Thalia's POV:
"Thalia..." I recognize that voice, it's familiar but, I can't quite put my finger on it. What's going on?
When I had imagined fainting it was with delicate femininity, reality was different. I felt sick with the slightest twitch and then blacked out. Just like that, no warning, no nothing. Just the empty dark that I came accustomed to.
My fingers twitched. Wait what? I tested it out again and... I can move!? I tried to grab anything and found a handful of grass and dirt. I can really move and feel! It hurt but, I can feel! For some reason the feeling of feeling feels foreign and old. I have the same impression after taking a really well placed nap; awkward and strange.
I finally sense I'm free...
That last thing I remember is... staying behind to protect my friends and a strike of lightning. Oh dear gods! Please let them be safe! Please tell me it was for nothing!
Someone shook my shoulder gently and my eyes slowly opened. The egg yolk sun poured through the cracks in my eyelids and awaited entrance into my eyes. Sight still in the clutches of the night's glue, it was so damn bright. As if I haven't seen the sun in ages. Thoughts of the visions in sleep come and go in waves, clinging on to the very last memory of the night but with little success. Wait, am I dead!?
Immediately being alert, my visions snaps open ignoring the pain from the blasting sun. In my field of vision, I was stricken with the fear of unfamiliarity. Nothing looked like last I remember. Not like I can see anything at all right now, everything is fuzzy and smudged to hell and back. Where in the hell am I!?
Even though I know I can move, every limb felt stiff and sore. Nothing wanted to move, the moments I did pins and needles struck my nerves in a heavy assault. "Thalia, hey Thalia." My vision began focusing on the sight; not sound. I still recognize it though.
In front of me stood someone I thought I would never see again. Was this even real? Never before had I noticed how time is so much like water; that it can pass slowly, a drop at a time, even freeze, or rush by in a blink. The clock says it is measured and constant, tick tock, part of an orderly world; the clock lies. The past three seconds had passed like thousands of camera frames per second shown one at a time. In this slow time-bubble the birdsong was louder, coldness was colder and colors were brighter. All the while my insides felt as if there was nothing there, nothing to need feeding, nothing to have need of anything at all. One more glance and everything else in the world drowned away. Just me and...
Sometimes, when I was not feeling good, just the thought of your name lightens my mood. I just feel content that you were there to protect me, to save me, to guard me, from any harm that would've befallen me. I know you will always be there for me, to lift me up when I fall. You are everything I know, the person who laughs before picking me up, the person who hugs me when I am crestfallen, the person who wipes hot gloomy tears which fall from my eyes. Not that that would ever happen but, that's the feeling I get from you. I had to be strong because you were younger. But that was stupid because you were so much stronger than I imagined. I will always remember those moments even though there weren't that many of them.
When my vision is cleared of shadows I understand why everything felt off. Though the voice is the same, had I seen them first I would have denied it was it entirely. What was once the young face of a child, free and happy, is now more mature and pronounced. In the split second that the face is illuminated by the flickering rays through the leaves, my face falls from elation to horror and then to a controlled visage of happiness. I know if I could I'd be running forwards at this point, wrapping my arms around them. I try to lean forwards, keen to keep myself awake. Like any other sleep it always feel less than it was. One moment in the corners of my mind and the next I'm awake. Yet, I can't help but feel time sped on by with no brakes.
When I try to speak my voice falters into unintelligible croaks, I want to say something, anything! But I don't think the words would have much meaning and I'm afraid it will sound hollow. Maybe disappointment in me is why that look is on that face. Disappointment that I didn't come back. Then I raise my hand close enough to touch, the eyes are the same, still that strong expression - the one who came in right in the nick of time. Then their hand raises, silently like I was a figment of their imagination. I wish the wasn't just a dream, I wish whatever this is is real, but I can't seem to think this is all fake. Then they speak "Thalia, you're alive. You're alive Thalia," and I snap inside, the doubt that teared at my guts snapped like brittle glass. I can't speak, the blood leaves my face and I pull them into a hug. They pull harder. Hugging me like I was going to disappear. I felt tears soak into my clothes and small yelps of happiness. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry." The first voice I heard wasn't this. Someone else entirely.
My voice finally began to work, "What do you have to be sorry for, Annabeth?"
Percy's POV:
Yeah... I messed up big time. I knew that my escape was a little too easy, though I do have to admit that they pulled it off very well. It was almost believable. Almost. The only reason I figured it out was after I hopped onto Blackjack and glanced behind me at the havoc I created. Only there was very little panic and I swear I saw the slightest smile pass over Luke's face.
