Sparks in the Flame

Grace:
“Hey Grace, are you sure you know where we’re going?” Asked Nathan nervously. They had been trekking through the woods for a few hours now, and the sun was beginning to peek over the treetops, scattering pink beams of light across the forest floor. Grace had a compass in one hand and a map in the other and, in fact, did not know where she was going. The only thing that she did know was that her feet hurt, and Nathan was getting on her nerves.
“Mm, I think this is the right way. We just need to find the nearest bus station, which should be this way.” She said, pointing further ahead of them into the woods.
Nathan rolled his eyes. “Okay great, so you think we should just keep going through the woods? I swear I’ve seen this rock like ten times, let’s just turn back and ask someone for help.”
Grace stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “Nathan, this is your quest too, we can’t just give up on it this early, we’re supposed to be like, heroes or something.”
“Grace, you don’t even know if this is our quest or not! For all you know, this could be Percy’s again!” Nathan scoffed. Grace was starting to get angry. She brought Nathan out here to help her, not to argue with her. This was her quest, she was sure of it. Percy wasn’t going to get another spotlight when this one was meant for her.
“Fine Nathan, go back then, and see how you feel when Reed and I rescue the Hunters on our own and you’re stuck at camp cleaning out the Pegasus stables!” Grace turned on her heel, grabbed Reed by the hand, and continued in the direction they’d been going in.
“I really wasn’t trying to get into that, but shouldn’t we go back for Nathan? If he’s meant to come with us, we’ll need his help. Plus, it’s dangerous out here for demigods – we’re outside the borders of camp. Unless you just want to be alone with me.” Reed said, grinning. Grace rolled her eyes, opening the map and finding their path again.
“Let’s just go, Reed. He clearly doesn’t want to come. We’re going the right way, I know it.” Grace had been walking for a few minutes when she realized she couldn’t hear Reed’s footsteps behind her. Upon turning around, she couldn’t find him.
“Reed? Where’d you go?” She called out, but there was no answer. “Okay, Reed. Very funny, ha-ha.” Still nothing except for the leaves rustling in the breeze. Grace put the map away and drew her sword. Something wasn’t right.
Suddenly, everything went black. It was like somebody flipped off a light switch. Grace swung her sword blindly around her, trying to get her bearings.
“Hello?” She called. It seemed to echo off the black, barren landscape around her. “Is anybody there?” In response, she felt something slip around her neck. “Hey! Who did that? What is this thing?” She yelled, pulling at the small glass necklace that had been placed over her head, but it held fast to her collarbone.
Grace swung her sword around and held the tip to her neck, trying to slice the rope, which just seemed to deflect the blade. Suddenly, it began to tighten. She began to panic, tugging at it more frantically, trying to break it off, but the more she pulled, the tighter it got. When it had tightened snugly around her neck, the glass bead exploded. However, instead of falling to the ground, the pieces floated in the darkness in front of her, emitting a faint red glow.
Grace reached out to touch a piece hovering in front of her nose, and when she did, it burned her finger, making her jump and drop her sword. “Ow! What the hell?” She cursed, sucking on her finger. Almost as if responding, the glass pieces began to hum, and attached themselves to different parts of her body, burning her skin. The humming became louder and louder, and so did Grace’s screams as the glass suddenly began to expand, covering her in a layer of scalding glass. Her arms were pinned to her side and she couldn’t get to her sword to break the glass.
Just when she thought she was going to pass out, the glass shattered and she fell to the ground. The darkness was swept away and when her eyes adjusted, Grace could see Nathan standing above her, sword drawn, sides heaving.
“Grace, are you okay?” He asked, helping her to her feet. She blinked. The forest was back to normal, and all evidence of her glass case of doom was gone. The only way you’d know that something happened was from the angry red burns covering her body.
She turned around and Reed was behind her, looking disheveled and concerned. “You’re burnt, Grace! We need to get you to the infirmary asap.”
“I’ll be okay, but where’d you go? You disappeared.” She asked him. He rubbed his neck, and she could see a mark encircling it. She gasped. “Did the same thing happen to you?”
“Yeah. It was like someone turned the lights off, and then I was wearing this crazy yellow glass necklace that wouldn’t come off. And then it spread all over my body and I couldn’t move.” He said.
He seemed generally unharmed, while Grace looked like she had been to the beach without sunscreen every day for a month. “Why aren’t you burnt?” She asked.
Reed shrugged. “I’m not sure. It was warm, but certainly not hot by any means. Although it was almost like the glass was shrieking, it was so loud I thought I was going to go deaf.” He said, pointing to his ears, which were lightly bleeding.
Nathan scanned the woods around them, sword drawn. “Well, whoever did that to you two is gone now. Let’s get you to the infirmary.” He said, grabbing Grace’s arm and pulling her in the direction of the camp.
She wriggled free of his grasp. “No, I’m okay. I’m just going to go wash my face and then we can keep going. This quest is more important than just me.” She turned and walked down the bank to the small stream running parallel to them. She knelt down and began to splash her face and arms with the ice-cold water.
As she scrubbed the dirt from her face, Grace noticed that her burns didn’t sting anymore like they first did when she touched the water. She looked down at her arms, and there were no burns to be seen. What? She put her hands back in, and the water began to climb up her arms and soak under her clothes. She jerked back.
“Wait, it couldn’t be.” Grace said aloud. She cautiously lifted her t-shirt and looked at her stomach. The burns were healed there as well. She shot up and ran back to Reed and Nathan, who were studying the map where she’d left them. “You guys! Guess what just happened?”
“What happened? Are you okay?” Nathan asked, drawing his sword. She grabbed his shoulders, her chest heaving.
“The water healed me.” She said, showing them her newly clear skin.
Reed took ahold of her hand and squinted at it. “I bet that’s because of who your father is. I’ve heard Percy has the same ability.”
“Oh. That makes a lot more sense than a magical stream I guess.” She said sheepishly. Reed and Nathan grinned at each other. “Hey!” She protested. “It could happen in this weird-ass world we’ve been thrown into!”
Nathan’s shoulders were shaking with the effort not to laugh, and Grace punched him in the shoulder. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. So, the water healed you completely?” He asked her.
She lifted her shirt up and twisted her head around, trying to see everything. “Uh, I think so. Can someone check my back though? It’s still itchy.”
Nathan nodded and walked behind her. She heard him suck in his breath. “What? Nathan what is it?” She asked. Reed joined Nathan and she heard him gasp as well. “You guys! What’s wrong?” She cried, trying to turn her neck and look.
Reed appeared in front of her, his usually mischievous eyes filled with concern. “There’s still a burn on your back.” He said.
“Oh. That’s okay, I’ll just go back down to the stream and heal it.” She said, putting her shirt back down.
Reed grabbed her arm, making her face him. “It’s not just a burn, Grace. It’s a map.”

Notes

Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait, I just got a working laptop again, but I hope you like this new chapter :)

xoxo, galeckey1234