I hope I didn't leave you on too much of a cliff hanger last time! Well, let's stop that now, shall we? Here's your next chapter :)
Chapter Quote:
"Don't feel bad, I'm usually about to die."
~Percy Jackson in Battle of the Labyrinth
Chapter 7: Oh Look I've Been Impaled
Shiloh
The bonds holding my body were unbreakable, and they were digging into my skin. It hurt to say the least. When Luke lunged at Ares, the god nimbly moved out of the way. He slashed his sword at Luke's head. The son of Hermes rolled out of the way, his sword meeting the god's.
"Looks like you can still fight," Ares commented, retreating away and analyzing what his next move would be. I watched the fight anxiously, wondering how Luke was going to outsmart this god. A god couldn't be killed, so I wondered how my friend was going to get me out of this. However, I had full confidence in him that he would… okay, maybe not full confidence. Maybe like… ninety-nine percent confidence… or ninety percent…
Okay, so I didn't know what to think, and honestly my confidence was on the low side.
"I'll always be able to fight. And I have something to fight for," Luke growled.
"You have feelings for Miss Carter over there?"
"She saved my life. I owe her. It's time for me to save hers. I've changed Lord Ares. I'm not planning any more world domination stuff or trying to overthrow the gods."
"We'll see about that," Ares said. This time he took the offensive, slashing his sword violently and forcefully at Luke. While their battle raged on, I looked around for anything that could help Luke or me. If I could find something to help me, I could help Luke. There were trash cans, trees, a fountain, a car-
A fountain!
I stopped myself from grinning as I concentrated on the water. It wouldn't help me out of the chains, but it could possibly help Luke defeat Ares. A tugging sensation appeared in my gut before I sensed the water slowly rising out of the fountain. Opening my eyes, I saw a ten foot wave waiting to crash into its unsuspecting victim. Luke looked over at me, winking at me that he knew what I was doing. He started pushing Ares back with his sword. Ares fell for it and when he realized that there was a wave of water waiting to crash down on him, it was too late. Luke jumped back as I released the water. It smashed down on the god, knocking him to the ground. Luke swiped his sword across Ares chest, leaving a massive gash. Ichor started spilling out, but it didn't deter the god. He staggered back up, looking more pissed off than usual.
"I forgot to put chains on this chick's powers," Ares grumbled. He knelt in front of me and said, "This battle is between me and him, got it sweet cheeks?"
"This battle is pointless," I replied bluntly.
"Keep your powers and your thoughts to yourself."
"I'll keep my powers to myself, but no promises on my thoughts."
"Yeah, you will." Ares snapped his fingers again and a cloth wrapped around my mouth. I struggled against it, trying to get it off my mouth, but all I succeeded in doing was toppling ungracefully over onto the nasty New York sidewalk. I kept my head lifted so I wouldn't touch the ground. Smelling it was bad enough. I wriggled my body to brace it against Ares taxi cab so I could squirm my way up into sitting position. Meanwhile, Luke and Ares went at it again. Luke was able to dodge away and land his sword on Ares back. It almost seemed as if the god was letting Luke get in hits to give him so much confidence in his abilities that he would become overconfident and Ares could exploit that. But was Ares really all that wise?
However, the more I studied Luke in his fighting, the more I realized he knew what Ares was trying to do. Luke would find a break in the fight, somehow nick or slash at the god, and then back away, looking and preparing for his next move.
I flopped like a fish as I somehow was able to get into sitting position. At that moment, I heard a cry come from Luke. Snapping my head in his direction, I saw him flying into a building. He crumpled to the ground. Blood trickled on the side of his head; his eyes were fluttering to stay open. He made eye contact with me; I saw desperation, terror…
"I win," Ares declared triumphantly. He turned to me, eyes smoldering in satisfaction. "How should you die?"
I wanted to tell him to go shove that sword where the sun don't shine but the thing covering my mouth prevented me from doing saying it so all that came out of my mouth was something like: "mmm-hmmm-umm-hm-mmm."
"Painful or quick? You know, I think painful, to just make it icing on the cake. Then this blasted kid will never get to stay here on earth again." Ares lowered his sword at me; it shifted into a spear. "Let's go right through the stomach. You'll bleed out that way."
As he lifted his arm back, getting ready to propel the spear into me, Ares staggered forward from a sword being sheathed in his abdomen. He turned around. Luke stood there, looking extraordinarily pissed off.
"It takes more than that to bring me down kid," the god snarled. With that said, he ran the spear through my stomach, impaling me to the car. I hadn't even realized what happened until Ares pulled Luke's sword out of his stomach, let it clatter to the ground, released me of my imprisoning bonds, and flashed out of existence. I looked down in shock. I didn't really feel anything, but I felt lightweight, and I knew that wasn't a good sign.
"Oh look, I've been impaled," I noted as almost an afterthought.
"Shiloh!" Luke exclaimed, dropping to his knees in front of me.
"You fought wonderfully," I said with a smile.
"Not well enough. Okay, this is going to hurt, but I'm going to pull it out and I'm going to carry you to the water fountain so you can use the water to heal okay?" I nodded, barely hearing him. My vision was getting spotty. A short scream erupted from my throat when Luke pulled out the spear. He lifted me up immediately and carried me to the fountain. He set me down in the water. With as much focus and strength I could muster, I told the water to heal me. I felt the cool liquid actually running through the gaping hole in my body. It felt weird and cool at the same time. It's hard to describe. My body shook as I waited impatiently for the water to work. I didn't even know if it would! I mean, this was a pretty severe injury.
