a moment of importance [open]

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Charlie stood there in front of the two head stones in the row. Beyond her, was the tomb of the unknown soldier, a few meters off was the ampitheater full of people. She was dressed somberly, her hair pulled into a tight bun and not a single strand out of place. Her heart pounded in her throat, she couldn't let that bother her. She was a daughter of War and this was the price that people paid for freedom. Charlie stood at the two grave markers that were the same as everyone else here, white marble with a name and date carved into them. The only thing that marked them as different was the fact that she had just recently placed flowers on them. She felt the temple of her forehead hurt as she opened her mouth. She didn't realize that she had been clenching her jaw that tightly. She wanted to swallow, but her throat had siezed up on her, making the swallowing noise sound as if she was silently choking. Charlie took all of her will power to shove the emotions down, letting in and out a deep breath. She blinked, looking at the world around her was like looking through a filtered lens.

Suddenly there was a presence beside her as it took her hand. The hand was larger and rougher than hers, so here she stood, looking up into the face of her father. Mars, the god of War had other things to do, had plenty of other places that he could be, but for the time being, he was right here with her. He stood there dressed in the Marines Dress Blues. An outfit that Charlie had seen her mother in many times before. Her father looked handsome in it, though she would never say so. He was the god of war after all. There were so many people that believed this place to be a place of death, it wasn't. This was a place of peace, of respect. They stood there together for a moment as her father knelt down next to the head stone, giving it a small kiss before he gave her a half armed hug. It was more emotion than he had ever shown her before. She felt horrible that they didn't have a relationship like she wanted, that he disliked her more than his other children. But this was just a moment they had together before it vanished. Which happened, her father shimmered and was gone in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a bugle ring out over the headstones. She tried to keep it together but the sound of TAPS made her body straiten out of reflex. Every last ounce of energy she had spent on the building the facade that she tried to keep the emotions in check, it was gone. Her resolve was gone. She swallowed hard, her throat tightened painfully as tears spilled from her eyes as she listened to the sounds of the song playing. 'I am a Roman, a daughter of war. I am strong.' she forced herself to think.

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It was a peaceful day, not all over the world, but at least there in the cementery. Veteran’s Day… it was a day to remember, a day to count your blessings. For Joshua Rogers, it wasn’t that easy, he had many reasons to curse the gods for all what they had taken from him, but in the past months he had gotten some blessings that worth all of the thanks in the universe to the gods. He got his wife back, she was different in many ways, but on the inside, she wasn’t, she was the same crazy, wrathy girl that he had loved since he was a teen. They both had their son Arthur and he was healthy and happy. In deed he had reasons to thank the gods.

But only one thing wasn’t good to thank for it, he had cursed the gods too long for it and it was the reason why he was out there that day. He had lost his mother when he was a very young boy, She had been a very brave woman, a woman daughter of War, she had saved uncountable number of lives, and died protecting him. He was there that day to pay her respects to the woman who gave him life in more than one moment. He stood by her marble grave and knelt. He cleaned it and checked that no weeds were growing around it. While he was doing so, he started talking to his mother.

He sat down and crossed his legs like an Indian, He told her about how he had lost Rhia and then how she came back, how big and joyful was Arthur, How he still was one of the centurions of fifth cohort, a summary of his life in the past year. Then after an hour more or less he kissed the marble and got up. He walked down a road and looking around he saw someone that he knew more or less well. He walked in that direction. The bugle music was in the air taking all of the words, the smiles and tears away to the place where the souls of the fallen dwelled.

“Hey Charlie…” He said and smiled softly at her. He would never criticize her for the silent tears that roamed her eyes, holding back all of the pain that her soul might feel.


Tag:@charliemack
Words:400
Notes: Hope it is ok

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Charlie really needed to get her mind together, this wasn't becoming of a Roman at all. No, this would not do. But no matter what she scolded with or threatened herself with, it was in vain. The tears didn't listen, not one bit. They didn't want to nor did they care that they were making this daughter of Mars to look like a fool. She was most assuredly a fool. She felt like an idiot and felt as if she was more so than usual. Charlie frowned as dabbed at her eyes and the tears still wouldn't stop. Not so long as that bugle was playing did she had little that she could actually do to stop them. It was as if the whole facade had one single chink in the dam and then the water pressure behind it sent it crumbling with an enormous effect on her. Her throat was tight and she felt sick to her stomach. Her head started to pound and her jaw hurt from where she had clinched it a bit tightly. No, this was stupid, she was stupid. She berated herself simply because showing emotion wasn't in her genes. She threatened her mind with a regimen through the obstacle course till she couldn't lift a sword or walk another step.

There was a voice, someone who she really hadn't expected to see. Josh. Her fellow centurion of the fifth cohort. He and Ronan had done well in getting that cohort into shape and to top it off, Ronan was praetor now. She was proud of her friends. So proud of them. "Hey, Josh." She sniffed and hiccuped, her body was just so out of whack today. If there was anyone that she wished for them to see in her weakness, it was Josh. He didn't judge or berate or criticize her. They were family too. And something that made it more important to her, he knew what it was like to loose a parent. Though she didn't know the details behind it, but she could only imagine being the one to recieve the flag from your parents coffin. That meant you were it. That was it, you were all alone. But the thing was, here she wasn't alone. Not in the moment right now. She had Josh, her nephew? Cousin? They were family and that was important.

"Gods damn that bugle player." She said, sniffing hard as she wiped the tears from her cheeks, the makeup probably being wiped away with the dampness of the tears. She rarely did make up unless it was a special event, and in her mind, this event was the single most important thing in the world to her. It was important to let her mother know that she was taking care of herself, that she was doing alright. Despite everything that she had been through in this life, the wars she had fought in, the amount of pain she had suffered, the training, everything was going to be alright.

Tags: @josh
Notes: feels train
Words: 500

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Josh looked at her when she recognized her, she had been crying and still was. In the legion, as romans, they should never ever cry, that was a weakness that a legionarie couldn’t afford to have. The enemy could see it, the enemy could use it as a leverage and then everything could be lost by a simple tear. Josh knew it and he knew that Charlie knew it as well, maybe way deeplier than whatever Josh could know it. But out there, in that camp of peace and reminder, they were only a couple of young adults that went to visit their long lost parents.

It was crazy how things among demigods happened. Charlie was his… aunt, his mother had been a Mars’ daughter so as Charlie was. But in terms of relationships… well they were just family, the rest didn’t matter. He chuckled when she spoke about the bugle. He knew what was it to feel like a volcano was about to explode and everything, every single feeling you bottled up in the past was about to come out with all of the extra pressure given by the time they were bottled up. So looking her in that moment didn’t surprise him, he was only happy that she was brave enough to show it.

“Yeah… have you seen that movie with Brendan Frazer where the devil gave him 7 wishes? Remember when there was a guy that cried whenever he saw the sunset? Well imagine the bugle is our sunset!” He thought it would be funny, whenever he was hurt or about to cry he simply tried to bring a joke to the moment, so the laugh would help him cover the pain. Maybe in that moment the laugh would help Charlie too, or at least he hoped. “you came to visit your mom… right? My mom is over there, behind that huge Oak.” He pointed at where his mother rested, then looked back at Charlie. “It is ok to cry… it help us to express what our Mars head doesn’t allow us.”


Tag:@charliemack
Words: 349
Notes:The feels!