Fire In My Eyes Part I
~Katniss's POV~
All I see is the blur of a bright painted room. Similar to Sora's hair only more tangible than his will ever be—to me at least.
"Katniss . . . KATNISS!" I feel someone embrace me, and the voice kindles me. The voice and warmth seems so distant, like from a memory from long ago. Wrapped in these arms . . . I'm home.
"P—Peeta." I ruffle the golden hair I'd never thought I'd see again. I feel tears rush down my face like tiny waterfalls. I hear his heart beating as I hear mine, like two beats intertwined. He twirls his fingers through my tangled hair, enjoying the fire of the moment.
"How did you get here?" He asks, his voice all raspy. I separate from the warm embrace. How did I get here? Where am I? What's going on? "Katniss . . . are you ok?" He worries.
I look at him now. And I mean actually look at him. His face and hands are paler, his eyes are bloodshot beyond possible, his face looks aged, and he looks so fragile so breakable. Just like Annabeth. I cover my mouth.
"Gods, Peeta . . . What did they do to you?" I say in horror. What have they been doing? He smiles in return and starts swaying, making butterfly motions with his hands. "Peeta…? No. Don't leave me here. . in reality." Tears sting my face until I finally feel broken. I curl in his arms. "Take me with you . . . take it all away, Peeta." My heart feels given in, this isn't pity. It's empathy.
He starts singing—coarsely and rough—but he does.
"When all else fails, two shall stand. Both fighting with each other hand in hand. Two loved ones shall perish and the trigger's gore will begin all. Fire and water will face two worlds at war. A liar will rise from the polyceptics' goddess and crave a relevant forgiveness. But only till the end will all hearts be forever contented, against all witness."
I stare in shock at Peeta. "Peeta . . . where did you hear that?" My heart is no longer at rhythm with his. His is calm while mine is as fast as flames go.
"A beautiful rainbow woman told me. And she told me to sing to you whenever I may see you again . . . and now. . . I have. So I must rest now." He began making himself comfortable on the concrete floor. I felt at loss. Rainbow woman? Does he mean . . . ? No. It can't be Iris . . . Can it?
"No Peeta. No resting. Get up. Where did this rainbow woman come from?" He got up and got my shoulders.
"Don't be jealous, Katniss. She will never be as pretty as you will ever be." I feel my face fume. That's not what I ment, Peeta. Peeta! Understand me!
"No, I'm not. Just describe her. I think I know her. Was her name Iris?" I ask—now frustrated.
His eyes grow, like a little kid's when their guardian discovers a secret from them. If you get what I mean. "Yes, Katniss." His smile faded. "I want to sleep now, Katniss. Will you let me?" His innocent eyes pierced me. Peeta. This isn't a game. Not anymore.
"Peeta, do you know Sora?" I say, snapping him out of the slumber he wants to be in.
"Is Sora your new lover . . . Kaaatnisss?" My face lit up in many colors. Peeta. Me? Sora? Yeah sure, then a nuclear explosion.
"No, Peeta. Not ever. He's going to get married. He has red—" He cuts me off by putting his finger against my lips.
"Marriage is beautiful, Katniss." Well woop-di-doo, Peeta.
"Yes, I know, Peeta. It is." I put his hand down. "Peeta, Sora came here to save you. Have you seen him?"
He looks puzzled. "He brought me bread before he went over there." He pointed to another chamber. So he does know Sora. "Katniss, I want to sleep now. Talk tomorrow. Now, I sleep." He starts to lay down on my lap.
"No, Peeta." I lift him back up. "Peeta we have to get out of here."
He looks mellow now. "No we don't. You and I can start a new life here. We both can be hand in hand. Just like the song says, Katniss. You and I are the star crossed lovers, remember? If we both rest now, we don't have to worry about the future anymore." Does he mean . . . resting as in death? No. NO.
"Peeta! Listen to me, please!" His face goes white.
"I am listening." I take his hand and he gets taken aback and takes his hand back. Peeta. Listen to me. Like back at the games. Listen to me! I grab his shoulders now and shake them.
