I awaken on a bed. I am still unsure of where I am. Everything is blurry. I can make out faces around me. I think I see Nico, but it was just another fuzzy shadow. My eyes start to focus when I notice her. Its Thalia. I feel myself tense again and hear voices speaking to me that sound like the speaker has a blanket wrapped around their mouth. They must know who I am looking at.
"Hey, Trill, you're in the infirmary, do you remember what happened?" Although the voice is echoey, I still knows its Jeremy. No, not the infirmary. Too many bed memories. I can see it all happening again. No. No. No! When I open my eyes again I am in the underworld. I like the underworld. I like the dark and how small it is. I like the fact it is filled with souls and monsters. It just feels like home. The only place I belong. I am one of those ghosts, travelling endlessly. The only place I can stay for a long time is the Underworld. I couldn't stay in that infirmary. Reminds me too much of the hospital I went when she died.
I try to get up but wince and immediately fall back to the floor. My leg hurts. A lot. I find a jagged piece of rock piercing it. I grab the rock and have a few deep breaths. Then, I quickly pull the piece of rock from my leg. It hurt a bit sure but I'm kind of used to pain. After well, what used to happen.
I try to get up again and this time I succeed. I walk to the River Cocytus, the River of Wailing. I am hoping to find Agatha. If a mortal came to close to the River of Wailing, they would become deeply depressed but as I am a daughter of Hades, it doesn't affect me. Agatha means good. Which suits her perfectly but she doesn't look like the typical good girl. She is always pretty miserable when I am not around but that is what happens why you are a nymph of the River Cocytus. I see her in her blue flowy dress that matches her eyes perfectly. We run up to each other, arms opened. Well she runs to me, I do some strange kind of limp run. We get to each other and entangle each other in a long tight hug. It has been a couple of days since I last saw her. When we pull apart she looks at me and gasps.
"What happened Trill? Are you okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, was pushed off a cliff but apart from that fine. It was high cliff though. And they just dangled me and it was so scary Agatha, it was so, so, so scary. Not the fall or the idea of the fall but just the height itself." I begin to sob. She hugs me again and taps my back whispering ,"Shh, it's okay, were nice and low now, in your dads domain, he can't get anyone in here."
We pull apart, "Do you want some Ambrosia?" She says giggling.
"You will never let that go will you!" I saw also giggling. You see, the thing is that because I am a child of Hades and Hades is well, excluded from the Gods, Ambrosia will never work for me and will only do me more damage. She begins to ask about the fall. She asks if it was scary to which I simply reply, "Which bit? The dangle, the fall or the pain?" she then asks all of them to which I reply, "I am not afraid of pain, it has been a major part of my life so I am kind of used to it. The fall well, I am not afraid of death because well, he is my dad. But the dangle, that was scary because of my fear of heights ever after the Zeus incident with... with... my... my mum." I say beginning to cry again.
"Hun, can you please tell me what happened?" Agatha asks for the hundredth time, I am a very closed off person. People think they know me but they don't.
"Right but that is all your getting! Back in Venice in Italy, in the 1970's, we were in our family home, my evil step dad was at work preparing for the war. Bianca, Nico and I were all in the living room and my mother was in the Kitchen. Maria Di'Angelo. We were pretty poor, so it was only a small house with little furniture. Suddenly, we saw a huge flash of white light. Before we knew it, us three children we surrounded in a wall of solidified shadow that we had raised due to fear. We were confused but once the light had gone and it was all over the wall disappeared and we ran to the kitchen. Our mother was lay on the floor. Breathing but only weakly. That was the first time I saw somebody's life aura fade and it certainly wasn't the last. Bianca and Nico ran outside to get help and I stayed with my mother. Watching her life aura fade. We accompanied her to the hospital. It looked like the infirmary at camp-half blood. And I sat with her, whilst the people around tried their best to help her. I remember hearing a deafening ringing in my ears and I turned around and told everyone she was dead. They were baffled, I hadn't even checked her pulse or breathing but I knew what that ringing meant, it meant someone close to me has died. That is the reason I can't go in the infirmary at camp. I later learnt it was a lightning bolt that killed my mother. Zeus' lightning bolt. I havn't trusted a child of Zeus since. I can't even look at them without remembering that night. It is the same with heights because it's his domain. But you know what, I am over it. I am over my mother's death. I don't let it drag me down because she wouldn't want to drag me down." I don't begin to cry I simply smile and Agatha seems shocked. I don't think she really expected it to be anything major, something like Zeus and my mum had a fling and he broke her heart. Some typical film thing. Unfortunately, when Greek mythology is in your life, it's very unlikely anything remotely normal will ever happen again. I also think she expected me to cry and moan and complain about it not being fair. It is as that moment I hear a familiar booming voice.
