So I published another sorta long one, and YAY Everything interesting finally starts! ENJOY :D
Jace
Ever wake up in a strange place and not know where you were, then suddenly have all your memories rush back and you remember everything? Well that's exactly what did not happen to me.
I opened my eyes slowly, which were blurry with sleep, and took in my strange surroundings. I'm in a bed, I realized. And then all my memories came flooding back to me.
Illiana and I had been swallowed up by the ground, then suddenly we were falling in the sky. That's all. I don't remember anything after that or where I landed, and I definitely don't remember walking to or getting into this bed. I could have landed near some people, who had put me in a bedroom. The second option I was thinking about is I'd fallen straight into the bed and magically tucked myself in. Considering there was a roof over me, and that it was just plain impossible, I discarded that idea.
Who was taking care of me? No. Who was taking care of us. I suddenly remembered Illiana and turned around quickly, discovering her sleeping soundly right next to me in the bed. I felt my face turn hot and wondered what to do. She'd probably punch me if she woke up and I was sleeping next to her.
I slowly slipped out of the soft bed, careful not to wake her. I took in her features. Her eyelashes were resting gently against her cheeks but her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, as if she was dreaming.
I leaned over her, and without hesitation, pressed a kiss to her forehead. I couldn't help it, she was beautiful. It's like when you see a baby. Imagine the cutest and most adorable baby in the world, sleeping. Irresistible.
I turned around and eyed the door, not knowing what to do next. Then suddenly I heard a yawn.
"Jace?" Illiana mumbled sleepily.
I immediately sat on the bed again, leaning down over her. My face was traumatizingly close to hers. "Yea Princess?"
She yawned again, her eyes half-closed. "Where- where are we?"
I looked around skeptically. "I don't know."
"How come I'm in this bed? How'd we get here? How'd you find me?" she fired one question after the other, very curious.
"The first two questions, I'm as equally confused. As to the third, I woke up here too." I told her, then realizing my huge mistake my eyes widened and I looked at her nervously.
"Woke up here?" she asked, confused. "But I don't see another-"
She stopped short, and her cheeks colored red. "Jace? Were you sleeping in the same bed as me?"
I jumped out of the bed."I swear, I didn't do anything!" Then I realized I was lying, because I had kissed her forehead. But that wasn't really anything, was it?
She sighed and smiled up at me. "I trust you Jace."
We stood in a comfortable silence for a minute, before I realized she had gone back to sleep. I wondered what time it was? Maybe I should sleep too.
I realized that there was still only one bed, but I was really tired. I hesitated before crawling into the bed next to her, and I just stared up at the ceiling. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Illiana shivering, and I hugged her gently. She smiled in her sleep and cuddled closer to me, and then I fell asleep too.
I woke up again, but not knowing the time I couldn't tell how long I'd slept for. I looked at Illiana, still sleeping in my arms, and decided to wake her up.
"Illiana," I whispered into her ear.
She groaned. "Five more minutes please," she said softly.
"Hey Princess," I told her, "It's me, Jace. Come on get up."
"No." she responded with a frown, her eyes still closed.
I sat up on the bed and analyzed the situation. Then, I got an idea.
I put my fingers over her stomach, and started to tickle her. Her eyes sprang open and she broke into a fit of laughter and screams.
"Jace, Jace!" she yelled between tears, "Please stop I'll- what do you want?"
"I have no mercy," I said evilly to her, and avoided her flying fists.
She finally managed to grab my hands and twist them, so that I couldn't move them anymore. She glared at me, and I grinned back.
"You're such an Arrowhead," she muttered, and then she climbed out of bed.
I smiled and followed her example climbing out with her, and started to walk towards the door. I looked back, to see Illiana looking at some pictures on the wall.
"Look at all these kids," she nodded her head towards them. I glanced at the multiple photos on the wall. They were the same eight kids over and over again. There was a boy with green eyes, a blonde girl, a scrawny black-haired boy, a Chinese guy, a dark-skinned girl that looked the youngest, a girl with choppy brown hair, a blonde-haired boy and a girl with caramel-colored hair. Were those the people who had brought us here? And, how come they were just kids?
I took Illiana's hand and walked her over to the door. "Come on Princess," I whispered, "Let's find a way outa here."
