Hey! I'm really greatful for all the feed back this has gotten :) Keep it up guys, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. As always, read and review it makes my day!
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Chapter Two
Live
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I woke up to a loud CRASH!, and found my body covered in a thin layer of frost.
Like I had predicted, we walked for a good five hours-taking breaks in between-but found nothing and didn't run into another living person. I say that, because we ran into plenty of the dead. Fighting them became easy now that we knew it only took a swift stab to the head, but nonetheless disgusting and unpleasant. We tried to pass the time by playing Ispy, but one could only take so much of Leo picking the same thing over and over, before being tempted to leave him behind the next time he went into the bushes to pee. We didn't find a road, a sign, a log cabin, or anything else useful and we certainly didn't find any answers. And then the sun began to sink behind the horizon and night was fast approaching. We stopped to make camp on a stretch of flat gray rock-granite, according to Hazel-surrounded by a cluster of birch trees. We settled as comfortably as we could on the hard packed dirt, but I was soon wishing for my bed back at Camp. Leo produced a bag of beef jerky and a six pack of coke from his tool belt and we had divided it amongst us, conscious to leave some for the day(s?) ahead.
Nico volunteered to take first watch, which made sense since he was the only one that could actually sense the corpse things, and promised to wake Frank for the second shift. We stayed close, forming a tight circle around the dying embers of our fire. The day had been long and mentally trying, so despite the threat of the walking dead and the unfamiliar surroundings, nine weary demigods fell quickly into a restless sleep. But my brain refused to shut down, so I lay on my back and stared up at the stars. Next to me Percy snored softly, and I could hear the steady breathing of Nico a few feet away-his back to a tree as he stared off into the darkness, his sword resting across his lap for easy access. I replayed the days events over and over in my head, tried to make sense of it, but knew I'd only get more confused. I closed my eyes, and just imagined I was on a quest, then inhaled a lungful of crisp night air and slipped away.
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In my dream, I was in the throne room on mount Olympus.
All twelve gods were present, two of them locked in a heated argument. Zeus was gesturing angrily at Athena and Hermes stood a few feet away, looking torn between jumping in or making a run for it. The other Gods looked on with troubled expressions-Ares whispered harshly with Hephaestus, Aphrodite finger combed her hair anxiously. Apollo's chair was empty.
"They are closer now than they have ever been before. This will only end badly." Athena insisted. Zeus shook his head. His suit looked crumbled, like he had slept in and had to throw on the first thing he could get his hands on. In the chair beside his, Hera sat regally, face impassive, fists clenched in her lap. I wanted to punch her, but didn't know if I could in this dream.
"We can not act unless we are certain. You know we cannot interfere." That seemed to be the wrong thing to say to the goddess of war, she took a step closer, raising her voice.
"By then it will be too late." Ozone crackled in the air, and the throne room shook a little. Poseidon stood and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"She is right, this is nothing like what we have faced in the past. We should contact our-" Zeus shrugged off the sea god's touch and turned his back, dark eyebrows pulled forward in a grim scowl.
"I know what you would ask of me, but I cannot." Poseidon shared a glance with Hades, the lord of the underworld stood off to the side, as if unsure if he was really welcomed. It was a look that was not comforting at all. Artemis cleared her throat, her silver eyes were round with concern, but the rest of her face was a mask of professional indifference.
"Father, this could soon get out of hand. You…," she trailed off and glanced at the empty seat next to her, "you should seek council." Zeus fixed her with an electric-literal sparks in the air-glare and she fell silent. I felt anger boil in my stomach. I had no idea what was going on, but something bad was about to go down and as usual Zeus was being a stubborn ass. Athena gave a dry laugh.
"So now you have a conscious. Up until now you wouldn't have hesitated to have the demigods do your dirty work, was has changed your mind?"
"Enough!" Zeus boomed, the room shook again, bits of white dust fell like hail from the ceiling. Silence descended upon the gathered deities, Athena glared a glare that had me shrinking away, but Zeus returned it with one just as thunderous. The atmosphere was a tense, tangible energy that made the hairs on my arms prickle painfully. I was just about ready to jump in myself-or flee with Hermes-but then from behind, a hand fell on my shoulder. I jumped, spun around and blinked.
"Mom?" Hecate was dressed in flowing black robes, her blonde hair braided over one shoulder. She smiled, and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I could only stare, bewildered. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. The goddess took both my hands in hers and gave them a loving, comforting squeeze. Around us the throne room continued to shake, the voices of the other gods resumed, more bickering, but it all faded into the background.
