I felt more sadness than I'd felt in a long time when I watched Bob and Damasen go. Charlie stared longingly towards their two small figures in the distance. We would have stood there for days, but we were both exhausted, and I could hear hellhounds in the distance.
There wasn't much cover in the endless field we found ourselves in. We came across a large jagged boulder and decided it would have to do. It wasn't a very safe place to hide, but Charlie and I were both too exhausted to care. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew we'd be attacked if we let our guard down. But my sleep-deprived brain decided that we'd be fine. I didn't care how uncomfortable it was, I fell asleep on the rock. Charlie fell asleep on my chest and I wrapped one arm around him.
I woke from a familiar, yet more urgent, tug in my gut I looked around by there wasn't a drop of water in sight. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Where had this come from? It wasn't the same pain that controlling the lava brought. It was familiar. It was water. But it wasn't like any other time I'd controlled the water. It was as if it was calling to me.
Danger
Danger
Danger
I held out my arms and concentrated, unsure of what the result was. I felt the water, wherever it was, twisting and churning until it became what felt like an underwater tornado (trust me, I spent two years figuring out how to create them.) The pressure began to make my brain feel like it was going to explode, then suddenly it all went calm. Silent. There were no alarms, no urgent gut feeling, no pull. But there was exhaustion. I had never been to tired after using my powers before. I didn't get a chance to ponder this before I passed out.
Thank you
When I woke up, it wasn't to anything peaceful. I shook Charlie awake once I heard monster screams. I jumped to my feet with my mom's dagger at my side but I wasn't sure what to do at first. I wasn't awake yet, my senses were numb.
I can only describe them as demons. They were black and shaggy looking with bright red piercing eyes.
I tried to place the creatures attacking us but I didn't recognize them. The figure between me whined and groaned until he had fully woken up. Charlie gasped as he stood up and immediately raised his sword.
"The arai," he whispered.
I felt my heart skip a beat. "How do you know?" I asked unsurely. I wanted to believe that he was wrong, but the beasts matched my parents descriptions exactly. I prayed that they were something else, anything else. Any other creature might be manageable, but not even my parents could defeat the arai. They both nearly died, and if it weren't for Bob…
But we didn't have Bob. We had at least two broken bones and a limited ability to stay awake.
"My nightmare, this is what it was about." Charlie inched closer to me. I thought back to the nightmare he'd had when we first met Bob. He'd never told me what it was about, all I knew was that he ended up alone.
"It'll be ok," I whispered. I wasn't going to leave him alone. Suddenly, the arai rushed towards us. Their feet didn't touch the ground but their wings didn't move either.
"Charlie, we can't fight them," I pushed him behind me and took a few steps backwards.
"I know! So, let's run!" he yelled. It was strange to have Charlie to know more about the Greek monster than I did. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away. I stumbled slightly but didn't let my feet stop me from running this time.
"RUN!" I don't even know which one of us was the one yelling. I didn't know where we were going. I didn't care. Nothing could stop me.
We're coming
I froze in my tracks. Fear overcame me and I found myself unable to move. Flashbacks from the nightmare I'd had on the Argo filled my mind.
"Jase, what are you doing?! We have to go!" Charlie tried to pull me away and I finally arrived back to my senses. I pushed Charlie forward, away from the arai, and ran after him because my life did depend on it.
An arai jumped into our path and Charlie swung. "Charlie, don't!" I screamed and tried to pull him back but it was too late. My hands were wrapped around his waist when the arai evaporated. For a moment, Charlie was ok. He looked back at me with fearful puppy-dog eyes and for just that moment, I thought he'd be fine. He hadn't fought enough monsters to be cursed, right? Then, his eyes grew wide and he clutched his hands together. His hands went blue. Ice began forming on his lips and his eyebrows grew frosty. He grew cold in my hands. My dad had fought many curses, but he hadn't gotten a curse that completely disabled him like this.
"I-Imaa so-o, so cold-d," he shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, then fell to a ground in a ball.
