A/N: Sup! XD (the answer is the sky/ceiling btw unless you're hanging upside down) Anyways, new chapter, yayyy :D Enjoy (that might change by the end HINT HINT) Also two quick things- this chapter will be really long, and as well there is some violence in it so if you don't like that I advice not reading! :)
light-and-Shadows-Mist-and-ice: I'm surprised you noticed that! Good job! At the time I wasn't thinking panic switch then I was like wait…. Just tweek the idea then it's basically a panic switch thing :O Anyways, you'll have to ask *cough* Wolf *cough* where Thalia got the knife ;)
Thalia's POV
As she ran through the forest, the big beasts footprints below her, Thalia could've swore something was following her. Every time she twisted to see who it was though, she saw no one. Scowling, she continued following the traces of Camille's kidnappers. Darien's, as well, although Thalia could care less about his surviving. Call her mean, but she was protective over Camille.
Soon, a faint golden glow could be seen in between the tree branches ahead. Thalia sucked in a breath- this had to be it. The Aztec temple Celeste had foreseen. She pushed her legs to go even harder, until suddenly they stopped moving- against her will. Her mind flooded with rage. Whoever thought they had ANY right to strip her of her free will would get a nasty surprise when they released their control. A quick slice with her kni- suddenly the figure stepped into view. Celeste. Stars, what the hell did she think she was doing outside of the hotel?!
Celeste's hold left Thalia. Her knees buckled but Thalia managed to catch herself and avoid a face full of dirt. She stood up, twisting to face her friend.
"Two things- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT OF THE HOTEL?! Second of all, don't ever do your freaky mind control thing on me ever again!" Thalia ordered. Celeste's face fell towards the ground.
"I…. I'm sorry, Thalia…. I couldn't let you go in there alone, though, and this was the only way to have you avoid…. Well, not to sound harsh or mean but killing me with that knife of yours if I revealed myself before you could see my face," Celeste murmured. "Besides, without me you wouldn't have known about the two guards hidden by the entrance to the temple," Celeste added quietly.
"I assure you, I could've killed them just fine," Thalia muttered to herself. Of course Celeste heard but she didn't say anything. Sighing in frustration, Thalia stumbled over to give her a friend a hug.
"I don't want you to get hurt. I'm expendable- no one cares about me. I can't let you throw yourself into a dangerous situation, though," Thalia whispered into her friends ear. She willed the horrible image of her friend sprawled on the ground, blood pooling around her.
"I'll be alright. Together we'll be alright," Celeste replied soothingly. Blinking the tears from her eyes, Thalia nodded and stepped back.
"So, what's the plan of attack?" Thalia asked.
"I don't trust my mind not to give out again- I'm going to save it for when we're facing the bulk of the pack. If you're going to kill the guards without raising the alarm or, you know, getting eaten, you'll need to be swift. The one closest is hiding in that tree" Celeste pointed to a bushy tree by the temple "shoot that one with your gun, then you'll need to beat the other guard to the door and…." Celeste took a deep breath before continuing. Thalia could tell she wasn't comfortable with saying how to kill someone or something. "Slice the other's throat so he can't call for backup," Celeste managed to say.
Thalia nodded understandingly, readying her gun and searching the leaves for the one guard. She couldn't be seen, so she crept as close to the edge of the tree line as she dared, before trying to find the beast. A small spot of brown fur showed behind a small patch of leaves. Taking a deep breath, Thalia moved the aim of her gun to where the rest of the wolf would be hiding. She pulled the trigger before she could think about it, and a small yelp rang out of the clearing before the body fell to the ground.
Immediately Thalia pulled out her knife and sprinted to the entrance. Just like Celeste said, the second guard came running out of some bushes, still not noticing her. He was gaining on her, but Thalia ran like a gazelle would from a lion. She leaped forwards as soon as she was close enough, raising her knife, but instead of it connecting with the wolves neck, it connected with an arm raised to block.
