Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson
A/N: Hope you enjoy!
ι
I can't really describe how it felt, it was beyond excruciating…. The best would probably be it felt as if I was being burned alive at the stake. As soon as that blade hit me my whole body felt like it had exploded into flames. Like my insides were being burnt with acid while I was being flayed alive on the outside by fire as hot as the sun.
The worst part, Kelli didn't stop when the blade pierced the skin. No, she had to go the whole nine yards and skewer me clean through, until the hilt stopped her from going any farther.
I was too stunned to scream from the pain. I couldn't comprehend the pain. I was in shock.
Kelli slowly pulled the blade out, which made things so much worse (but I'm sure she knew that). I looked up at her and she smiled dropping the sword. The four that were holding me, let go of my arms and I fell to my knees and then promptly did, sort of, a face-plant. Where I lay gasping, fighting for breath, and slowly bleeding out.
I'm not quite sure what happened after that, but I heard sounds of scuffling, and swords connecting, and shouting. But it was really all a blur. All I could really think about was that my energy, my life, was slowly ebbing away; flowing out from my body. When I blinked tears came spilling out. I choked once and almost threw up blood, but I managed to hold it back. Well, some of it at least. Some of it managed to come up and dribble out the corner of my mouth. I blinked and suddenly Luke came into view, coming to sit beside me with his legs underneath him. He actually had tears in his eyes, and for a moment I realized I'd never seen Luke cry before.
I shifted slowly, trying to repress my face of pain, and rolled so I was half on my side and half on my back. I swallowed the blood that started flowing up again.
Luke had his sword in one hand. He reached out with his free one and delicately stroked my hair.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he cried.
I shook my head and got up the strength to reach up and caress his face while wiping away some of his tears. Luke dropped his sword and put it over mine.
"I'm… sor-ry." I choked my voice just barely a raspy whisper. I blinked and more tears gushed from the corners of my eyes. He squeezed my hand and more tears streamed down his face. My vision blurred and, for a scary moment, went black. I pulled myself back. I just needed on more moment. "I… love… you, Luke. I… always… have." I coughed.
He took my hand in both of his and held it tightly.
"I love you, too." he whispered. "I love you so much, Tori."
The last thing I saw were his beautiful icy blue eyes, glittering with pain. And slowly, my vision faded as I took my last breaths.
I was dead.
I died.
I had to be dead.
I was going to open my eyes and be in that waiting room where I had to pay a fee (that I most likely wouldn't be able to pay) to go into the Underworld, where—if I even made it—I'd probably be punished for sort-of helping Kronos try and rise again.
I took a breath, even though I didn't need it, and slowly opened my eyes. At first all I saw was a bright light and I figured, okay that's normal. There would be lights in the waiting room, right? I mean, I knew it was to the Underworld but that didn't mean they had to make it all depressing.
When my eyes adjusted I realized that the light… wasn't what I was expecting. It was soft and almost golden. I gasped and covered my eyes with my hand.
Okay, so maybe I wasn't in a waiting room, because waiting rooms didn't have lights like that. So… where was I? Did you still have to pay to get into Elysium? But even if I didn't have to, I didn't think I'd been so good to even make it to Elysium. I mean, I'd been in Juvenile for sixth months for goodness sakes (don't ask, long story; I didn't do anything bad, per se).
Slowly I parted my fingers and opened my eyes and looked around. When I couldn't make any discernable specifics of wherever I was, I took my hand off of my eyes and turned my head around.
The things I registered: (1) I was lying in a cot, (2) I was in an infirmary that looked oddly familiar… (3) I remembered that this infirmary looked exactly like the one in camp—and you know, it probably was but this only confused me more, (4) I was so weak, that putting my hand over my eyes had sapped all my strength, (5) I was ravished, and (6) I felt like I'd just woken up from a coma.
Questions that I had: (1) I had died… right, (2) was this Camp Half-Blood's infirmary, (3) what happened to Luke, (4) was he okay, (5) was he helping Kronos again, (6) was he even still alive, and (7) I had died… right?
Silena Beauregard passed by with a glance in my direction and stopped.
She smiled slightly, "Oh, hey, you're up."