The Arai were closing in around us. I lifted my dagger in warning but knew I couldn't fight. Charlie was growing still, the only movement being his shivering. Either I sit by and let them kill the both of us, or I fight and maybe Charlie lives. Not really a question. I let out a cry of anger and swung.
The first curse was knocked me off my feet-literally. I knew what it was instantly. When fighting a larger opponent, the first thing I do is immobilize them. Usually, I do this by slicing my sword across their legs, forcing them to their knees.
Now, it was happening to me. The feeling of a sword blade (something I was all too familiar with it) sliced across my shins, where my armor usually was. I dropped to my hands and knees. Another arai came upon me and I flicked my dagger, not caring for the consequences.
This time, I heard a distinctive snap. I heard the snap before I felt the pain, and before I saw the bone of my right elbow protrude from my body. I screamed and fell to the ground. I couldn't look at it or I thought I might puke. Two of the arai continued towards me while three more of them approached Charlie, who had gone still. My sword arm was my left arm, and thankfully still intact. I took two arai with one swing, they didn't try to avoid my sword. I felt a new stabbing pain in my chest and placed my hand quickly to the new bloody wound before continuing on. Charlie couldn't fight for himself. And even if he could, I didn't want him to. I noted that I didn't feel the curse until a few seconds after the kill, so if I worked quickly I'd have time to kill all three surrounding Charlie until I got my punishment.
The first curse caused a poking pain in my eyes before my vision went suddenly. The pain became harsher, then my vision failed completely. I knew Charlie was still on the ground so I kept swinging.
The next curse caused a hydra-like burning sensation in my throat.
The last one immobilized me completely. I fell to the ground with a feeling of helplessness. I hated being helpless. I couldn't see what was happening, I couldn't hear Charlie, and I couldn't move.
We're coming, Jason Jackson
The fear returned. They were coming and there was nothing I could do. The aria had returned.
"Stop! Leave us, leave him alone!"
We're coming
My vision returned with a painful jab. Every time I blinked it hurt more and more. Everything was foggy and unclear. The black hags that were attacking us now looked like wispy white ghosts. Just like my nightmare. I grabbed Charlie, determined to keep him near. His cold body scared me more than the arai. He felt dead. I felt my fingers tightening around him.
Then, he disappeared. He was gone. Vanished. I felt around madly, but he was nowhere to be found. I was still blind, so I crawled across the ground like velma without her glasses.
My heart stopped and I somehow rose to my knees. Anger, terror, many other emotions that I didn't have the ability to name. I turned towards the arai and screamed at them.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" They didn't answer, but grew closer and closer.
I could taste blood in my mouth. Beneath my fingers, something was moving. It felt like skin. Sticky, bloody. Tartarus was alive, I could feel him beneath me. I pulled my hands into fists and punched the ground with my all my might, cursing it for what it had done to us.
We're coming, we're coming
The eerie voice sent a chill down my spine. I tried to stand but the pain in my shins became more prominent. My vision was blurry as if it were once again failing.
We're coming, Jason. We're coming, we're coming.
Fear spiked through my heart and I tried to drag myself away. A wispy white figure appeared beside me, its face a mere inch from my own.
We're coming, we're always coming. We're coming, Jason.
I wanted to run, to fight, but something kept me in place. No, not something. Someone.
"What did you do with him!" I felt myself screaming, sending pain scorching through my throat. Charlie had to be somewhere close, right? I wondered if I'd be able to get away and find him if I killed the rest of the arai. But I'd killed a lot of monsters. There were a lot of curses yet to go through before the arai were gone.
He's gone, Jason. And we're coming for you, we're coming.
Gone? What did it mean, gone? Where was he? He couldn't be dead, I refused to believe that. The arai reached its hand forward, straight through my chest. I suddenly felt so cold, nearly to the point where I couldn't feel at all. I was scared, terrified. I wanted to scream or to cry out but there was nothing to do. Whatever creature was there stroked my cheek with its other hand.
We're here.
(AU: Yes, I know the update is late...Sorry! Hope you all had a great New Years! What are your resolutions?)
