Facing Your Fears

Karma POV:

Previously:

Karma smiled and looked at Blake.

"Ready to end these trials?" he questioned. Blake smiled as well.

"I guess I am Mr. Half-God," Blake said. The pair walked into the now opened room, ready to give it all they have.

Present:

As they walked inside, Karma noticed that there were many small holes in the top of the walls. The room they were in was fairly open, with a lot of space to move around, and there were many statues of faceless knights that lined the walls.

"This isn't weird at all," whispered Blake. Karma just nodded, while continuing to examine the room.

"I guess we should start moving," Karma suggested. The duo walked through the empty room, looking for an exit, with no such luck. Karma and Blake studied the statues and even poked one with Karma's sword, but it did nothing. After five minutes of fruitless searching, Blake was ready to punch a wall.

"What are we supposed to do?" Blake said frustrated. Karma let out a sigh. He would rather fight another big tentacle monster than wander the room for another 5 minutes. At least the tentacle monster would keep him busy. Karma sighed again, looking up at the ceiling. He squinted his eyes, before tapping on Blake's shoulder.

"Hey Blake, has the ceiling always been tinted pink?" Karma asked. Blake looked at his friend questioningly, before looking at the ceiling for himself. The ceiling was indeed tinted pink, with a thin pink mist resting on the top. Karma looked around to see that the small holes on the top of the walls were venting out the pink mist.

"That probably isn't good," Karma said to himself.

"I mean we haven't been knocked out yet," Blake said optimistically. Karma looked around for anything that could prevent them from inhaling the gas but did not prevail.

"All we can do is wait," Blake concluded. Karma took out his sword for good measures and leaned against a wall. He closed his eyes to concentrate on the water vapor, to attempt to do something about the gas but wasn't strong enough to move the gas away.

Blake and Karma sat in silence for a few minutes, before something happened.

"..ercy," he faintly heard a female voice say. Karma's eyes flew open, to try to locate where the noise came from. Blake looked at Karma curiously.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"You didn't hear that," Karma questioned a little worried. Blake shook his head.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but I didn't hear anything," he told Karma. Karma just nodded his head and closed his eyes once again.

"Percy," he heard once again, but louder. The voice was still unrecognizable. This time, Karma moved from his spot on the floor, to look around the room for the source of the voice.

"I keep hearing a voice say my old name, I'm going to go look around," Karma told Blake. Blake nodded, and Karma left to go find the mystery voice.

As Karma walked down the corridors filled with inactive status, he continued to hear a female voice call his old name. Why he could hear the voice and Blake couldn't was a mystery. Karma had his sword out, ready to strike down any enemies that dare attack him.

"Percy!" he heard once again, but this time it was in a scream. As he heard the voice scream his name, he began to recognize the voice. He shook his head. There was no way that she was calling for him.

"Percy!" the voice screamed again, at an even louder volume. This time he could not deny who was making the voice.

"Annabeth," he said to himself.

Blake POV:

Blake continued to sit by himself in the mist-filled room, waiting for Karma to come back from his searching. Karma had told him that he had heard a voice calling his old name, Percy, while Blake couldn't hear a thing. If that wasn't a bad sign Blake didn't know what was.

Blake started to hum a jingle to himself, one that he and his sister had made up in their early years. He remembered little Irene bouncing up and down as the two hummed the song, while Blake tapped his finger to the beat. 'Ah, she was so cute back then' he thought to himself smiling. His smile soon turned into a frown. 'Now she is in here rebellious faze' he thought glumly.

Blake continued to hum and started to tap his finger to the beat, before abruptly stopping. He stopped making noise and started to listen in. He could hear a feminine voice start to hum the rest of the tune.

'This can't be right. Only Irene and I know that song' thought Blake worriedly. He got up and created his string, to make a small doll of himself, pointing in the direction he was heading. 'This should let Karma know where I went' Blake thought to himself.

Blake started to head in the direction of the humming, which was getting louder and louder by the second. The voice was humming the song flawlessly, not stuttering, or pausing as if they had been humming that song all their life. 'I don't like the sound of this' Blake thought to himself until he made his way to a door.