I tried to sit up, but my midsection inflamed so I stopped that attempt. "Um, where am I?" I asked my brain still frozen on the fact that I was supposed to be dead.
Silena regarded me with a weird look. Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked around like a camera should pop out with a TV host saying, "Gotcha!"
"You're… joking, right?" she asked slowly, looking unsure on whether to be worried or laugh at me. My totally straight face told her I wasn't. "Um… the infirmary at camp." she clarified.
"You mean Camp Half-Blood?" I asked.
She answered my question with another question. "Is there another camp that holds children of the gods?"
I breathed a chuckle. "No, seriously."
She gave me another strange look and slowly walked up to me. "Are you all right?"
"I was turned into a human shish-kabob, I think I'm supposed to be dead, and instead of the being in the Underworld, I'm alive at Camp Half-Blood. Do you think I'm all right?" I asked her.
She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "No, seriously." she mimicked.
"Hey, now," I chided. "No need to act that way."
"I think you're just really confused." she decided. "I would be too. I'm going to go get Chiron. I'll be right back." she said backing up slightly and then turning to leave.
"Hey!" I called after her as she jogged away, just barely being able to lift my head. "Wait a minute! I was impaled, not hit over the head!" I growled—ignoring more of the weird stares I got from other campers who were in the infirmary as well—and let my head fall back onto the pillow.
I was alive? And at Camp Half-Blood? So… where was Luke then? Was he… was he dead? I shook myself. No, he wasn't. Stop saying that! My mind yelled.
I felt too restless to lay, so I slowly started to try and sit up. It was more painful than I wanted it to be and the fatigue and lethargy I felt really wasn't helping. But I finally managed it. I was panting it had taken so much effort.
Chiron trotted up just then, he was smiling.
"You're looking better." he commented.
"I don't exactly feel like it." I muttered.
"I heard you're a bit… confused." he said looking slightly amused.
"I'm supposed to be dead." I exclaimed.
Chiron's eyebrows knitted together. "Do you want to be dead?"
I guess I said that in the wrong tone. "Well… no, but—"
Our activities director's face cleared. "Then we don't have a problem. Maybe you should get some fresh air." he looked around for something or someone and before I could say anything he started speaking again. I had a feeling that he was avoiding my unvoiced questions. "Ah, Lee, will you be so kind to help Tori up and out onto the porch, please." he requested.
"But, wait. Chiron—" I tried as Lee came up.
"I'll be out there in just a moment, Tori." He quickly cantered away as I opened my mouth to try and say something. I huffed. Lee—whose last name was Fletcher, was the head counselor of the Apollo cabin (I swear they were just doing this to torture me)—held out his hand for me.
"Thanks." I mumbled taking his hand.
Standing up was just as awful as sitting up, but didn't take as long because Lee was there steadying me. He was very patient, though. I stood up and immediately my vision was covered in little black dots. So we had to stand there for a moment and wait until it cleared. Then, as we made our way outside, I had to stop now and again and catch my breath or let the pain fade before I could start walking more.
Finally, though we made it out. Lee led me over to an empty deck chair and I sat down heavily. I was puffing for breath.
"Thanks," I told him again. He nodded and was off down the steps and out of sight. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the cooling summer breeze. The tree's leaves rattled and the wind chimes went. My eyes snapped open when I realized that this was nicer than the last time I'd been in camp. I sat forward slightly and glanced around. Everything looked… sharper, brighter. The greens were greener, the blues bluer. The grass was lush and green; the strong, sweet smell of strawberries wafted from the fields, the trees looked healthy and strong, and I could hear the waves wash over the sand.
I looked up at Thalia's tree. It looked just as lively as ever. Its pines were a wonderful dark green and from the lowest bough hung a golden fleece, the Golden Fleece. Impressive. If the camp looked this way, I couldn't imagine how strong the border was.
"Splendid, isn't it?" Chiron asked coming up from nowhere to stand next to me. I jumped.
"Yeah, I'll say." I agreed. "Oh, uh… welcome back. It's good to see you." I added quickly. Chiron smiled.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
I sat back. "Like I died and came back to life." I told him truthfully.
