Red, fiery flames are licking the sky and the puffy, white, glittering clouds that cover it. It hides the end, the escape, the way to freedom.
She doesn't understand the smoke that fills her, entering her lungs as she tries to stifle her breathing and get to the ground like her father taught her when she was young.
There's a sense of urgency as the flames spread to the woods, near the beach. She knows that it should stop, because fire stops, right?
But it seems impossible that the mass of red and orange and yellow fire and the gray and black and nearly white smoke would end. That it wouldn't swallow them up never to be seen again.
She's standing far away from the actual flames even as the smoke does engulf her and obscures her vision. It's a mass of black that poisons her, poisons her eyes.
Why? She wants to scream. Wants to let the question tear out of her - break her - until she gets an answer. It isn't the first time she's been blinded. She's been blinded several times in her short lifetime, actually. Some are sweet and hilarious. and bring back good memories. The rest are full of pain and fear.
Like the time she was making cookies with her boyfriend and he decided to dump half the bag of flour on her, blinding her in a sea of white while she grasped for the sugar she knew to be behind her.
Or, when she was in Tartarus, stumbling blindly to the edge of the cliff she didn't know was there after the fight with the arai.
She remembers that feeling - of being alone, helpless, scared out of her mind - right now as she scrambles to her feet and reminds herself that she can't die right now. She can't, she can't do that to Percy.
Stand up, She tells herself. Now find someone. No dying today.
Sparks fly at her as she stumbles too close to a burning log and she curses as her pant leg catches on fire. Stamping it out she realizes she's surrounded by flames. She can hear yelling from the other side, cries of pain but also people calling out to their friends.
She hears her name as she tries to find a way past the flaming sea of fire, and it's Percy's voice, she realizes. He's trying to put out parts of the fire with Leo's help.
Will and the rest of the Apollo cabin are trying to make sure everyone's alright. But she isn't.
She can feel the smoke in her lungs, surely as she can feel the life inside of her. She can feel herself burning, overheating, from the pain and the heat.
Her eyes threaten to close as the pain becomes unbearable and she tries to remember the last time she drank something.
No, she thinks. You can't close your eyes. You need to stay awake.
Then she can hear Percy, can feel him next to her. He's picking her up but she can't remember falling down. She doesn't remember much except for the heat and the pain and the fire.
Then her eyes slide shut as she gets out of the smoke. The sky is blue, and the puffy white clouds are gone. She lets out a breath in relief and drifts off, knowing she's safe.
Look, I don't know what this is. I just started writing and kept going until I thought it was good enough to finish. I'm going to add a second part, and maybe a third, but I don't know when. Have a good day or night wherever you are.