'This was definitely not here before' Blake thought as he pushed open the door. As he walked inside, he was greeted by a cozy little cabin. The cabin had dark wood floors and walls, and a small fireplace. There was a rocking chair on a rug in the middle of the room, that was facing away from him. The humming was coming from the rocking chair, as it went back and forth.

'Not creepy at all' Blake thought to himself. He cautiously walked up to the rocking chair and walked around it to see the person humming to the tune. Blake turned around and called out in surprise as he found his sister rocking in the chair, eyes closed. He looked normal, in a small dress, with her white hair, and pale skin. Blake was going to greet her before covering his mouth to block the scream that was about to leave his mouth. His sister had 5 black spikes coming from her chest and stomach. Blood was pouring out of the wounds, but his sister showed no sign of being in any pain.

Irene turned around and stopped rocking on the chair. She opened her eyes, and blood started to pour out of her eyes and mouth.

"How could you leave me brother?" she questioned, blood still pouring from her wounds. "How could you leave me to die? You could have saved me!" she asked, starting to elevate her voice. "I died because of you!" she screamed. The skin on her face started to fall off, and Irene screamed in pain.

Blake backed off from the corpse of his sister, clenching his mouth so as to not release his previously eaten lunch from his mouth. The corpse of his sister sat up from the chair, dislodging herself from the spikes on the chair, while pieces of flesh continued to fall off of her.

"How could you?" she asked quieter this time, tears of blood staining her face. Blake didn't respond, terrified of the image before him.

"How could you?" she asked a little louder this time, still rotting in front of him.

"How could you!?" she screamed, and lunged at her brother, pushing him back and smashing him through the wall.

Blake jumped back after smashing through the wall and summoned his red string of fate. He was sweating profusely and shaking. His sister started to cackle, before leaning back. Her stomach started to move around before eight spider-like legs sprouted out of her stomach. The legs stretched out and reached the ground raising the body up off of the ground.

The spider creature turned around so that Irene's face was facing Blake. Her eyes started to glow red, and she widened her mouth. She started to choke before a long slimy tongue wriggled out of her mouth. In between her legs, and abdomen sprouted, that had a stinger, and a hole in it. The creature roared, and Blake was as pale as a ghost. His strings were barely holding up straight, and he was hyperventilating. 'Ah f***' he thought to himself.

Kamra POV:

Karma watched, sword in hand, as Annabeth walked from behind the corner, sporting a simple T-Shirt and jeans. She had a worried expression on her face and started to run toward Karma. He stood in position, ready to slice down whatever looked like Annabeth.

"Percy help!" she screamed and rushed toward him. Karma looked to see two hellhounds rushing toward her, gnashing their teeth. Karma froze, what was he supposed to do? 'Act first, think later' Karma thought to himself and rushed toward Annabeth. He let Annabeth pass him, and raised his sword. He brought it down against the first hellhound, splitting its head in half. He ducked and rolled to dodge the second attack, before plunging his sword in its sides. Both monsters burst into dust, and Karma wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

He started to turn around, before feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen. He turned his head, to see Annabeth, with a sinister look on her face. She held her signature knife in her hand, and she pushed it deeper into Karma's gut. He yelled out in pain, before quickly turning around and swiping at Annabeth, who took her knife out of him and jumped back to avoid the attack.

Annabeth grinned wider, before letting out an ear-shattering laugh. She looked back at Karma.

"You thought I needed your help?" she said while containing her laughs. "I don't need your help. No one needs your help. That is why we all ditched you. We don't need you!" she screamed, a malicious smile on her face.

Kamra doubled over, clenching his open wound, before forming water over it and solidifying it. Karma got up and got into his stance, though he was shaking. The scene around the two previous lovers began to change, becoming surrounded in a pink mist. As the mist cleared, the surrounding became immediately recognizable.

"Tartarus," Karma said to himself. Annabeth smiled.

