AN: I reposted this as I made some changes to it after getting some CC's. Sorry for troubling you! The next chapter should be up soon! There aren't many changes here but the little things do matter. Read on if you want to, if you don't want to, I promise you the next chapter will be up soon!
Chapter 18. Vanessa: Silent Night… Or Maybe Not
It was quiet. Too quiet. Connor, Alva and I stared at each other, shaken. Moonlight filtered into the room from the windows, our faces looking paler then usual under the gray light. Connor's hair seemed to glow gold and Alva seemed to have an aura of molten silver surrounding her. The infirmary was dappled with shadows, like the pelt of a wildcat. The only sound I could hear was the pounding of my heart and our ragged breathing. I lowered my hands from my ears. The child of Hermes looked sick while Alva had an intense look in her eye. I took that to mean that someone was going to get hurt.
The only question was who? I swallowed, a metallic taste filling my mouth.
"What the heck was that?" I blurted, finally breaking the walls of silence that had settled around us. "That shrieking. It was … "I trailed of shaking my head speechlessly. Connor looked like he agreed with whatever I was thinking. The daughter of Hecate, however, remained stoic, but then when was she anything else?
I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to tame the disorder it was in. The shriek was still ringing in my ears. It had chilled my to the bone and its very memory sent shiver down my spine, like someone poured cold water over me.
It was the last sound something made before the last traces of life ebbed away from it completely. It the sound of fingernails scraping against a board. It was the sound of a banshee from your worst nightmare. It was the sound of fear. It was pure terror.
Wow, I never knew I was so morbid.
"That was Panic," Connor answered. He said 'panic' like it had a capital P.
"I kinda figured," I answered. Connor's lips twitched and even Alva smiled grudgingly.
"No, no, no," he said with the air of someone explaining something to a toddler, wagging an authoritative finger at me. I rolled my eyes. Show off. "Panic was the greatest weapon of the Lord of the Wild, the Great God Pan. When he faded away - or died," Connor interjected hurriedly when I opened my mouth. "A little of his powers went into the campers who were there at the time."
I drew in a big breath.
"Uh-oh," Alva muttered, ignoring the quizzical look Connor shot her.
"Do gods die? Who were the campers there at the time? If that god is dead who's the Lord of the Wild? How come he or she's here right now?" I rattled off. Connor stared at me stupefied and Alva smirked.
What? I know I ask a lot of questions.
Blinking rapidly, the child of Hermes answered my questions slowly, his blue eyes lighting up with something like amusement. I looked around the room while he told me the story of Pan, the quest to the Labyrinth and the battle afterward.
So basically, humans were killing the god Pan who gave his powers to Percy, Annabeth, Tyson who is Percy's little brother, Rachel the Oracle and Grover, a satyr and the new Lord of the Wild. Grover had used the Panic during the Battle of the Labyrinth, as the campers dubbed it. Oh and gods die when people stop believing in them.
Fascinating.
I wonder what Nico's power is. Maybe he can grow things or something. That would be kinda cool. Can he grow blueberries? Would he grow blueberries for me? Maybe if I asked him nicely.
I was jerked out of my daydream by the sound of Alva getting up and striding for the door.
"Whoa there, girl." Alva stopped short when Connor stepped out in front of her.
"What are you doing?" she snapped, raising an eyebrow. Her hair seemed to magically grow black highlights. This of course wasn't surprising since she was a daughter of Hecate. But still it was kind of interesting to watch.
"Where are you going?" Connor shot right back at her. I raised an eyebrow. His crush on her was bigger than I thought it was if he was willing to get in Alva's way. It was funny how the child of Hecate was still oblivious to how he hung on her every word and gesture, his admiring glances from across the room and the protective streak he seemed to have developed for her. In less than two days too.
It didn't make me feel any better about how I felt about a certain dark-haired son of Hades. Who also happened to be with the Lord of the Wild right now.
Well, at least I can't complain that my life was boring.
"We just heard the Panic and there is an evil daughter of Aphrodite going around twisting people's minds." Alva commented dryly. I watched amused as Connor grew more horrified with every word that left her lips. He was a goner. "Where do you think I'm going?"
