Plappermouth: Hey guys! Here's a new chapter, please let me know what you think. There's a rather long flashback in there, but I felt like it was time to give some depth to certain aspects in the story ; ) Oh also: I'm not staying with Greek Mythology. I'm gonna be mixing up all sorts of stories in here, but I'll try to stay true to them ;) Just spicing it up ( I thought you'd noticed with the whole Egypt stuff ) Well just let me know what you think. Also I won't be updating for at least another week, because I'm gonna be off skiing! Yeeeeeha :D So I wish all of you A HAPPY NEW YEAR! : D
As the sun slowly covered the world in shades of red and gold, I sat beneath a tree leaning against it with my eyes closed and my spirit far away. I visited my shadow, not taking control, but observing quietly. The camp was quiet, more so than it should have been at this hour. There should have been campers on and about, training, or getting ready to train, but instead there was nothing. An eerie stillness lay over the entire site.
My shadow crept into the cabins and observed the sleeping figures. They looked calm and quiet beneath the silver dust on their skin. The dust kept them prisoners in whatever dream they'd had at the moment the dust had struck. I hoped that they were pleasant dreams at least…
Nothing moved, nothing stirred, not even the birds in the trees or the nymphs. Everyone and everything that had been touched by the silver mist was now a slave of the dream world, doomed to sleep until they faded into shadows. My shadow didn't care about any of that, as shadows are known to do. It had a task to fulfill , nothing more.
Gently it swept over the camp, making sure that everyone was out cold, save those who mattered. It passed over children and teenagers as they frowned in their sleep and struggled with the surreality that would be their reality until help arrived. Help only I could provide. That was the plan. They'd have to run to me, there was no other way to heal them and with Chiron out cold as well as the oracle, they wouldn't know what else to do. The Gods themselves were powerless against the evil of the Silver Rose.
The shadow drifted to the big house, sat on the steps and waited.
Itdidn't have to wait long. Soon the only few who'd been spared by the evil curse, Nico, Annabeth and Percy, came running towards the big house. They didn't see ityet, they wouldn't until itwanted them to, but ran right through itand into the house only to find Chiron fast asleep, covered in silver dust.
"What's going on?", Annabeth said, an edge to her voice. Percy put his arm around her and held her close.
"I don't know… And why aren't we under the curse ourselves?" A good question, I thought, but the shadow didn't reveal itself yet. Let them fret first, let them be afraid, so afraid that they'll come running to me.
Nico said nothing and I looked him over. I'd been startled when I'd seen him, although just for a second. He had changed it seemed. He was still tall and skinny, but he carried himself with more… strength, for lack of a better word. His eyes that had always been sad and distant, even when he was with me, were awake and bright, filled with suppressed fear.
Annabeth and Percy turned to Nico and gave him a soft look.
"Is Carry awake?"
Nico shook his head and clenched his fists.
Carry? Who was Carry? I'd never heard the name before, but Nico's reaction let me guess that she must mean something to him. Interesting, I thought even as the green and ugly monster tried to raise its head. I supressed the misguided jealousy. Nico meant nothing to me. This, however, could be used to my advantage.
Annabeth carefully put a hand on Nico's shoulder and squeezed it. "We'll wake them up, somehow, I promise."
Well that was my queue.
I decided it was time get the game started. My shadow had shifted until it no longer resembled me, I wasn't taking any chances, and was now leaning in the doorway, chuckling. The three of them spun around, their hands grabbing for their weapons. My shadow spoke, its voice icy cold, and fractured like a bad radio signal. Shadows weren't meant to speak, and the sound made them shudder.
"Fighting Shadows?" It laughed and my head began to hurt. I hated this part of the plan… Percy and Annabeth gave each other quick glances, sizing up the enemy and getting ready to attack,no doubt, while Nico looked at the shadow with an ond expression. Could he recognize me?
"Who are you?" he asked his voice deadly cold.
