Chapter 27- Recuperating
POV Asher- First Person POV (Sorry. XD)
I walk around in my crutches, not knowing where I should go. Hera cabin…maybe. Apollo cabin. Score. I walk towards it, and I stay outside the door. A ton of Apollo healers are going inside and out. A girl had set up a makeshift center to let people check-in. "May I see Amber please?" I say, giving her a grin.
"She's pretty busy…but let me get her." She says, and walks into the cabin. She comes back with a totally different Amber than I last saw. Her smile hitches when she sees me standing there. A guilty look crosses her face and I let myself feel bad.
Amber's hair ends with tipped with red, and her eyes were really hollow. "Asher."
"May I talk to you, please for a little bit?" I ask, holding onto my crutches with my elbow and raking a hand through my black hair.
She leads him away to the forest, and leaning against a tree. "Why did you take the arrow for me?" Amber asks. Way to be blunt. Asher smiles wistfully for a second.
"Because you didn't deserve it." I say, rubbing my hands together, leaning against the tree and sliding onto the ground.
POV Amber (Daughter of Apollo, Head of Apollo cabin)
I look at him sadly, looking as he slumped to the ground. I ditched him and Jezebelle and left them to fall into Tartarus…and I didn't kill Juliette all of those times where she revealed her true colors. I say softly, "How do you know I didn't deserve it?"
He seems to look stumped for a moment, and then he says, "Because everyone deserves more than one chance." His grey eyes sink into her like little knives of guilt.
"People don't always get what they deserve, Asher. You don't deserve this…" I look at my feet for a moment before continuing. "You should be the one standing, not me."
"It's what friends do for other friends." Asher says, a sad smile on his face.
I start crying softly, tears sliding down my face. Asher looks pained for a moment and then I reply, "I don't deserve a friend like you."
"Everyone deserves a friend like me." Asher replies, a cocky smile on his face. I smile a little bit, wiping my tears away. I look at his legs, normal looking, but unable to walk because of the poison reacting to the healing.
"Guess I'll be the one carrying you now, huh?" I say, looking at his face again.
"I don't know if you can carry me." Asher replies with a slight smile. "Amber. Don't blame yourself for all of this. It is not your fault." He sounds stern, but his face is soft.
My face falls, a little bit and I look over Asher's shoulder. "I could've killed her, you know. Juliette. I had plenty of chances. We traveled together a few times." I laugh bitterly, and Asher has a sad smile on his face. "I had these…these stupid morals about not killing demigods, I wanted to heal people, not hurt them. But how many people got hurt because I didn't do it? Because I fired that arrow to late?" My voice drops to a whisper. "I should've killed her earlier."
Asher smiles at me just a little bit and lays his hand on mine, and I feel pinpricks of excitement rush through me. He looks into my eyes and says, "Juliette was a cruel person. She would have expected it. At least you're alive now, right?" He squeezes my hand.
I look him in the eyes and I start crying again. "Bu-but Stash is dead. I hesitated Asher. I could've saved him. I had her in my sights and I hesitated and she killed him. I-I held his hand as he bled to death Asher. How come I get to live instead of Stash? And Laurels! She died to save most of us. Also could've been prevented. And Victoria. And Gareth," I say, now barely can be talking I am crying so hard.
"Stash died with both you and Juliana near him. He died happy, I know he did." Asher says, touching my red tipped hair and smiles. "See."
"He shouldn't have died at all." I whisper. "No one should have. The-the gods did nothing! Aphrodite and Hera helped, but that was it! Where were they?" I feel myself getting angry and face the sky. "Why didn't you help us? Why did you wait until we were all dying or wounded to help? Why?" I break down crying and whisper. "Why?"
Asher's strong arms wrap themselves around me. "It'll be alright, Amber." I lean into him, my tears soaking Asher's grey shirt. I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tightly to reassure myself that he was here and alive and that I wasn't alone.
"I-I just….Stash…Laurel….I can't." I sob, burying my face in his chest. "Asher they're gone."
"I know, but I'm here." Asher whispers, his voice soft.
"Everyone I care about always leaves me." I whisper, closing my eyes and thinking about Stash, my annoyingly cheerful half-brother with his red-haired rebellion; Laurel who never knew when to shut up but was the best friend anyone could have; my mother, who I only got to see once or twice a year because of her job; and finally, my old boyfriend, Dereck, who I had watched die at the hands of monsters. Three out of four of them were dead because I was too slow. I was alone, but I didn't want to be. "Don't leave me Asher…please."
"I won't. Ever, I promise." Asher whispers. I finally let myself grieve over them, clutching Asher like my life depended on it, for once not caring if I hurt him.
"Thank you," I whisper between sobs. He gives me a brief smile.
Asher dips down and kisses the top of my head. I close my eyes, letting myself enjoy the feeling of his arms around me and his lips on my head. I knew that even though it wasn't okay now, it would get better. "Eventually." I whispered, snuggling in closer to him.
