*headdesk*
Disclaimer: I don't own it!
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Nico's POV:
I woke up with a start. Oh Hades, why can't those dreams stop? Haunting me everywhere, making me want to rip my head out. I just can't get those vivid images out!
Funny. How almost every thing that he had dreamed off as nightmares where the ones that made reality seemed like dreams. Kiara. Whether it was related to half blood dreams or regular mortal ones, it was almost always about her.
Almost.
Except for the times where I do dream of something important. Not that she isn't. but the dreams that reminds me to keep my feet off the ground.
Replays of the Titan war. The night Zeus blasted mom into oblivion. The death of Bianca pressed on replay at the back of my mind. A never ending loop of suffering and pain. Memories that made my blood curdle. I may have control over my flaws, but it doesn't mean that the green monster inside doesn't leak through it's cage and fuels the fire. The fire of the grudges I hold for so long.
But somehow those crazy, bloody dreams seemed to mix with the more present day nightmares. Nightmares where not only am I the audience of their death, but where I follow them next in line. Like my life was oddly intertwined with death.
Crazy right? Yep, pretty crazy, even for half blood's standards.
"Good. You're awake." The voice of Kara reached my ears before I could even focus on her. She looked relieved, and also tired. Weird. Was I that hard to be taken off?
"I feel like a ten-wheeler truck just ran me over." I complained, reaching up to the wound I clearly remembered that was there. My fingers touched some cloth wrapped around my head, like how it was on Dionysus when he crashed last year.
"Well, you look better than others that had the same wound as yours." She shrugged and stood up from the stool she sat on. Stretching her arms and yawning a bit, she turned around to the boys who looked like they recently just woke up.
Funny how I haven't even seen where I am.
Laid over a mattress and having a blanket as cover, it looked like we were in some sort of hotel room? Two wooden oak doors leading to who-knows-what were both closed.
"The zombie finally lives." Gavin chuckled, but he looked pleased. He was sitting on a comfortable looking couch and opposite of him was Aaron, looking smugly at the floor.
Groaning, I stood up wobbly. Kara sent me a glare, which I returned with a blank look.
"What did I do?" I asked at her.
"Nothing. That's what the problem is." She said accusingly, but didn't push it. She wrinkled her nose a bit and pushed the door on the left, leaving me confused with two pretty much unreasonable demigods.
Hey I'm the son of Hades, and keeping grudges is what I excel on. I haven't forgiven them for tampering with that wicked gadget-as-a-throne.
"What was that about?" I asked Gavin, knowing Aaron and I weren't in good terms for now.
"Oh, she's always cranky whenever she doesn't sleep." He said matter-of-factly. Well, that clears things up, I thought sarcastically. "Oh, and the fact that she hadn't seen the sun for ages."
"So? You're not cranky. Maybe she was on PMS or something."
"No, I'm certainly not." He said, slightly offended but I could see in his eyes that there was still humor in his eyes. "You see Kara is slightly different than us. You know, like Percy could control the waves while Kiara could control the current."
"Uh, you lost me at 'us'." I pointed out. Children of Poseidon and Children of Apollo are two different kinds of kids, why use them in one analogy? But Gavin was on a roll."
"Yeah. Something like that applies to us too. I excel at healing, which isn't a hard thing to do when you're me. You just ask a simple prayer to-" he started to get off topic.
"You're point?" I asked impatiently.
"Huh? Ah yes. Kara isn't what we call talented in the category of Healing. She's more likely to control something that is another power of our dad. Like being the sun god. Kara is one of a kind in the past century. She is able to actually control the sunray."
"So? Your point?" I asked. So what if Kara could control sunlight? So WHAT?
Gavin had to face palm. He looked at me stupidly and I looked at him back, glaring.
"Kiara needs the sunlight! Gods, you'd think what you said was a clue itself but, noooo. He'd had to be the most un-endurably, idiotic person!" Gavin yelled, threw his hands in the air and sat back down to his sofa seat with a huff.
I'm not that idiotic, am I?
That's a rhetorical question. Don't answer that.
I sat down, back to my bed. What's the use of this quest again? I don't see the point anymore of not turning back and leave this stuff to gods. It's not our problem this world is messed up.
But the only thing that stops me from shadow traveling back home was the realization that it is our problem. Our fates are weaved into this strange pattern where we're the ones to suffer painful deaths.
Because we're supposed to be heroes.
Well, being heroes suck. Curse the people who made us fight for survival for every day of our lives.
But then it would be like cursing dad…. Never mind.
"Well, where are we, Einstein?" I said sarcastically. Geez, Gavin sure could have fooled me when he said he was a son of Apollo. Seemed like he had the gift of Athena rather.
Gavin huffed, but answered, to his disliking. Hey, I'm like the one way ticket out of this hell hole. And he did owe me a favor after the whole 'following Aanastassia' and 'throne room' thing.
"We're still in the palace, the guest room I guess."
"Okay." I muttered, getting up.
"Where are you going?" Aaron asked. He'd been too quiet that I forgot he was there. Quietness wasn't a habit of goofy sons of Hermes.
"Explorin' on the open wilderness." I said. Okay, I may have made up the wilderness part, but you get my point right?
Another rhetorical question. Don't answer that.
"Doesn't that defy what you said earlier about not touching anything?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Touching and touring are totally different things my friend." I said, walking out. 'And I have to find Kiara, whether you guys are with me or not.' I added in my thoughts.
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Kiara's POV:
Payton is unbelievable. And I mean it in two ways, good and bad.
