The Ambassador of Athena

I could say I was smiling at her when she looked around, or broke out in tears of joy, but all I did was fall over with the rocking chair. Jessy burst out laughing and Rachel giggled, and even Johanna laughed weakly. When I finally untangled from the blanket and the chair Will was already helping Johanna to sit up and examining her. “She looks good, no signs of brain damage or other damages from the coma. You better stay here for the night and tomorrow you can go back to normal camp life.” He smiled at her, patted me on the shoulder and then made way for Jessy and Rachel. Jessy was leaning on Rachel for support, but he walked over to her bed without any problems. “Hey, it’s good to see you among the living again, Johanna.” Rachel hugged her, which startled her, but still, she returned the hug. “Thank you Rachel. It is weird, the one moment I was falling, and it’s getting hotter and hotter and then…” Her voice faded and she looked on her hands. “No offence, but you died, and this guy here “ - Jessy boxed me on the shoulder - “this guy here walked all the way to Hades, shot the lord of the dead and revived your soul by playing torero with a bull with golden horns. He has a nice scar with gold fragments in it to prove he won. And now… he’s been waiting a week for you to wake up.” Johanna looked from Jessy to Rachel and to me, and after a second she said: “Sorry, I lost you after the walk to Hades.” So Rachel, Jessy and I told her the whole story which took us a while. “… And so we brought you back here, and after a week you finally woke up.” I guess this was too much to take, since Johanna just fell back in her cushions and closed her eyes. Will laid a hand on my shoulder. “It’s better we give her some time, I guess that’s enough for one to process for a day.” I nodded and stood up. But before I could leave Will looked at me and said after a moment: “Flo? Can I talk to you for a second?” “Sure, why not?” I followed him to his office at the end of the hallway, where he sat behind his desk. It was crammed with folders, sheets of paper, a half-eaten Sandwich and a frame with a picture of younger Will and a younger Nico di Angelo arm in arm, smiling in the Camera. “Look, Flo, I have to tell you something, something I just learned this night. I got a visit, a visit from Asclepius.” I signed him to continue, but Will hesitated. After a second he continued. “He talked to me about Johanna” Again his voice faded. I sighed. “Look, Will, I kind of guessed that the god of Healing would not just stop by to chat about the best cough medicine. Whatever he told you about Johanna’s condition, spit it out.” The son of Apollo looked at me with a painful look on his face and took a deep breath. “Johanna is the first Human who has ever come back from Hades. There were some before her, but these were all not really dead, they were just there to ‘visit’, or the circumstances of their death was different” I nodded. “I already know that. But what has that to do with her?” “According to Asclepios her soul is fully intact, but her body… look, her real body was fried in the volcano, and when you brought back her soul it just… became solid. Her skin, her hair, everything inside her, all this is made out of her memory of it.” I was genuinely confused. “But we can touch her, she has a pulse, and she looks… solid.” Will nodded. “She is. The mist is making her body solid. But the mist is not almighty, at one point sooner or later he will weaken, and then…” He looked at me sadly, and I started to understand what he wanted to tell me. “How long? How long until…” “Maybe a year, but at least 8 Months.” “And how… how will it happen?” “She will fade away, her body will just dissolve. At least that’s what Asclepios told me.” I took a deep breath, fighting the feeling to throw up. “So you are telling me that she will die again, just a week after I went literally through hell to save her?” Will looked close to tears. “I am sorry, Flo, so sorry.” I didn’t knew what to say, what to think or what to do. I just stood up, thanked Will for informing me and left his office. At the hallway I almost bumped into Nico, but he got out of my way as soon as he saw my expression. I stormed past Annabeth and Percy who just entered the infirmary, ignoring their questions. Outside the infirmary I started to run, and I ran on until there was nowhere to run anymore, until I reached the cliffs at the ocean, where I sat down, looking at the ocean, feeling hollow.

Notes

I am really sorry about this Chapter, and that it comes so late, but I felt that the story hasn't finished yet.
I hope you still like it ^^
- Flysch