Chris Miller And The Longest Night

Okay, first of all, let’s get something straight. At that point in time, I’d fought a lot of monsters. Most of them, I just put to sleep for a little bit, or even just slowed them down, and then killing them was child’s play. But never more than two at once. Putting one creature to sleep is easy enough, all it does is make you kind of drowsy, but more starts getting harder and harder, and by the time you get to seven, you’re pretty much destined to be knocked out.

Did I know that? No.

So of course, like an idiot, I tried to knock out seven monsters- Weird, gross, wolf-like things with wings and huge fangs- and the only thing I ended up knocking out was myself. I did manage a scream before fading completely, though. Maybe someone would hear.



And then I was sitting on the bank of a river full of bits of debris. I snagged a picture that caught my eye. Two little girls, one maybe seven, the other around four, wearing dresses and holding little baskets full of flower petals. Flower girls at a wedding, maybe? I looked a little closer and then recognized the picture. It used to hang on the wall at my house, until Gabriella… No. I didn’t want to think about it, if I was dreaming- I really wasn’t sure, I might’ve been dead- if I was dreaming, it might drag me into a nightmare, and this one… This seemed pretty neutral, so I didn’t want to mess it up.

A boy in black was walking along the other side of the river, and, without thinking about it, I stood up, waving. He waved back. Is it a normal dream? Gods, I haven’t had one of those since… Years ago.

“Hey, you! Where is this?” I wished I hadn’t shouted, but there was no going back.

“You’re in the Underworld! How did you get down here if you don’t know where it is?” He dissolved into shadows, appearing next to me a second later. “You must’ve talked to Charon.”

The Underworld? No way. That was a myth. Then again, so were monsters. “Uh… Actually, I’m pretty sure this is a dream. I mean, I could be dead, but… I really don’t know.”

“Hm… You don’t seem that dead, I guess. Nearing it, maybe?” He put a hand on my shoulder for a second, but pulled it away almost immediately. “No, definitely alive. Which camp? Or have you made it yet?”

“Camp? Uh, I was near a place called Camp Half-Blood, but I didn’t go in. I’m not about to hand myself over to an asylum.”

“And what happened?”

“I was attacked by a bunch of monsters. Y’know, just normal stuff.” I hoped my voice had a bit of a bite in it, this guy didn’t seem like someone I wanted to be around for too long. At least, not with him second-guessing me like this. “I tried to put them to sleep, but I guess it didn’t work. I think I’m supposed to be recharging or something, but I might actually be dead in a minute, so get ready for me to disappear or whatever.”

“Yeah, okay, I gotta go. I’ll just make sure Will and the others have found you, so just maybe you won’t die. Doesn’t that sound nice?” His voice has the same bite in it. He’s really bad at maintaining the mask, though, or it seems like it. “Well, bye. I might be seeing you either way, live or die. So seeya.”

...And he was gone, melted into the shadows again. I was alone, standing on the bank of a river and just thinking for so long that I lost track. I stood up after a while, finally deciding to look for help, when I woke up in what seemed like a hospital bed.

There were two boys on the other side of the room having a conversation. One is a taller guy, kind of scrawny, with blond hair and kind of tan skin. He looks kind of relaxed, but it’s a bit strange on him. He seems so used to stress. The other boy- And it took me a moment to realize this, the lighting was so different- The other boy was the kid from the dream, only so much younger looking. It reminded me of something a girl from school used to say- Precious cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. When they saw that I was awake, though, the tall guy immediately switched to a more serious expression, and the other boy started glaring at me.

“So, you’re awake. Don’t try to get up, you haven’t fully healed yet. What’s your name?”

“Why would I tell you?” I had hoped I would sound kind of tough or something, but my voice was raspy and weak, and I ended up just sounding dumb. I kept going, though. “I don’t even know who you guys are.”

“Well, right now, we’re the reason you’re alive, so-” The boy from the dream joins in, but he’s cut off by the other boy. Maybe his boyfriend, from the way they’re standing so close together?

“This is Nico,” he puts his hand on Nico’s shoulder, giving him a look that says shut up before I punch you, “And I’m Will. He’s just some random death boy that likes following me around and being mean to patients, I’m the actual doctor. He did find you in the woods though. What even happened there?”

“Well, I was trying to put the… things that attacked me to sleep, but I guess it’s harder to knock more than two out at a time.” I avoided the question of my name, it’s not like I liked being named something stupid and religious. “Hey, what were those things, anyways?”

“We don’t know, they were gone by the time he found you.” Death boy seemed content to shut up and subtly lean against his boyfriend. “But you got some nasty wounds. Seems like they didn’t like the taste all that much. Again: What’s your name? Oh, and your age, while you’re at it.”

I sighed. “I’m twelve, almost thirteen, and my name’s Christiana. Don’t think it says anything about me, though. I don’t give a flyin’ fuck about any sort of ‘god’ or whatever.”

“Hey! Little ears!” Will frowns at me and covers Nico’s ears with his hands.

Nico swats his hands away, scowling. “Will! I’m not little! I’m literally older than her, and I’ve seen way more shit than you!”

‘Her.’ I don’t like it. Before I can focus on that thought, though, a bright white light starts flashing about my head, and we all look directly at the source. A glowing branch hovers in the air above me.

“Hypnos? For Zeus’ sake…”

Notes

Posted around 11:25 on October 31, 2015.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!! (It's time to get SPOOPY!)

So, what're you guys dressing up as, if you celebrate it? I'm going as Terezi Pyrope, from Homestuck. Only, y'know, minus the gray skin. Too much of a hassle, plus, it's raining in my area. The lipstick is also kind of hard to deal with, but it's pretty cool looking.

I actually do have a picture of it, but it's not a very good one. When I have a better one, I'll show you. Well, gotta go. See you guys whenever I write another chapter, which could be any time from an hour from now to next year.