A small yelp was all she got. He turned to face her, a hungry smile greeting her. He dashed forwards to strike with his nasty sharp claws, however Thalia ducked and rolled under him, striking out at his leg. Quickly she turned to stand, but the wolf was faster when she tried to roll under him again. Two claws cut into her arms and Thalia let out a shrill scream. Raising her good arm to block a second strike, she blinked through the tears and shifted forwards, this time getting a clean slice on his neck.
Thalia collapsed to the ground the same time he did. She barely noticed Celeste charging out of the woods towards her, wrapping her arms around her. Gritting her teeth through the stinging pain, Thalia stumbled up.
"Something to…. Wrap with?" Thalia murmured. Celeste tore off a piece of fabric from her tank top, giving her a rather awkward slight crop top before tying it tightly around the wound. Taking a deep breath, Thalia shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the pain.
"Right…. Now…." Thalia breathed.
"This time we'll stay together. I we'll find the pack in the center of the temple, but first we need to save our friends if we'll survive the pack. They're trapped in the bottom part of the temple, with three guards. I can barely control that many for a brief time so you'll need to be quick with…. With…" Thalia nodded in understanding.
Together they took of through the temple, quickly finding stairs. Thalia noticed her friend stopping to stare at the drawings on the wall, and though she felt like a jerk about it Thalia nudged her forwards. Thankfully, on the way they only ran into one Wolf guard which fell quickly.
Suddenly the air started smelling particularly musty when they reached the bottom of the stairs. A snarl rang through the small corridor, and just before claws came slashing across Thalia's face, Celeste froze all three guards. Thalia made quick work of them. Her friend took a dizzying step forwards, and Thalia caught her on one shoulder before her friend could collapse. They stumbled forwards until three barred rooms came into view, two of which were occupied.
Celeste pushed away from Thalia and stumbled towards the first one, tears streaming down her cheeks. Thalia watched as Celeste grabbed the bars tightly, leaning her face into them and speaking soft words only she and the prisoner could hear. She knew her friend had finally found her brother. Sighing, Thalia looked around for keys. Growling softly to herself, she knelt by one of the dead bodies.
It was rather difficult to help roll him over, but finally Thalia managed to shove him over to the other side. She searched his pockets and finally her hands bumped into something cold that jingled. Grabbing them, she pulled them out and ran to her friends.
Thankfully, there was only one key on the ring which avoided lots of trial and error, and precious time lost before the others realized they were here. Surely they could smell them? Thalia decided not to dwell on why they weren't storming the place.
The lock was stiff, and Thalia had to wrench the keys in order to open Zane's cage. She stifled a gasp when she saw her sort of friend's wounds. He was chained to the wall, hanging by only his wrists. Zane's shirt had been stripped off, revealing nasty claw wounds on his back that were sure to scar. Handing the keys to Celeste, Thalia stumbled towards him to catch him when Celeste unlocked his chains. She could barely tell if he was alive.
Grunting a bit when he collapsed into her arms, Thalia dragged him outside and ordered Celeste to unlock the other cage while she tended to Zane. It was harsh, yes, but Thalia had slightly more medical experience then her friend. Zane's eyes were closed, but after one well placed slap, his eyelids fluttered open. He sucked in a breath, and Thalia watched as his eyes focused on her.
"Th…. Thalia? You can't be here! Have they kidnapped you? Celeste, Celeste is she here?" Zane exclaimed with a worried edge to his voice. Arms suddenly wrapped around him as Celeste hugged him tight. Sighing at her friends low capacity of doing what she was told, just like Cinder and Kai, Thalia snatched the keys away and went to work trying to unlock Camille's and Darien's cage. They, thankfully were not chained up but were however unconscious. Thalia felt her lip curl in a snarl when she noticed Darien's arm wrapped around Camille. No matter though, they were kind of thrown into a prison so she attempted to allow a tad bit of sympathy thrown in for the kid who'd been dragged into this.
