Hey! Woo! Another update! Thanks to the five or so people that reviewed! (Not much, but progress is progress)
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Chapter 2
Freddie wished he could go back in time and build an invisibility jacket to hide him from all the worried glances of his friends. No, better yet, he'd have his friend from the Hephaestus cabin, Isaiah Dempsey, build him one. Well, technically Isaiah wasn't his friend, but Isaiah owed Freddie a big favor because Freddie saved him big time during capture the flag a little bit ago (long story).
Anyway, when Freddie came to, he was greeted by thousands of concerned faces (okay, maybe not thousands, but his double vision was pretty bad). He couldn't see anything around the myriad of faces, but he guessed he was in the infirmary. He felt like his head had been stuck in an oven then freeze dried. He could hear nothing but a loud ringing in his ears. He had an awful headache and his limbs were completely numb.
As soon as the people in the infirmary noticed that Freddie was awake, they staggered back in surprise. Someone stumbled, smacking someone else in the face. Freddie would've laughed if not for the uncomfortable ache in his stomach.
As the ringing in Freddie's ears subsided, the voices around him got louder. And louder. And louder. He wanted to clamp his hands over his ears to blot out the noise, but he couldn't seem to lift his fingers.
"Out!" A voice shouted. "Make way! Everyone back to your cabins!"
Freddie squinted in the harsh light of the fluorescent bulbs overhead. He could vaguely see a very short man with brown hair moving across the threshold toward him.
Most of the other people in the room had fled to the man's orders. The noise had lessened enough so that Freddie didn't feel like he wanted to tear his ears off. Now if only he could find a way to turn off the lights.
The man (that Freddie now realized was Chiron in his wheelchair) wheeled over to the side of Freddie's bed. "How are you feeling?"
Freddie tried to open his mouth to tell Chiron that he was feeling awful, but he couldn't seem to control his face at all (other than his eyes, of course). Instead, he just lay there (sorry if this isn't correct grammar. I searched on Google, but it was all really confusing. Please correct me if I'm wrong), hoping Chiron would get the message.
"I see," Chiron said grimly.
Could it be that bad? Freddie wondered. His already rasped breaths were becoming even more scratchy in panic. His eyes darted about the room.
Then, the door to the infirmary cracked open slowly.
A pair of blue eyes peeked through the crevice, as if asking if it was safe to enter.
Chiron nodded and a very good friend of Freddie's, Ian Davis, opened the door all the way and walked through.
Ian Davis walked into the infirmary cautiously; he didn't want to see one of his best friends in pain. Luckily, Freddie looked pretty okay to Ian (if you don't count the fact that he was covered in dirt, was as pale as a ghost, and had a multicolored bruise on his forehead).
After closing the door gently, Ian meandered his way over to the side of Freddie's bed that Chiron wasn't on.
When Freddie was unconscious, Ian had given him some nectar and ambrosia, but it didn't seem to have that much of an affect. (again with the grammar...) He had yet to attempt to use his healing powers.
Ian laid a hand on Freddie's shoulder. Now don't ask him how his powers worked because, honestly, he didn't have a clue. All hew knew was that his brain just suddenly filled with information (once you've been in a mythological world long enough, you learn to just go with it and not ask questions). Being a son of Apollo had its perks.
"Alright, let's see," Ian told Chiron. "Nausea, numbness, motor weakness, minor hypotension, dizziness, difficulty in breathing, and a headache."
Chiron nodded dejectedly. "Taylor should be here-"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the infirmary door slammed open.
Taylor Watson appeared in the doorway, out of breath. Her insanely curly red hair was falling out of its ponytail. She tucked a strand behind her ear.
Even though she was only fourteen, two years younger than Ian, she was about an inch taller, which bugged him to no end. Even though the two if them were more acquaintances than friends (Ian was way more extroverted), he saw her around camp from time to time and knew that the daughter of Athena was extremely smart.
"What'd I miss?" Taylor asked hurriedly.
Ian shrugged. "Oh, you know, Fredo over here is almost dead, but take your time."
Taylor looked slightly surprised that Ian would make such a remark, but quickly recovered and moved over beside the son of Apollo.
Ian then repeated Freddie's symptoms to Taylor, hoping she would have an answer.
Taylor nodded. "I've heard- or rather, read- of something like this before. An herb of some sort, maybe?"
Chiron nodded. "I was thinking... wolf's bane."
"Aconitum?" Taylor looked horrified. "The queen of poisons? I've read about that. The symptoms sound very similar." She turned to the boy in the bed. "Freddie? You didn't happen to eat a flower, did you?"
Chiron shook his head. "Apparently he can't talk."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Ian put his hands in the 'time out' gesture. "What's going on?"
"Aconitum," Taylor explained, "is a poison that was commonly used in older times to kill wolves, hence the name wolf's bane. If more than a certain amount is ingested, the person dies within the hour. Apparently Freddie ingested less than that amount, seeing as he was unconscious for a little more than an hour."
"How would he have eaten a-cone-whatever in the middle of capture the flag?" Ian wondered.
"It's a flower," Chiron said, "and it grows in the north so it could've been growing in the forest. We need Herman Faletta and Mathias Grimm; they were there."
Taylor shifted uncomfortably. Obviously, she had the same opinions on Faletta as Ian did. Ian couldn't stand the guy. Faletta was all about rules. What Mr. Über Macho Tough Guy really needed was a massage so he could loosen up a little.
Then, the door burst open for a second time.
Ian smirked. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Grimm Reaper." Ian called to the one Ares camper that he could actually get along with.
"How's Freddie?" Mathias asked frantically. When his eyes landed on the boy in the bed, he blanched.
"He's good..." Ian started, then paused. "Actually, he's kind of bad..."
Chiron wheeled himself over to where Mathias was. "Did Freddie eat a flower of any sort when you were fighting?"
At first, Mathias looked confused, like 'why in the world would Freddie eat a flower in the middle of a battle?' Then his eyes lit up in understanding. "When Faletta pounded Freddie's helmet off, Freddie landed face-first in the dirt. I saw him spit out half a blue flower."
Chiron said something in Latin, then switched to English. "If my sources are correct, which I'm pretty sure they are, Freddie has until the end of next week to live."
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~soccerfreak6424