Drawing himself up to his full height, Connor stepped right in front of her, his cobalt eyes flashing. He was taller than her, I noted dimly. Never noticed that before. Alva usually towered over everyone around, except Chiron of course.
"You're injured," Connor said slowly and determinedly. I wasn't sure who would win the argument anymore. "You are not chasing after Jenna or any monsters anytime soon."
"Monsters? What monsters?" I asked nervously, fiddling with the pin Alva had given me. Although I knew it could turn into a fairly lethal-to-monsters dagger with one click, I wasn't so sure of ability to control the urge to run away screaming from those behemoths.
They both ignored me.
"I'll go chasing after anything and anyone I like." Alva hissed at Connor. Her hand gripped the hilt of her silver sword until her knuckles were white. I suspected that it was taking all of her control to remain calm. "Now. Get. Out. Of. My. Way." Her hair was now so red it looked like it was on fire. I think it was even crackling like it was on fire. Huh, so much for calm.
"No," was Connor's icy reply. It was scary to see him so angry. Usually, his roguish sapphire eyes sparkled and his mouth would be twisted into a cynical smile. I had come to think of him of a mischievous elfish brother. Now he looked more like a furious elf king or something. Alva stared back, sparks flying from her quicksilver eyes. Neither of them seemed willing to back down.
"Ummm… guys? Please don't kill each other." I made a feeble attempt to keep the peace.
Alva kept on glaring at Connor, absolutely refusing to back down in her typical prideful way.
He was just as stubborn, blocking her way with his arms crossed and cobalt eyes flashing.
Thank the gods they were interrupted.
Suddenly, the door burst open with a crack like a gunshot and walloped Connor on the back of his head before slamming shut again.
"What the –?" Strings of curses flew from Connor's lips. Some of them were so ridiculous that even Alva cracked a smile, the clouds over her face dissipating. I burst right out laughing. I mean Hades' spirit-infested boxers? Seriously?
"Out of the way!" The door burst open fully this time, and a multitude of people poured in. Alva and Connor got shunted aside and I heard shouting, moaning and pleas for food. I heard Nico's voice rise clearly over the hullabaloo.
"He needs a healer! Now! Get Chiron!" His voice set my heart pounding. My thoughts were in a hopeless muddle. I remembered the sensation of being lifted up in his strong arms, pressing against his solid chest, drinking in his heavenly scent. My knees went weak and my breath hitched. I slumped onto the bed, feeling giddy and willing my heart to slow down to a rate that was healthy. How can another human being do this to me? How?
I lay completely still in my bed, my eyes drinking in the scene before me. A bunch of satyrs, whom I had always found a little entertaining, clip-clopped around fretfully. I noticed that they were carrying one big satyr who had a green Rasta cap hanging from one of his horns. Other satyrs leaned on their kin, looking haggard. They looked different from the ones in Camp, I realized. The satyrs in Camp looked joyful, happy and young. This bunch looked tired, worn out and wise somehow, like they have things in the world that would haunt your dreams and keep you up at night.
I noted all this a little off-handedly. My eyes were trained on one person and one person only.
Nico burst through the bedlam like a dark knight. Not the silly ones that go around rescuing princesses, oh no. But the ones that fights through every hopeless war and come out victorious. The cavaliers that commit nefarious deeds though their hearts are noble. The warriors that fight pain, heartbreak and temptation. The knights who die unknown and unacknowledged. The caballeros that are hidden in the shadow of the golden haired champions. The knights that are distrusted. But a hero all the same. He was breath-taking.
No, I thought, sitting up in my bed, squishing a few pillows in the process. He was injured.
A thin scar ran over Nico's eyebrow. Blood poured freely from it. I felt fury wash through me, and I gripped my dagger-pin tightly, narrowing my eyes. Whoever did that was going to pay.
Annabeth strode in behind Nico, her gray eyes flashing like thunder clouds during a vicious storm. Her blond hair flowed back from her shoulders and she reminded me of a warrior princess. Her eyebrows were knitted together in a complicated knot.
Behind Annabeth yet another girl trudged in, crying bitterly. Her perfect golden hair poured like river from her scalp, sweeping around her like a river. Her willowy form was so slender that for a moment or two she looked like a tree, standing there so stiffly.
