AN: I'm sad. Nobody told me they were surprised. Was I to obvious? Was it just not interesting enough? Anyway, here is the next chapter.
LINE BREAK
PANDORA
It took me one day to break down. Let's start at the beginning. A.J had just announced that he was destined to die.
FLASHBACK
I was stunned. I could only stand there, staring straight ahead. It felt like my entire body was encased in lead.
"I figured you guys have a right to know, since we have nearly arrived at the most dangerous place we could find." A.J said. Then, he walked away, and I continued to stand there for gods know how long after. Why? Because, when he kissed me, I had felt a rush of emotion I had never felt before. I felt like I could let all my fears go. In that moment, I could have died happy, regardless of my fear. I thought I might actually have a chance to be happy, but then he shattered those hopes. Now I could barely move. When I was finally able to move my body, I decided to exhaust myself, to the point of passing out, so as to forget my troubles. I went up to a few of the others and asked if they could help me train with my spear. The spear A.J gave me. They must have taken pity on me, because they all agreed to help me in their own ways. Jason, Percy, Frank, and Annabeth all trained me in combat. Piper comforted me, and Hazel helped me calm down by playing games with some gems she kept hold of. Leo made sure to keep any and all boxes well away from me, and Calypso would sing and relax me. I even saw A.J a few times, but he made sure to keep well away from me. I have no idea how long I remained in this cycle, but around the third time I saw A.J, I finally decided. Screw destiny. I ran up to him, grabbed him, and dragged him out of the room before anyone could protest.
FLASHBACK END
Now we were standing in a room remarkably like the one he kissed me in, and I smiled in spite of myself. He stood near the bed, and I was at the door, blocking his escape route. Finally, A.J slumped down onto the bed.
"Should have figured something like this would happen." He mumbled. Then he smiled. "Won't change anything though. I'll still be gone, and you will still be alone." He said that in such a casual manner, that it struck me like a punch to the face. I wanted to curl up into a ball. Then, I realized what he was doing. He was trying to make me hate him, so I wouldn't be hurt by his death. I got angry and tackled him. That was how fast it was, I swear to Zeus. One moment, I was standing near the door, next moment im sitting on his chest, punching him in the gut.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" I shouted. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO ME!? YOU KISSED ME, AND NOW YOU TELL ME YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!? WHAT KIND OF GUY DOES THAT!? AND NOW YOU WANT TO RUB SALT IN THE WOUNDS? GUESS WHAT! I. HAVE. HAD. ENOUGH!" I punched him over and over: His face, his chest, his gut, even the sides of his head. He just lay there and took all of it. That infuriated me even more. I punched him harder and harder. Eventually, he was bleeding, but there was more blood that just what a few punches could do. Then I realized: I had punched him so hard my own fists began bleeding. Finally, I got off him and I stood there, panting. His faced was split in three separate locations: Above his left eye, on his right cheek, and in the middle of his forehead. I also broke his nose. He was wheezing to the extent that I think I broke a rib or two, and he couldn't sit up due to the damage I did to his gut. Then he started laughing.
"Did you get it all off your chest, or do you need to let loose some more?" He managed to choke out. I was still so royally pissed that I felt like beating him some more, but I decided to try diplomacy.
"Do you really just not care what I'm going through?" I asked him. "Or are you still trying to get me to hate you?" Then, a bunch of chains sprouted out of the wall and attached themselves to A.J. He was then wrapped in an envelope of ruby flames. When the flames died down, he was sitting up and he was perfectly healed. He stretched.
"Okay, lets try that again." He said. "Tell it to me straight. What precisely are you going through?" My anger faded slightly, but only slightly.
"You want the truth? Here it is." I said. "You drive me absolutely crazy. For most of this little journey, you weren't even here. That combined with the fact that Piper tried to set me up with you almost immediately after you left have annoyed me to no end. You were the first person to figure out my identity, and you weren't even here to receive all the clues." I stopped to take a breath. I noticed that he was looking at me intently. "That being said, because of that I find you a truly interesting person. You not only managed to figure me out just by having some obscure clues, but you were kind to me after the fact. And then you kissed me and effectively shattered my little sense of safety. Do you have any idea how devastated I was?" I looked at him, and he was smirking. I scowled. "Wipe that smug look off your face, I'm not done yet. This is my demand: You will not avoid me, and you will not give me a false sense of security. And if you do break my little sense of safety and security with something as stupid as death, then I swear to every god sitting on their behinds up on mount Olympus that I will personally bring you out of the underworld. Is that clear?" His smirk hadn't been dropped. In fact, it grew larger. My anger had pretty much subsided, though I was still a little mad at him for putting me through this.
"I never knew somebody could live that kind of emotional roller coaster." He said. "I still disagree with this. I don't want you to get hurt. But, if that's what you really want, then fine." I felt an absurd amount of joy at that statement. I scowled.
"What is this ridiculous feeling?" I asked. A.J laughed then.
"You should ask Piper." He said. I shook my head with small smile and walked out of the room. Before I closed the door, I heard him shout. "Get those hands of yours looked at."
