Disclaimer: Miss Author does not own PJO/HoO. If she did, Drew would go poof! into a world of non-existence.
I'd like to make a special shout out "SHOUT OUT!" to potatofairyilzm and guest because I didn't thank them for their review in the previous previous chapter because I updated before they reviewed...sooo...THANK YOU! :)
Thanks to all those who reviewed chapter five, or six, whichever you want to call it:
I am Hazel Daughter of Pluto - yay!
the electric phantom - uh, yeah, I update every day.
Storm229 - I like your cat picture
vball17girl - yeah clever clever Reyna
potatofairyilzm - um, you always over think everything
ps. reviews make me happy
Hylla and I sat in the library, thinking. Actually, Hylla was muttering to herself, and I was thinking.
We're in the library, the 'r' section…now what? I frowned. Hylla had told me that neither of us could leave this library until one of us solved the rest of the riddle. I wandered up and down the aisle, glancing at different books here and there. I picked up a book, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Hmm…sounds interesting, but probably won't help at all. I slid it back in its slot in the shelf.
Our library wasn't like normal modern-day libraries. Enormous oak shelves towered over anyone who wandered into the library. Each shelf was packed with clay tablets, scrolls, and books from the last three millennia.
I paced up and down and up and down the aisle picking up books at random.
Then right out of the blue, a single book started to glow.
"Hylla, do you see that?" I said in amazement.
"See what?" Okay, so maybe Hylla couldn't see it. What does it mean?
"Nothing, nevermind…" I mumbled.
I crept closer and squinted at the worn out spine.
Riddles of Ancient Civilizations transcribed by Laquisha Kazalopolopoliz. (A/N I totally made that up)
The first thing I noticed was that the book was in the wrong section. Second, I realized, was that this book was the only joke/riddle book Circe had in her monstrosity of a library.
I pulled it off the shelf and the entire shelf began to vibrate loudly.
"Reyna! What did you do?" Hylla shrieked, jumping away from the shelf.
"Um…" I mumbled.
Just like the wall in Circe's room, the shelf caved in to reveal a dark tunnel.
"ARRRRRGGGGGG! What are you two damm witches doing in there?" A horrible voice ripped through the air.
My eyes widened. Blackbeard!
"Come on, help me get the others." Hylla and I pushed, pulled, and shoved attendants to the library.
"Go! Now! The library, there's no time for groups and blah, the pirates! Just go!" I shouted.
"Go! We'll hold off the pirates." Hylla told the last two girls while pushing them towards the library.
"No, we'll stay as well. There are seven of them and four of us. We'll each take two, Reyna as well, and you get Blackbeard," one of the girls said to Hylla.
Hylla smiled grimly, "Got it. Reyna, did you hear?"
I nodded and charged at the two closest pirates, swinging my sword in front of me. I slashed at the first one, dodged his swing, and stabbed at the second. The second pirate blocked my attack and swung back at me and I felt blood dripping down my arm. Then, as if in agreement, the two pirates attacked from both sides. I'd never tried to block something like this before. At the very last second, I ducked down and the pirates' swords clanged together with earthshaking force, knocking both pirates out cold. I turned to the others and saw that one of the other girls lay dead in a pool of sickening red, gooey blood.
The other of the two girls had knocked out both of her pirates, leaving behind just three. Now that it was three on three, Blackbeard and his two ugly buddies retreated; this battle was not going as planned. For him at least.
Hylla, the other girl, and I sprinted for the library. The pirates didn't follow. Suddenly, I stopped. I couldn't just leave the dead girl's body. I ran back, gathered up my courage, and dragged the body behind me to the library.
~oOo~
I didn't know the girl's name until after she died. The girls who had fought with us were sisters, twins in fact. The girl who died was Clytemnestra. Her twin, Helen. I felt ashamed I didn't know her.
I prayed to Pluto that she'd get into Elysium. If anyone deserved it, she did.
Once we escaped, Hylla, Helen, and I wrapped Clytemnestra's body in leaves and burned it. We sat on the beach in silence all night.
I didn't know the girl, yet I felt like crying. I felt like sobbing into the darkness of the night were no one could see or hear me. I realized that this girl's death made such an impact on me because she sacrificed her life to give the rest of us freedom. Her death was sorrowful and bitter, yet honorable. Death in battle is honorable.
The sweetness of freedom, the bitterness of death. Tears welled in my eyes as I looked into the night. The bittersweet night.
