Chapter 37:

Two Become One

For some strange reason, the story didn't last as long as I had first thought. Campers were only just returning to their cabins from the campfire. To be completely honest, I don't even remember what happened exactly after I left the infirmary. All I knew is that, when I walked into the Apollo cabin, everyone stopped getting ready for bed and looked at me. Some even tried to ask me questions. But they were all clearly cautious of me.

That was all fine and good, because I ignored them too. Although, thinking back on it, I probably shouldn't have done that either. But it was like I was in a trance or something. I made my way up the stairs and found all the piano music books I could with sad, depressing songs in them and made myself pick out a few lonely and hurting song books as well. Once they were stuffed in my arms, I made my way down to the music room. And, of course, I was stopped for a few seconds when someone called out to me.

" You better not start playing any instruments, Dominic Smith." They growled, making me stop as they stormed up to me. I don't even remember what they looked like. " People are trying to get to sleep, here."

In the state my mind was in, I managed to figure out that I merely bypassed the person in front of me (after they had stopped talking, that is) and continued my way down to the music room. Surprisingly, however, the first thing I did – after putting the books down on the sofa – was go hunting for a working pair of headphones to plug into one of the keyboards. Then I went and set myself up with a keyboard in front of the sofa where my books were.

Unless you counted the music that pounded in my ears through the headphones, not a sound came from the music room that night.

Now I swear that I was only down there for a few hours, but according to one of my sisters, I'd been down in the music room for the entire night. And I didn't even feel tired… but that may have been because I already felt drained beyond anything thanks to that trance that I was in. In any case, I found myself being gently dragged up stairs and – after my sister had gone through my clothes – forced to take a shower.

Up until the time a voice in my head made its presence known, the shower had been nice and soothing. As the water ran down my face and body, I would feel the trance inducing fog lift from my mind. That was when reality took hold. I may not have remembered exactly what went on between now and what had happened after the story, but I certainly remembered the story and everything that happened before it. And, of course, with all that came but one thought.

Why do bad things always happen to me?

Because that's what happens to demigods, Cue New York accented voice that nearly gave me a heart attack. Everyone and everything are always out to get us.

You can imagine how creeped out I was when the voice entered my head. If not, well just say that I think I screamed loud enough for the entire camp to hear me. To be honest, I'm surprised an army of demigods didn't come roaring into the bathroom with that scream. But there was an urgent pounding on the bathroom door along with questions of concern. And the fact that the voice sounded female made me glad that she hadn't decided to come in with arrows notched to her bow. I would like to keep some level of dignity, thank you very much.

The voice in my head, wisely kept silent as I somehow managed to calm myself down and reassure my sibling. Unfortunately, said sibling didn't sound so convinced that I was fine because I got an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe, once I was finished with the shower, I would be able to explain the sudden scream. Hopefully. Unfortunately for me, as soon as I was calm enough, the voice returned.

In the meantime, I can tell you how much of an idiot you were last night.

At that, I decided to take this conversation to my head, lest anyone thought I was crazy or something considering I was pretty much talking to myself.

Tell me who you are and what you're doing in my head before we continue with anything else, because something's telling me that you're not my conscience.

Well, I'm your twin brother, John. I was poisoned and killed by a wolf thus making me dead. And I was given permission by Lord Hades himself to merge my spirit with yours in order to help you become whole once more. We also had a bit of an argument while you were in that coma. But what you did to Lee last night, walking out on him after he had just told you the story of his existence and heritage, that was just rude.

John. The reason why you're dead is because of him. He killed you.

No. Lee was not the one who killed me. It was his insane ancestor, Lyall or whatever his name was, that killed me. Lee Harvey-King was my best friend and so wouldn't dare harm a single hair on my head. If he did, it would have been by pure accident, nothing more. And the same would go to you. If Lee ever hurts you, it would more than likely be unintentional.

Yeah, right. He did tell you that he's a wolf, right? You did manage to notice that itsy bitsy detail when you were still alive, right? Because he's a wolf, just so you know.

Was. Lee was a wolf. He can no longer transform because he managed to break the curse. Didn't you listen to the story at all? And, for your information, I did know that Lee could turn into a wolf. I went on a quest with him – the same one that killed me – and I saw him change multiple times during and before that quest.