"Oh, so you remember this hell hole huh?" Annabeth asked gleaming. "A place that even the gods wouldn't go to, and you fell in here for me didn't you. That is hilarious. You loved me so much that you would go into hell and back to stay with me, but I ditched you for the next big thing". Annabeth started to laugh again, and Karma began to get angry. How could she have done that to him? He did so much for her and she ditched him because of some awful rumors, and for his coward for a brother no less.

Karma held out his sword and charged. He swung his sword at Annabeth, only for it to be reflected. The two continued to trade blows, neither side gaining on the other. Karma left himself open, and Annabeth leaped at the chance, diving her knife to his gut. Karma smiled, before creating a water barrier, catching Annabeth off guard.

As her knife was reflected on the shield, Karma swung his sword, ready to slice Annabeth in half. Just as his sword was about to make contact, another sword blocked the blow. Karma jumped back in surprise and looked to see a figure that he despised.

"Long time no see brother," Jameson said, grinning ear to ear. Annabeth smiled at the sight of her current lover and rested in his arms.

"Please defeat that terrible man Jameson," Annabeth pleaded, shooting Karma a sinister look.

"Sure thing," Jameson said cockily, raising his sword to fight. Karma's nose flared, and he got into position. Jameson charged, and Karma followed suit. There wasn't a lot of water vapor in the air, so Karma relied on his fighting skills. The two's swords collided, and the clear difference in skill showed immediately. Jameson was stuck on defense, as Karma hacked away at his half-brother.

In just a few moments, Jameson's sword was sprawled on the ground, and Karma's sword was raised against Jameson's neck. Jameson grinned.

"Do it," he taunted, "end me. End the one person that has single-handedly caused you so much misery". Karma started to shake. He rose his sword up, determination flaring in his eyes.

Slash

Blake POV:

Blake jumped out of the way as the spider creature plunged its limbs in the spot he once occupied. He summoned his string and shot a spiraling spear at the beast, but the impact was too weak, and it guarded with its legs. Blake continued to shoot attacks, but they lacked in power and accuracy, as Blake was still shaking.

'I can do this, she isn't my sister' Blake thought to himself, but he knew that knowing that fact wasn't enough. What if Irene really had died because he was off treasure hunting. What if she died a terrible death, not able to see anyone she knew ever again before descending to the world to the dead. Blake shook his head. There wasn't any time to think about "what ifs". He had to take care of this monster and regroup with Karma.

He shot string into the ground and propelled himself upward. He gathered string on his fist, to form an ax. He started to bring it down upon his enemy until he saw Irene's pained face.

"How could you?" it whispered. Blake's ax unraveled, and before he could do anything he was smacked out of the sky by one of the legs of the creatures. Blake started to get himself out of the ruble, only to not see the creature anymore.

"Huh?" he said aloud.

He looked up, to see the monster climbing the wall, abdomen facing him. The abdomen started to shake, before shooting out a white material that covered Blake. He tried to get out of it, but the material was incredibly sticky. Blake continued to struggle, and the monster slowly went to the ground, using the sticky substance as rope. As it reached the ground, it started to head toward Blake. When it finally made its way to Blake, it raised its limb over him ready to impale him. Blake closed his eyes, awaiting impact, but it never came.

Blake opened his eyes to see the Irene monster sitting lifeless on the floor, having a massive wound on Irene's body. Right over the monster stood Karma, with a blood-soaked sword in his hand.

"Thanks, dude," Blake said relieved. Karma smiled.

"Hey, vanquishing our friends' inner demons is just what good friends do. As he said that, he used the sword to cut open the web, and Blake got out of the mess and looked at the corpse. Karma followed his gaze.

Karma POV:

"Are you ok?" he asked sincerely. Blake nodded his head.

"I'm good now". Blake looked at Karma, to notice he had a stab wound in his git, and looked very tired. "What have you been up to?" Blake asked. Karma smiled.

"Just vanquishing my own inner demons".

Flashback:

"Do it," he taunted, "end me. End the one person that has single-handedly caused you so much misery". Karma started to shake. He rose his sword up, determination flaring in his eyes.