"Luke?" I said softly.
"I'm here," he replied immediately. I leaned my head back to look at him. I was about to say something when a figure approached us. Thinking it was Ares, I yelled, "Watch out!"
Luke rolled to the side and slashed his sword at the newcomer. They jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting sliced in two.
"Easy you two. I come in peace," the man said. I could've sworn it was Luke's twin but I knew better. I'd met this god in the war. He'd been devastated over Luke's death. Luke had been his pride and joy.
"Hermes," I said a little breathlessly while Luke simultaneously said, "Dad?"
Hermes gave a hesitant smile towards his son, as if not sure how to react since the last time they'd met, it probably wasn't good. But, surprising both of us, Luke knelt to the ground, showing reverence to his father. Hermes seemed shocked by the gesture and remained speechless.
"I'd do the same, but I'm a little incapacitated at the moment," I joked lightly, trying to break the tension. I saw the corner of Luke's mouth turn upward into a smile. My comment seemed to knock Hermes back into his senses though because he ordered, "Luke, stand up. I am your father. You do not need to kneel to me."
"You're a god though," Luke replied, standing up and refusing to look his father in the eye.
"I'm your dad first." Luke's eyes snapped up to meet his father's, stunned to hear such a statement.
"What are you doing here?" Luke asked quietly. His tone remained emotionless, making me wonder what was going through his head.
"I came to heal your friend here. Zeus told Ares not to get involved but being the god of war, he has a temperament. I always thought he'd better suit the position as god of rash decisions," Hermes responded. I snorted at the last part, completely agreeing with the god.
"Gods aren't supposed to get involved with their children's lives," Luke pointed out.
"We make exceptions once in a while. Besides, it's not her time to die."
"Good to know," I muttered.
"Why now? You never showed up when I needed you most before! You were absent practically my whole life! I had to deal with mom when she had her episodes and as a little kid it terrified me! Do you know what that was like? No, you don't. Because you were never there!" Luke stormed. Hermes might as well have been a kicked puppy with his expression.
"I will never be able to say I'm sorry enough. I will heal Miss Carter and then be on my way," Hermes promised. He turned to me and I gave him an empathetic smile. Luke helped me out of the fountain. Being a daughter of Poseidon, I was still dry. I wrapped one of my arms around Luke's shoulders to help support myself because annoyingly, I didn't have the strength to stand on my own. Hermes placed his hand just above my stomach. A golden light (sounds rather cliché doesn't it) emanated from his hand and onto my wound. I felt the damaged tissues, muscles, and organs start to fix themselves. It didn't hurt, but I'll be damned if I didn't say it felt totally strange and funky. Within seconds, my wound was healed, and most of the strength returned to my body.
"Thank you Lord Hermes," I said gratefully. "I wasn't quite ready to die today."
"Of course, Miss Carter. Would you two like to be taken back to Camp Half-Blood?"
"No, we'll call Chiron," Luke replied shortly.
"I understand. And son?"
"Yes?"
"I'll always be watching out for you."
"When have you helped me recently?" Luke demanded.
Hermes smiled mischievously. "I sent you Shiloh, didn't I?" Giving the two of us dumbfounded demigods a wink, Hermes strolled around the side of the building and out of view. Somehow I knew that if Luke and I followed him, he wouldn't be there.
"My father sent you?" Luke queried, looking down at me.
"I… I guess so. I didn't need to walk past the Hermes cabin that day but for some reason I did. That day was the day you came back."
"I don't know what came over me. I told my dad I wasn't angry at him anymore and then I yell at him. Oh gods, what have I done?!" Luke rambled, putting his hands on the back of his head.
"It's hard to get over things that you've believed for so long. The feelings will pass. I promise, and you'll be able to make up with your dad. Now how about we get back to camp? You need some ambrosia and nectar. That gash on your head isn't pretty," I remarked. I willed the water to come heal it. I could heal the cut, but I couldn't heal the probable concussion he had.
"Thanks," he said, giving me a smile.
"You're very welcome. You go sit down. I'll call Chiron." Luke obeyed and sat on the edge of the fountain. My call to Chiron didn't take long. Chiron himself was coming to pick me and Luke up to make sure we avoided any more incidents. I went over to sit next to Luke. He didn't move, just continued staring at the ground.
"Everything's okay Luke," I whispered. "You're okay, I'm okay, the camp is okay, your dad's okay, Olympus is okay."
"How'd you know I was thinking about all that?" He gave a small chuckle.
"I could just tell. But seriously, we'll get you to stay."
"Why do you want me to stay? Why would anyone want me to stay? I'm a destroyer."
"You were a destroyer. So now be a creator. Help create a new camp. Create new friendships. Create a new life."
"You have a lot of faith in someone who nearly got you killed."
"Because you didn't give up and it was pretty gratifying seeing that jerk get run through by a sword."
Luke snorted. "It felt good. You'll have to try it one day."
"Gladly. Now get your head out of whatever dark place it's in and focus on the good things. Okay?" I asked, holding my hand for him to take.
"Okay," Luke responded, taking my hand.
I hope you enjoyed! Please review :)