I opened the door to a hallway full of more doors. Then at the end of the long corridor, I saw stairs leading up.
I practically dragged Illiana over to them, but she was so curious about everything. She wanted to open every single door and peek into every single room we passed. It took about three minutes to finally reach the stairs that were only about 50 yards away.
We walked up the stairs, and I heard Illiana gasp next to me. We were on the deck, of a boat.
I suddenly noticed the eight other people also on the boat, staring at us with intense curiosity. Illiana gripped my hand and I squeezed back. Who were these kids?
Then they all broke into grins and smiles, and one of them spoke. "Welcome to the Argo II, the most excellent and prestigious ship of the century, crafted by yours truly." said the scrawny looking one. He bowed, and walked over to the hull.
"And meet our head dragon," he said with a smirk. I was confused for a second, and then...and then….. the dragon turned around at blew fire at us, making a face that looked like he was grinning.
I just stared, my jaw dropped, and Illiana looked ahead blankly. "What in the world is going on..." she whispered.
"Um, excuse me?" I asked nervously.
"Mhm?" the same boy replied.
"Uh, where are we?"
"You have entered a parallel universe in which dragons rule and all humans are slaves." he grinned evilly. "We are all flesh-eating dragons in disguise, and you shall now serve us!"
The caramel-haired girl walked up to him and smacked his arm. "Leo! Be nice!"
Leo winced at her and smiled weakly. "Easy sunshine, just a joke."
She rolled her eyes and he wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh a bit. Then the green-haired boy walked up to us smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry," he told us. "Leo was just joking about the parallel universe and humans being slaves. Us flesh-eating dragons are friendly."
The blonde girl groaned. "Percy shut-up! We're supposed to be taking care of them, not scaring them to death."
"But the dragons are real though." the blonde boy glanced at the choppy brown-haired girl's glare and said defensively, "What? It wasn't a lie."
She sighed. "Boys are so stupid…" she muttered.
"Not me though, right?" the Chinese boy said.
The young girl who looked about our age walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Well sometimes," she told him, grinning, and he frowned.
"Well girls are…" The boy name Percy started.
"You wanna finish that sentence Seaweed Brain?" The blonde-haired girl raised her eyebrows at him and he gulped.
"Girls are beautiful." he finished, but she still looked miffed.
"I mean only you! Only you, are beautiful." he corrected, and she gave him an approving look.
"Aw come on!" he whined. "I don't even get a kiss?"
She punched his shoulder lightly. "Fine," she said. She took his hand and kissed the back of it.
"That not what I meant Annabeth!" But she just shrugged, while trying to hide a smile.
"Piper's beautiful too." The blonde boy hugged the girl named Piper, but she raised her eyebrows.
"Jason are you sniffing my hair?" she asked.
He stopped, embarrassed. "What?" he asked defensively. "You smell like coconut." he huffed and crossed his arms, and Piper ruffled his hair.
I just kept staring at them, and they'd seemed like they'd forgotten we were here. But then the Chinese boy turned towards us.
"Do you two know how you got here?" he asked.
The rest of them looked at us too.
We shook our heads, but then I remembered something from right before we started falling.
"There were…. eidolons." The all tensed up when I said this, and started listening intently.
"They kept on talking about how they wanted to live again, how they would use us or something…." Illiana shivered beside me and I put my arm around her. She held onto my hand over her shoulder.
"How did you get away?" The girl named Annabeth asked.
"We didn't. They tried to touch us, but something was stopping them. Then they started talking about the king and queen of the gods and how they had orders to deliver us somewhere…"
The caramel-haired girl took a step forward, and the rest of the group nodded in relief and understanding. I was still confused though.
"But what happened after?" she asked.
"The ground," Illiana responded before I could speak. "It started to disappear, like it was crumbling beneath us. And next thing we knew we were just falling, in the sky."
"Don't worry," Piper told us. "You were meant to be here."
Then Jason's eyes widened. "Day, in my dreams, she told me something. You will be joined by others. That's what she said."
"Frank and I were having the same dreams." the younger girl said seriously.
"So they must be who Day was talking about!" Frank said excitedly.
"But there's still one thing…" Percy said. "Who saved them from that fall in the water?"