"Peeta, please!" I say, almost yell. My patience is being tried. "Listen! I need you back over there—with me! Listen to me! Listen to my voice pleading. See my tears streaming down my face! Feel my heart beating rapidly as time sways me away—bit by bit, second by second. Taste the moments of happiness I can't appreciate or compare! Smell the restless salt in the atmosphere that drives me insane day by day, night by night. I can't take it anymore! I can't take being in a web of issues! Why me?" I give up and bury my face in his clothes. "Why can't you see me now?" He pets my hair gently. Even as insane he's driving me right now, I sure missed him. Why? Because I love him. I need him with me. Percy will never be the man Peeta has been for me. Percy doesn't know me the way Peeta knew me, as much as Percy did remind me of him.
I hear two familiar guard voices approaching. I look up from Peeta's torn shirt. They're bringing food for Peeta . . . and Sora. Being that there are only two chambers in here.
"Don't be scared, Katniss. They're only here to feed us." Feed Us. Sounds animalish to me and last time I checked, I'm human.
The guards snort and laugh heartily. Hmm . . . "Look at the poor kid! Imagining his lover is there!" The woman said. 'Imagining'.
The other guard tagged along. "Don't be rude, Claudia! We should give them time to be alone!" He throws a moldy piece of bread inside the cell and a cup of greenish water.
"Yah, yah! Let's just feed Mr. I-don't-need-food,-bitch." Claudia joked. And if by Mr. I-don't-need-food,-bitch, they mean Sora then that's one thing we have in common. Stubbornness. Wow, me and Sora might not be so different after all. Not.
The one thing that finally caught my full span attention, though, was the 'Imagining' part. Do they not see me? Is that what I am now? A hologram of a wanted hero, but failed the people she didn't even decide to take over. I clench my fists and get up.
"Who are you to ignore the fact that I'm here? Have you forgotten my brilliance? What I've done?" Wow, conceited much? Screw you then. The thing that really pissed me off was, they ignored me. Again! I went charging toward the bars.
"Hey, you!" I yelled. The guards ignore me and walk away. Not even noticing I'm here. Then for some reason, my hand goes through the bars. I walk to the other side. What's going on? I look back at Peeta, who's singing that song again.
"Peeta, wait here. I'll be right back." I call, headed toward Sora's cell.
"Like if I had an option, dear." Ahh, his sarcasm never seems to fail me.
I walk to Sora's chamber and I touch the knob. It's freezing—almost frozen. I frantically try to twist the knob but eventually remember I can somehow walk through the walls. I transfer to the other side. Shivers go up my spine. I begin walking around. It's pitch black, but I can't hit myself with anything because I'm like dead or something. Another thing, it's freezing solidcold. Like I'm shivering now from how cold it is and there are icicles on the ceiling.
I hear groans. "Go away! Don't you understand I don't need food you—" A familiar hot-headed voice responds.
"You stubborn brat. What makes you think I'll feed you?" I say frustrated.
"Oh it's you. Who decided on having you as my rescuer? I need to talk to that person, they must have been high. Do me a favor, Mockingjay. Hit the switch near the entrance, I hate the dark." I sighed and found the switch—taking my precious little time so Sora won't miss the dark.
"There." I say hitting the switch and as I turn around I see him. And, oh, my goodness . . . He looks horrible! He's been whipped and tortured. And not experiment torture—like Peeta—I mean straight on Ancient Roman torture. Yes, I know a little about Roman Culture/Mythology as well. He's hanging on by a chain and barely touching the ground with his legs.
"Shocked?" Sora asks, not looking me in the eye—if he has any now, since I don't see any. "Look are you going to rescue me or not? Hello?"
"What did they do to you . . . ?" I ask, seeing my breath puff out before me. "Aren't you cold?"
He lifts up his head, and he does still have eyes. Sadly. "I'm not broken that easily as bread boy over there. And of course I'm cold! Do you think I have a heater next to me? No! My cuts are warming me. Look, are you here to talk or rescue? Cause I'd really like to leave."
"I'd love to help you, but I can't." His expression turns stern. "I'm either dead or a hologram. I don't know. All I know is that only you and Peeta can see me."