"Im sorry." She said, then in a flash of green she was gone.
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CRASH!
I sat bolt upright, only to find my legs frozen together. It took a few seconds to register the scene in front of me-It was dark, but then my eyes adjusted and the dim light from the fire was enough see. Nico lay sprawled on the ground a few feet away, exactly opposite from where he had been when I fell asleep. The ground around him crackled with white tendrils of frost that spread like ghostly tree branches, covering anything in a six foot radius-so, us. He groaned and his whole body began to fade and sway in the shadows. I blanched. He didn't-
"You idiot!" Will sprang to his feet, well tried to, his ankles were fused to the ground. His arms pinwheeled and he fell flat on his face. The others were definitely all wide awake now. Percy's face was stuck to the dirt by a stream of solidified drool from the corner of his mouth and Annabeth, Piper and Frank were all attached back to back to side like demigod popsicles. I summoned my sword and used it like an ice pick to free myself, Leo using his fire to help the others. I hobbled on numb legs over to the son of Hades and knelt beside him, debating whether or not to touch him, if I even could. He was paler, translucent almost. His breathing was labored, face and neck slick with perspiration. What was he thinking? Will, now freed, crouched beside me and grabbed Nico by the shoulder and gave him a rough shake.
"I told you, no shadow traveling!" He hissed, and began to check his vitals. Nico made weak attempts to fight him off, but could only gasp for breath and flop his arms uselessly. The others crowded around, grumbling and rubbing sleep from their eyes and brushing off any residue ice particles. Nico muttered something incoherently, face twisted in pain and irritation. I helped Will prop him against a tree as his image flickered again. Nico licked his lips, then tried to speak again.
"I just-just wanted to try it..." He slurred, eyes fluttering as he fought to stay conscious.
"Yeah, well don't do that again." Will snapped, hands positioned over the son of Hades's body, aglow with a faint gold light. Hazel held one of his hands in hers, it fazed through her skin for a moment, then was solid again. Regaining more strength, Nico passed his free hand over his face and gave a shuddering sigh.
"It was working, but-but then it was like I hit a wall…"
"A wall?" Annabeth clarified. Reyna nodded, her purple cloak wrapped around her body to fight of the night's chill.
"I've seen something like this happen before." Nico coughed, shook his head and looked up at us with inky black eyes.
"No, this was different...it-it wasn't just my powers failing, it was like someone else interfered. They grabbed me and toss-tossed me back out.' He wheezed. I had a feeling that my dream and Nico's accident were connected, but couldn't say how, and didn't know if now was the time to share it. Didn't want to freak everyone out unnecessarily. Color returned to Nico's face, well as much as he usually had, but he still looked exhausted. Will took his hands away and sat back on his haunches with a tired sigh. Leo kicked a rock with the tip of his doc martens and crossed his arms over his chest with a childish huff.
"Well, looks like we're walking home." Piper punched him in the arm.
With a few more reprimands and one last check that he wasn't going to melt into the ground, we let Nico sleep and Frank took his turn. Will wanted to stay up, just incase Nico did disappear, but Hazel insisted she would. Will tried to hide his frown, and went back to his spot next to Reyna. I shook my head, wondering how dense two guys could get.
It was unsettling, what Nico described, and was just another thing on the unexplainable list that was rapidly growing, and we decided to wait until morning to try and sort it out. Three cheers for procrastination. I didn't dream again, thankfully-the first time was more than enough.
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It was well into the next day before Nico woke up.
Poking the lumps of ash with a stick, Jason confided in me something that had been bothering him since yesterday. The sky had still been pink and gray with soft morning light, the others still sleeping-Will was awake before anyone, son of the sun god and all, and went to test his hand at hunting, only to come back later sheepish and empty handed-and the two of us sat side by side by the fire pit-apparently both early risers also. He confessed to feeling strange when he had flown up to rescue Leo. He felt weaker, and confused that something so simple took so much energy, more than it should have. Like something was holding him back. He didn't mention it then, because he didn't think it was a big deal, until son of Jupiter was afraid the same thing was happening to Nico, and maybe, could be happening to the rest of us. I bit my lip, battling internally on whether or not I should tell him about my dream. But I couldn't hold it in any longer, especially in light of recent events, and Jason was just some one you could tell things to, someone you could trust.