LINE BREAK
PIPER
"Dear gods, what happened?" I asked Pandora as she came up to me asking to take care of her hands. I shrugged and said why not, then I looked at her hands and gasped. Her hands weren't just cut. It looked like the skin had been ripped off of them. Then I saw that it was only around the knuckles. Pandora shrugged.
"I beat A.J up for ignoring me." She said bluntly. I giggled.
"Now normally I would say something like 'not a smart move' but I think this is just what A.J would need to notice you." I said. She looked at me.
"What?" She asked. I noticed that she was blushing, ever so slightly. "What would make you say something like that?" I grinned.
"Come on. Just because your name got longer doesn't mean I forgot what I told you." I said as I bandaged her hands. "I'm going to get you and A.J together."
"You were actually serious about that?" She asked. Before I could reply, somebody did for me.
"Not only is she serious, but she had this whole elaborate plan to get you and me all touchy feely." A.J said. Pandora turned her head to look at him, then she looked back at me.
"What the Hades Piper?" She exclaimed. I Quickly turned to The others, who were doing some random stuff at the other side of the room.
"Leo, they're on to us, enact plan B!" I screamed. He immediately looked up from whatever he was tinkering with and grinned at me.
"On it beauty queen." He said. He then took out a remote and pressed a button. Immediately, every source of light in the room was extinguished.
LINE BREAK
PANDORA
The second the room was engulfed in darkness, I hard a mad scrambling, and the sound of a door shutting. I then felt a feeling of anxiety build up inside me. Was I alone? Did they all leave me? Have I been betrayed again?
"Do you have abandonment issues?" I heard somebody ask. It took me a moment to recognize A.J was the one who spoke.
"What makes you say that?" I asked, and then despised the sentence because of how my voice wobbled.
"Nothing much. Just a guess really. I know something's up, so I figure it's either a fear of the dark or abandonment issues. Judging by how you talked to me a few minutes ago, I'd say abandonment issues." He said. I knew he was close, but I didn't know where. I couldn't see anything at all. The room was so pitch black that even Nyx would be proud.
"How do you know something's up with me?" I asked the darkness. Then, I nearly screamed when I felt somebody grab me from behind. Before I did, I realized it was A.J and relaxed dramatically.
"I can hear you hyperventilating." He said. His voice was right next to me ear. "So, was I right?" I sighed and leaned into him.
"Kind of." I said. "Not abandonment so much as betrayal. I have slight trust issues and I get paranoid that people I care about will stab me in the back." I say. I felt his arms tighten around me.
"Does that extend to me?" He asked, and I turned around to face him.
"Yes." I said truthfully. I hugged him from the front just to be sure he was still there. "But I don't want it to." I didn't realize I was crying until just then. Gods im a mess. A.J tensed.
"If I ever meet him" He whispered "Epimethius will wish he was never born." I gasped at the barely suppressed anger I could hear in his voice. Then, he relaxed. "You haven't had much sleep, have you?" He asked. It was then that I also realized just how tired and fatigued I was. I could just pass out right there.
"Not much." I mumbled. I closed my eyes, then opened them again.
"Then go and get some." He said. "I won't leave, I promise." I didn't have the strength or the mentality to object, so I relaxed and passed out in his arms.
LINE BREAK
A.J
It felt like hours before the lights came back on. When they did, the first thing I saw was Jason and Piper standing side by side, with Piper grinning smugly. Pandora was still asleep in my arms, so I picked her up bridal style and carried her out of the room. As I passed Piper, I said "You, follow me." I could feel her turn around, and I just kept walking. I came to one of the many bedrooms and I placed Pandora on the bed. I had long discovered that every room looked the same. I turned to see Piper standing there. Jason had come with her. I frowned, then I quickly lost it. Him being here would make things harder, but not impossible to deal with. I walked up to Piper.
"You know, there is something I really think you should know." I told her. Before she could ask me what, I straight up punched her in the gut. She instantly doubled over in pain, falling to the ground with a gasp. "I hate being used." I told her. "And furthermore" I said with a scowl. I kicked her in the side of the chest. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO INTERFERE!" I shouted. I kicked her straight into Jason, who I had wrapped in chains right after I punched Piper. Both of them toppled to the floor. I quickly ran and crouched next to Piper. "Are you okay?" I asked her softly. "Did I break anything?"
"Some ribs." She gasped. I immediately made a chain connecting her to me. I instantly felt an intense pain in my chest, right where my ribs were. After a minute, the chain disappeared, and I was kneeling on the floor, gasping. Piper stood up, completely fine.
"What happened?" Jason asked. I had nearly forgotten he was there, as he was frozen in shock the entire time.
"Pain transfer." I said. "I healed her ribs and I got the pain." She knelt next to me.
"Thank you." She said after a pause. "And I'm sorry. For all of it."
"Not your fault." I said with a shake of my head. "It's your nature." I painfully stood up and made my way to the bed. "Get out." I said. "And let the others know that if anybody disturbs Pandora, they answer to me." I was met with silence, until I heard the door slam and I knew they were gone. I closed my eyes, and lay on the ground next to the bed, about to fall asleep.
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AN: Sorry If the end seems a little rushed. I've had this sitting around for days and I wanted to finish it. Anyway let me know what you think. Specifically, what do you think about Pandora and A.J? If you have any ideas about how I can further their relationship, then please let me know. Thanks.