Sweet Dreams

Chapter 3

(Archie POV)

Well, it's been a while... Happy New Year to you all, hope 2015 is a great year! **Warning, there is a lot of swearing in here, and a bit of a dark subject.**

It seemed as if Cronus were playing games with time itself, just to make me more angry. Time passed extremely slowly that night, the worst part being that no news came to us on Atlanta's condition. Jay tried a couple of times knocking on the door to Chiron's study, asking for answers, yet he was always denied and the doors shut on his face. Odie even tried to get into the room by stating that the experience would be great medical training for future situations. But, he suffered the same rotten luck as Jay. Eventually everyone gave up on trying to find out what was going on and gave in to sleep, I was the only one still awake. I couldn't sleep knowing that Atlanta was in the room across the hall, fighting for her life. All I could do was pace around and pray to the gods that she would pull through. I wasn't into showing emotions that much and sharing thoughts with people, but I needed Atlanta to still be there, so that I could finally tell her how much she really meant to me.

Wow! I thought. Smooth, Arch, you wait until she's on death's doorstep before finally admitting you love her! I was rotten at this kinda stuff, but when she woke up, if she ever woke up, it would be better late than never to finally tell her.

When the sun started to rise and what seemed to be an endless night came to an end, Artemis finally stepped out of the room, looking at us silently. Theresa practically pounced on her, like a jaguar on its prey, demanding for answers.

''Is Atlanta okay? Can we go see her now? What happened to her?'' Theresa frantically asked Atlanta's mentor.

Without answering any of her questions, Artemis looked passed the frantic teenager and at the rest of the team.

''Is everyone here?'' She asked solemnly.

Shit, this was bad. If Atlanta was okay, she would have burst out of the room screaming the good news, without having to wait to check if everyone was there. I started to feel extremely lightheaded as the rest of the team tentatively stood up and approached Artemis. We seemed to be sharing one common, dark thought.

Artemis took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak.

''I umm...'' she quickly looked at the floor, while nervously playing with her fingers.

Shit, shit, shit! This wasn't a good sign. I wasn't psychic like Theresa, but even I could tell that nothing good was about to happen.

''Look, kids...'' Artemis trailed on.

''Just fucking spit it out!'' I yelled at her! If she was about to say what I was thinking, I'd rather it be over as soon as possible.

Artemis stared at me, surprised at my sudden and rude explosion.

''She's dead isn't she!'' I yelled angrily. Her loss of words confirmed what I thought. ''Atlanta's dead!'' I repeated, letting the words sink in. No one else spoke, in shock themselves. No one ever thought the day would come when they would lose one of their own. ''You guys are the gods of the fucking universe and you couldn't save a mortals life!'' I told Artemis, my outburst startling those around me.

''Archie!'' Jay yelled at me this time. ''It's not their fault, I'm sure the gods did everything in their power to save Atlanta.''

''Oh right, I'd almost forgotten that stupid, blind, fate you have in the gods!'' I snarled at Jay, rage taking over my body. ''Where has that fate gotten us now? No where, Atlanta's gone!'' I noticed Odie's body recoil a bit at my harsh words, but I still continued. ''Hey, guess that means the prophecy is broken too and Cronus will destroy us all!''

''Archie!'' Theresa started scolding me, but Herry beat her to the punch.

''Would you stop being a dick! Look we're all sad and in shock that Atlanta died and I realise everyone has different ways of coping but blaming the gods and insulting your teammates won't solve anything, especially that the prophecy is broken. So either you get your shit together and help us for Atlanta's sake or you buzz off and have your temper tantrum somewhere else. Got it?''

Everyone stood and looked at Herry shocked at his rant, he was usual the one comforting them with soft words. But deep down, they knew it was true about Cronus, when he found out, he wouldn't hesitate to attack.

I stared back at Herry, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. How could Herry brush off Atlanta's death so quickly. Worse than that he seemed to accept it and from the looks of it, so did the rest if the team. I couldn't believe it.

''Archie,'' Theresa said more calmly. ''I think Atlanta would have liked for us to mourn her death later and fight in her honour now, more than ever. We need to stop Cronus then get to the bottom of her death.

''Well, since the prophecies broken, I guess you guys don't need me to stop Cronus anymore. I can't believe what you're saying right now! How can you guys brush off her death so easily and be ready to fight Cronus, when he hasn't even attacked yet! Have you guys gone completely mental!'' I yelled at them, but none of them looked at me in the eyes.

''You know she went peacefully.'' Artemis said calmly, speaking up for the first time since my outburst. ''Chiron gave her lots of different herbs and potions, which seemed to ease off her pain. She also drifted in and out of sleep near the end. But I think she was at terms with what was happening, she seemed to accept her death.'' Artemis concluded.

''Bullshit! Atlanta's a fighter, she would have never given up!'' I yelled, but the rest of the team ignored me. Did they all buy these lies! What had happened to my team, none of them would have believed this even if they had proof. They would fight to save her, and get her body back from the underworld! None of this had happened when Jay had died!

''Did she say anything?'' Odie asked speaking up for the first time since the news. ''Like about us?''

Artemis nodded. ''She did.'' The goddess smiled slightly. ''She said : Archie, you lazy sack of potatoes, wake up!''

The team nodded and laughed fondly, as if this were completely normal for someone, someone like Atlanta, to say on her deathbed.

I looked at them disgusted, how could they accept all of this! ''What the fuck!'' I yelled again.

Sorry for the cliffhanger, you all must hate me after making you have to wait so long for this chapter, I could say I promise to post the next chapter soon, but you am I kidding. Maybe a miracle will happen! Thank you all so much for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!