And so it came to be that I haven't updated in an extremely long amount of tyme... what can I say? I won't lie and say that I've had too much going on, I've just not been focused on fanfiction in quite awhile. However! I am here now. Rejoice, and be glad. On ward, I dare say, into my longest chapter yet!
The first thing I noticed was the wings. One wing was white while the other wing was black, and the contrast sent my mind spiraling, so I nearly missed the second thing I noticed about the angel. She was calm, not at all acting as if I had just been poisoned and possibly died and met death before coming back here. Go figure. Then I heard her speaking.
"He should be waking up soon... the toxin only lasts for twelve hours, and it has been close to nine." Her voice was silk, but put me in mind not only of the silk cloth in a gift box, but also the dagger that can be laying under it, readying to be plunged into your chest at a moment's notice.
"We still have three hours. Do not underestimate my toxins, I am the best there is at what I do, after all." Came another voice, and while I'm not sure, I think it was Zeal's.
"We aren't underestimating you, Zeal. You know how his kind are, though. Things tend to be off where ever they are concerned, if you haven't noticed." This voice... Xi? What does she mean by 'his kind'...?
Before I could muse on what she may have meant, the angel had taken a glance at me and noticed my half-dazed yet semi-awake state and pointed towards me, talking to Zeal. "See? I told you he'd wake up soon. Thantos wouldn't keep him for long, anyway, even if he probably did miss him."
Waking slightly at the familiar name, I began to digest what had just been said. Death, Thantos, toxin, his kind, and other words and phrases compacted themselves into my head as I jerked up, my mind going into overdrive before I could reign it back in to safety.
"Thantos? Toxi-" I began to fire off questions, not even fully formed, before I was cut off by a new voice.
"Pancakes! And waffles!" Exclaimed the voice that I determined to be Xeno's with a quick glance in his direction.
"P-pancakes? What about Thanto-" I began, stuttering over the fact that he wanted to talk about pancakes and waffles rather than my being poisoned and quite likely meeting with DEATH before waking up to see three people conversing about me, wondering how much longer I'd be out, and then being assured (incorrectly) that I would be out for a few more hours.
Here the angel placed her hand on my shoulder, probably in an attempt to calm me. As I looked back at her, I felt incredibly stupid as I had yet to have noticed her beauty before seeing her face. She had pale white skin, black hair in a pixie cut style, and piercing, ice blue eyes that seemed to burrow themselves deep into my soul.
"We can talk more about it later. Right now it's best for everyone to sit down and have something to eat. We'll answer your questions afterwards." She said it as a statement, almost sounding like a command, but it felt more like she was trying to assure me that it was okay, and that I shouldn't worry too much about it.
My stomach answered for me, seeming to agree with her as a loud growl came from it, causing laughs and smiles from all around. Grinning slightly myself I reflected upon how I ended up here. Let's see... I fell asleep, almost died, told off Annabeth and Grover... then I fell asleep again, DID die... I think... woke back up, somehow alive... somewhere in between I meet a pyromaniac, a master in the use of poisons and toxins... And let's not forget Death himself.
"So... someone mentioned pancakes?" Was all I could ask as I simply accepted how messed up my life had become over the course of twenty four hours.
Now I know why Xeno's last name is Nightshade. Don't eat anything he gives you. EVER. (For those of you who don't know, Nightshade, at least in it's Belladonna form, is deadly. It's more commonly called Deadly Nightshade, and for good reason.)
"What do you mean you let Xeno cook the pancakes?!" Zeal bellowed at the top of his lungs after having taken a bit, only to spit the food back out and run to the bathroom, not returning for several minutes after.
"I doubt that bacteria could ever grow on anything he cooks! I-it's just NOT okay to let him cook!" He continued to rant as everyone else slid their plates away from them, towards the center of the table.
"Zeal, be reasonable... we were all in the battle room with you when Xeno was cooking. Nobody knew that it was him who had made the pancakes or the waffles." Xi, ever the voice of reason, it seemed, argued. It didn't escape my notice that she was close to tear from holding back laughter at his situation, however.
"Hey! My food is perfectly fine! You jus- you just can't appreciate true flavor! That's it!" Xeno screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at Zeal towards the end.
"Enough, children. Play nice. We still have a lot of things to discuss. And no, Xeno, before you ask, whether or not your food is edible is not one of those things." The angel- no, Nemesis, as I had been told on the way to the dining room, spoke quietly, her voice stern, but face soft, a small smile upon it.
"Is one of those things how I died, why I am back, and why you let Zeal poison me?" I asked, still not quite over the fact that I had been poisoned by Zeal, and how he seemed unharmed from our fight. I proceeded to mumble under my breathe about idiotic, crazy eyed, crazy swordsmen until I realized that that line of thought could apply to both he and I.
"Well, if you want to be technical, it was a toxin, not a poison. And you didn't really die... you just... fell asleep for a bit, that's it! And you know how you di- fell asleep, so why'd you even bother asking?" Came Xeno's voice, still slightly high pitched due to the fact that he was offended by the earlier comments on his cooking skills, or lack thereof in this case.
"Really? I could've sworn that it was your cooking that killed him, Xeno. Then again, I was delighted to see my toxin work so quickly and efficiently... So I suppose I should take credit where it is due. As to why I used a toxin on you... Well, my sword WAS coated in it already... but it was a test of sorts, too. To see if you really were who we were looking for." Zeal said, seemingly proud in having killed me, while still managing to take a verbal jab at Xeno on the topic of his cooking. What a proud, arrogant prick I find myself liking more and more every tyme he speaks.
That is, until the words test and looking for registered in my mind. "Test? What do you mean test? You mean to tell me... that you killed me... just for a TEST?"
At this, he nodded. "In more or less words, we sure did. As I said, we had to be sure that you were the one we were looking for."
"And what were you looking for. exactly?" I asked, not quite sure if I wanted to know or not.
"We had to be sure that you were dead." Zeal said, grinning slightly at me.
Annnnnnd Cut! That's a wrap folks. Please note, I will try to update more often, as I've found a sort of direction for this story that I think I'll stick with. Once again, feel free to leave a review telling me how I did and who you want him to hook up with at some point in this story. Also any OCs you want added can join Nemesis, or fight against out little band of misfit(toys) and be a follower of Nyke! Thanks for reading, please, Review!