He is silent for a few minutes. "So you're in a comatose then? Or what? I doubt you're dead though. You don't die easily—I would know. But if you are in a comatose then do me an even bigger favor, Mockingjay. I want to get out of here as much as you want bread boy to get out, so go over to the offices and find the keys—maps and whatever is useful and stuff them in your pocket—so when you wake up, you'll have the stuff, plus know how to get in, save bread boy over there, and . . . help me escape. I'm . . . sorry I failed you. On the bright side, I have interesting news for all of you. Now get lost! And find those keys!" He said with a weakened voice. Guess I don't have another choice. And I do want Sora out as much as I hate admitting it.
I head for the door. I look over to the switch and decide to leave it on. Next to the switch I see the thermostat. I turn it up, to keep him warm. As much as I hate giving into his pity. Yes, pity.
I walk out and see Peeta sleeping. Hopefully sleeping. I go into his cell and lean into him. I gently kiss him on the cheek. "I'll be back. I swear."
҉ Ω ҉
I grabbed a few maps and the cell keys to Sora's and Peeta's chamber. Right now, Peeta is resting on my lap. I'm worried. I need to get back. I can barely remember what happened . . . The Nemean Lion and . . . Percy, is all I remember . . . I was heading home . . . to . . . eat dinner with Prim and my mom . . .? I don't know, I'm at a loss.
Secret love, my escape. Take me far far away. Secret love . . . Are you there?
~Percy's POV~
I was looking around the core to see what's in it. And so far I've seen a mechanic shop, an awesome game room (probably Oran's), an art room, an astrological room, an indoor pool, a movie theatre, a weaponry room, and so many other crazy stuff. The core is amazing! There is only the kitchen, which is small and like lame . . . Anyway, I was actually looking for Mitzuki and Oran but I got kind of carried away with the house. The outside looks terrible; no one would expect to see what's inside.
Currently I'm below a trapdoor. There's like an outline of a door, on the ceiling, and I hear voices up there. My best guess? An attic. Or a secret lab full of dastardly things. Eventually I hit a panel on the floor and these stairs almost crash on into my head and I climb up. The door is still closed and there's a pass code needed to open. It's a touch screen (of course) and I click on the hint button.
"Organization acronym." I read aloud. I start typing in "U.K.E" but it says incorrect. How do I know what that is? I saw a plague in Sora's room. Of course it was in Japanese. Now that I remember….the acronym was under the U.K.E letters in English…
I ran to Sora's room and came back. I started typing in the words. "United Kingdoms of the East." I read aloud as I type it in. The door opens and I go up slowly. I turn to see a huge computer screen which reminds me of Face Time, considering Oran and Mitzuki are talking to the person on the other side. What really shocks me is who is on the screen.
Aminta . . . And I don't know what she tells Oran and Mitzuki but they look behind and at me.
"Perseus." Mitzuki says sternly, clenching her fists.
"Okay, why would you sneak in here and know the password? And how did you find this place?" Oran said. His tone just reminds me so much of a whacked up demigod back home who is probably still transplanting mushrooms, that I can never take seriously now.
"Katniss is injured." I responded, paying more attention to Aminta. Whose side are you two on? I get fired up. "Aminta . . ."I say walking toward the screen—right past Oran and Mitzuki. "You selfish person! Who are you trying to fool? Why are you causing this—" She cuts me off since I don't know how to yell at her for the stuff she's done. If only Katniss was conscious.
"Me? Selfish? Perseus Jackson, who are you to call me Aminta and selfish? I'm not Aminta! I'm not the one who has done this! Aminta did! My name is Vathia!" She is like no older than eleven years old so it's hard to take her serious. She's a liar. I've seen what she's tried to do to Katniss.
Her red velvet eyes stare me down. "Screw you, Aminta." I then turn to Oran and Mitzuki since I have no better comebacks. "Look, Katniss is seriously injured; she was attacked by the Nemean Lion! Didn't Oran tell you? She's like unconscious! And here you are conspirancing with her!" Aminta looked taken aback.
Mitzuki looked at me with piercing eyes, not that effective—more like creepy. "Fine. Oran, stay here. Finish your report about the Lion." She went down the stairs, and I followed. I felt Aminta's glance trace me till the trapdoor shut behind me.
҉ Ω ҉
3:27 A.M Me and Mitzuki have been waiting for Katniss to wake up since this afternoon, in the small kitchen room, Katniss is still on the couch where I left her. Mitzuki is curled up on a sleeping bag not far. Back to Kat: Her heartbeat is slow, but sometimes—when she starts spontaneously sweating—her heart beat rises over the peak.