Slash

Karma brought his sword down onto the floor. Jameson looked at Karma, with a frustrated look on his face.

"What are you doing. You hate me. Kill me, kill me!" Jameson screamed. Karma backed off and started to walk away. Annabeth got up and walked toward Jameson, with a similar expression on her face.

"I cheated on you. You did everything you could to make my life the best you could, and yet you don't kill me? Are you insane?" Annabeth questioned. Karma smiled.

"I don't care anymore," he confessed. "I'm done with worrying about you people. About the people that left me, about the people that wronged me, I won't let them tie me down anymore". And with that, he walked away. The scene, and the two demigods, faded into mist, and Karma was suddenly back in the original room.

'Man, that was hard' thought Karma to himself. 'Glad I'm not in Tartarus anymore. That place gives me some of the worst memories'. Karma walked back to his original spot, to see a small doll of Blake pointing in a different direction.

'Oh no, if I had to deal with that, I'd hate to see what Blake is dealing with'. And with that, Karma rushed into that direction, determined to help out his friend.

End Flashback:

"Well it looks like we are done here," Blake said. Just as soon as he finished the sentence, the booming voice of the king could be heard.

"The third, and final trial has been cleared, the heroes have succeeded". With that, a wall opened up. Karma and Blake walked through the opening, to come face to face with a cheering crowd. The royal family stood above them, smiling with pride. Karma smiled along with them.

"Looks like we did it huh?" Karma asked. Blake grinned as well.

"Seems so," he replied.

"Ok then, ima go take a nap". As soon as Karma finished his sentence, he blacked out.

Vivian POV:

Vivian sat in her study, twirling her hair absentmindedly as she focused on her report. The beastmen were really starting to get on her nerves. She let out an annoyed sigh. Not any sooner, someone knocked on her door.

"Come in," she told them. The door opened, revealing two people.

One was female, with black hair and light blue skin. She had pure black eyes and was dressed in simple attire. Her hair was done in a long bob cut and had two shiny spikes on her forehead.

The second person was a male and was being dragged along by the female. He had metallic dark skin and curly dark brown hair in an afro. He was covered in smudges and had a pair of safety goggles resting on his head.

"Hello Mariya, Dakota, how may I help you," Vivian asked. Mariya smiled.

"Hello princess, just checking on you, seeing as I and Dakota were about to go grab something to eat," Mariya told her. Dakota huffed.

"I wasn't even finished with the new weapon I was creating. I am almost done, I'll be able to-," Dakota wasn't able to finish his rant, and Mariya shot him a dangerous glare.

"Nevermind," he said meekly.

"Thanks for checking up on me, but I'm good. I found somebody interesting and I'm trying to find some information on him," Vivian said. "And stop calling me princess".

"Ah so someone has piqued your interest huh, can't wait to meet him. I know you probably won't need them, but remember we have an information department if you need them. And I won't stop calling you princess. You are the sole daughter of chaos, the primordial of the universe," Mariya told her.

Vician huffed and turned the next page of her report.

"You guys have fun on your date," Vivian said in a sing-song voice.

"It is not a date!" Mariya yelled desperately. Vivian giggled under her breath, while Mariya tried to cover her blush.

"Whatever you say, my precious commander. See you guys for the annual report," Vivian said, waving goodbye. Dakota and Mariya said their goodbyes, before leaving the room.

Vivian pulled out her sheet on the mysterious Karma and slammed the table. There was nothing on him. No records of transport to Willow's Valley, and no signs of anyone named Karma, especially not ones that could do what the villagers said he could. 'Lookout Karma, cause I will find you' Vivian said with determination.

(Hello Readers, and thank you for reading chapter 11. I'm happy to note that I had enough free time to post another chapter the day after chapter ten was posted, and might even have enough time to post chapter 12 today, but I'm not making any promises. If you enjoyed that chapter, make sure to review my story, and give me some helpful tips, or tell me things I could be doing better. By the way, I just changed the chapter's name, so I hope you stay tuned for chapter 12, The Afterparty.)