The First Daughter

Chapter 26:


Darren double checked the harness and made sure it was secure and helped me over the cliff. I nodded my ok and Darren pointed to me and then imitated shooting a bow and pointed to the harness. Which I gathered that I had to shoot it back up. I nodded and started to work my way down the wall of the chasm. I didn't look up trying to focus on getting down on the ground but I thought I had just started going down I look up once and the cliff side, Darren, and Lilly had disappeared apparently a long time ago.

I swallowed and continued to climb down the wall. Time slowly passed before me, I thought about humming but my singing could kill the birds; So I have been told. (That'd be another reason why my Dad isn't Apollo) Eventually I started thinking about the situation and what I planned on doing.

I started thinking about doing the right things first, get the demigods and get out. But then my fantasies intensified: When I found my Mother, oh yeah, Hades was going to pay for all of this. I went over it all it in my head in gruesome detail; I could have cared less if he was an immortal god of the Underworld. He was going to writhe in agony and pain for what he had inadvertently done to me and what he did to my Mother.

In my fury I forgot to hold on the rope in my hands and my fingers slipped and I instantly shot down into the hole. In a blaze of blurry thoughts I quickly grabbed the rope to stop myself. I stifle a scream as my right hand burned with excruciating pain while my three fingered glove covered only three fingers (my pointer, middle, and ring) and my pinkie joined in the fun. My body stopped and my hand burned, tears rolled down my face, while my feet planted on the wall.

I almost let out a cry and caught myself by biting my lip. I was afraid to open my eyes and see how much father I had to go. I blew and then spit on my left hand to try and soothe the pain and I continued to go down when my foot suddenly angles itself and I looked down, there was the ever wanted ground.

The ground was dusty and rocky but as I looked around this had turned into a huge tavern and the ground had created hills inside that were tall but I could see another entryway. But this tavern was divided by a slow churning river or a stream and gurgled passed me. But I had little time for just standing around, I quickly got out of my harness and took out one of my Mother's arrows and shot the thing back up: Only realizing then that it probably wasn't going to make it to the top seeing as the arrow had to work it's way up against gravity.

After a long time I decided to sit down and chill out for a little while, and I slowly fell asleep.

***


Have I told you before that I hate demigod dreams?

I woke up on a stretcher my body automatically sitting up a shriek escaping my lips. I covered my mouth with my hands and looked around. The walls were lined with cords and things that blipped and bleeped, colors and flashing lights. They irritated me to no end, I felt a metal utensil at my hand I took it up and while covering my eyes with my other arm I threw the knife and somehow managed, (I'm not going to lie that it was my amazing skills) to throw it at the machine and caused it to short and everything stopped. I lowered my arm and I saw a respiration mask on my face and ripped it off my face.

I threw my legs over the bed and looked down at myself, I was wearing a poorly fitted oversized hospital gown. I pushed myself off the stretcher and my bare feet smacked against the tile floor. I walked to the door on edge, I passed the machine that I had lodged the knife into. I casually pulled the knife while still walking to the door.

I inched aligning myself along side the door and gingerly touching the doorknob as if it could disintegrate at any moment. My finger tips positioned themselves to open the door. I ever so slowly opened the door a crack and found an armed mortal guard dressed in black and bullet-proof clothing holding a large AK-47 in his arms. I held my breath and counted to three and quickly threw the door open and with a yell and little resistance I stabbed the exposed part of his neck and he fell to the ground. But my success didn't last long as a barrel of a gun was jabbed into my back. I froze for a second, knife still in hand. Then I took a breath and scrunched up my face and the knife flew from my hand: It had hit the guy in the chest but the armor he had on stopped the blade from killing him, but it provided a distraction before bullets began to fly, I pounced on him punching him several times, knocking him out completely.

This wasn't me at all...

I was an, animal...

