to the worst part.

Lauren picked up where she left off but a lot more gently as she rested her hand on her mom's. "Christian didn't come home from his quest. He's no longer with us." It was hard to fight the tears that were surfacing to Lauren's eyes, but she knew that in the moment she would need to be strong otherwise her mother would go into overdrive in trying to take care of her. "I'm sorry."

It was after Lauren telling her, that her mother got up and embraced her in a hug. "No, I'm sorry Lauren. I'll put the photo album away."

Watching Lauren hurt. Seeing how she rejected the pictures reminded Lennie just how permanent it was. She would never see him again. Watching them react to each other hurt. Thinking about Christian hurt. There was no body to find. And if the judgements decided he wasn't worth of a free ride without his denari, he'd be a shade forever, suffering. Christian accepted it. But Lennie could never accept that it was real.

Hearing the words hurt. It hurt so bad. Lennie felt like someone had ripped her chest open and taken her heart and soul from her. All she felt was hollow. There was nothing. It was as though she'd given Christian her feelings, hopes, and dreams to hold onto, and they'd died with her. The worst part for her was the powerless feeling. That she couldn't bring him back. That she couldn't save him. She was supposed to do everything for the Moon Chariot. Now she did, and yet she didn't feel satisfied even an ounce.

Lennie's hands didn't cover her face. She didn't hide her head. She didn't sniffle. All she did was blink, as her tears came down from her face. If she'd just been quicker, smarter, or stronger then he'd still be with them. And cutting of Xena's head didn't fix things. Nothing ever would.

Lauren took the embrace that her mother gave her and it was almost as if the warm embrace was trying to invite to try and cry to let all the emotions out. Lauren didn't want to, she didn't want to show weakness, she had told herself it wouldn't be real that it wouldn't be happening, that tomorrow she would wake up and it'd be because she slept in and Christian was nudging her awake, but reality was slowly sinking in. It was slowly sinking in that he wasn't on a quest anymore and he wasn't coming home.

After her mother left her embrace, she watched as her mother went over to Lennie and wrapped her arms around the girl pulling her in for an embrace. Camilia didn't question people on what their boundaries were, she just wanted to help make others feel better in whatever way that she could. Camilia just held her there in the embrace.

The daughter of Apollo looked at the photo album on the table, it was starting to haunt her a little to stare at it, yet she couldn't look away. Her hand reached out to open it slightly and inside on the front cover was a picture of her and Christian together on their first day of kindergarten. Lauren took the photo off and she put it in her pocket. She knew she would hear from her mother later about it.

Lennie stood still when she was hugged. She didn't know Camilla. Somewhere deep inside the mess she was, she was appreciative of what she was doing. Lennie just didn't prioritize her social adaptation. It wasn't important to her anymore. Even if it meant people around her no longer liked her, she didn't care; it was far more important to her that Christian's wished be fulfilled and her Cohort be strong.

Lennie was finally released from the hug, from Camilla Cardona, who was far too kind for her own good. She still couldn't think of anything to say. "His parents never came to see him even once during his time in the legion. I don't even know if they deserve this letter." She knew it wasn't her call, but it angered her. Lauren had such a caring mother, and Lennie herself had a wonderful father in Chicago. Christian had neither.

Lauren looked at her mom and Lennie, she knew that Lennie was probably uncomfortable, but there wasn't stopping her mom from doing anything that she had wanted to. After the two had finished their embrace she looked over to Lennie as she spoke and sadness consumed her a little bit. The words that she spoke weren't wrong in Lauren's mind, she didn't even know the full story of Christian's upbringing, but she knew enough to know it wasn't the greatest.

"They don't, if I'm being honest, but he wrote it for a reason and he wanted them to see it, so see it they will." Lauren said firmly. She wasn't sure what was even written in that letter, she wanted to know so badly what he could have possibly wrote in there, but it wasn't her letter to read it wasn't addressed to her. "I would lie, if I said I wasn't curious about it." She said in reference to the letter.

Lennie looked to Lauren, then back to her mother. She knew this was wrong to do, but she couldn't hold onto it anymore. She couldn't stand that his mother and father got a second chance, when it should be him who gets the second chance. She slowly unraveled the letter to herself and began to read it aloud.

"Mom & Dad
I don’t know who will bring this to you two. It could be anyone, or it could be everyone. I’ve made so many wonderful friends that I truly do not deserve, and never will. Friends I never could deserve. And if I’m being honest, their letters mean more to me than yours. This is because I have one piece of paper left, and I’ve already said everything I had to to the people I love.