I don't need you correcting me! The way I see it, Lee is still a wolf! And I did listen to his story, but I was also freaking out about the story at the same time! If you're reading my mind, like you seem to be doing every time you possess me, then you would know that I have a fear of wolves!

John sighed heavily at that. Silence fell for a few short seconds before he made another sound. Unfortunately, I got the feeling that he really wasn't liking how this was turning out and was quite possibly ready to shake his head in disappointment if he could do so. When he did speak next, it sounded like he was trying to calm himself from blowing up in my face.

You really are an idiot. First, I am not possessing you… at least not anymore. I got permission to be in your head.

Ah, no you didn't. I pointed out, my own thoughts making it clear that I was getting irritated.

My first form of reply was that John growled at me. Shut up. I'm still talking here. Now, I know you have a wolf phobia, but Lee can't turn into a wolf anymore. There are no more wolves in Camp Half-Blood. Besides, Lee Harvey-King is the kindest, most loyal person that I know. He's also the greatest friend I've ever had. He couldn't even kill a spider if he wanted to, and he used to play with them when he was a kid.

Wait a minute. I thought Harvey-King was a son of Athena. Don't children of Athena have a fear of spiders?

Oh, Lee does fear spiders. He just fears the really giant kinds and massive spider armies. One or two little spiders, or even toy spiders, they don't really bother him much. Like I said, he used to play with them when he was a kid. But enough talk about spiders. We're going back to what you did last night.

Oh, please don't let this turn into A Christmas Carol. I'm really not interested in being pulled and shoved – whilst still naked – into and through things.

Just shut up, will you? You're starting to give me a headache. And I'm a ghost! John took a deep breath to calm himself after that little outburst before he continued. Lee, on the other hand, got hurt last night. And it was you who hurt him. You practically avoided him once that story was finished and that hurt him. Now, I don't know about you, but I definitely saw the pained look in his eyes. Therefore, you are the biggest idiot in the world.

Well, that just made up my mind.

Oh?

Yeah. I've decided to take your offer of 'shutting up' to the next level. From now on, I'm going to ignore you. And with that curt thought, I turned off the water.

John, however, had to get the last word in. IDIOT!

All throughout the time I got out of the shower and got dressed, John was calling me an idiot and trying to get me to see the truth. It wasn't working. The only thing it did was annoy me. And it was apparently obvious that I was annoyed because one of the first things that Dawn asked me (she was the sister of mine who had practically dragged me into the shower) was if I was angry at her or someone from the Hermes cabin.

I answered her with, " You won't believe me, but I'm being possessed again. And it's John's ghost who is annoying me. That's why I'm annoyed and that's why I yelled out earlier. You don't expect random voices in your head when you're showering."

Dawn looked like she was about to question me further on the subject when two stomachs simultaneously grumbled in protest to the lack of food within. Personally, I think my stomach was the louder of the two, but I blame that on the fact that I was previously in a coma and so had not eaten for over a week. The next thing I knew was that I was being dragged out of the cabin and in the direction of the Dining Pavilion.

The rest of camp was halfway done with breakfast by the time we got there, but Dawn and I managed to snap up something for ourselves. Okay, Dawn managed to get herself something that she wanted. I got ordered by Will to have chicken and vegetable broth with Nectar for the drink. When I tried to ignore him as well and order myself some porridge, he stole my bowl and ordered some broth for me, handing the new bowl to me complete with glare that I assumed was gained thanks to constant staring contests with Nico.

But other than Will bossing me around more than usual and Dawn who was too busy stuffing her face with pancakes to notice, the rest of my cabin seemed very wary of me. And I guess that was because of what happened last night. Not to mention those who were in the infirmary when I had woken up and stormed out were sending me an array of different messages. Basically they were either going to kill me, they were questioning what I had done, they were trying to figure out why I had done it, and – in the case of Lee who was watching me over at the Athena table – begging me to at least understand.

And, of course, there was the annoying voice in my head constantly calling me an idiot. I don't know what was worse; a heap of people giving you weird looks all morning or constantly being called an idiot by a voice in your head. Okay, thinking back on it, I would have to say that the Underworld turned itself into John as his ghostly ass constantly called me an idiot the entire day. Plus, Nico was giving me weird looks which gave me the feeling that the son of Hades knew that something spiritual was wrong with me.

Said son of Hades actually made his way over to the Apollo table when he and I made eye contact. I thought, as did a few other people at the table, that he was simply heading towards Will. I should have known better.