Unfortunately, Darien was considerably more difficult to drag then Zane. Rolling her eyes, Thalia decided to scoop up Camille in her arms and carry her to rest beside Zane. Next she and Celeste dragged Darien out.
Thalia grabbed Camille's shoulders and shook her very hard until finally her eyelids fluttered open as well.
"Camille! Camille, I'm so so sorry this happened to you…. It should've been me," Thalia whimpered, wrapping her arms into a fierce hug around her friend. Camille simply nodded, seemingly unable to form words.
Next, Thalia moved over to Darien. She was okay saying she took particular pleasure in the slap that woke him up. He jolted awake, and the first god's damn question he asked was "where's Camille? Is she ok?"
"She's not okay, thanks to you," Thalia growled.
"I…. I wouldn't hurt her," Darien replied weakly.
"Hey, Thalia, loosen up a bit," Celeste scolded. Thalia gave a death glare directed towards Darien before helping Camille to stand. Turning to Celeste, she asked what they should do next.
"Well, they sure won't be of much help anytime soon. They need to rest a bit. I say we leave them here and go deal with our hosts ourselves," Celeste replied. Zane frowned, tilting his head towards his sister.
"What does your vision tell you?" He asked. Thalia marveled at the fact that he knew his sister was trying to change the future. She wondered why. Surprisingly, Celeste crumpled to the ground at the question, her reply coming in sobs towards the end.
"We… We all go…. Darien gives you guys a special hidden vial of some liquid that lets you recover way quicker…. But….. I….. Can't….. Zane, I can't see past when we encounter the Wolves…. It just… All goes dark," Celeste sobbed. Thalia's eyes widened at that. Why would it go dark? Surely it didn't mean….. No…. No, she refused to accept that. On cue, Darien gave Camille and Zane his special drink.
Like the vision promised, they recovered rapidly. Zane took his sisters hand and they touched foreheads. He whispered some promise to her that Thalia didn't quite pick up. Shooting a death glare at Darien as he took Camille's hand, Thalia then took the lead of the group back up the stairs to what she hoped was the middle of the temple.
Her knife gripped tightly in one hand, she stalked through the dim corridors, barely managing to keep her bearings through all the twists and turns. Just when she was about to say they were lost though, a bright flicker of torchlight could be seen from another twist in the corridor.
"Everyone, stay here, I'm going to scout ahead," Thalia whispered to her friends who all looked like they wanted to disagree but ended up all nodding. Thalia crept forwards. Taking a deep breath, she peeked her head around the corner and stifled a gasp at what she saw. A group of around four wolves, (to much for Celeste to control at her current mental state and she doubted Zane was strong enough yet) all huddled around one pedestal in the center of the room.
Before they could spot her, she whorled back around and quietly ran back to her friends, describing the odd scene. Celeste shut her eyes, and Thalia figured she was scanning her previous visions and her general knowledge of what it could be. Her face remained frustrated when her eyes opened again.
"I'm not sure what it is, but it can't be good. Everyone, stay together," Celeste whispered, gesturing that they move towards the wolves. Thalia made sure she was in front.
When they turned the corner, before she could launch herself at the nearest wolf, they were stopped by the faces of all of them on them.
"Well well well. If it isn't Princess Celeste Blackburn of Luna herself, here with her bodyguard!" the Alpha's voice boomed. The rest smiled crookedly. Apparently wolf mutants didn't see the dentist.
"She's not my bodyguard. She's my friend," Celeste retorted with gritted teeth. Thalia pushed her shoulders back and tilted her chin up at this comment, her steely gaze fixed on the demons before her.
"Sure. We'll let you believe that. Now, what do you guys think you'll do?" the Alpha replied.
"I'm going to kill you," Thalia shot back, taking a step forwards.
"Uh uh uh, no you don't, pretty girl. You're the daughter of that traitor, aren't you? Now, look. One more step and this entire place blows. You folks are going to come along peacefully now. Drop your weapons, hands up and small steps forwards," the Alpha ordered, pointing a finger to where he wanted them to stand. Slowly, Thalia started forwards.
