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I open my eyes slowly, feeling eye gunk stuck to my eyelids. Eww. I lift my head up slightly to see a boy with golden-blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and sun-kissed skin sitting fussing with some medical equipment… aka trying to stuff a jar with cotton balls and re-rolling a thing of gauze.

I groan and the boy looks up. "Oh! You're awake! You didn't have a pulse for a few minutes… we'd thought we'd lost you. Here, have this, only a cap full. My name's Will Solace, head of the Apollo cabin." Will hands me a canteen.

I prop myself up and drink a swig. It's nectar, but it tastes like something I haven't had since my mom was alive: Jello drink. I down the entire cap full. "Actually, I was dead. Sort of."

Will looks at me like I'd just told him that I met The Doctor. I have, but I'll save that story for another time. "Really? What happened?"

"There was nothing but creamy-yellow clouds as far as I could see. My… mom…" I choke up a little on 'mom'. "Was there, and she held out her hand. I was going to take it, but then I heard a voice. Turns out, it was Past-Me, and she/I told me/myself something. Then she/I made me/myself choose." I pause to breathe. "I was about to make my decision when my phone rang. Surprisingly, limbo has some fantastic cell reception. The caller was Dumbledore who gave me a piece of advice/omen. I then made my choice to stay alive and walked out of some ancient wooden double doors. And here I am."

Will's jaw dropped a good three inches. I sit up fully and my head throbs. "Head rush… whoa." I tilt to the side and Will catches me.

"Take it easy. I'll go get Chiron. Stay put." Will lays me back on the bed and leaves the infirmary quickly.

A person enters the infirmary a few minutes later. The person is a young girl of no older than five, her body is shimmering and translucent, as if she were a dream. She's wearing a pale pink tattered dress, scuffed baby-blue Mary-Janes, white knee socks with frilled tops. Her hair is so blonde, it looks white in some places. Her violet eyes shine with a hidden light. I gasp. It… it can't be…

Xylia.

My precious little girl.

My ray of hope. The only one who brought a smile to my face.

My little light in the darkness that was my life with my dad, his demigod army, the monsters he controlled. She is… was… my favorite demigod. She never told anyone who her godly parent was. Except me. Her mother is… was… Makaria, goddess of blessed death.

That's how it was.

A blessed death.

It was like losing my mom all over again. The agony I felt was unbearable, my world came crashing down and burning; with me still inside it. I took my infuriation out on everyone and everything.

But now, either I'm dying, hallucinating, or she's still alive; somewhere, possibly alone, possibly frightened, wanting my protection.

"Archy? Where are you? I'm scared…" Shimmer-Xylia cries out. I can hear the panic in her voice.

I reach out to grab Shimmer-Xylia's hand, but she disappears. I sit in astonishment and sorrow. Tears threaten to spill, but I force them away.

Chiron enters the infirmary, an unreadable expression on his face. "How are you feeling?" He asks.

"I've definitely felt better." I grumble.

Chiron nods. "We nearly had to make a burial shroud for you. Your heart had stopped beating for at least three minutes, and your breathing had slowed down so that Will could barely trace it." He explains solemnly.

I push myself to a sitting position. "I am not going to lie around here all week/day/however long I'm supposed to be in here." I huff and swing my legs over the side of the bed in an attempt to stand. I find that my ankle is wrapped in gauze and an Ace bandage. "Well, isn't that fun." I remark sarcastically and look around for a pair of crutches; because there is no way in Tartarus I am hobbling.

I spot the crutches I was looking for and reach for them, only to have them just out of my reach.

Well, crab.

I hop over to them and then crutch my way back to the Poseidon cabin, leaving a shocked Chiron in my wake.

I pretend to ignore all of the people who rush up to me asking if I'm alright and how I'm still alive. Keyword: pretend. It feels kinda nice to have people all around me, not monsters like when I lived with the thing that was my father.

Secretly, I want the attention. When I was little, I was ignored in school. By other students, their parents, even the teachers! When I did get noticed, it was the other students picking on me because my eyes are gold. Didn't matter what age they were, they all did it at some point. I was so sick and tired of it that one day, that fateful day…

Sorry about no updates for so long! Lots of stuff has been happening so quickly! I switched to private school, snowed in, break, Dad's birthday, etc... etc... So I need at least six OCs for an upcoming bit in a later chappie! PM me ideas! If I don't get your input, this won't be as fun! Reviews make me update faster! Flashback chappie next!