Illiana looked up at me fearfully, but I smiled reassuringly at her.
"Fall in the water?" I asked. "Like in the ocean?"
"Yea, but something saved you." said the caramel-haired girl. "You rose out of the water on a wave and landed on the boat."
I gaped at them. What?
"Until we figure that out, would you guys like something to eat?" asked the younger girl.
As if on cue, my stomach grumbled so loudly it could have been mistaken for a stampede of elephants. Illiana heard it too and snickered at me. I gave her a look and nudged her in the shoulder, but she just laughed more.
Piper was smiling at us. "What time is it?" I asked. It must have been 9 or 10 PM, because it was pretty dark outside.
"4:30. You guys have been sleeping for four hours," said Frank.
What? That can't be right. It would have to be way brighter if it was 4:30.
"Why- why is it so dark?" Illiana questioned, as if reading my mind.
They all looked around sadly at the sky, and sighed. "We'll explain it later. And since you'll be staying with us for the rest of our quest, you'll be sleeping in a cabin too…." Percy trailed off.
"We only have one extra cabin though, since we weren't really expecting visitors," Leo told us. "You're welcome to sleep with your girlfriend if you want."
I felt my cheeks grow hot, and noticed my arm was still around Illiana. I quickly took it off and saw Illiana's red face out of the corner of my eyes.
"I'm not his…. girlfriend," she said with an embarrassed laugh. "We're just friends. That's all."
"Mhm." Percy raised his eyebrows at me, and I felt myself blush again.
"Oh leave them alone Percy," Annabeth said to him. But I could tell no one believed us. Illiana didn't like me anyway, right?
"Anyways," Leo began, "Calypso'll take you guys to the mess hall." Calypso, the caramel-haired girl, nodded and walked over to us smiling.
"Everyone else, emergency meeting over there!"
Calypso led us down a different set of stairs that led into a magnificent dining hall with a long table into the center. But what really took my breath away, were the walls.
There were scenes playing of a someplace, on the walls like screens. There was a rock-climbing wall with lava pouring out the top, and a huge bonfire surrounded by more than hundred kids of different ages. But the weirdest sight, was something that looked like a game of capture the flag. Except the kids playing were wearing spartan helmets and heavy armor, and running around with swords, daggers or spears.
Illiana wasn't looking at that though. She was staring in awe at the dining table. Two plates had just…..appeared, and were filling themselves up, but the one on the right caught my eye. It had filled itself with pizza. But a special kind. Pizza topped with pasta and lettuce.
I'd remember that food anywhere. It was the only memory of my torn up life that I'd actually treasured.
It was only three years ago. My mom had recently married a man, and they had already had a baby that had just turned one. That kid cried so much I swear its tears could have filled and overflowed the Mississippi River.
But when he saw my face, no matter what the situation, he would stop. He would stop crying and smile at the sight of my face. As l long as I was there in the same room as him, that baby would be happy.
We were in Italy, for my mom's and new step-dad's honeymoon. All my life I'd been living alone with my mom and now I could be happy, I could have a family.
So far the vacation was going great. I was about 10 at the time, and we were walking down the street with my mom on one side and my step-dad on the other, with baby Apollo (my mom has a thing for naming her kids after Greek gods) in my arms.
We found an Italian pizza place on the side of the street and walked inside. We were all in a good mood and felt a little crazy, so we ordered pasta-topped pizza. Even little Apollo was trying to eat it, but no avail because of course, he had no teeth.
Despite the weirdness of it, it was the best meal I'd had in my life because it was with a family. That day, in the evening, we were standing outside a small cafe, waiting for my step-dad and Apollo, who were in the bathroom because he needed his diaper changed. It was pitch black, and the usually crowded streets of Venice were empty at night.
It all happened so suddenly I'm not even sure I saw it right. A huge black dog just appeared out of nowhere. I'm not sure if it was a dog at all, because it was the size of a truck. I froze at the sight of its hungry eyes and its monstrous fangs.
My mom grabbed something from her purse that looked like a dagger, and tried to swing at it. The humungous dog dodged it just barely, but still earned a wide cut in its side.