And like an animal I was searching for something in the hallways, I was driven by carnivorous instincts. In my mouth vividly I could taste blood, and in my stomach I yearned for it's place in it's space. I groggily ambled down the hallways with no particular destination, but I, found myself in a room. Suddenly my vision and my mind cleared; I was myself again, but my heart completely stopped.

Artemis, Mom, had her back towards me at first but her clothing on her back was covered red with blood. But then I heard sniffing and Mom turned around; Her eyes were completely black like an animals, she had a twisted smile that chilled me to the bone, blood from her mouth dripped down her face and blood had soaked her chest.
“Welcome Daughter.” She hissed, coughing spitting blood on my face.
“Mom?!” I screamed.
“You have failed me.” She said, “Only you can find me, save me Hannah... save me....”

“Hannah...

Hannah....
Hannah....
Hannah!”

***

I woke up to Lilly calling my name and shaking me from my sleep. My eyes opened suddenly and I took in a shaky breath with a shaky voice I asked how long I was out.

“I found you asleep, thought you were dead when I first found you.” She replied.
I scrambled to my feet, “I guess the harness got to you?”
Lilly chuckled, “Ended up cutting a few hairs off of Darren's head.”
I smiled a bit, still shaken from my dream, and I took out another arrow, notching the bow loading the harness with it. I took my stance and held the bow high up, then let go of the string sending the harness straight up.

Then we waited on Darren...

***

Lilly and I sat on a rock together that oversaw half of the cavern we were in, we didn't say much at first, but something was plaguing my mind so I asked her in a quiet voice, “What happened when you disappeared?”
Lilly just looked at me for a second and plainly replied, “Hiding from guards, I tried to get out of the city but I heard you were ok so I decided come back.”
“Why did you leave in the first place?” The answer was probably obvious but the answer needed to get out in the air.



“I, I thought I killed you, just like Hecate said-”
“She said something bad was going to happen,” I interrupted, “And it would be your fault; that ghost made you do it: Not your fault.”
“I'm glad someone is positive about this.” She replied, “No, but how I see it being, it's my power I should be able to control, but I'm not.” She looked down and picked up a rock and twirled it with her fingers. I watched her do it for a little while then I picked up the conversation again, “Are you going to train with Hecate?”

“That @$@%#?” She asked, “Heck to the no! It's just going to me figuring things out my own.”
I was surprised that Lilly used a cuss word to describe her Mother no matter how much of a jerk she is but I quickly replied, “I distinctly remember that you have three other siblings that can help.”
“Well.” Her expression stiffed, “They keep to themselves with their little sect of siblings, they never agreed to help me find my godly parent anyway.” Lilly threw the rock and it landed somewhere behind me.

Pause.

“Then,” I said finally, “What are you going to do?”
Lilly drew in the dirt, “This magic stuff isn't all that hard.”

I joined her in doodling in the dirt as I thought the dream: The picture still vivid in my brain, it was beyond creepy, it was disorienting and unnerving, and really frightening. I bit on my nails that wern't drawing in the dirt.
Lilly must have noticed cause she asked me if I was ok.
“I'm fine.” I snapped. I looked up and repeated, “I'm fine.”
“You sure?”
I took in a breath to make sure I wasn't going to fast to where I'd snap, “Yeah I'm sure.”

Thankfully we heard grunts and it was the end of that conversation when we saw Darren coming down along the wall and we walked to meet up with him.

Darren came down with two arrows in his hands and struck the wall climbing down with the arrows rather than the harness and rope. I frowned as he came down and landed with a jumped to the ground. He smiled at me and then his smile faded and breathlessly asked me what was wrong.
“You're just confusing me; Why didn't you use the rope and harness?”
“Can't leave the arrows up there.”
“How do you expect to get out of here?”
Darren smirked, “I think with the noise we'll be making we can't afford going up the slow way.”

I arched my eyebrow in reply and picked up the mess left behind, “There's another cavern ahead, and but I am not exactly sure how far away they are.”
“Well,” Darren replied with a smile, “Let's get walking.”

Notes