I knew they weren't stupid enough to leave me, a son of Poseidon, in front of a pool and crudely tied to a chair. However, the shock was real after my little mystifying stunt. I guess they can't plan for everything. Still, I may have realized it a little too late.
The only reason they would let me go was because I had something they needed and they didn't know where it was. Or did it have to do something with Thalia?
No. That doesn't seem right, or they would have tried to get her as well as me. I mean she was right there. And if she just woke up? Revived? Resurrected? I can't be sure on any of those. Then it would be best for them to get to her before she picks a side. That's what I would have done at least.
Oh right: context.
I couldn't believe it because Thalia was laying right there, alive. I don't know about the "well" part. Eyes that once danced with lightning are now closed and lame. The once young complexion was waxy and pale. The mouth that was so quick to speak in life lies stiff and shut. The lips that pouted when we first met are blue and cold. The arms that pointed a sword at me, that nearly killed me in warmth and security are arranged on the tile like the limbs of a rag doll violently thrown. The legs that ran off to save her friends lay stiff. And if all that wasn't enough she was dressed in some punk style clothes, perfectly fit. Even with all this, staring at her lifeless form I cannot believe that she's right in front of me. I don't know what to make of it.
Then she had vanished like she was never there in the first place, like the whole thing had been a visual joke. I ran my hands through my hair staring at the spot she should be laying in the brilliant early morning sun. There was no mark at all, not of red, black or any other color. It was as unmarked as the day it was created and just as bare, just an empty. What had been there was already fading into the cracks of my banishment, as if it I wasn't meant to see any of it at all. The fact that I caught a glimpse of her, whispered her name, then vanished reminded me of my solitude. Casting my eyes around at the trees, listening to the birds, I quite forgot why I was there in the first place. Then when recalled, I was holding Riptide that shined in the cascading light.
That's right. I think I wanted to say one final goodbye. But I'm a fool for being followed.
When stressed and alone, the human brain is only made better at learning and remembering the little things and details - it locks us in with our demons and gives them longer claws while sharpening our own. It makes us want to hide in the dark and make no sound, ready to fight if we need to. In this state we invent new monsters, we look for more, desperate to survive, desperate to fight... though in truth the stress may have been caused by the unknown... the result is that we amp up the senses of whatever we've been conditioned or directed to so fight against. We loose the ability of the higher mind to hush those instincts and restore inner peace; all other types of learning need a more relaxed and calm state. However, when you're being stalked and chased instincts are the only thing you can rely on.
Thus I left, so they follow me and leave my friends alone. Not back home under the sea because they might come here instead. Or my real home. For the time being I'll be alone which seems like it will be for awhile until I find out what's going on.
That was about twenty minutes ago. Yea, so much time has passed, I know. Good thing that whatever's chasing me is persistent. Or this would have gotten boring. Though I did have to slow down a tad for it to catch up to me. How did I not notice it following me sooner? Like before I arrived at the boarder of camp? I know I'm not losing my touch... The question is who?
Ehh I'll figure it out later. I think twenty minutes has gotten me far enough. One moment I'm jumping through the canopy and the next I was nothing more than a figment of your imagination. With countless hours of practice I have become an extension of the forest in the vast sea of branches and limbs. My colors are as muted as those around me, allowing me to hide in plain sight. With my racing brain I can watch the figure behind me stare in confusion towards where I was just a second before, that's just the way we're wired. From my perch I can clearly see it was nothing more than a mere Hellhound the size of a garbage truck with eyes burning red. The beast lifted its nose to get a whiff but, got nothing. Like I said, I'm an extension of the wild.
Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. The night rides in on a horse of pure midnight velvet, beckoned by the stars under a the glow of a full moon. As the colors of the day rest, perhaps dream of the morrow, the hillside becomes its monochrome beauty, shapes that make an ever-changing, ever-present puzzle, question and answer united. In this night we all become one, a shadow of it's past self, always present, always right on your tail.
Slowly the Hellhound grew more and more frustrated; swiping randomly, growling, and before I knew it it howled into the dark abyss. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Another call mirrored the first from beyond the horizon. Finally help was coming. This was what I have been waiting patiently for. The moment where they work together in vain for a figure they were meant to stalk.
When in reality it is I who stalks and lies in wait. Once they give up, I will follow and follow until it leads me somewhere.
