Ethan's POV

Why? Why do I even do this to myself? Walking back towards the Infirmary with Lou Ellen from Hecate, I kept asking myself those questions. Why do I do this to myself? But, nevertheless, I had accepted the plan. No going back now.

“It’ll be fine,” Lou Ellen said, trying for a smile.

“No offense,” I said, “but you’re not attempting to fight Kronos in your dreams.”

We were both silent after that. But that was good for me, because I didn’t want to talk, anyways. I was too focused on not puking from the nervousness. When we got to the Infirmary, Mike the medic helped me lie down comfortably on the bed. Meanwhile, Clovis from Hypnos explained what was going to happen.

“We’re going to induce a coma for you, Ethan,” he said gently.

“But with my help,” Lou Ellen put in.

“You’ll still be conscious in both worlds, both your dream-room, as you’ve described, and the real world,” Clovis finished. The guy looked like he had just woken up, which was probably true.

“I’m not even going to ask how that works,” I grumbled.

“Good!” Lou Ellen said with a smile.

Then, the people whom I least expected to walk in did. Tommy and Alex, looking like they had both just shed tears together. Tommy tried for a smile, and I tried to apologize with my eyes. But it’s not that easy when you’re freaking out.

“Look,” Tommy said like nothing had happened between us, “Ethan, in order for the magic to work, you have to describe everything you see until you get settled in your dream. Then, you can focus on fighting him. But don’t do that now, okay? This is just a practice run. Tell us to wake you up if Kronos is beating you too badly.”

“Thanks,” I told him, and I hoped he understood that that word carried two meanings. He nodded, and looked at Alex.

“Don’t thank me,” he said, “Alex here got me to stop bawling my eyes out. Looks like we still care about you, even when you’re being a prick.”

“Hey!” I said, and they both laughed. But Clovis looked at me like he knew I was just stalling. So, I took a deep breath, said a quick prayer to Nemesis, Hypnos and Hecate, and said,

“I’m ready.”

---

The coma they induced was nothing like I’d ever experienced before. Imagine having a dream with your eyes closed, but one eye is still open in the dark of your room. It was hard to see, to even breathe, at first, but eventually I got used to it.

“Ethan,” Tommy’s voice asked, seemingly from a mile away, “Can you hear me?”

Tommy’s voice snapped me into the interrogation room, and I instantly felt a lot stronger. All I had to do was listen to his voice, sweet and clear. I leaned on his voice like a cane.

“Yes,” I said, but it was weird, because my mouth moved in the dream room, but not in the real world. So I had no idea how Ethan would hear me.

“That’s good,” HE said gently, guiding me through everything, “Kinda weird, huh?”

“You’re telling me,” I said, looking around, “Alright, Tommy, Kronos isn’t here, can I wake up now?”

“Sure,” I heard Clovis say, but Tommy snapped at Clovis,

“No! We need to make sure he can fight in the room! Ethan, you got describe everything you see, okay? This is our only shot.”

I could tell he was talking to everyone else in the real world and me at the same time, and it was hard not to listen in on what he was saying. But, I followed his orders.

“Broken overhead light, flickering. Rusted table, and broken mirror. There’s a ladder in the corner, too. If I walk under it, with all the unlucky stuff in this room, I’ll be unlucky for the next millennium, eh?”

“Yeah,” Tommy chuckled, “Now, can you move?”

“I’ll try,” I said, attempting to get up.

At first, it was like wading through shoulder-high water, but it felt like the water was quickly getting shallower. I was getting used to this weird existence.

“Walking to the back wall now,” I reported, and Tommy said,

“Good. Can you raise a sword hand?”

“Yeah,” I responded, flexing my arms experimentally. Then, everything seemed to go wrong. From the door marked ‘Death,’ four empousai spilled in, blood ringing their lips.

“Oh, Styx,” I cursed, and Tommy said,

“What? What’s going on?”

“Empousai are in the interrogation room,” I said, panicked, “and I don’t have a sword. Put a sword in my hand!”

I had no idea if putting my sword in my hand in the real world would give me the sword in here, but I had to try. I heard shuffling up above, and then I felt the cold, familiar handle of my sword in my hand. Then, I was holding my old sword.

