Chapter Forty-Seven | KITTY ELLIS
KITTY WATCHED IN HORROR as Alex dueled Eris by the River Lethe. Her head ached, blood dripped in her eyes and bits of gravel still sticking to her skin as she wobbled on her feet. Alex had yelled something at her. She'd heard him make sounds, seen his lips move. But she hadn't been able to comprehend his words.
She felt like she moved half a second behind her own brain. It could have been the frigid air or the shadows that blurred the air, but everything clouded her mind. Kitty wiped blood from her eyes.
She still held the Lyre of Orpheus. As Alex dodged Eris's half-hearted swings, she froze in place. Alex had said to run. That's what he'd said. He'd ordered her to run.
But if she ran, he would die. If she ran, Ophelia would die.
Kitty had run so many times already. She had run outside Baltimore as hellhounds bared down on top of them, leaving Alex to raise a sword in their defense. She had run outside of Washington, DC when the Colchis Bull had left them all bleeding, relying on Alex to fend it off while they escaped. In Florida she had run from all manner of monsters while Alex and Ophelia held them off.
She saved herself. That's what she did. She didn't gamble with her own life, only the lives of others.
Shadow and light flashed with every strike of Vindication against Eris's blades. The clanging filled her brain. She couldn't think straight. She had the lyre. Without the lyre their quest would end and a hundred children would die.
Kitty turned away, looking for a bridge. She didn't see a bridge.
But she did come face to face with a black shadowy ghost, armored in ancient ebony and wielding a dark, rusted sword. Her mouth ran dry. Her decision was made for her.
Kitty drew her celestial bronze blade. She hated having her back to Alex and Eris. It didn't take long to dispatch the ghost. With a short laugh, she sheathed her blade. Stupid ghost.
She turned around in time to see Alex scream in pain as one of Eris's swords caught his side. The world went colorless. A lump formed in her throat as Kitty saw their luck. Ophelia's, black as night. Alex's, black as night. Eri's, gold as her haunting eyes. Thrusting her hand forward, she tried to leech away Eris's luck.
It worked. Slightly.
Eris backed away from Alex, shaking her head and smile widening. She locked eyes with Kitty. "Now, now, daughter of Tyche. Mind your own business."
At Eris's words, more ghosts materilalized from the growing cracks in the ground. They spidered out from where Ophelia knelt, incapacitated. Deja vu. This was the Magic Kingdom all over again. But Kitty had even less desire to see what was beneath this layer of the Underworld than when she'd been in the overworld.
Many large boulders lay in the ground beside the River Lethe. As the ghosts closed in and more joined their ranks, Kitty shook her head. This was useless. They were in the Underworld, for gods's sakes. The ghosts would keep coming. And she couldn't fight them all. She could barely fight a few. Her arms already ached.
She dashed for the boulders. From there she could get a better look at the battlefield. The only hope they had was for Alex to somehow overpower the goddess of Strife, or for Ophelia to wake up from whatever trance she'd fallen into. They needed her.
As Kitty slashed at another ghost, Kitty knew how useless at warfare she was compared to Ophelia and Alex. She couldn't win this. And as she watched Alex and Eris, she wasn't sure he could either.
Blood stained his side. Alex stumbled as they fought. The goddess's slammed him with her full weight behind every strike. Even then, she toyed with him. Kitty had watched a cat with a bug. Not much difference to this.
Kitty slashed down at another ghost fromm her perch a few feet off the ground. With the lyre in one hand, she barely kept her balance. Darkness filled every corner of the Underworld she could see. The only real light came from the Lyre and Vindication.
All her life, she'd been useless in close combat. She'd watched from the stands as Sienna trained alongside the Ares cabin, using her bamboo Kali sticks to pound the life out of training dummies. Best defense was a good offense. Better to break their legs before running away. Kitty couldn't break anyone's legs.
She hadn't pounded Travis into the dirt that first night at Camp Half-Blood. She'd let Alex do it for her. Kitty had sulked. Alex had taken action. He'd reached down inside him and used all his rage to do something. To change something.
Kitty couldn't do that. She could only play with the fates of others. Sobs choked her breaths as she watched Eris land another blow on her best friend.
Alex screamed in agony. Kitty screamed in anger. She cried out for Opehlia to wake up, to do something, to do anything. Blood poured down Alex's side. He could barely stand.
"Get up, demigod," Eris said.
Kitty could barely see through her tears. She felt the ghosts at her back, and swung wildly not wanting to turn from Alex. But she held the lyre. She had to turn away.
Two parries and thrust destroyed three more ghosts. They had strength in numbers, not in physicality. A dozen more began to form from the cracks. Kitty tried to breathe. She tried to focus, to concentrate. She couldn't fight Eris.
Alex couldn't even fight Eris. She watched as he coughed up blood onto the black ground at Eris's feet. From her spot beside the River Lethe, Kitty could hear the ragged breaths he barely managed. They had no healer here. No more ambrosia.
Laughter cut through the air around them. Eris's voice seemed to echo from the shadows. Alex still hadn't pushed himself to his feet. He barely held himself up on his hands and knees. Split lip, stab wound to his side, Kitty knew how this would end.
For to Herald's home but one returns. Kitty wiped her tears away as she watched Eris stalk up to Alex. Only one of them could make it out.
"I love demigods," Eris said. She let one of her swords disappear. "I really do."
Grabbing Alex by his dirty golden hair, she wrenched his head back. Vindication clattered to the ground. She could see the agony in his face as he tried to speak. But he couldn't no words came out of his mouth, just saliva and blood trickling down his chin and neck.
"You never quit."
With her free hand, Eris grabbed his camp necklace. She wrapped her boney fingers around the beads. Alex coughed up more blood as she ripped it from his neck. Black and painted beads scattered over the dirt and gravel of the Underworld.
"Lucky for me, there is no shortage of demigods."
Kitty screamed. Eris shoved her sword through Alex's abdomen until her hilt hit his skin. He made no sound. He had no more energy left with which to cry out. Through her tears, Kitty made her choice. She wouldn't hesitate. Not this time.
If Alex couldn't return home, neither would she. She threw her hand forward, focusing all her energy on Alex's luck. She watched his aura go from black to grey. As it faded away for good, she felt warmth leaving her own body, a golden thread forming between them. She couldn't fight with a sword or shield. But she could fight with fate.
Eris tossed him away. His body rolled in front of Ophelia.
Kitty stumbled forward. Her foot went straight into the River Lethe. Through her tears, she prayed to the gods, to the titans, to anyone listening that Ophelia would wake up. They needed her.
They needed…
They needed someone.
What did they need again?
Her head ached. She stumbled forward, dragging herself out of the river onto the shore. Her body ached. Through her tears, she clawed herself forward. Laying on her back, she stared up at the dark sky. The distant rock sky of the Underworld faded to black until she could think no longer.
Here there was no pain. No anger. No sadness.
Just nothingness.
Just oblivion.