I obey its orders to go to the throne room. There I see my father sitting on him throne wearing all black with a scowl on his face, like he is disgusted to see me. He probably is. I stand there with a straight face in silence for a few minutes until he says, "Hello again... erm... Tiller?" With this I let out a sigh. Bianca was always my dads favourite and when she died, Nico took that spot. I don't know why. Me and Nico were twins. We were always exactly the same. We even looked near enough the same. But my father never cared about me. He doesn't even know my name.
"It's Trillare." I say in my usual strong Italian accent.
"What is your full name though, it's something long and weird isn't it." I have to bite my lip at this to stop me screaming or crying. My mother named me. She chose those names and he claims to have loved her yet doesn't even know the names she chose for her kids.
"Trillare Stansie Brunetta Vita Di'Angelo." I reply through gritted teeth.
"Hm... Nico really did have the better name didn't he... Nico Ghetto Ignacio Nari Di'Angelo, there is a nice to ring to it isn't there." They are both about as catchy as names with three middle names can get! Why doesn't my father care about me? What have I done wrong this time! Last time a father figure stopped caring for me, I had well been a kid that wasn't his and he didn't like.
I turn around and walk out of the throne room. You are supposed to wait until you are given permission to leave but right now, I don't care about the rules. As I walk away I wave goodbye to Agatha and slip into the shadows.
I reappear in my cabin. I know nobody will be worried about me or looking for me so I begin to cry. This has became a regular thing, it is hard to pretend everything is okay when it is really not. The main reason I am crying this time is because of my father. My stupid dad sliding Nico back in to the conversation every five minutes and comparing us over everything, even names. And him knowing Nico's full name and not even knowing my first name. I hear a knock and it is Jeremy asking if I am back. I splash my face with cold water then go out to see him. I plant a kiss on his lips as soon as my door is open wide enough. He seems pretty angry right now,
"Where did you go!" He shouts.
"I went to the Underworld, I just had to get out of that infirmary, you don't understand why but one day you might. It complicated." I calmly say back.
"I was so worried! You really need to get checked out! Where did you go in the Underworld? Wasn't your father concerned about you? And why do you keep going weird whenever Thalia walks past?" Jeremy bombards me with these questions.
"I went to the underworld and my friends Agatha, River Nymph or the River of Wailing, and she helped heal me. That kind of explains where I went as well. My father doesn't even know my first name yet he knows Nico's full name, he really didn't care. And, Jeremy, I have already told that story once today and I don't think I am ready to tell it again." I explain. He seems to understand. He doesn't mind that I am a very closed of person. I guess so much has happened I dear talking about it will only remind me of the pain. Oh what pain it was though. We hug each other to show we are no longer arguing or asking questions. We begin to walk to our dining tables, where I will once again sit alone. When we get there, Chiron looks saddened and tells us that he has news, "We have receive a message, " He boomed, "from Poseidon. Nico's body has been found. I am afraid that he will not be walking among the living again, only with the souls. We have also received news from Hades that Nico is in Elysium with his mother but will not be able to communicate with the living again. Not even fellow children of Hades.".
I slam my fist on the table and I stand up and I scream, "NO!" at the top of my lungs and run back to my cabin with tears running down my face.