Quick Author's note:
Thank so much to my one favorite. :) Please review, even if you didn't like it. Constructive criticism is welcome. Please follow/favorite.
Chapter 2
When I woke up it was dark and I was sitting in the back seat of a pick up truck, across from a boy holding an obviously dying girl. The boy was holding the girl, stroking her hair, murmuring that everything was going to be ok, occasionally yelling at the driver, Grover, to put his foot on it. I took a closer look at the girl the boy was holding, and gasped. She looked bad. Her face was ashen and clammy, and her waist length hair was in total disarray, it may have once been a ponytail, but there was too many snags and knots to be sure. The cut on her cheek was green and festering. The exact same cut that I had got on my cheek, earlier today from a manticore spine. Her hair, upon closer inspection, was an identical blonde to mine. "Oh no. This can't be happening." I said, covering my mouth as I fell back onto my seat. I can't be dead. I can't be. If I'm seeing my body for where I am, I would have to be a ghost. I examine my arms, they are almost transparent, as if I could disappear at any moment.
I look up from my self examinations long enough to see myself convulse and begin to shake. I am not dead yet then. "Oh, but you are so close..." A deep, almost harmonious voice said from beside me. I spun around to face him, but not before I saw the mystery boy wrap his arms around my body, in an attempt to stop the convulsing. "Look, at him. Ignorant mortal, who cannot see that your true form is here. That I, am in fact keeping you alive." I finally pinpointed the voice as coming from a spot on my right, just above my shoulder. "You keep looking in the wrong place, darling." The voice mocked me from a different place again. "I am right here." I caught my breath as a man, no older then twenty-five appeared at my shoulder. "I am Hades, and your case, lets say it interests me." "What do you mean my case? Who are you?" I demanded, finally finding my voice. I looked Hades in the eyes, and very nearly lost my nerve. His eyes told a hundred stories, stories of death and plunder. Stories of all the riches under the earth, and all the dead there as well.
"I've already told you who I am, I am Hades, Lord of the Underworld, god of death and riches. And your case? An undiscovered, powerful demigod, fights off manticore poison long enough to kill the beast, without any training? Lets just say your different." "Wait, what?" I say disbelievingly. "You can't possibly be a god, gods don't exist." I disregard his mention of demigods, opting to pursue the statement he made in his first sentence. At these words the sky rumbled. "Be careful what you say, darling" Hades said sarcastically. "Us gods aren't usually kind to disbelievers." I shake my head. "No." I said defiantly "None of this is real. There was no manticore. Gods aren't real. Stuff like this doesn't happen outside of books." "Oh, but darling," Hades replied. "Hasn't anyone told you? All of the myths are true." "Oh, c'mon," I say, rolling my eyes, still sceptical. "Oh, but it's true, darling." Hades said, with an undertone of malice in his voice. I shrink back, suddenly afraid of the strange man sitting in front of me.
He reached for my arm, as I shrank back, holding it in a vice-like grip, which I was surprised I could feel, being transparent and all. "If you appearing in corporeal form, after being attacked by a manticore and seeing a god appear in front of you, wasn't enough proof for you, I don't know what will be." "No." I said. "Just no. I refuse to accept it" "You are awfully oppositional for someone who fought a manticore less then four hours ago." Hades said in a condescending tone. It was obvious that he thought I was a dumb ass for not accepting the clear truth. The horrible thing was, I could hear just how stupid I sounded. Obviously (unless I was going crazy, which I was certain I wasn't), I had fought a manticore and am now dying because of it, so I'm denying the obvious truth to a god? I have been called many things before, but a dumb ass isn't one of them. "So..." I say stupidly "You're Hades?" "Yes. Your a thick one aren't you? I've only said a couple of times." Hades teased. "Ok.. So your a Greek god?" "Yes." Hades replied simply. "So all of Greek mythology is real then?" "True." "And earlier, when you called me a demigod..." I trailed off.
I obviously knew a ton about Greek mythology so I knew what a demigod was, Greece was my English unit last term, and it was one that I actually excelled at. "When I called you a demigod earlier," Hades replied kindly "I meant that you were a demigod, a powerful one if my sources are correct." "Wait, so your saying, that one of my parents was a god or goddess, so I'm half Olympian?" I said, trying to clarify the situation. A disturbing thought crosses my mind. "Your not my father, are you?" "No!" Hades quickly denied. "You knew your biological father, he was the one who raised you I assume?" He had just breached a touchy subject for me, and he seemed to realise that. "Well," he said quickly, trying to cover up his earlier blunder. Who knew gods could be socially awkward?" "Your mother would've been a goddess, and you've inherited some of her traits and of the possible goddesses are Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite..." He had adopted a flat, toneless voice, giving me the impression n that he had this list memorised. "I don't need the crash course in Greek mythology. I already know most of it." I interrupted, with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
"You don't know any of the important stuff, darling. But, no matter, they'll fill you in when you get to camp." Hades said, glaring. I sensed that I had interrupted something that he had practiced for a long time. "Camp?" I questioned, trying to dispel the tension. "Yes, Camp Half-Blood. It's where they train demigods like you." Hades said, still glaring. I didn't even bother to deny the part about my being a demigod. It makes no sense to deny the obvious. "Train for what?" I say stupidly. I already knew what they were training demigods, I wasn't a total moron. I just wanted Hades to confirm it. "Wow, you really are slow, aren't you?" Hades chuckled. "Training them to fight monsters, of course. Not that it'll matter." "Why won't it matter?" I ask, beginning to get frustrated with Hades and his mysterious ways. "Whilst we have been speaking, your spirit has left your body, leaving your body defenceless against the manticore poison, which is slowly expanding your veins. I imagine, Grover or that boy there," he said gesturing at the boy holding my body, "have given you a clotting agent, designed to prolong the journey of the manticore poison to your heart. Once the poison reaches your heart, you will die. The result of the clotting agent, has been to slow the poison down, not stop it indefinitely. Ergo, if you do choose to return to your body, you will suffer immense pain. The like of which is rarely survived, but if your spirit doesn't return to your body, you will die within the hour."
