I woke up in a bed, bright lights casting down, blinding me. I opened my eyes and groaned. My head hurt so bad…
The world around me was foggy and my senses were stultified. Where was I? I blinked a few times and found my sight. I was in some sort of sick room, but I was the only patient there. I tried to lift my head, but it felt like lead being struck by a hammer. I groaned again, and this time someone answered.
"Jo?" a voice said. I figure appeared over me, and it took a few minutes for my eyes to focus enough that I could see it was Leo.
"Leo?" I said, squinting. My voice was raspy.
"Oh my gods Jo," Leo said with wide eyes. "Thank Apollo your ok".
"I…I don't understand," I said. "What happened?"
Leo furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Don't you remember anything?"
"I think…I remember the arch. I pushed you out of the way…and…and…" I shook my head. "That's all".
"You were buried under the wreckage," Leo said. "We all thought you were dead".
"Dead?" I was taken aback by this.
"Yeah," Leo said. "We searched for hours, and we found you crumpled under some beams. You certainly looked dead".
"I…I did?"
"Yes," Leo said. He looked genuinely shaken. His face was pale and he was tapping his fingers nervously. "It took lots of ambrosia and nectar, plus our best medics to get you back in full health. You had many cuts, a broken ankle, and a major concussion".
I felt my head and found a thick bandage wrapped around my curly black hair. My ankle, though, wasn't broken. That was odd. Unless... "Leo," I said. "How long was I unconscious?"
Leo shifted nervously. "You were in a coma for five weeks".
My jaw dropped. "But…How?"
"Look Jo, I know you're probably really confused right now," Leo said, "But the best thing for you is to rest". Leo walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
I couldn't sleep. I lay awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling. How could I sleep with what Leo had just told me? I managed to sit up and turn a nightstand lamp on. The light filled the room with a faint glow, and in the corner of the room I saw a figure. I screamed.
"Jo, be quiet," said a familiar deep voice. "It's only me". Mandy stepped into view.
"Mandy," I breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me. What are you doing here?"
"I heard you were in a coma," he said. "It's good to know your better now".
"Why are you whispering?" I said. "It's the middle of the night. No one's awake to hear you".
"I can't let anyone know I'm here," Mandy said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"That isn't important right now," Mandy said. "I need to know how you were injured".
I bit my lip. "It's nothing really".
"Something that gives a coma definitely doesn't seem like nothing," Mandy said.
I sighed. "I was just in my cabin when an arch fell on me," I said. "I'm sure it was just a loose screw or something".
"You should have been more careful," Mandy said. "Wait. Your cabin?"
"Yeah. I worked with some people from cabin nine to build a cabin for me, you know, to represent my mom".
Mandy's eyes widened. "Oh, no".
"What?" I was confused.
"Jo, you should not have built a cabin to represent Ate. This is really bad".
"What's so bad about it?"
"Building that cabin has brought up a powerful resentment again," Mandy said. "You have no idea how unlucky this is".
"You're starting to sound like some sort of superstition," I said.
"This is no superstition," Mandy said. "This is a matter of luck".
I leaned back. "I don't believe in luck".
"Quite ironic for someone like you," Mandy said.
"Someone like me?"
"Have you ever noticed how things keep going wrong for you?" Mandy asked. "How nothing seems to go right, try as you might?"
I looked down at my lap. "That has nothing to do with luck, or superstition. That's just life. And anyways, what's the difference between the two?"
"Superstition is the belief that something as silly as salt or a clover came change luck," Mandy explained. "But Luck, with a capital L, is a force in the universe that controls the outcome of things".
"But I told you, I don't believe in it," I said. "Luck is just a stupid made up idea that gets peoples' hopes up about nothing".
"As I told you, that's very peculiar for someone like you".
"Why someone like me?" I demanded. "What's so special about me?!"
"Luck follows you wherever you go," Mandy said. "Unfortunately it is bad Luck, but Luck all the same".
"I get it that I'm really unfortunate," I said. "But unfortunate and bad luck, cursed if you will, are two different things".
"It is more than just that," Mandy said. "Bad Luck is more than just all around you. It's inside of you, and in more ways than one".
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever considered the day you were born?"
I looked down. "So I was born on Friday the thirteenth. So what?"
"It is a very unlucky day to be born," Mandy said. "That bad Luck harbors inside of you, whether you believe in it or not".
"But what does that have to do with the cabin?" I asked. "You suggested it did. But how? My mom is the goddess of mischief, not bad Luck".
"She still has some influence over it," Mandy said. "Mischief is connected with bad Luck. That, taken with your birth date, is a very powerful thing. It is also why you live an unlucky life".
I was silent. I didn't know what to think. Mandy was sounding like some sort of crazy illusionist Luck freak, but his claims made some sense. But I shook my head and shouted. "You're crazy! I don't believe in Luck, or superstitions, or any of that ridiculous voodoo! Get out of here!"
"Jo," Mandy said. "You have to understand—"
"Get Out!"
Mandy fell silent. "Very well," he said sadly. Suddenly the lamp went out, and Mandy was gone.
So there's the next chapter! Just so you know, I'm not sure just how much influence Ate has over luck in mythology. It only says she brings about bad luck on the lives of men on earth. So, like, if you ever need information on Ate, don't use this story for your research because some of it might be exaggerated.
Guess what? Without these last 4 sentences, this chapter is exactly 1,111 words! And that's a lucky number! It's a number that has to do with the magic square, which is a square with numbers on it, and when added in different ways, they add up to things like 1,111 and 6,666. Neat huh? What are the odds?!