It growled menacingly and grabbed my mom and threw her against the wall like a rag doll. I gasped, still unable to move, and my eyes widened. My moms head was bleeding and her face had paled. The huge dog walked over to my mom and clawed at her stomach. That's when my courage returned. I remember not really thinking about anything, just that my mom was dying because, of this monster.
"Don't. You. Touch her!" I grabbed my mom's dagger from the floor next to her lifeless body, and ran with all my strength towards the beast.
The dog charged at me too, but right when it reached me I ducked and slid under as it ran over me. I stuck up the dagger into its belly as it was moving and cut it straight in half. I crawled out from under the big black mass and stared at it in wonder. What the heck did I just do?
Then I watched in bewilderment as the monster disappeared little by little, until there was no trace of it ever being here. Unless of course, for my mom bleeding to death in the corner against the wall. I sprinted up to her, but as I stared at my mom I knew it was too late. The black dog had probably broken her skull, her spine and her ribs, and she could never heal from all her scratches and wounds.
I cried softly as I watched the face of my beautiful mother slowly lose its color, until she was finally dead.
Just then my step-dad walked out of the cafe cheerfully with Apollo in his arms. He looked around confused, before finally seeing us leaning against a corner. He gasped and his eyes hardened as he ran over to my mom and caressed her cheek tenderly. Then he turned on me with a cold, dark look in his eyes.
"What did you do to her?" he asked quietly but in a dangerous tone. My eyes widened and I shook my head vigorously.
I stammered, unsure what to say. "I- I didn't do it! There- there was this, this thing, tha- that came and, and it just-"
"Save it," he growled. I tried to explain what had happened, but he could never believe me. From that day on he had always blamed me for what happened to my mother that night. Little did I know that the best meal of my life together with my family, was also my last. I could never have a family again.
And for the first time, Apollo looked into my eyes, and cried.
I switched back to reality and my eyes teared up as I looked at the slice of pizza on my plate. Despite the horrible memories of that day, that food could always remind me of when I had all the people who loved me, together. Even if it lasted only for a few weeks.
Illiana noticed and took my hand. "You ok Jace?" she whispered to me. I had almost forgotten she was there. I smiled when I thought about Illiana and gave her a grateful look.
"Yea Princess." then I grinned. "Let's eat!"
I was starving. I gobbled up my slice of pizza so fast that after two bites, I was wondering where it went. I was too hungry to even think about the fact that my plate had magically refilled itself of the delicious pizza. It refilled twice more before I finally became full, and I sighed happily.
Illiana looked back and forth between my plate and her's, which was still half full of lasagna.
"I don't know what's weirder," she wondered. "The fact that you're eating so much, or what it is your eating."
"It's pizza." I pointed out simply, and she rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Well obviously, but I've never seen those toppings on pizza before."
"Pasta and lettuce. Perfectly original." I beamed, and she sighed.
"Only you, Arrowhead. Only you…" she picked at her own lasagna with a slight frown.
"You alright?" I asked, concerned.
She sighed again, but this time not as happily. "I just...I don't feel like eating right now."
I felt bad about it, but hey! You can't let a perfectly good half-eaten lasagna go to waste, can you? "Do you mind if I have it?" I asked her, my eyes pleading.
She let out a small laugh and pushed her plate over to me. "Go for it."
I completely forgot about the fact that I was full, and literally swallowed it whole. When I glanced back at Illiana once I was done, she was staring off into the distance, struggling to keep her eyes open. I took her hand to get her attention, and she turned to me and yawned.
"Come on, Princess. Let's get you to sleep." I scooped her up, hoping she was too tired to mind, and found my way to the cabin we were sleeping in earlier. By the time I reached the door, she was already asleep.
I carefully opened the door and laid her down gently on the bed. When I tried to get up and walk away, I realized she was still gripping tightly onto my hand. I smiled on the inside and tried to pry her small fingers off without waking her up.
I stared at her sleeping face and wondered what she was dreaming about. I caressed her cheek with the back of my hand, then pressed my lips to her forehead once again. Then I quietly slipped out of the room, knowing no one would ever know how much I'd fallen for this girl.
Guys, please tell me in the reviews your thoughts about the story, cause I really want to know. And I will again have another chapter by tomorrow. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, catch ya later :P