He stared pensively at his shoes when I was done. It wasn't a secret Zeus could be...difficult would be putting it lightly, and even though Jason had only really met the guy once, I hoped he wasn't offended. Zeus was pretty douchey in my dream, and I could understand if he was embarrassed or angry, so I waited for him to speak first. He didn't say much, agreed that the dream and his and Nico's power lapse were connected somehow, but he surprised me by saying we shouldn't tell the others just yet. He didn't want to worry them. Noble, but I hoped it wouldn't be a mistake that would bite us in the ass later down the road. I was a little hesitant, my gut twisted anxiously, but something in his pale blue eyes had me nodding in a silent promise.
When everyone was more or less awake-note to self, Annabeth is not a morning person-Frank suggested he and some one else scout ahead, see if there was anything close by, but the others didn't think it was such a good idea to split up. Horror movie 101-always stay together if you want to live. It was a good idea though, we needed to find food-Leo's tool belt was only so bottomless-maybe better shelter, but Nico couldn't be moved and we still didn't know where we were. So we waited, resorting to 'would you rather' and burping contests, and as soon as Nico regained consciousness-many zombie jokes were made appropriately-we moved on, setting a faster pace to cover more ground before it got dark again. When it looked like it was going to be another fruitless day, we found it. Or more like I stepped out of the trees and ran right into it
A sign. And not a metaphorical one either. The words were faded and someone had smeared red clay over what was left. Expect for the word sanctuary, and above that in the same grainy red sediment was the word NO-NO SANCTUARY. A chill ran down my back as we stared at it in silence. The Twilight Zone theme played in my head. Ok, what kind of weirdo place where we in? Along side it, rusty train tracks stretched down the gravel road. I could've cried-finally, something to follow! And the sign was in english, so that narrowed the possibilities of being in Europe. It wasn't much, but it was something.
"So I guess we aren't going this way?" Percy frowned. Reyna scrutinized the sign like it had suddenly insulted her.
"Maybe we should check it out, there could be people there." Piper suggested, a touch of eager hope in her voice. She must've unknowingly used a little bit of charmspeak, because a sudden warmth sparked in my chest at the thought.
"I don't think there is." Annabeth said grimly, then gestured at something ahead of us. I don't know how we could've missed it. Thick black smoke, faint wisps of bad news against the blue sky. My stomach sank-the spark instantly snuffed. If it was or wasn't a sanctuary, I didn't think there was much left of it anymore to find out.
"Ah, the intrigue continues." Leo muttered cryptically.
"Maybe a really big bonfire?" WIll shrugged. I rubbed my head, a small bump had formed.
"I don't think so...something doesn't feel right." It didn't. A voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to run in the opposite direction. Nico leaned against the sign, looking better than yesterday but still ready to drop at the slightest change in the wind. He squinted in the sunlight like a vampire.
"I can sense a lot of zombie things in that direction. I say we steer clear." Reyna nodded in agreement, shooting on last glare at the sign. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Frank crouch to the ground, studying the muddy ground at our feet.
"Frank?" I asked.
"Footprints." He said, and pointed. Sure enough, there were a dozen or so mismatched tracks. He poked at the dirt with narrowed eyes.
"They look fresh, maybe a day or two." Leo snorted.
"Who died and made you Bear Grylls." Frank rolled his eyes and shrugged.
"My mom use to take me hunting, before she...you know." Leo flushed and glanced away.
"Couldn't they just be zombie tracks?" Hazel piped up, rubbing a soothing hand down Nico's back, who looked ready to hurl.
"Nah, they aren't all shuffled, but precise, measured. Definitely human-ah living." Frank confirmed. We all exchanged glances, and it was decided-follow the yellow brick road, so to speak. The prints lead us more or less back the way we came, in a slightly different direction. As we continued to hike, I wondered what kind of people these foot prints belonged too were. Were they responsible for the smoke? Were they living there and someone had come along and torched it. It all felt so strange. like we had stepped out of our world into another. But then again my life wasn't really normal to begin with.
It was frustrating, being so close to getting answers, but having to stop again for the night. Plus we had used the rest of the beef jerky for lunch and there was a chorus of rumbling stomachs by the time we were settled around a Leo fueled camp fire. The son of hephaestus scrounged up a few pieces of candy and a half eaten little debbies zebra cake, but other than that we were out of food. I thanked any god that was listening we had Percy. Like a bloodhound, we used him to sniff out a fresh source of water. We didn't find a stream or pond or anything, but all he had to do was place his palms on the ground and concentrate.