He chuckled just as Silena came out with a tray in her hands; that held a glass of iced golden apple juice. I knew it was nectar but it looked like apple juice.
She handed it gingerly over to me. I thanked her, and quickly set it down on the armrest before it could slip from my hand. I sipped the nectar through a bendy straw. It tasted wonderful. Like Mrs. Alexander's home-made three-apple crumble. It was warm, with the fresh taste of apples; each flavor prominent (Granny Smith, Winesap, and Rome Beauty), and finally a shock of cold that was her home-made vanilla ice cream she'd always serve on the side.
I shivered as warmth, and energy flowed back into me. I could breathe easier, and I felt a little stronger too. At least I had stopped shaking.
"You gave us quite a scare." Chiron remarked.
I pulled back briefly to say, "Oh?"
"Yes, you were out for just over twelve days."
I choked on the drink. Chiron quickly pulled the glass away so I wouldn't spill as I started coughing.
"T-twelve… twelve days?" I rasped. I coughed a little more and cleared my throat. "I've been out for twelve days?" I asked incredulously.
"Well, you did die, after all." he said handing me the glass back.
"So, then, how did I get here?"
"Someone saved you." I waited for him to say more, but he didn't continue.
They had to be powerful enough to bring me back. I had someone in mind, but didn't want to really believe it. "Who…?" I asked hesitantly.
"Oh, look its Percy, Annabeth and Thalia." Chiron pointed out. I forgot my question.
"Wait, did you just say Thalia?" I asked astonished.
"Are you done with that?" he inquired ignoring me and pointing to my empty glass.
"Oh, yeah. But—" I tried to ask again but Chiron quickly took the glass and was gone, back inside the Big House. "Chiron, wait!" I called trying to stand up. Even with the nectar, my vision went black and I felt instantly lightheaded. The ringing in my ears became more pronounced. I sat back down heavily with a huff.
"Oh, hey! You're up." Percy's voice sounded.
I opened my eyes to see Percy, followed by an unhappy-looking Annabeth, and Thalia (who had black hair, cut in a way that reminded me of the lead singer of P!nk, and was dressed in punk-rocker clothes) bringing up the rear, walk up the porch steps and over to me. I thought it was weird that they were coming over to talk to me, I wasn't exactly friends with them (well, maybe Percy, but the line ends there); Thalia had been a tree the whole time I'd been here, and I knew that Annabeth hated my guts.
Then again, if I was friends with Percy, Thalia and Annabeth were just coming because he was here… well Annabeth was at least. Thalia looked like the one who didn't do what others told her, especially when they were younger than her.
He and Thalia stood a little closer to me, but Annabeth stayed back, leaned against the railing and glared out at the strawberry fields with her arms crossed.
"Yeah, finally." I let out a breathy chuckle.
"How are you?" Percy asked.
I smiled. "Well, I was impaled, died, came back to life, and have been asleep for just about twelve days—or so I'm told. So…" I pretended to think about this. "Pretty good, I guess. I could be better, but I could also be worse."
"Yeah… I don't think you could get any worse than dying." Thalia pointed out.
"I don't know… I would think being a tree would be worse than dying." I said, a little guardedly afraid it'd offend her.
She grimaced. "That's true."
Silence arose and I used this time to work up the courage to ask, "H-have any of you guys s-seen… Luke?" I was looking down at my hands in my lap, but when no one answered I finally looked up. I immediately thought the worst had happened and started panicking.
"He's on Mount Olympus, waiting for an audience with the gods." Percy said quietly. "They're deciding—"
"On whether or not to kill him." Annabeth cut in icily, not bothering to break it to my lightly (not that I cared, I just wanted to know where he was). I could feel her steely, gray eyes on me, but I continued to look at Percy.
"Yeah, what she said." he sighed.
Well it was decided then. I took a deep breath and braced for the burning as I pushed myself to my feet. I held onto the armrest for a minute and took big, deep breaths until my vision cleared. Then I started forward willing my body to hold on a little longer. It'd get to rest another twelve days after I got to see Luke.
"What are you doing?" Percy asked as I pushed past him and Thalia and quickly hopped down the stairs.