Thalia's POV:
I can't believe it. I'm alive... Doubt suddenly shoots through me like a piercing arrow destroying resistance. Doubt at my existence. Doubt that me waking up was actually worth it. Worry grew like a corrupted, malicious and perfidy tree. Its branches twisted. But, seeds of hope wormed into the ground and no matter how large and terrifying the darkness was, it endured like a small pebble to last infinitely and yet grow and grow allowing them to get up in the morning for hope is what gets you out of bed. Ironic, right? Yet, another voice speaks, is hope just a illusion which we accomplish yet is unreachable and impossible bringing a dark ending? Is it to fool the mind and defy logic which will come at a dark penance. Such is doubt. What is hope?
Only a week has passed yet so much time has flown by before that. To make things even weirder I aged much slower. According to Chiron and Annabeth at least. It honestly just feels weird. In a word, powerless.
I awoke to a field of strawberries, every one a plump red and I felt the sweetness rise in my throat. Each one is perfect, a velvet trumpet amid a fanfare of a red sea. Then the campers showed up. They are many, but so delicate, and they wave like tomorrow is guaranteed. They stand rooted, soaking in the sunshine and taking the pleasure of life like it was a miracle. A miracle I came back. Or fate? I want to protect this place, throw a force-field over it but even my back up power is draining and how could I justify using it on these blooms that move in the wind - a living ocean of light. I smell their defiance and brush against them, will I ever belong in a place such as this? It is always transitory to the season but before I always believed it would return in due course. Now I can barely look without welling up, Annabeth has grown so much, something I didn't know I would miss until I lost the chance. But time knows no sentiment it seems and a feeling of powerlessness is something I can't afford... Not after the things I've been hearing. The world is seriously falling apart.
Who's this Guardian Angel?
Annabeth tried to be as helpful as possible but, something kept eating at her. Even I could tell that. Every time I tried asking her about it she would deflect towards architecture or something. She's my bestfriend and the fact that she isn't sharing makes me doubt even that. I'm not stupid, I know she cares a lot about whatever she is not telling me. But for some unknown reason she just doesn't want to tell me. Which has led me to the conclusion that it's a boy. I'm going to make it my mission to get her to tell me.
Every single time I pestered her, her eyes showed the kind of gentle concern my mother used to have. She would look over her shoulder and beyond me like she was expecting whoever it was to just appear out of nowhere. She would start out and speak with such a soft voice, I felt her words carried such deep respect that even I felt like I should follow. The few times she did speak of him, it would be with respect and a tinge of jealousy. The Guardian and this person are one and the same, I'm now sure of it.
"Annabeth! Annabeth!" A camper from her cabin rushed over to breathing heavily.
"What is it Malcolm?" I knew that was his name.
"Chiron *gasp* b-big news *gasp* w-w-wants you guys in the meeting with the cabin councilors." Malcolm barely managed to breath out through his gasps and bent over figure.
Annabeth quickly thanked him and rushed off towards the Big House. Of course I followed but, I wasn't in much of a rush. Why would I be? I am basically new to all this anyway.
Once I got to the council meeting around a ping pong table or whatever I saw I was the last one to arrive. The others eyed me for a split second before looking back over at Chiron. Man did that guy know how to teach demigods, it is almost frightening how well he does. Every single time I saw him was with another demigod training them hard. Even me on a multiple occasions.
"Now that everyone is here, I can get right to it. *Sigh* I just got word from the Camp Director that one of our own is missing. Not even the gods can get to him." Chiron looked deeply troubled, not a good look on the Centaur. Who?
"So a quest?" Annabeth asked with a tinge of hope in her voice.
"Not this time. That's not even the reason why I called you all here in the first place... It seems that after his actions, his banishment has been lifted." A chaos of hurrahs and shouts erupted through the little room. I don't get it. I glanced over at Annabeth and she looked like she was about to burst. "Yea, yea, I know how exciting this may seem but, he is the one that's missing." Silence. Now that was a giant mood swing. Who?
"We have to go and find him!?" Annabeth demanded. This was the first time I saw her raise her voice. I was seriously getting confused. Who?
"I'm sorry but, we can't. We must prepare for what's coming. If you know anything about him then you know he'll survive." Chiron solemnly said.
"Who in the hell are you guys even talking about!? Somebody please clue me in here!" I interrupted before anyone can say anything. I've just about had enough. He this and he that, the damn Guardian Angel. I don't even know who the hell it even is!
"Thalia... It's Percy. The kid that saved us from way back then. When we were running towards camp." She summed it up nicely. Wait, that kid? Hold up... That voice... It was him... I'm sure of it. There's no doubt in my mind. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked. I didn't what she was talking about until I glanced down at my hand and saw sparks flying off of them.
"I... Uhhh... I heard him."