"We'll be alright. Even if nothing else is." He whispers, his voice warm against the fall breeze. I smile.
POV Jezebelle (Head Girl of Camp Half-Blood, Daughter of Hera)
The next day is a somber one at camp Half-Blood and nature seems to agree with us. It is drizzling lightly, and the skies are grey. Most of the tables sit empty at breakfast. The o ne most populated is the Artemis table, and they aren't even staying for very long. I give a sad smile at Asher, who walks in with his crutches.
"Heroes." Chiron says, clinking his spoon against his glass.
We all stand, gazing out into the smoky sky. The mood is almost unsettling. "Many of us are not here tonight, but are on Olympus, lying on the floor. Soon, we will need to go up and bring them down during the night. We will have funerals for every single one of them. Everyone has lost somebody. Brother. Sister. Friend. But for now, cherish the ones you still have, and hold them close to you." Chiron says. I look around for Flin, but don't see him anywhere.
I am a little scared when I go looking for him, because the last conversation we had wasn't a good one. And then the last time I saw him was when I was being carried away from him on a stretcher. I approach the Poseidon cabin after breakfast, and I stop right outside the door. I knock on the wood that is by the doorway.
"Yes?" I hear a voice and I see Flin sitting by the edge of the cabin, sitting with his sister. I start walking away, they deserve to be doing something together. There's only one other person that I want to see. I walk towards the very edges of the cabins, and stop when I reach the very last one.
"Blake?" I say, rapping at the door. There is no answer, so I push open the door, revealing the insides of the cabin. What I see inside is devastation.
The cabin looks like it hasn't been cleaned in weeks, the bed is all uncovered, the covers scattered around the room. "Jezebelle." I hear a voice, and it is hard and steely. I look to see where It came from and I see Blake sitting against a bookshelf across the room.
"Don't let your grief consume you." I warn, worried that some others around camp were doing the exact same thing.
"Don't tell me what to do," He snarls back at me, and I am shocked. NO one else would dare say that to me. Which just proves how much I need to know these people better.
"Please. Everyone else is missing you out there," I make hand gestures toward the door and he just shakes his head.
I see several suitcases laying on the ground as well, looking fully packed. "You are not leaving." I say in my most threatening voice.
"You can't stop me." He says simply, grabbing one of the suitcases.
"Where would you be going then, if I may be so bold?" I say, my voice quavering a little bit.
"California." He says. I have a terrible thought strike me, but I really hope he is just going to Camp Jupiter.
"Where in California?" I ask, looking straight at him.
"Hollywood." He replies and my gaze narrows. He's going to the Underworld. He can't do that!
I slowly drag my hand to my aist and grab my sheathe. Thank goodness he doesn't see it, and I keep talking, "Please don't leave." I grab the knife, and I see a dot of blood appear as I grab the blade end.
His eyes go wide juts as my knife, hilt end first slams into his head. He's definitely not leaving now. I grab his legs and start to pull him towards the Big House. I am almost halfway there when I see Asher and Amber walking, Asher on one crutch, the other hand clasped firmly in Amber's hand. I think at first that it must be some kind of healing exercise before his lips and hers meet.
At first, I feel a ping of jealousy. I thought that he liked me, didn't he? But then I quickly shove it away, feeling good for my two friends. I keep on dragging, hoping that he wouldn't wake up and start going crazy on me. I reach the Big House and explain the situation to Chiron. He agrees with my plan and takes him inside. I let out a sigh of relief.
"Jezebelle!" I hear a shout and see Flin coming towards me. I grit my teeth and walk over.
"What is it?" I ask. I start tapping my foot, waiting for an aswer.
"I just wanted to talk." He says defensively.
"Alright. Where would you prefer?" I drawl, I think I may be a little annoyed after all that has been done so far.
"My cabin?" He suggests and I nod. We head in the direction, and I sit on one of the chairs that is sitting there. He clasps his hands together and unclasps them, nervously.
"Are you alright?" I ask in concern.
"Why did you take the stab for me?" He asks, cutting straight to the point.
"Don't you know why already?" I ask, my voice thick with emotion, tears springing at my eyes.
"No." He whispers back looking at his hands.
"It's because I love you." I whisper. He stares straight at me, not realizing why.
"Why? I've been treating you like trash lately. With Juliette and everything. I should've just killed her, and now Laurels and Gareth and Victoria are all dead. Asher now needs crutches wherever he will go and it's my fault." Flin looked a little guilty for the first couple, but when he came to Asher the guilt stopped. That made me very angry.
"Asher is my friend." I say, my voice shaking.
"It looked like more than that." Flin says, his sea green eyes with a certain hardness that I have come to expect.
"Well maybe you weren't looking close enough." I snap and get up. If this is going to be what we are now, I guess that I will have to move on.
A/N: Next chapter will be your people coming back in, I just needed to let loose some shipping time for some people *cough* Fairy Lori *cough* that will remain nameless :)