" Are you feeling okay, Dominic?" He asked, confusion streaming through his eyes.

Yes, the entire dining pavilion heard.

Yes, the entire camp was shocked.

Yes, I was freaking out.

Despite the fact that Nico may have been spending a little too much time with my half-brother, I knew that he was sensing something… and it wasn't anything to do with my health (though a part of me thinks otherwise considering John was practically driving me nuts). So, while everything fell silent around us thanks to the shock of Nico publicly expressing concern for another sinking into their brains, I shook my head to try and get John out of there before I even thought about giving an answer. As per usual, my luck failed me.

" Oh, I'm feeling just fine, Nico." I replied sarcastically. " If this is about some weird ghost sense that you've probably picked up, I can explain."

" Please do." With the growl I received, I was more than sure that the son of Hades did not like my sarcastic remark.

It was the boy's freaky growl that prompted me into spurting out what I said next.

" I'm being possessed by my brother again. Only this time, I think he's the broken one. The only word he seems to know at the moment is 'idiot'. And he's driving me insane with it. I can't think at all thanks to him in my head. So, if you could find a way to separate the two of us and force him to stay moved on, I'd greatly appreciate it."

" Actually, I can't."

" What do you mean you can't!"

" John's stuck, and for good reason. Believe it or not, but we had a talk one night while you were in that coma and… well… half of you is missing."

I couldn't believe I was hearing this. In my eyes, John had managed to convince Nico di Angelo that he was meant to torture me for as long as I lived. I was just barely aware of Will rising to stand by his boyfriend because Nico and I had locked ourselves into a death glare (though Nico was more than definitely winning).

" What?" I asked softly, dangerously.

" I'm not exactly sure why, but apparently some sets of twins are born with one shared soul. It's a pretty rare thing. And you and John just so happened to be like that. From what I've been told, within a year of one's death, usually the other dies as well… unless the two halves manage to find each other. For you, that connection just so happened to be both you and John arriving at Camp Half-Blood. In that way, or so John tells me, your brother has been able to not only fix your memories but also your soul. The joining connection between the two halves was what caused you to black out the week before last. I'm sorry, Dominic, but John is stuck with you for the rest of your life. And Hades won't take him back unless you go with him to the underworld."

" My day is just getting better and better." I muttered to myself before turning to Nico again. " If my soul has been fused together unwillingly, then what does that mean for me?"

Actually, Idiot, your soul came willingly. John's voice piped up into my head. I ignored him.

" Simple, two halves make a whole. Whatever John used to do, you can now do… with a little training, that is."

In the back of my head, I heard John laughing as I turned to face my cabin leader. The only reason as to why he was laughing was because his connection also meant that he could read my mind. You see, with the news I was just given, the little mini me that lived inside my head was brandishing a pitch fork, wearing a bucket on his head and was otherwise petrified at the thought of having his harasser's powers.

" Will, give me every test that John would have done well at and I failed epically in."

By the end of the day, I was convinced that John and I were stuck together. The tests that I had originally flunked before – the ones given out to see what you were and weren't good at – I had somehow managed to pass with a near perfect score on all of them. I mean, I may not have been a complete whizz on sports or something like that, and I definitely still needed medical practise despite the obvious jump in ability. But there was definitely something going on inside of me that I know I didn't have before.

That something just some happened to be John… or rather his spirit. We had an argument over it (we were doing that a lot lately) which ended in John making me draw what he called the 'soul-fusion'. That would be his attempt at trying to make me understand what was going on within. I didn't understand one bit. Believe it or not, but it wasn't until dinner that I finally understood what people were trying to tell me. And that was only because Andi explained it by using two glasses and some water.

Now, I willingly admitted defeat against my brother and accepted the fact that he really was going to be living inside my head for the rest of my life. Of course, given the day's experiences (I was worked beyond hard to test John's abilities and my connection with them – as well as my own powers – but I was also still out of it from the coma) it really wasn't a surprise when I found myself in front of my cabin and not on my way down to the arena for 'unarmed combat'.

Behind me, somewhere, I could just make out the fuzz that was my cabin members calling out for me and trying to find me. But I easily blocked them out as I entered the cabin. I did a little bit of a clean-up before almost falling asleep in the shower. Then I stumbled out and practically flopped onto my bunk, somehow managing to miss the top bunk.

The second my head collided with my pillow, I was out of it.