I left you so long ago, almost a whole decade ago now. Mom, you knew where I went, and never bothered to see if I was even alive. Let me tell you about the trip to New Rome. I ended up bloody under some dusty bridge with no one there, hiding for my life. I felt pain and fear beyond all belief at the time. I knew that I was going to die. I didn’t think of either of you. I didn’t want my mom to come save me. That’s when I took my first Vicodin, mom, and I’ve been cursed by you ever since. Now I’m going to die because of it.


But you are my parents. Even if I have to be the one to make contact, you should know I have regrets. Holes in my life. I wish you were there. It’s too late for any of us to do anything to fix it. But I do wish things were different."

Lennie fell silent afterwards, before a crazed look came over her. "Which apartment is theirs?"

There was so much anticipation and build up to Lennie pulling the piece of paper out again and unfolding it. She was waiting for the girl to read it, but finally when the words came out she couldn't help but have them in her head just swirling around and around. It was almost as if they were taunting her in some way and nagging at her, but there was nothing she could do about it, there was nothing she could do for him and in that moment she felt a little useless.

Lauren did know that being his friend had meant a lot to him, but she still couldn't help but feel that maybe if she noticed a little more when they were kids or maybe if she just paid a little more attention, maybe she could do something, anything for him. It was as he said though, it was too late now.

"Come on, I'll show you." Lauren said as she gave one final hug to her mom and put her shoes on before exiting the apartment and she was out into the hall. Lauren lived at 308, and she looked across the hall to 311 and she pointed at it, "That's the one."

Lennie felt the void in her emotions adapt to make her who she needed to be right now. She left the door behind Lauren, nearly forgetting about Camilla, who she'd just met. Each step in her boots was filled with authority and ferocity. Until finally, despite only being across the hall, they were there. Lennie didn't use subtly, which maybe her companion might have looked down on, but she was passed that now.

She knocked on the door loudly, with not hesitation. At first there was no answer, and Lennie supposed that it was possible no one was home, but she was getting into this apartment either way. If leaving the letter in a broken-in home was the way, then so be it. Even if a piece of Lennie wanted to tear them a new one for what was in the letter.

She banged on the door again. "We can do this two ways." Lennie called out, loudly, and several of the nearby apartments could probably hear her. "I can come up from the fire escape. I can make that climb easy. Bet I could just take this door down right now. So, what's it going to be?" Lennie shouted. There was a moment of silence, and Lennie was ready to go downstairs for the hatchet, until the voice of an older woman called to them.

"What the hell do you want? Don't make me-" The voice angrily yelled back, as if she had authority.

"Your son is dead." Lennie said with no mercy whatsoever.

There was a pause of silence. Lennie could have sworn she could hear breathing, but she gave her the moment she might need. She was about to speak again when the door unlocked and slowly opened, to an older blonde woman. And it the moment, Lennie could feel again. She resembled Christian in so many ways. But Lennie's features didn't soften.

"Come in." The woman said struggling not to feel emotions. She turned her back on the two Romans, walking through the hall. The second her back was to them, Lennie looked to Lauren. She gave Lauren a signal to be ready. They had no idea what sort of life this person led.

Lennie held the letter in her hand, still open. She wouldn't hide the face that she read it. Lennie followed first, listening ahead to a quiet TV set, before the older woman. "Crystal... we have company." She managed to get out. Lennie turned the corner to see a little girl sitting on the couch. She was blonde, and looked timid. It took Lennie a moment to put everything together in her head, then she looked back to Lauren.

It had all happened fairly fast, she had pointed to which one Christian had been from, and even looking across the hall at the apartment that Christian used to live in gave her this weird mixture of emotions. There was the sadness that had settled in with her from the first day that Lennie had came back home from the quest. There was the loneliness that now consumed the hallway knowing that he wasn't there anymore and knowing that anytime that she looked across the hall from her side that he would never be coming out of that door anymore.

Lennie had broken the small trance that she had been in from looking across the hall in the moment. She had gone into her line of vision and she had knocked on the door. It was a little heart breaking to see it all fold out and Lennie meant business at this point, Lauren had to give her points that she was a fighter and she wasn't giving up on this. Lauren couldn't blame her though, it had been something that Christian had wanted.

Lauren followed when they were invited inside. Christian's mom had looked similar to how she had remembered her growing up, just a lot more aged than the last time. When the name was mentioned of another girl, Lauren looked to Lennie and then to Christian's mom. Lauren let her curiosity get the best of her, she looked over to the girl on the couch and she looked similar to Christian.

"You never told him?" Lauren said in a mixture of shock and disbelief. She shook her head and the anger was consuming her again, "You didn't think your own son was worth telling that he had a sister? How selfish can you be? Does she even know? Does she even know about who she is and the fact that she had an older brother?" The daughter of Apollo said shaking her head and now she was just pacing back and forth.

"Tell her about who she is and about her brother, or I will."