I should have been worried. I should have been freaking out. I should have been spouting a million and one questions, demanding for an explanation about what in the world was going on?
But I wasn't.
What I was, however, was insanely jealous.
Who was she? What was she doing near Nico? Did she like him? Did he like her? Did he think she was pretty? Or worse yet, more than pretty?
With my luck she'll turn out to be some ridiculously talented demigod who knew her parentage wasn't afraid of monsters and happened to be so smart, she'll know everything there was to know in this new world of mine.
I bit my lip so hard, it must have started bleeding. This is ridiculous. I was not getting jealous over some girl I didn't even know just because she was with some boy. A ridiculously cute boy, but still a boy. I didn't even know the girl! How judgmental is that? I did not have a crush on Nico either. I couldn't have a crush on Nico. He was so – untouchable. How he possibly care about a girl like me?
"Grover," sobbed the blonde. Grover? The Lord of the Wild? The girl went on sobbing. "Is he going to be okay?" Although I knew it was stupid, a wave of relief washed over me. Connor told me about Juniper, the Lord of the Wild's girlfriend, as insane a notion as that might be.
I smiled, the weight of envy leaving me, much to my relief. I couldn't possibly be jealous over something as stupid and trivial as that. Could I?
No offence to Juniper of course.
"What happened?" Connor strode forward and lent the other satyrs a hand with Grover who was still mumbling about food. I don't know about anyone else but he sure wasn't very dignified for a Lord of the Wild. Maybe I should stick with calling him Grover.
"We're still trying to find that out," Nico called back to him. His russet eyes searched the crowd in the infirmary until they rested on mine. I felt my stomach flop over.
"Are you okay?" I called over the noise, someone managing to get the words out from my dried up throat. Nico shot me his trade mark crooked smile. My stomach flopped over and I damn near swooned right in front of the son of Hades. Honestly, he should smile more often. Way more often.
"Are you kidding?" the dark youth yelled back, smirking. "I do this every day," I rolled my eyes, ignoring the flush rising up in my cheeks.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I muttered. Alva shot me a sarcastic look and I blushed again. She sidled up to me, avoiding the thick of the crowd.
"Can you not find a better time to flirt?" she mock whispered. The daughter of Hecate's hair was now as amber as Juniper's. It looked good on her. I looked at the floor, focusing on the scuff marks and clawed foot of the beds.
"I'm not flirting." Alva ignored my mumbled reply, focusing instead on the unconscious satyr now lying on the bed. Unnoticed by us, Chiron had clip-clopped in was now bent over Grover, whose pleas for food had stopped. Judging from the look on Chiron's face, this was bad.
Nico and Annabeth were comforting Juniper. At least Annabeth was comforting her; Nico looked like he would rather be anywhere but where he was right now. I grinned, taking a mental snap-shot of the son of Hades' face, and walked up to them.
Juniper raised her green tinged eyes and looked at me.
"Is she an Apollo kid? Can she help him?" she choked up between sobs. I stopped short, feeling a little insulted. Was it really necessary to jump to conclusions about my parentage? I had been called a daughter of Aphrodite so many times I felt like puking. No wonder Alva was so bitter. I felt a little stab of guilt as I remembered my own hissy fit over the girl. Gods, I am so dumb sometimes.
"She's unclaimed – "Connor began but Annabeth cut him off with a sharp gesture. I looked at her surprised. The girl was upset; she shouldn't be so harsh with her. Kneeling down beside the nymph, Annabeth looked right into her eyes steadily.
"Go on, Juniper. You were telling us what had happened," the stormy-eyed child of Athena prompted, her voice firm but not unkind. I settled down for what I was sure going to be a long story. Juniper drew in a shuddering breath, dabbing at her emerald chlorophyll-tinged eyes.
"We were out West, searching for Percy." Immediately, I felt four people tense around me. "Grover had been getting something from that empathy link of his. He seemed so confident …, " Juniper trailed off, looking ready to burst into tears again. Annabeth looked exasperated, her gray eyes flashing with some intense emotion, and Nico began sidle away slowly. I glanced at Alva but she only gave me a look to that said she was bored out of her mind.
I sighed.
Should I? I probably should. I mean, it's for the good of every else after all, especially since they all looked like they were about to die if Juniper didn't get on with the story soon.
