Resurrected

It took me about ten seconds to get my act together. After watching Ethan being carried away by the four Apollo kids who had come to help me, I felt an electric buzz near the base of my skull. Momentarily, the sunlight peeking through the trees took on a light reddish hue, and it gave my eyes clarity. I shook myself out the daze I had fallen into, and leaped up, sprinting to catch up with Ethan’s stretcher.

When I finally did meet up with them, they were at the infirmary door. One of the Apollo kids was calling to some one inside to help him carry Ethan to a bed, but I did that for him. I reached down under his frail and feverish body and picked Ethan up. It surprised me to find that he was surprisingly light, too light for a guy his age. I gingerly laid him on the bed he had just spent multiple days in, and the Apollo kids went to work.

They gave him some ambrosia and nectar, and after getting him stabilized and breathing through a pure oxygen tank for a couple minutes, his eyes, or eye, opened. He looked scared, weak and alone, and it made me feel like crying to see that look in his eyes. I walked forward and ran my fingers through his hair again. It still felt really awkward to comfort him like that, but he needed it. He was weak, and he probably did feel like he was alone in this world. But he had me, and I was going to show him that his brother was still with him.

His eyes drifted towards me, and I could see a longing in them, a longing I hadn’t ever seen before. It was if his eyes believed our bond had grown closer somehow, which kind of scared me. I mean, I loved the guy, he was like my brother, but I never felt anything towards him in that way. I always just felt like he was a guiding presence for me, someone who cared for me when everyone else had cast me aside.

His eyes drifted away from mine and he rasped, to no one in particular, “Water…need water.”
I reached for a canteen and helped him sit up, slowly dribbling water into his mouth. His hands on the cold metal canteen created a tiny wisp of steam to rise from the bottle, and when I felt his forehead, he was beyond feverish.

“No more ambrosia or nectar,” I cautioned, “He’s already burning up. If we feed him any more, he’ll start turning to ashes.”

Will Solace, the head medic, nodded grimly, and then cursed quite loudly to himself,

“It’s a damn good plan, man, it’s a damn good plan!”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Well,” He explained, trying to calm his anger, “from a medic’s point of view, Kronos’ strategy with Ethan’s sickness, from what you and Ethan have told me, is working. He’s forcing Ethan’s body to overheat, which is bad. Normally, to fix any bad things in a demigod’s body, we feed them ambrosia and nectar, which causes their body temperature to rise a little, but it always cools down after a while. But, we can’t do that because Ethan is already way too overheated to feed him ambrosia. It’s a paradox, and, like I said, a damn good plan for killing someone. And then, to add insult to injury, Kronos is making Ethan cough up blood like a nauseous vampire with the flu.”

We all were silent after that. After about three more minutes, I heard a horse’s hooves clopping on the stone entrance plate to the infirmary, and I looked up to see Chiron, with Percy, wearing his sword and a grim expression, and Annabeth, looking concerned and prepared for the worst, on his back. Annabeth dismounted immediately and started talking quietly with Will, who was standing at a respective distance from Ethan and I. Percy slipped off of the centaur’s back like he was preparing to do a really disgusting chore, like pulling out a blockage in a sewer pipe, or cleaning out a port-a-potty. He walked over towards us with a look that was a mixture of anger, contempt, horror and curiosity.

“What’s wrong with him this time?” He asked with irritation.

“Hey!” I retaliated, wondering why Percy was still so angry, “he’s been coughing blood for the last week, cut him some slack!”

“Cut him some slack? You want me to cut him some slack?” Our eyes locked and I saw Percy looked angry, so angry that his eyes turned wild and bloodshot. Then, he saw something, and realization started to creep into his sea-green eyes as he said,

“Ohhh. He probably didn’t tell you the full story, did he? What he did in his first life?” His voice was now filled with an intense bitterness, a thin veil over his intense hatred.

“What do you mean, the full story?” I asked, confused.

“Ask him when he wakes up. Oh wait, if he wakes up.” Percy responded sharply.

“Percy!” Annabeth scolded, having ended her conversation with Will Solace, “Be nice.”

Percy sighed, “All I know is, I am not forgiving that freak unless he does something that makes me think he deserves it. So far, I still don’t think he deserves a second chance at life, let alone superpowers.”

As if reacting to Percy’s words, Ethan’s muscles tensed, as if he were cramping up. Will rushed to check on him, but Percy didn’t seem to notice.

I wanted to snap at him back that we had curses, not superpowers, but I held back. It was obvious Percy had some unresolved business with Ethan, and Ethan beating him up hadn’t helped. Percy and Annabeth started arguing quietly, with Percy looking exasperated and frustrated. Annabeth maintained a level head, and it looked like Annabeth was outsmarting Percy. Then, I remembered that Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, and I realized that that didn’t surprise me.

“It doesn’t even matter,” Percy continued, “I won’t even be here to see him wake up if he wakes up. We’ll be gone for who knows how long.”

“What?” Annabeth asked in furious bewilderment.

“Yeah,” Percy said, “we’re going on a…quest? You didn’t know? Oh…Styx.”

Thunder rumbled softly above and then dissipated. Annabeth looked like she wanted to crack Percy over the head, but she took a deep breath and controlled herself.

“Who gave you permission to go on a quest?” Annabeth asked incredulously.

Percy gave Annabeth a look that said, I need permission to go on a quest? I defeated Gaea!