Lennie wasn't one to be power-hungry. She wanted Christian's mom to pay in the moment. The moment she'd read the letter, she gave the blame all to Abella Moreau. She'd barely even considered that Lauren likely felt the same way. Lauren started to confront the woman, and Lennie felt it was better to come from her, considering they'd known each other for so long. Lennie trusted Lauren, more than she realized.

Lennie looked around the small apartment. There were pictures of Christian's mom and dad, and some of who she assumed was Crystal at a younger age. There were none of Christian. It was at that moment that Lennie knew they had to get this girl out of here. These people were not fit to have a child. "Lauren." Lennie said, gently. She handed the letter to Lauren, with care. She hadn't let it go from her person since that Russian jerk had handed it to her.

Lennie approached the couch, with a little girl who showed no emotion. She wasn't afraid of Lennie. She wasn't nervous. She wasn't excited. She just existed. She had gentle eyes, the kind you could see and tell they belonged to a child, even without seeing the rest of her face.

"Hey, sweetheart." Lennie gently said. "We're friends of your brother... we're here because he wanted us to come."

"Okay, but, I don't have brother..." The small voice replied.

"I need both of you to step outside so we can talk. What you're doing is breaking and entering, and trying to cloud the mind of my child. This is none of your business. If you wanna yell, you can go across the fucking hall." Abella seethed.

The moment Lauren heard the words come out of Abella's mouth about breaking and entering she was about to lose it, but Lauren managed to keep the slightest bit of herself under control for the small fraction of a minute as she grabbed the chain around her neck and grabbed the little trinket on it and hit a reverse button to the exact moment she needed it and hit play. "Come in." Could be heard of Abella's voice and at that point Lauren slipped the trinket back into her shirt after turning it back on.

"You're full of shit Abella, you always have been. You're full of shit and you are shit." Lauren was fairly calm when she said it and just shook her head, she had tears forming, but mostly due to anger at this point. "You shouldn't be allowed to have children, was that the point of having another one? To maybe redeem yourself for the shitty job you did with your first born? Because no matter what you do it will not make up for the nights that he went hungry because you needed pills, it wont change the fact that you always came before your son. It wont change the fact that you weren't there for him when he needed it, or that he didn't always have clean laundry because of you but because of my mom. You don't get to decide to start over again because maybe you haven't done it now, and maybe it wont happen until she's twelve or maybe when she's sixteen, but you are going to ruin her life like you did his. It wont be long before she has the same bruises he did, right? Who knows maybe she already has them, but you don't get to decide anymore, you're a piece of shit who left the legion for your addiction and not for anything else other than that. You left for yourself and your life has always been for yourself and never your kids you don't deserve them. "

It was a long winded rant, that was just barely above normal speaking, but she started again, "Your son, Christian Moreau deserved to know about her. He would have been the best older brother to her and you robbed him of the chance of knowing her and vice versa for her. You're the most selfish person I know, and I swear to the gods, I'm going to help give that girl a chance and a life because you wont. You can try and stop me, but you'll have to kill me first." Lauren said to her sternly, "Stand down Abella, because you're worthless and you will not win."

Lennie put a hand on the shoulder of the young girl. She gave her a slight embrace to give her some assurance in this situation. "Have you seen the monsters?" Lennie asked, gently.

There was silence, it was like the girl was scared, and Lennie couldn't tell if was from Lauren or from the question she'd asked. Then, after a long silence, there were small tears. "My mom says I see them because I'm sick. I'm not supposed to tell anyone. But they seem so real." Crystal managed to speak.

Abella stood there, listening to the words from the daughter of the person who was probably her only friend left in the world. She didn't interrupt. She waited, and took in all the words. It was then, after all of it, that Abella squared the girl up. "Do you think you've already gathered all your strength?" She suddenly challenged.

"Where are your kids, Lauren?" Abella challenged. "Oh wait, you don't have any. Because all you know how to do is cause trouble. All you ever did is drag him into trouble. I bet nothing changed once you two made it to that Californian hell hole. What'd the two of you do? Just drag by, stealing from the market while your Centurions scolded you? I'm not here to listen to you give me advice when you know nothing!" Towards the end of her rant, Abella began screaming each word, until she finally pushed Lauren back into the wall.

Lauren almost let all of the comments roll off of her back, but the one about her only knowing how to cause trouble hit her where it hurt. It was something Lauren thought about all the time and she didn't need someone to tell that to her, it just gave more fuel to the fire inside of herself that she tried to put out over and over again. The only person who had been able put some sand on the fire was no longer here, but she wasn't going to let the fire grow too big in this case, she had to do this for Christian.