"I brought the nachos!" Oran yelled from afar as he came in. He offered me and I got some. "So what conclusion have you and Mitzy there made?"
"She's in comatose. That's all we know." I hear the crunching from Oran's mouth. "Hey, can you turn on the chimney there? It's cold." He nods and puts down his nachos. As he does that I look through a window to see small impeccable snowflakes raining down. After some silence—with crunching—Oran breaks the silence.
"I guess we owe you an explanation from earlier . . ." I look at him. "Vathia isn't Aminta. Yes, they are the same goddess but different people. If you get me. It's confusing like all time parody related things. I imagine you know the story of Aminta, so I can just skip that explanation.
"Aminta caused the two times to merge. She is the parody, and she is watching you and Katniss's every move and she does mess around with you two, which reflects her eleven year old self. Her future self, Vathia, works with us back in Eurasia. You know, Europe plus Asia . . . Yeah, so Vathia is like Aminta's mirror reflection. Evil and Good. We'll probably never meet Aminta since she is unseen as of now but we can hear, feel, or smell her. She has control over this time and your time, she messes with them.
"Our theory back at U.K.E is that once we destroy Aminta, all that has happened since Katniss got off the transport to get here would be modified. You and Katniss would've never met and the story as of now will be gone. And U.K.E? Never to have existed, since killing Aminta means killing Vathia. U.K.E formed when Vathia came into our world back over there, in the east. Kronos somewhat 'programmed' Aminta to wake up eleven years ago from your time, Vathia woke up as well here eleven years ago. Since they were frozen at birth they really didn't have a personality, but they know who Kronos is. The experiences in their lives changed them, making two different people. Vathia, being a goddess, helped form U.K.E to stop Aminta. Aminta and Vathia's power revolve around time. They are time travelers. They just can't perceive this future since so many variables play in it. Any questions?" I can't even think now. It's too much for one night—er, morning. Whatever.
"What is U.K.E? Like specifically." I ask.
"It's an organization made up of demigods or/and mortals that see beyond the mist. Sora is one of those, Mitzuki is our oracle, and I am Kyron the Warlock's only living ancestor. So yes, Mitzuki and Sora are of Japanese ancestry. And I am Irish. We are all of different races over there. We train from birth and live peacefully. U.K.E are also the governors of the Kingdoms on the East. So U.K.E is the name of our nation and organization. You get me?" I nod. I can't think of any questions, at all. I'm speechless beyond repair.
"How come you guys never told me?" I hear a familiar voice—coming from the couch. Katniss.
Oran looks down at his empty plate of nachos. "You weren't ready, Katniss. Neither of you two are." I look over at Katniss who looks dazed.
"How long have you been awake?" I say as I get up to feel her forehead. She puts my hand down and keeps it interwined with hers.
"I've been awake since Oran turned on the chimney." She turns to Oran. "I have a question. Why, out of all the members of U.K.E, did you three get chosen?"
Oran sighs. "We were originally five. We don't know where Odysseus and Penelope are, though. They disappeared after a year of staying here. Anyhow, I got chosen since I'm Kyron the Warlock's only living descendent and highly skilled in the magical arts.
"Sora got chosen because he is an amazing strategist, and basically also because of his attitude and maturity for these things. Also because . . . his family has a connection to Rachael Elizabeth Dare. The next Oracle after the Oracle of Delphi and one of Percy Jackson's trusted friends. His family has a collection of journals passed down from her. The first journals are easy to read, but once she got turned into the Oracle, bye-bye teenage English. She started writing in Shakespearian blank verse and multiple languages that are lost to this day. The only one we could decipher is about a girl that came from the future and ruined her life, which automatically pointed at you, Katniss. But now we aren't sure since the journal's entries are changing. But that's another story for another day. Anyway, Mitzuki got chosen because she is the Oracle. Also because me, Sora, and Mitzuki coincidentally share the same date of birth. Anyway, Penelope—because she is Zeus' only daughter to this day, and Odysseus because he is the best strategist in U.K.E as Athena's child. He is amazing! He is the one that taught Mitzuki everything she knows about healing." He looked down, "But we lost those two lovers on our way here. I was unskilled in teleportation and it was a risky plan so we set sail on a boat five years ago when Mitzuki, Sora, and I were only twelve! Odysseus and Penelope were like our parents."