The whole power lapse thing worked in reverse for Percy.
Our only warning was a slight tremor, a low rumbling, then the ground exploded at our feet. A ten foot geyser shot into the sky. Bits of dirt and muddy water sprayed me full force in the face, knocking me, Piper, and Reyna-we were regrettably, foolishly, standing the closest-on our asses, and drenched everyone else head to toe. There was a moment of stunned silence, Percy frozen in his crouched position, perfectly dry and red in the face, the rest of us looking like half drowned cats. Leo shook his hair, peppering Annabeth in the face with even more water, and gave an impressed whistle.
"Geez Perce, we asked for a water fountain, not a water hose." Percy stood slowly, like any sudden movement would flood the area and rubbed at the back of his neck.
"Sorry, something like thats hasn't happened since...well Mt. Saint Helens. I didn't have much control back then. I dont know what happened…" He trailed off and stared at the bubbling hole of water at his feet with pursed lips. Jason and I exchanged looks. Now was probably the time to be worried.
Hazel wrung her hair, Frank turned into a labrador retriever and did that dog shaking thing-poor Annabeth was just standing in the wrong place-as we huddled around Leo who had lit himself on fire so we could dry off faster. I peeled my jacket and t-shirt off and stood there shivering in a tanktop and jeans. Next to me, a sopping wet Nico looked murderous, with gritted teeth and black hair sticking to his neck and face. It was sort of adorable. As if sensing my thoughts, his dark aura intensified and made me shiver even more.
"Well at least we have water, and showers are always nice." Will drawled. He had taken off his shirt, and I could see Nico determinedly looking anywhere but him. The others snorted in amused agreement. Reyna's face was twisted in a sour grimace, tugging at her braid which had some how gotten wrapped around her head.
"This day just keeps getting better doesn't it?" Jason sighed.
"I really don't think you want to tempt the fates, sparky." Piper said through chattering teeth. Frank had assumed his less hairy from and put his hoodie around Hazel's shoulders. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms in a desperate attempt for heat.
"Le-leo, tur-turn it up." I grumbled. He gave me a wink and a thumbs up, his whole body blazed brighter, I sighed at the extra warmth. It felt heavenly on my bare shoulders, I closed my eyes to savor the feeling. Then Nico's head shot up-I thought maybe his backside was on fire-and he hissed angrily.
"You just had to say something Grace."
"What did I-"
Groan, shuffle, growl, shuffle shuffle. My heart sank, another wave of shivers.
"Not cool!" Percy stomped his foot.
It must've been the giant water spout, and probably the Leo torch, that attracted them so quickly. That'll teach us to never be thirsty again. Another note to self-though they are dead, their hearing works just fine, almost too good. We drew our weapons-fumbled with them, dove for them, you know, typical demigod finesse-and readied for another bought with the walking dead.
I counted eighteen, but even with a Leo light source it was pretty dark so who knows how many there really were. It was best to keep thinking there were just eighteen. I felt reassurance knowing I wasn't alone, squeezed the familiar metal weight in my hand, and lunged forward to meet them-to get it over with as soon as possible, dry off, sleep, and wake up from this bizarre dream. The first three were easy-dodge, duck, slice, repeat. But more just kept coming from the trees, living nightmares that seemed to peel off from the shadows like some grotesque, cheesy 80s movie. It didn't feel like a movie. Four converged on me at once, I had to dive to the ground to avoid the snapping jaws and clawing hands. I hacked off one guys arms, turned and hit one with the butt of my sword. It went down and Reyna finished it off. I nodded my thanks, but couldn't spare another moment of distraction. She disappeared once more in the fray.
Some how we all ended up several feet apart, panic tried to seize me at the thought of being separated from my friends, so I put my game face on and stabbed a seriously decaying lady in the face with a little more force than necessary. Blood splashes over my nose and my only thought is how I was complaining not five minutes ago of being soaked with water. I take it all back. Of course, the blade gets stuck in her brain cavity, caught on the edge of her skull. I'm seconds away from yanking it free, but it's not quick enough. Something knocks into me from behind, I tumble to the ground, sword still in the zombies face. I flipped onto my back as the corpse threw itself on top of me. I just managed to grab it's shoulders, its mouth snaps mere centimeters from my throat, and hold it at bay. But these things are strong, driven by mindless, unnatural hunger, and I can tell it won't be long before I'm overpowered.