I start to cry when I hear this. "Pull yourself together Jasper," I whisper. "Your not dead yet." Immediately my tears dry up, and I adopt what I like to call my freezer mode, and my aunt likes to call an emotional shutdown. I scares her when I do this, but it clears my mind of all emotion and leaves me able to come to a logical and well-reasoned solution to just about anything. I think through the facts, if I stay here, I die, if I don't and I return to my body, I experience pain, unlike anything I have ever felt before, with a possibility of dying. But the clotting agent doesn't last forever, meaning I need an antidote if I am to survive. "An antidote!" The words burst from my mouth. "I mean," I say calming myself. "Is there an antidote?" "The only way you will survive is if you are healed, by Apollo himself, and I assure you that is unlikely to happen. Even if he does heal you, it will not be until sunrise, meaning you have to last through the remainder of the night. " I saw the indecision in his eyes as he said those words, almost as if he felt he had scared me.
"Apollo," I breathe in and out. It felt weird saying the name of my only hope, I never thought I would ever need a final hope. A final hope is something that is only used when all other options have been exhausted. This situation didn't provide me with options, so I suppose a final hope is in order. "How can I persuade Apollo to heal me?" I demanded, glaring at Hades. "You can't." Hades said with total absolution. "Then how..." Hades cut me off. "I can get him to heal you, but you will owe me big time." "I don't have anything to give you." I said pleadingly. "You can give me many things, Jasper Chiarotti, but tonight, all want from you is a favour. I don't know what yet." He said cutting me off. "But, when the time comes, you will do whatever I ask of you." I consider his deal carefully, I didn't want to bind myself to this promise forever, especially if the favour turns out to be something I didn't want to do. Then realise that if I didn't take this I was as good as dead. "I will accept your conditions," I say. "In return for an oath on the river Styx that you will do everything in your power to save my life this night." Hades smile faltered a bit at this demand, but his eyes remained steadily on mine. "Your something else, Jasper Chiarotti." I laughed at this. "Do we have a deal?" "Yeah, I suppose we do, darling." Hades said mocking my formal attitude.
"Your oath?" I said, probably more harshly then required. "You really need to return to you body now." Hades said, trying avoid my gaze. I said nothing, just sat there with my eyebrows raised, glaring at the god in front of me. "I swear upon the river Styx that I will do everything in my power to convince Apollo to heal Jasper Chiarotti this night." "Thank you," I murmur. "Now, how do I, ah..." "Return to your body?" Hades said bemusedly. "It is simple, you merely state that you want to return to your body, using your full name of course. You better hurry though, you aren't looking to good. I swivel in my seat to look at my body. "Oh my god." I say, upon seeing my current condition. I thought my skin was green before, now it was an ugly shade of dark green and my limbs and extremities were swollen beyond recognition. I looked like something out of a horror flick. It was a wonder that the boy holding me hadn't shrunk away in disgust. He was still trying to soothe me, occasionally yelling at Grover to drive faster. Like that would help, I thought sullenly. I turned around to make a remark about my appearance to Hades but he was gone. All that was left where he sat, was a small note, containing three words. 'Better hurry darling' was all it said. As if a reminder was necessary.
I groan, knowing that I am about to condemn myself to excruciating pain for the next, I realised I didn't even know the time. I hurriedly looked over at the boy's watch, but my eyes got somewhat distracted. Damn, he's hot, I thought. I was surprised I hadn't realised before, but between the blond dreadlocks, piercing blue eyes, fit body and obvious height, (that last one was a big positive, I was considered very tall for a girl, being 6'2 and all so any boy taller then me is remarkable.) he made quite the catch. I mentally scolded myself, I need to return to my body. "I, Jasper Gabrielle Chiarotti, would like to return to my body in all haste." I immediately felt the pain, it was like something had hit me with a truck, run over me with a stampede of elephants, then proceeded to stuff my veins full of dynamite. My last thought, before I passed out was that, after getting distracted by the boy, I never had found out what the time was.
I slept fitfully through the night, my few waking minutes filled with spasming fits and seizures, and the boy, always that boy, stroking my hair, murmuring in my ear, attempting to calm my shaking limbs. I wondered, when my mind was not completely assumed by the pain, who this boy was. From the once over I gave him, I knew he was attractive, but why would he be holding me? During one of my brief seizures, I heard the boy, yell at Grover to "step on it." But, why? My mind questioned, why was Grover driving in the first place? He was only fourteen, maybe fifteen. That was when I caught a glimpse of Grover in the drivers seat, there were strange, twisted mutations growing out of his head, almost like horns, I think. But, that's ridiculous, Grover didn't have horns. Or maybe he did, the irrational part of my mind said, you never did see he without a beanie on. My body succumbed to unconsciousness after having this thought.
My final waking spell took place at dawn, when the sun was just peaking out over the trees of the forest outside the window of the room I was in. Sometime in between my last attempt at conciousness and now, grover and the boy must have transferred me into this room. It would've been difficult, I was on what I estimated to be the second floor of a huge house, with an open window facing a large expanse of forest and some cabins, which were shaped in a large omega, with other cabins radiating away from the main formation. This must be Camp Half-Blood. The sun was a little higher in the sky now, and I began to panic, where was Apollo? Hades said if Apollo didn't come by sunrise I would die. Hades must of reneged on his half of the deal, I thought bitterly, trust that son of... My thoughts trailed off as a solitary figure soared through my window. "Hello, Jasper. I am Apollo."