First, he randomly goes to a corner, huddle around for a time and then suddenly, he grows a little purple Rue. The soft colors were almost shining a strange glow of silver in the dark. It was absolutely amazing. Almost magical and unrealistic to this world of darkness in the cellar.
But almost as soon as it appears, he would crush it to the ground. The soft petals would be grinded on the cold stone floor, and the joy of the room again diminishes.
For several days, two maybe, I'd observe him from afar. He'd talk to himself, agreeing and disagreeing with an imaginary friend.
Well, at least he doesn't go bananas on me anymore, right? Right…
So at least, one full day, alive yet inside the cellar, has gone by. Whoop-di-doo. But I'm still trapped.
At least whoever is in charge of our prison feeds us with enough amount of bread, crackers and biscuits. And we do have our little blanket to keep us warm right? Not exactly a 5-star vacation hotel we could easily check in….or out.
Even our jailer never let them show themselves. They just poke the food into our cells by a small window on a black door. Random on the blackness. I never knew it was there until my stomach growled and food appeared.
As for the mystery of the hole, well, I never was one of those Nancy Drew girls that turned to danger at every turn. And that's coming from a monster attracted half-blood.
"Come on Rose, we need to go before we meet him again." Payton mumbled while he was asleep one night. Gods, if you were ever trap inside a stone dungeon for a day, and haven't seen sunlight, your bio clock really be whacked by now.
"Payton." I shook his arm. He'd been going about all this running and rose nonsense since the first minute his eyes closed. And it had closed 3 hours ago. That would make me both worried and sleep deprived.
"What Rose?" he mumbled. Seemed like he was more pleasant talked to in his sleep, where he wont grab you and squeeze the life out of you.
"Payton. Who's he?" I asked, with the urgent yet oh so sweet, not, voice I had. But Payton didn't mind, and frowned at my comment. Whoever this Rose girl is, she's either had the same voice I had, or had recently been eating crackers.
"Rose…it's him. It wasn't the water keeper. It was the one that keeps us in prison. Haven't I told you before?"
"Riiight." I said, as if it made sense at all. Which it didn't.
"You got to tell mom Rose. Before she goes to a fight with the water keeper." He mumbled. All the 'water keeper´ this and 'water keeper' that was really irking me off. Standing up, and brushing off what was left of my share of crackers, I went to Paytons plate of un-touched food. Grabbing a biscuit, I threw it at him.
You got to love biscuits right? They come really handy in both fights and waking up slumbering people.
"Randyroo!" Payton said, bolting up. Gee, I wonder if I made a mistake of waking him up?
Rolling my eyes, I pushed his plate to him with caution.
"Wondered if you liked some." I offered. He looked at me, like he was seeing a dream.
"Ki-Kiara right?" he said. I rolled my eyes. When am I gonna stop introducing myself.
"Yes." I said gently, yet a little part of me wanted to say 'No. I'm an evil impostor wanting to sing around this dump with those freaking care bears'.
"You'd been to camp?" I shut my mouth from the up coming stream of words and nodded slightly. "You know where Rose is?"
"Rose?" so far, no Rose-named kid was there.
"Yeah. The one with red hair. The 10 year old." He mumbled, looking down to his plate.
"Yeah…but she's supposed to be gone." I said, yet a part of me wanted to say she wasn't. Curse my sense of pity to little girls. I really have to stop it soon because so far, little girls wanted to hurt me.
Or even kill me.
"She-she can't be. I was there, in the forest." He mumbled. Forest? Weas he there when Rose had gone missing?
"Payton, it had been long ago. She's gone…for good." I comforted him. I'm really starting to regret ever waking him up.
"No, she can't! Mom- she's never going to hear what really happened." He said, I inched away. If this was on of his crazy moments, I'd want to be as far away as possible.
"What did happen?" I asked cautious yet curious.
"Poseidon. Poseidon didn't send those attacks on us. He didn't. It was the jailer. The dream boy." If it weren't for the fact that Payton had a scared yet serious face on, I might have collapsed, laughing my head off. 'Dream boy' I thought, laughing mentally.
And yet dad's name didn't make me want to laugh out loud. Was dad really fighting over something? Was 'dream boy' framing dad too? If he did, why?
"Payton, who's dream boy?"
"Xavier." He said, eyes going wide. He clamped a hand over his mouth, and stared at me, like he wasn't supposed to say anything.
"It's okay. I'm here." I patted his back awkwardly. So much for comforting.
"But he-he'll hear." He stuttered, more scared. Whoa, talk about paranoid. Whatever shall I do to him to stop acting like this. Crazy, mixed up kid.
"He wont hear. It's not like he got ears everywhere." To my surprise, Payton nodded.
"He's everywhere." He mumbled, hand stifling what was once inaudible, to just plain silence.
"He can't be-" but I haven't gotten the chance to finish it.
Because the creak of wood against stone could be heard.
And for the first time, I saw a ray of light coming inside the damp cell.
But somehow rather than feeling happy, I felt scared. Scared at what may be on the other side of the door.
Heart thumping madly, eyes wide and body too stiff to react, I could turn my head to see who it was. Only the reaction on Payton's face was there for me to guess who was there behind me.
"Kiara?" it asked.
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*facepalms* Definitely bad. I know. I really had the major case of author's block and I haven't gotten the time to update. I'm grounded mode, and I'm stuck at writing every one of my stories at 2 am, and I just can't handle all this mayhem! Urgh! It's driving me crazy!
I just hope you guys understand. Right? *cricket sounds* Right? *more cricket sounds*
Anywho…Love it? Hate it? Too short? Too weird? REVIEW!