Overpowered.
The demigod in me urges, pleads, to keep my head. The minute I lose it, I'm dead. But fear has already reared its ugly head. I can feel it crawling up my throat, white hot, where it sticks in a strangled, desperate scream. The corpse gropes at me with rotting hands, the stench is awful and something sticky and warm dribbles onto my face. I glanced helplessly at my sword, just within arm's reach, but if I let go for even a second, it would rip out my jugular for sure. I struggled to get my legs up, to kick it off me, to do something other than just lay there and get eaten. I was not about to die, not like this. And then the fear turned into something much more powerful-anger. I felt something cold build up in me, starting from my stomach, then it shot up through my lungs-it burned in a pleasant way-into my arms. I recalled something in that instant, something Lou Ellen had showed me, before I really knew about incantations. It was a single word, a simple, but effective way to defend yourself she had said. It flared a bright green in my mind, traveled down my tongue and fired from my lips in a burst of magic.
"Aspida!"
The corpse went flying back in a burst of emerald light, sailed through the air and hit a tree with a sickening crunch. It crumpled to the ground, in several smoking pieces, and wasn't getting up anytime soon. Gasping, I scrambled to my feet, retrieved my sword and braced myself for another attack. But there wasn't one. I blinked in the aftermath of my magic, it left a strange taste in my mouth, black dots dancing in front of my eyes and fuzzy white symbols seared into my lids. How did I-what just-the shocked faces of my friends stared back at me, all in various states of cleanliness and weariness. I swallowed thickly, I could feel the blush creeping up my neck. I felt like I was naked or something. I waved my sword at the charred corpse.
"I got mad." I choked out. I was relieved to see the stunned expressions to morph into grins.
"Remind me never to piss you off then." Piper smiles.
"You destroyed that thing, Beck." Leo stammered, then realized his entire body was still on fire, he toned it down to just his hands. Will hovered over Nico, making sure he was ok, and Percy helped Annabeth wipe the zombie gunk off her face. I swiped at my own face with my forearm, nose wrinkled in disgust. I met Jason's questioning gaze, and shrugged. Nothing had felt different, a little more powerful, but I was angry, and my emotions always affected my magic. I bent down to get my shirt and jacket, having to use my sword to nudge the dead bodies out of the way.
"It's not safe to stay here anymore. We gotta make camp somewhere else" Hazel said, her expression said she really didn't want to, but knew we had to. Amen. Leo grumbled.
"Again? Man, who could live like this." Reyna slapped him in the back of the head and we all walked quickly, wanting to put as much distance between us and them. I looked one last time at the zombie I had shredded, told myself it was ok, that I was in control and pulled my jacket tighter against my stomach.
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It was me and Percy on first watch.
My clothes were still a little damp-we didn't want to risk another fire-and I had my arm propped on my knee to inspect a nasty scrape on my elbow I hadn't notice earlier. Damn zombie. Percy offered me a leaf bowl of water, I took a grateful sip, then passed it back. He folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the sky, as I went back to cleaning my sword.
"Crazy day, huh." He whispered. I smirked.
"Story of our lives, right?"
"I dont know about you, but this is a first for me. Sure I've been to the Underworld more than enough times, but this, this is gnarly." I chuckled, the son of Poseidon never failed to make me laugh. On the other side of me, Jason shifts in his sleep, and I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh.
"Tell me about it." I said. There was comfortable silence, I listened to the night sounds around us for anything threatening, but it was all peaceful now. Weren't we attacked by a horde of flesh eating zombies like three hours ago? Sheesh, this place was giving me a headache.
"Where do you think we are?" Percy asked, fingering the clay beads around his throat. I mulled it over, biting my lip.
"South. I think we're still in the states." He looked over at me, eyebrow raised.
"What makes you say that?"
"The climate, trees, just a gut feeling I guess. I could be wrong." He nods and shifts so he's facing me. Both eyebrows are drawn together now, he focuses on something by my leg. He looks like he's about to say something important, ask me something personal, but then he sniffs the air and frowns. Percy sits up and scans the tree line. I tense, but can't sense anything out the ordinary.
"What?" I breathe. He tilts his head, confused.
"I smell barbecue."
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Hope you liked it! :) Not exactly barbeque, Percy...
~Prosto