"You're right, I don't have kids." Lauren said as she pulled herself off of the wall and continued to speak. "I am eighteen years old, why would I? Besides if I did? I would just be damned saying I cause trouble enough to end up pregnant. So damned if I do, damned if I don't. But trust me you're not the first cunt to walk into my life and honestly, you wont be the last. You're wrong you know." She said shaking her head and moving her shoulders a bit to straighten herself out.

"We didn't get into trouble. If you cared enough about your son you would know he climbed the ranks and he was Centurion and that I am an Optio. Sure we were reckless as kids, but that isn't how we always are. Kids do stupid things, but so do some adults and they continue to do them for the rest of their lives, like you. You're pathetic." Lauren didn't retaliate in terms of fighting, she was going to let it go, she looked down at the parchment that was written to his parents and shook her head. "He didn't even want to write you a letter. I wish he hadn't, it was a waste of your time, you're not getting it though, you don't deserve it." The daughter of Apollo looked over to Lennie for a brief moment, "Lennie and Crystal, lets go."

"Do you think I care about that letter?" She challenged Lauren. "Do you think I'll lay awake and wish I had begged you for a stupid piece of parchment?" She was quick to throw her opinions strongly. "Christian ran away as a kid, and couldn't be bothered to listen to a thing I ever said. Him and his dad both. Nathan never even knew what he was. And he took advantage of that." She growled.

Crystal was hesitant to move, and was getting scared, so Lennie brought her into an embrace so she didn't need to look. She knew how horrifying this was, especially to a child. Lennie wished there was a way to get Abella out of the house so they could do what they needed. Lennie reached over to a purse, down by the end table, over by Crystal. She had a hunch, but was still waiting on Lauren to see if she had a plan.

"You're not taking my daughter from me. It's time for you to leave this house. You won't get another chance." Abella stood strong, by the entrance to the tiny apartment.

Lauren wasn't sure how she felt about Abella not wanting the letter. In some way she was shocked but in in other ways she wasn't. It just confirmed everything that Lauren knew to be true about his mom and it was still a hard reality to face, it made her understand that Abella probably would eventually feel this way about Crystal too and it was sad, this was history repeating itself except for the fact that Crystal truly had no one on her side for her whole life until now. Her one goal in life now was to be there for Crystal through everything, it would be what Christian would do, and it was going to be what Lauren would do.

"Christian didn't run away, he went to camp where he could learn about who he was and learn how to survive this world. Seeing monsters? That is terrifying and could end up killing you, your best chance of survival is to go to camp with lupa or just go in general. So fuck you for thinking he ran away, it is the best thing he ever did because he didn't have to deal with a piece of shit like you." Lauren said and then looked at the woman in the doorway, "I'm sorry but you've given me no choice." The daughter of Apollo said with a shrug of her shoulders calmly and ran at the woman with as much speed as she could pick up in the relatively short distance.  She grabbed Abella by her lower half and continued her charge until Abella smacked into the wall outside in the hall before she grabbed her by the hair and smacked her head against the wall.

Lennie dug through the purse, and found what she'd suspected. There were two bottles of prescription medicine. Lennie could remember the small film canister Christian had brought with him on a quest, when he didn't know how long it'd be before he saw home. Here was Abella's purse, for when she left for eight hours, jammed with far more pills. She shuddered to think that Christian's future might have been this. She dug out a small Imperial Gold knife. It wasn't Abella's anymore. It now belonged to Crystal.

"I need you to listen to me, Crystal. I know you're scared, and I know leaving your mom sounds even scarier. But those wolves you met, Lupa? They're real. They wanted you to come to Camp Jupiter, that's home to me, and my friend. You can visit your mom still, but these monsters, they're real. They're real and your mom is scared to tell you they're real. We have a safe place, home to thousands that can see the monsters too. We can teach you how to fight them." Lennie talked gently, keeping Crystal close to her.

Crystal was sobbing uncontrollably by now, and she clung to Lennie. Lennie could see some bruises on the ends of her arms, near her wrists. "You had a brother who would have loved you so so much, Crystal. And he had a lot of friends. They'll love you too, and so will I. When you learn to defend yourself, you can come back, and she won't be able to hurt you anymore. Please, come with us." Lennie pleaded, to which Crystal only gave a small nod while she continued to cry, and the sound broke Lennie's heart. Her shoulder was wet with the tears of a poor girl who didn't know any better.

Abella hadn't thought Lauren actually would have the gall to make a move as she had. She'd always seen Lauren as all talk and no action. In her mind, Lauren would only still be alive if she hid inside New Rome this whole time. Nonetheless, Abella wasn't about to hand over her child to anyone, especially these two.

Abella put all her force into her leg, sweeping out Lauren's leg out from under her and throwing her off with force. Abella came forward quickly, giving Lauren a hard kick to her ribs. "You will not take my child. I don't care what you want. You'll leave, or you'll pay." She snarked.