"I'm going to see him." I grunted as I hit the grass and almost lost my balance. "What does it look like?"
"That's not a good idea." Annabeth spoke. "The gods aren't going to like it if you just barge in. It's very disrespectful to begin with—"
"I don't care." I told her cautiously taking a couple steps forward, making sure my equilibrium was doing okay. "This is possibly the last time I'll see him. I'm not going to throw that away." I explained walking with a little more confidence. I was already tired, but I pushed myself forward anyway.
Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth followed quickly. (I was still quite fast, then again I felt like I had to rush or I'd miss my chance to see Luke, so I ignored the aching pain where Kelli stabbed me.)
"Tori, I don't think this is a good idea." Percy called after me.
I started to walk faster as I got closer to the driveway. I knew this would probably fry my body, but I wanted to see Luke. I wanted to see his gorgeous blue eyes again, his charming smile.
"Try and stop me." I replied over my shoulder, for they were already lagging behind. But when I glanced back they were still following me, running toward me. Percy was just too persistent sometimes, it was a good trait but annoying if you were trying to make an escape.
I was a little more than half-way to the van, but I was still undermined, and Percy caught up to me.
He grabbed my arm and stopped me in my tracks.
"Annabeth has a point. You can't just go stomping in during their council." he said. I'll admit it: it was kind of odd to hear Percy being the voice of reason. "Besides how are you even going to get there?"
"The van, what else?" I asked making it sound like it should've been obvious.
"But you don't have the keys." Annabeth chimed in coming up to stand next to Percy. Thalia followed, standing next to Annabeth.
I pulled my arm out of Percy's grip and started for one of the vans swiftly.
"I do know how to hotwire a car." I said as I came up to the van.
Annabeth just wouldn't let it go. "It's still locked." she hollered as Percy said, "Really! Can you teach me?" I heard a smack, which I figured was Annabeth hitting Percy, and then him exclaim, "Ow! I was just joking, jeez."
I rolled my eyes and tried the door and to my slight surprise it opened. I couldn't help but turn and smirk at Annabeth's bewildered face. I, then, quickly got to work.
"I'm going to go get Chiron." Annabeth said.
I paused and turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. "You wouldn't."
"Watch me."
I groaned, not wanting to do this, but I didn't have any other choice. "Please, please, don't." I begged.
Percy came forward with a hand outstretched. "Then just come back. I'm sure… Luke"—he had a hard time saying his name; I didn't blame him—"will be fine."
"Percy," I sighed quietly so Annabeth or Thalia wouldn't hear. "What would you do if it were Annabeth?" His hand dropped and his face turned a bright red.
He tried to compose himself, clearing his throat and standing a little taller. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"De-Nile isn't only a river in Egypt." I told him. (De-Nile = denial, just so you know.)
"I'm not in denial!" he objected loudly. I glanced nervously at Annabeth and Thalia who stopped their argument—is what it looked like—to glance at me and Percy. "I'm not in denial." he told me quieter.
I crossed my arms and looked up at him.
His eyes dropped to his shoes. "I'd… probably go too." he mumbled.
"That's what I thought. Cover for me? I won't be too long." I asked turning back to the wires of the van.
"I'm not guaranteeing anything." he warned before walking off. I vaguely heard the three of them bickering after that, but was too intent on getting this van started and getting to Olympus as soon as I could.
Mount Olympus was… amazing, to say the least. I mean, I know this was Mount Olympus and all, but I'd never seen it before. I hadn't been on the field trip during the winter solstice (the one where Luke stole the two items of power) because I wasn't a year-rounder at the camp.
I took the main brick pathway that led to the palace briskly, only sparing glances at the things going on around me. There were wood nymphs, and naiads, and satyrs, and attractive teens who I assumed were minor gods/goddesses. They were gathered around a small band in a gazebo, like you saw in those old movies, and there were merchants with their little booths selling things ranging from ambrosia to weapons. It kind of reminded me of a small, old town from the 1900's (if I'm remembering correctly).
And the most magnificent thing was that everything was warm and glowed with white and silver.
There were steps to the courtyard, and after that the throne room. Just where I needed to be.
One more chapter to go!
thank-you-for-everything
~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!