"There, there," I said, slipping into the spot beside the nymph, ignoring the looks I got from my next to useless friends. I mean, c'mon! How hard is it to comfort a girl? "I'm sure he'll be better soon. What happened next" I used the lowest, most soothing voice I could manage, rubbing her back pacifyingly.
Much to my surprise, it worked. Juniper stopped sobbing and continued her tale, albeit a little slowly.
"Then, we found this nature park that had been abandoned by the humans. Grover was so angry … "She took in a deep shuddering breath, reliving the memory. I continued rubbing her back, turning a blind eye to Alva's amused look. "Then, we got his scent. It was so strong, there was no mistaking it." I nodded encouragingly. Alva had told me all about demigods, their unique scents and how it attracted monsters. I contemplated wearing some very strong perfume for a while after that.
"We entered the park," Juniper went on. "There was so much rubbish. The poor trees, oh the poor trees. All blasted open, burnt away. Those evil eagles and their claws." She shuddered and her beautiful yellow hair rippled gently down her back. My jealousy was all gone however, and in its place was pity. "We went on walking anyway, guided by Percy's scent, so strong, so fresh." She moaned squeezing her eyes shut so tightly I thought they would never open again.
"Then …?" I prompted gently. Annabeth was standing rigidly beside me, her features arranged carefully into a carefully blank expression. Her normally stormy eyes were now as dark as Alva's were bright. Alva was leaning forward, her now mahogany hair sweeping past her shoulders and hanging into her shiny eyes. Beside her, Connor was tensed up, dreading Juniper's next words.
Nico just stood there, his desolate expression twisting my heart. He looked so sad, so hopeless. I never knew that this Percy meant that much to him before. With renewed vigor, I turned back to Juniper, determined to squeeze every last word out of her.
"Go on, Juniper," I whispered softly in her pointy ear. She blinked rapidly, coming out of her trance.
In her sweet quavering voice, she continued her tale. "We were attacked." Juniper's hands began to shake. "There were so many, so many of them. Green-brown sons of the Earth. So many. We couldn't fend them off. Grover yelled that he found something and that we should – we could - go now. We ran off, to the nearest tree that was alive and big enough to transport all of us here." I had no idea how a tree could transport people. Then, I figured it must be some kind of woodland magic. Grover is the Lord of the Wild, what tree wouldn't want to transport him? I would want to. If I were a tree, that is.
"We came here, thinking that we were safe. Then, Grover started screaming and clutching his head. He passed out and those sons of the Earth appeared again." Juniper shook her great golden head. "I don't know how they got into camp." Here, she broke down completely, tears pouring freely from her jade eyes. Something clattered out of her hands. I bent down, retrieving it slowly.
It was a pen. A completely normal ball point pen, except for the fact that it was bronze and kinda heavy. I turned it around in my hands, finding a few words inscripted at the end.
Ανακλυσμός. Riptide, I translated as the words were magically rearranged before my eyes. The most dangerous current in the sea.
Annabeth snatched the pen out of my hands, her hands shaking. She stared at it, her analytical eyes looking ancient. Then, with a toss of her fair hair, she was gone. The pen clattered to the ground and turned into celestial bronze sword as long as my arm. I cried out, jumping up in surprise.
Well, that was certainly unexpected.
Nico looked stunned. He sank onto the bed, and I felt goose bumps erupted wherever his skin grazed mine. Running his hands through his raven hair, Nico lifted his eyes to mine.
"He said it would always return to his pocket," My heart clenched again. His brown eyes, usually so intense, were completely devoid of feeling. They were like black holes, sucking everything in into oblivion. I felt tears rise in my eyes, mourning for this hero, so young and so loved who died in vain.
I never even got to meet him. It wasn't fair.
"If it isn't in his pocket now … "Nico trailed off, seeming unable to complete the sentence. Connor did that for him.
"That means he doesn't have a pocket anymore." Connor choked the words out. He shook his head sadly. His hands shook as he ran them through his hair, sinking onto the bed as well. All the spark went out of his eyes as well. "I can't believe it."
"Perseus Jackson is dead," Alva said in a tremulous voice. "He is actually dead."