Silence. Until Mitzuki wakes up that is.
"Oh, Katniss. I'm so relieved to see you're fine." she goes to embrace her. But Katniss gently pushes her away.
"You never told me the truth, Mitzuki. Oran just told us. Thanks." Katniss says, taking Mitzuki aback. But she doesn't seem mad she seems resigned.
"Well, we needed to one day."
Even more silence.
"So, how did you all meet?" I ask Oran.
"Well, I was born in riches but orphan. I was adopted by the Yoshiko family. A.k.a, Sora's family. So Sora and I know each other since we were two. He was always the hot-head guy he is now, but I still managed to get along with him." Oran responded with a smile on his face.
"Yeah, 'cause you pranked him on a daily basis, baka." Mitzuki said laughing. "I met Sora since our parents arranged us to get married when we were four. I was always in love with Sora as a child. And of course, meeting Sora meant having to meet Oran. I could sue you with so many domestic abuse charges!"
"It's not my fault that I'm just so amazing, Mitzy." Mitzuki rolls her eyes.
"Sora's and Mitzuki's parents worked with the organization so we went to school at the organization and got trained. Our babysitters were Odysseus and Penelope. So we all got along very well. Then they sent us here. We only had this room in the beginning. Eventually, U.K.E sent more stuff." Oran responded with a wink.
Some things are worth the wait. . .Or so they say.
~Katniss's POV~
After some more nacho eating and story tales from adventures of their childhood, I needed to tell them about my strange comatose.So I started and I talked about Peeta's "song" and Iris. Then I explained about Sora, slowly. I get the keys and maps out of my pocket and show them.
"No—freaking—way!" Oran's eyes became googly-eyed for a moment. "So you just stuffed these things in your pocket and they stay? Amazing! There is a supernatural term I saw for this, in a Japanese anime from Percy's time called Ghost Hunt! Amazing! Gahhhhhh!"
"That is fascinating! Should we go save them?" Mitzuki asks.
"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Oran yells as he runs out of the room. I'm concerned though, would we survive?
"Should we?" I ask. Percy looks at me.
"I say we should. I'm sure you two agree. What can go wrong? We have the oracle, warlock's kid, girl on fire, and me!" Mitzuki smiled at Percy.
"We should get permission from Haymitch and Plutarch, though." She says. My eyes grow. No, they won't care. They didn't want to send reinforcements to Sora or Peeta, why would they want to now?
"No." I get up. "We go by our own terms. We have the necessary equipment. I say we leave tonight." Mitzuki looks worried.
"But Katniss, I—" Mitzuki begins.
"No. If they didn't want to help before, they won't now. We leave tonight or we just let them die. Your choice." She thinks about it, scanning all obstacles and barriers.
"Alright. Let's get everything ready." She looks over to Percy. "Don't fade out on us, please."
He smirks and I blush for some reason . . . "I'll do my best." He responds. With that said, Oran comes in with a map.
"Okay, I traced the shortest and most hidden way to there. No need for you applause." Mitzuki sighs.
"How did you do this in less than five minutes?" Mitzuki asks picking up the map and analyzing it.
"Oh, that? I've been waiting for the day for you to say 'RESCUE MISSION!'" Well that's lovely.
Percy then gets up as well. "We leave tonight. Just get everything ready and then we sleep awhile." I see nods. I haven't seen these two happy since the day I came back from the future . . .
It's a nice warm feeling. It almost feels like love. . .
So yeah. This is part ONE DD Muahaha! I give credit to DistantStorms for this chappie! It was her idea for the 'comatose' AND the whole prophecy thing ;D PLUS it fit soooo well with what I have in mind. I'll update sometime this week, no later than Sunday. I SWEAR. xD So I hope you enjoyed and thanks for all the reviews and alerts! I get so happy when I see a review from someone, even if it's a word long xD lawls. Also I give credit to MaxWaylandGray just for being my beta and best friend :D Thank you. For EVERYTHING :'D
Note: I don't own anything. So don't sue me. The title is based on Fireflight's song 'Fire In My Eyes". Yeah….