“It worked!” I said astonished. The empousai backed away at my weapon’s sudden arrival, and I said,

“You guys aren’t the brightest, are you?”

“Silence, son of Nemesis!” The leader hissed, “You have betrayed our master!”

“You obey Hecate!” I pointed out, “unless you’re a few of Luke’s army.”

“We served Kronos!” another yelled, “He will prevail!”

“Shut up!” I said. Then, I went to work.

With the Black Spot on my chest, I could get angry pretty quick. I raised my sword and charged, embracing the curse that Kronos had given me. I summoned my power, the Rage of the Styx, and pushed out with my left hand. One of the empousai flew back into the mirror, further cracking it, but not shattering it.

Interrogation mirrors must be pretty tough, I thought absently.

Then, the remaining three charged. I slashed through the first one, crumbling her to dust. The next one tried to dive at my legs, and I leapt over her. I then pushed my left hand down, and flattened her into a monster-dust pancake.

“My sister!” The remaining empousai wailed.

She screamed and sprinted at me. I barely had enough time to put up my sword. But that was the problem with the speed that the empousai had. The she-demon was running so hard that she couldn’t dodge my sword. She literally impaled herself, crumbling into yellow dust.

“Phew!” I said, laughing, “All done, four empousai dead—”

Then, I felt a massive surge of pain in my sword arm. The empousai that I had thrown into the mirror had snuck up on me and had bit me in the forearm.

“You go back where you belong!” She screamed evilly, throwing me towards the ‘Death’ door. I tried to pry my hand free, but the pain was too much. So, I pushed with my left hand, and she flew off of me, exploding into monster-dust. But I was already in flight. I wasn’t going to stop before I flew through the door, all the way down to Tartarus, or worse.

“WAKE ME UP!” I screamed. Then, the weirdest thing I have ever experienced happened.

It felt like I was being thrown into an Arctic lake, broiled alive, ripped to shreds, shot, stabbed, and sick with a stomachache at the same time. I opened my eyes and gasped, my lungs begging me for air.

“Whoa!” Tommy said, hugging me, “you’re good, dude! You’re good!”

For no reason, or at least, it felt like no reason, I started crying while he held me. Horrible, awful tears that I as both confused about and ashamed to have let out came crashing out of me.

“Whoa, whoa,” Tommy said again, his voice changing to concerned gentleness, “What’s up, man? You’re fine, right? Everything’s okay.”

“Why did you leave me in there?” I cried, letting out all my fear about accepting his plan.

“We had to make sure you had the courage,” Tommy said, and I pulled away from him, looking into his eyes. His beautiful eyes.

“The courage?” I tried to scream, but couldn’t, “I was fine! I killed all four of those…things!”

My chest felt like it was filling with liquid helium: cold, but making my brain light-headed. I felt a grab bag mix of emotions as I stared at his concerned face. I realized in shame that I in fact was attracted to him. I realized that I loved Alex, but I loved Tommy, too. Tommy and I had been through too much. Now, we were just trying to save each other. I realized all that in a millisecond.

“Yeah you did, buddy!” Tommy said, clapping me on the shoulder and smiling. I felt sick.

Then, Alex walked over to me.

“Ethan, are you okay?” She asked, seeming to read my mind word-for-word.

I wanted to shout, NO! Of course I’m not! My brain is all mushed and my heart is all confused and I just spent twenty minutes in a state between dreams and reality! How could I be okay? How can I be okay when I don't know who I love?

“I—I—” I couldn’t say anything. I wanted to apologize for being a jerk to her earlier, but I was speechless in front of her, especially in front of Tommy. She knew what I had been thinking. She must have known. She must have. So, she wrapped her arms around me, and held me tight.

“It’ll be okay,” She murmured.

I took a deep breath, and after she released me, I relaxed, settling into the Infirmary bed I was in. I fell asleep, and all I could see was Tommy’s eyes, beautiful blue. I remembered the day when we had had a picnic, and the way his eyes had looked then. I realized that I felt the same way about them now. They were the most beautiful things in the world.

Notes

So, remember 'We Have a Picnic'? Remember how you thought I introduced Alex to give Ethan a GF and clear up that he was straight? Well, there's a curveball for you. It could go either way, I still haven't decided. Which means you people better be cool with either choice.

Enjoy,
Grafon