The Shadow Archer Twins

After two days of being unresponsive with no pulse, I had given up on Tox. No offense to the guy, but nobody comes back from that. He had lost a third of his body’s supply of blood, and the sword wound had busted open almost every organ in his digestive tract. Of course, the ambrosia and nectar had helped heal that, but the rest of his body was dead.

I couldn’t decide who had taken it worse, Emily or Katie. Both had cried, desperately trying to save him. But it was if they already knew he was gone. Then, the crying had started, and it hadn’t stopped. They had retreated to their cabins for a full twenty-four hours, and had let nobody see them. Then, almost in-sync, they had stormed out of their cabins and ran back to the infirmary, both wanting to stay with Tox. It was, I must admit, very honorable.

After they had refused to eat for the next twenty-four hours, Chiron had sent me and Izzy to check on them. They were crying again, staring at his body, lifeless on the infirmary bed, covered in lost blood. After two days, it had started to coagulate, turning the bed sheets a crusty red-orange color. It wasn’t a pretty sight, even for the emotionally stable. For them, it must have been Tartarus.

Then, after Izzy and I had been standing there for about fifteen minutes, trying to get either girl to eat, we heard a few breaths, soft and weak, yet controlled. Then, Emily shot out of her seat screaming and ran forward, kissing Tox, who had, somehow, come back to life.

“No way!” I exclaimed in complete astonishment, “He came back! No way!”

Emily didn’t even hear me. And, as for Katie, she just sank to her knees and started crying. Tears of joy, for the first time in weeks, spilled out of her eyes as she watched Emily and Tox stare into each other’s eyes with an intense longing. Then, just for a moment, Tox glanced over towards Katie, and I knew what he wanted. I helped Katie to her feet, and walked her over to her brother. And, after a moment of them looking into each other’s eyes, they hugged. I had never seen Tox cry, but his eyes were misty as he grasped his sister tightly.

“I missed you, Katie,” He said in a broken whisper, “I’m so sorry I left you. I’m so sorry.”

Izzy had ran out to tell Chiron, and must have ran into Thalia, who we had all met trying to save Tox’s life before he died, because she ran into the infirmary in front of Chiron, who maintained a respectful distance at the infirmary door. When she saw him hugging his sister, she put one hand up to her mouth and started to cry with relief.

Gods of Olympus, I thought, This is the drama department.

But I smiled. I knew how happy they had felt to see him alive. Whether they would admit or not, Tox had been the glue that had held most of the campers together throughout the past couple weeks.

Thalia looked up at the heavens and said, “Thank you, Nico.”

Then, Tox replied, “Actually, you’d want to look straight down if you want to thank the son of Hades, Thalia. He didn’t drag me out of Olympus, you know.”

She laughed, and then looked puzzled. “How’d you know my name?”

“The kid told me,” Tox replied, “He told me everything. Thank you, by the way. As I saved your life, you have now saved mine.”

Then, turning back to the more important ladies in his life, he said, “Katie, Emily, thank you for believing in me. I couldn’t have come back without you.”

Katie and Emily, who were now standing at the foot of his bed, both smiled.

“But,” Tox said, changing subjects, “There’s a battle to be fought. How long was I out?”

“Two days,” Emily said, “And no, you’re not leaving that bed until you’re well enough to leave it.”

“And when would that be?” Tox asked indignantly.

“When I say you’re ready,” Katie replied, “Seeing as I’m the medic here.”

“Jeez,” Tox scoffed to himself, “I die, come back to life, and am forced to stay in a bed. How…boring.”

He got a twinkle in his eye at that. He then looked at Katie and Emily giving him stern looks at the foot of his bed, and added, quickly,

“I mean...how great! And, it’s not like I have bad company, do I?”

Both ladies smiled, satisfied. Then, Chiron asked from the infirmary steps,

“Tox, my boy, did Nico say he would be arriving soon?”

“Oh, right!” Tox exclaimed, “He told me ninety minutes, but that was from when I woke up.”

“Excellent,” Chiron said, “It would be good to stop the fighting as soon as possible.”

And so, everyone non-essential had left, including myself. Only Katie, Thalia, and Emily stayed with Tox. He would be pampered for the rest of the afternoon.

After about another hour, he had obviously convinced the girls to let him get outside, because I saw him rolling around in a wheelchair, being pushed by Thalia, with Emily and Katie walking next him, talking.

Then, after a couple more minutes, a huge flash of pure black light exploded onto the top of Half-Blood Hill. And, out of a massive shadow of pure darkness, stepped out Nico di Angelo, a tanned, thin girl, and a forty-foot statue of my mother.

Annabeth had done a pretty good job of describing it in a note she had sent me from the Argo II, but I still had trouble comprehending that the actual Athena Parthenos had arrived at Camp. Our problem-solver had finally arrived.

Campers from both sides rushed out to see what the commotion was about, and they gaped as much as I had. I ran to the statue and got there just as Octavian and a couple of his officers arrived. Octavian drew his sword to attack the drowsy Nico, but Reyna, the Roman praetor, stopped him with a cold glare.

“Stop moving, Octavian! From what I’ve heard, you’ve killed enough people lately. I can vouch for this Greek, and for the campers of Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth Chase has convinced me of that. But, again from what I’ve heard, she didn’t manage to convince you.”

Octavian looked down, suddenly very interested in his combat boots.

“Now,” Reyna said, turning towards me, “Are you Malcolm, son of…Athena?”

She hesitated at the word Athena, which made my face flush with anger. But I calmed myself, and said,

“Yes I am. What do you want?”

“To stop this infernal fight,” She responded with vigor, “Annabeth also told me about you, and how were someone I could trust. I place into your custody the Athena Parthenos, originally stolen by Romans, now returned by Romans. I hope this can serve as a peace offering between our camps.”

Looking up at the statue, Octavian started to whine, “Are you kidding me, Reyna? They destroyed our camp, and now you’re giving them the most powerful statue in Ancient history as a peace offering?”

Whipping towards Octavian, Reyna snapped, “Yes, Octavian! For too long, I have led this camp alone, trying to avoid total war. I leave for a week, leaving you in charge, and you start a war! So, to appease the temper of the Greek campers, I am offering them a chance at peace. Camp Jupiter can rebuild. But if we don’t make nice, the world will end. I hope you realize that as more important than your petty revenge.”

“Fine,” Octavian grumbled, “I guess peace could do us all well.”

“Good,” said Reyna, “Now that were allies, as I hope you’ll accept us, Malcolm, I would ask permission to celebrate our new friendship.”

“Granted,” I laughed, happy to be safe for the first time in weeks, “Please, it will be our pleasure.”

And then, a cheer went up between the two camps, and the Athena Parthenos stared on into space. I couldn’t help but think that it looked like it was smiling.

Notes

Ah, peace at last. There are only 3 more chapters left in this story, but as I have said, this isn't the end of my writing. My next story should start next week, after a couple days of mentally outlining a plot, developing characters, and finding a setting. Chapters 34-36 should be out soon. Enjoy!