The shadow chuckled again, a sound like ice scratching against windows.
"I am a messenger. The Lost City awakes, and she wants her revenge. Too long she's been hidden in the shadows by jealous gods and lies."
"The lost city…", Nico mumbled and his eyes opened wide in surprise as he realized what that meant. "Atlantis!", he exclaimed his hand tightening around his sword hilt. He obviously still wasn't a fan
The shadow chuckled again.
"Ah yes, Atlantis… The Silver City, she has many names… I believe you've heard them before, from one of your friends." It snickered at the last word and a frown appeared on my face, just outside the gates. My shadow was getting carried away…
"She has gotten close my dears… a little too close for her liking perhaps? But she is wavering, distracted by morals...she needs... motivation." It chuckled and they shuddered. I nearly pulled out, not wanting to witness the rest, but I had to. Shadows were nasty creatures born outo f your darkest fears and secrets.
"Who's she?", Percy asked as he looked at Annabeth and Nico. Annabeth clearly knew, but she looked at Nico as if hesitating to say something. When he didn't react she slowly, carefully said my name. Percy raised an eyebrow and gave first Nico and then the Shadow an odd look.
"What motivation are you talking about? And what does this have to do with us?" Annabeth sounded angry, her bone sword was shaking in her hand as if she had to restrain herself. I hoped she'd stay in control… Fighting with shadows was a nasty business.
"Ah but it has everything to do with you… despite it all she considers this camp her home and she would hate to see them all suffer" he chuckled again and the three shuddered "They are suffering you know? Terribly so, and if you don't get the cure in time, they'll suffer for eternity."
"What have you done to them!" Nico screamed his sword raised high and his eyes blazing. The shadow moved his hand and Nico flew through the air, yanked by his own shadow, and into a wall. He hit it hard, and I flinched. That hadn't been necessary!
"Ask your friend." The shadow laughed and disappeared before their eyes only to appear in front of me. I opened my eyes and regarded it with a careful look.
It had done what I'd asked, but still somehow I felt like I wasn't as in control as I wanted to be. By releasing it from myself I had given it some life of its own. I'd do good not to forget that. I concentrated and the shadow returned to my feet where it belonged. I sighed as we reunited. I always felt a little hollow without it, a little surreal.
Well then. Now it was time for me to come to the rescue. I smirked at the thought. My plan was working wonderfully, they'd have no choice but to help me raise Atlantis and bring about their own destruction. In a movie I would have laughed diabolically, but since this was real life, I didn't. Instead I started running up the hill towards the gates, my blades in my hands and a worried expression on my face.
It was show time.
The three of them were still in front of the Big House, Nico sitting on the steps his head in his hands, Percy and Annabeth next to him, holding hands and talking. They didn't notice me until I was almost upon them.
My hair was wild and all over the place, I was panting and sweating from the long run and my eyes were crazed as I looked around.
"Where is he!", I looked at them and they gave me a curious look.
"Kyra…", Annabeth started, but I cut her off.
"Where's the shadow? He has a poison. We need to stop it befor…" I let my sentence trail out and looked at them as if I just noticed them. I let my blades drop to my sides and slumped my shoulders as my face fell.
"I'm too late." My voice sounded beaten and drawn. Annabeth nodded and I clenched my jaw and balled my hands in to fists, there were actual tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I was impressed by my own acting. Slowly I looked up at them.
"But why aren't you under the curse?", I asked my voice strained, yet curious, with a flicker of hope in it, as if the curse perhaps hadn't worked after all.
"We don't know. Kyra what's going on?", Percy said with an edge in his voice. I sighed and sat down on the grass in front of the Big House. When I spoke I didn't meet their eyes, but just looked out over the camp. I could feel their stares on me, but I ignored them.