Annabeth looked like she agreed with Percy and asked a better question,

“Who, when, how, why, where.”

“Well,” Percy started, “Beckendorf, Leo and I. We planned on leaving as soon as possible on the Argo II. Beckendorf felt really bad about blinding Leo, and he thinks that he can fix it. Annabeth,” He said cautiously, looking into her eyes as if bracing for an outbreak of insults, “we need to go to Ogygia.”

Annabeth was silent, which was maybe worse for Percy, who was standing in front of her like he was trying to shield himself from being pelted with looks from her storm grey eyes. She took another deep breath, and then, in a forcibly controlled manner, asked,

“Why does it have to be Ogygia, Percy? I mean, of course it has to be there.”

“Well,” a voice behind Will Solace said, “after we saw Clarisse here heal Tommy after he went blind, and then Beckendorf blinded me, we started to think of who the right person to heal me would be. Obviously it’s Calypso. It has to be Calypso.”

Leo stepped out from behind the Apollo head counselor and waved ‘Hi’ to the paintings on the wall, still unable to see. He must have thought we were standing where the paintings were.

“Over here,” Percy called. Leo oriented himself towards the sound of Percy’s voice, and when he turned, he revealed a white walking stick, which Leo was waving back and forth in front of him. With the level of machine grime and tool grease on him, mixed with the bright white walking stick, Leo looked like a shadow clutching a bolt of sunshine.

Understanding dawned in Annabeth’s eyes as she looked at Leo and pondered his response, and she seemed to relax, but then the tension came back into her eyes as she asked in bewilderment,

“Wait, Percy, I know you have perfect bearings at sea and all, but how do you plan on getting to an island that isn’t technically anywhere?”

Under his breath, Leo whispered, “No man finds Ogygia twice,” and then in an audible voice explained, “Well, we have this wicked awesome crystal that Calypso gave me when I landed on her island after Khione attacked the ship. I think, with the astrolabe that Odysseus made while coming back from Ogygia, that we can find the island again.”

Annabeth whistled. It was an ambitious plan. But, she seemed to see the logic in it. She grinned sarcastically, and asked,

“So Leo, all that work to get your vision back, eh? Is that it?”

“Not funny, Chase. I happen to take my eyes very seriously. It’s a big thing to be missing for as long as I have. I feel like I have a blindfold on for a messed up game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Except the people won’t let me take off the freaking blindfold until I find the tail of the donkey. Only problem is, they’re hiding the donkey on purpose.”

Annabeth began to laugh, and Percy joined in. Leo gave both of them a toothy grin.

“So, if that wraps everything up,” Leo told everyone, “I think Percy and I have some preparations to make. We’re going to Ogygia!”

And with that, Percy, Leo, and Annabeth left, Percy talking to Annabeth while helping Leo walk in a straight line. Just before they disappeared out of view, Percy pulled Leo sharply to the left in order to avoid a two-foot-thick birch tree. That left Will Solace, Ethan and I in the infirmary. But not for long. After about another ten minutes, footsteps clumped on the stone infirmary stoop, like combat boots. And, to my surprise, the tall figure of Clarisse la Rue walked in, with a sad yet tough look on her face. She looked into my eyes, and I felt awkward being alone with her, because I still felt angry.

“Sup, kid,” She grunted in greeting, sitting down in a chair across from Ethan’s bed.

“Nothing…much, uh, what do you want?” I didn’t mean to sound insensitive or bitter, but then again, with this girl in particular, I kind of did.

“Well, with Ethan getting sick and you getting hurt, I just felt that I owed you two a lot of apologies—”

Clarisse was interrupted by Ethan spluttering for air and coughing blood-colored mucus all over himself. It really was disgusting, but I helped him into an upright position to help him breathe. Chiron had said that he hadn’t been able to do much, and you could tell. Ethan looked worse than Tartarus itself. Will took over with helping Ethan, and despite my wanting to be there for him, I stepped out of the infirmary with Clarisse.

We had a lot to discuss, ad so we did. She told me her story of the Battle of Manhattan, and I told her mine. We discussed everything that had happened in the last few years, and how I had been drafted into Kronos’ army. It was almost dinnertime by the time we had finished talking. For the first time in weeks, I had felt at peace. I felt angry, definitely, but now I was angry at Kronos. Angry at him for stealing my life away, for deluding me, for promising me my family back, for promising me victory when he knew I would die. I knew how to redeem myself, how to beat him. I just needed an opportunity.

Notes

OMFG I'M BACK!!!!! It's been WAAAAY too long you guys! My exams went really well, so I'm not even worried at all, meaning I can focus on this story and the others I'm starting soon or plan to start soon! Please ENJOY, and if you're new to this fanfic and like it, please subscribe, because it helps me get more people to read something that I put my heart and soul into. Again, thank you for putting up with something like a week-long break in this story, and I hope you haven't forgotten anything, because this chapter picks up RIGHT where the story left off! (Meaning you might want to read the last few chapters before-hand) Happy SUMMER everyone! (Or at least to the ones who are already out of school)

Also, for the first time in my life, I'm early on doing something. So, you remember how I told you guys I would have three new chapters? Well, I have this chapter to post now, and I will post the next two chapters of this story tomorrow, along with starting an entirely new story with its first chapter. So, be on the look out for a fanfic called 'Renegade' tomorrow at around noon!