"The knife and gun" One of the wolves repeated. Thalia shot a cold smile at him before grabbing her gun and swiftly shooting the Alpha in the head. He collapsed, but before anyone could 'blow the place up' Thalia shot forwards and drove her knife into the heart of another Wolf. Swinging around and kicking another in the knee with a satisfying crack, Thalia was about to slice the other's neck when he jumped forth and pressed the small stone button on the pedestal. He fell just as soon.
Growling, Thalia felt the ground rumble under her feet.
"QUICK, EVERYONE OUT!" Thalia screamed, charging forwards to the exit, herding her friends in front of her. The rumbling grew and grew until small stones were falling from the walls and ceiling.
When she saw daylight pierce the dark haze of the tunnels, Thalia shoved her friends forwards. She had every means to get them out alive, even if she died saving them. They were almost out safely, except ahead the ceiling crumbled. Thalia screamed with frustration, pushing her friends aside towards the rubble.
The walls were literally shaking now, huge chunks falling behind them. Desperately Thalia shoved the fallen rocks away, until she could see a small ray of sunlight. Still she kept removing rocks, but she was stopped by a sudden deeper rumbling then a deep BOOM! The red glow of fire raced down the corridor, closer to them by the second. Thalia tried to get to her friends, to wrap them in her arms, save them from the fire but it was no use when a bright flash appeared over her vision and a second, deeper boom followed. Rocks and rubble exploded around them, flinging Thalia far away from the temple. She slammed into the solid trunk of a tree, earning a solid crack, from her back, head or tree, she didn't know. The last thing she saw was rock and fire raining down from the red sky.
Thalia's eyes slowly opened. Her head hurt, like being slammed into something hard. A sharp pain flared from her lower back. Though her arms felt incredibly sore and absolutely did not want to move, she reached back to feel if her back was broken. Arching her back, she felt a pop followed by another flare of pain before it faded. With a small scream from her pain, she stumbled to a sitting position. Behind her was the tree she'd been flung into, it was now only half a tree.
To be honest, it was a miracle she was alive. Then the memories flooded back. With a sudden sense of urgency, Thalia stumbled forwards, barely managing not to trip over all the small rocks and big ones which littered the ground. Desperately she scanned the area for her friends. After a few minutes of searching, she found them.
Running hurt, but she managed to run towards them, tears streaming down her grimy face. Her knees buckled just as she reached the nearest body. Arms trembling, she rolled Celeste over, brushing hair out of her face. A sharp cry rang out when she saw the eyes staring blankly back at her.
"No no no no no! CELESTE NO!" Thalia screamed, cradling the body to her own as if she could share her life force. Blinking the tears away, she looked around towards the others. Gods forbid they didn't make it.
The next nearest one was dear Camille. Sweet, sweet little Camille who wouldn't have hurt a fly, who didn't deserve this…. Her body shook with sobs as she noticed the horrible burns, the chest that didn't rise and fall. Shaking, she pressed her fingers against her friends neck, trying to check for a pulse. Nothing. Just cold, lifeless skin.
Zane was also dead. Celeste didn't feel quite as anguished over that, yet she still shed more tears for him. Darien, to, lay lifeless, sprawled across the ground, his neck at an unnatural angle. Thalia had bitter angry tears for him.
"If you hadn't brought her to that damn pond, CAMILLE MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE!" Thalia screamed. Even though she was screaming at a corpse.
How had it all gone wrong? She'd tried so hard to get them out safely…. How had she been the only one to escape? Then a few words drifted through her mind, one's she hadn't noticed when she'd woken up.
Saving you was the only way to save the world… The only future where the wolves didn't slaughter everything. I had to, Thalia, and you might hate me but I wouldn't let you die. Not after how hard you tried to save us. You truly deserved to be live.
A/N: Um…. So that happened. Try not to kill me, though I'm afraid it may be inevitable. Sorry Carin!