"After Egypt I continued my search and for over a year I found nothing and then, maybe six or seven months ago I stumbled across something. Something big. I found the first of seven keys to unlocking Atlantis. The walls around the Lost City are beginning to crumble and with every key found they grow weaker. That's why I stopped searching, I realized that the price I had to pay was too great, too dangerous… But I stopped too late. I was careless and foolish and when I took that key I unleashed something, the shadows of old are stirring.
The poison he used… It's rare. It only grows in Atlantis. I've stumbled across some old records that describe that plant. It was created by old mages, evil mages, who were hunted by the Kings and Queens of Atlantis, but never quite put down. The rose will slowly eat away at the soul until nothing remains but a willless shadow, doomed to serve for eternity.
And the only cure... it's in Atlantis. That's why the shadow chose this poison... to save everyone at camp... to saver our friends, we have to unlock Atlantis herself."
They said nothing and I stayed silent as I looked out over the strawberry fields. Some of the dismay on my face was genuine. Genuine because of the guilt I felt as I told that lie, or better that half-truth. I was betraying their trust, gambling with the lives of their friends. How had I become like this?
As an answer my mind wandered back to Khai as it so often did.
Flashback
"Just a little bit further Kyra" he said, excitement in his deep voice. His voice always made me think of a song, a melody that sounded familiar although I just couldn't place it. I'd told him that once and he had laughed. "I'll sing you a song anytime you want", he'd said with a wink, and I'd sworn to make him keep that promise. His songs were beautiful.
We were climbing up the dunes in the middle of the desert. It was hot, dry and almost time for sunset. I was sweating from the effort, my white robes clinging to me and moving gently from time to time as a lonely breeze past us by. We'd been walking for hours, since he hadn't let me shadow travel here. "It's not worth it if it's easy", he'd said. I sure hoped it'd be worth it. I was getting grumpy.
He stopped so abruptly that I walked right into his strong back. I put my arms around him and rested my head against his back, feeling his chest move as he took heavy breaths. I was glad that I wasn't the only one who was tired from the journey.
"Look Kyra!" he said and I stepped around him to see what he was looking at. My breath caught as I watched the spectacle unfold before me. The sun was setting and with its last rays it was embracing the sand before us. The light of the sun seemed to hit the sand below us at just the right angle, dancing and reflecting of the surface, creating the illusion that the desert was on fire. In some places it was flaming gold and in others red as blood, but beautiful, wherever I looked.
"That's amazing!" I exclaimed, as I looked at it in pure awe, feeling that those words just didn't quite cover it. "I know", he said, but he wasn't looking out at the flaming desert. He was looking at me. I felt my blood rush to my cheeks, turning them bright red as I nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, not quite looking at him, but not quite looking at the sensation before me either. My heart was beating faster and faster in that way hearts are known to do when they feel that something is about to happen.
He chuckled and gently took my hand that was still behind my ear in his, turning me so I faced him. His eyes sparkled purple in the red of the sinking sun. I looked up at him, he wasn't very tall, just a head taller than me, but his broad shoulders always made me feel tiny. I swallowed, realizing how dry my throat was, as my heart beat loud and hard against my ribs.
"I love you Kyra" he said, his voice soft deep and full of that wonderful melody that made my skin tingle, "I love you more than I thought I'd ever love anyone and I can't ever see my life without you. I know this sounds cheesy, but it's the truth… to me you're like the desert on fire, a wondrous sensation, that I can't comprehend, only admire, and now that I've seen it I don't ever want to miss it again."
My heart beat so loud that I barely heard my own words over the rush of blood in my ears. I reached up and gently laid my right hand on his cheek. His skin was warm and gruff from the beard stubbles there. He needed to shave. I smiled at the thought, because it was an odd thing to think in such a situation. He looked into my eyes and I smiled. "I love you too."
He lifted me up by the waist over his head and then lowered me down so I could kiss him. I felt weightless, like a feather, in those strong arms and as the night fell over the dunes, diminishing the flames, I felt a happiness in my chest that I'd never known to be possible.