percy jackson: broken & healed

Chapter 7 - Finding myself

Hello readers! So...here's a new chapter! :) Hope it will be a little surprising. And that you'll like it. Don't forget to vote and comment :)

>> Picture of the animal...for which I needed the name...well, read and you'll see which won. :D

PS: Sorry for possible grammatical mistakes and enjoy!

I slowly open my eyes but the world around me is still pitch black. Dark. The next thing I notice is a strong pain in my shoulder and leg. There's also fire on my cheek. I guess I cut myself somewhere. And my lower lip is swollen. I slide my tongue across it and wince a little. I can taste blood inside my mouth. My landings are worse than I though. Crap. My head hurts too. I would love to have a piece of ambrosia with me now. It's a pity that my regeneration doesn't involve also headaches.

I hear something weird. It's sucks that I can't see anything. I don't thing that I'm blind. My eyes would hurt. It's just too dark here. Am I in some cave? Maybe a little of my light would help. I shift a little but immediately stop when I hear something behind me again. It sounds like panting. Like someone else is here with me. I silently listen to that sound not daring to move or talk. I saw enough films to know that it usually isn't a good move to start yelling on unknown thing or person. I can hear footsteps now, slowly approaching. They don't sound human. At least not like someone in shoes. Could it be some native inhabitant? Wearing only animal skin around his torso and some bones pierced into his skin? I don't think so. I'm not that lucky. As if that thing wanted to confirm my own thoughts I suddenly hear a low growl and running in my way. My eyes widen and I try to stand but before I can do anything - sharp teeth bite my wounded leg. I howl in pain. It shoots through me like an electric shock.

My instincts tell me to fight. And I do. I try to kick the beast that's chewing my leg like a really yummy meal. And I success. My right foot crashes with something slippery and quite disgusting but I still manage to get a good blow. That thing releases squeaky sound - or something like that. And I force myself to stand really fast. Normally I would immediately dig for Riptide but it would be just a loss of precious time I gained because I can't see a thing. Instead I use the water around me to see. I use those small drops and vapor and thicken them around me to get the sight without the need of light. But I don't look behind me. I just run - not caring about the sore pain in my calf. The water around me is helping me see around. Without it I would probably slip or stumble over something. Or bump into tree. From what I could 'see' I was in forest. Well, it looked more like rainforest. I don't want to guess what creatures and animals could be here. Surely nothing friendly.

I can't tell how long I run. I can't tell how long the creature followed me. And I don't even know how it looked like. But I almost scream in relieve when I see a flash of light somewhere before me. Faint but that doesn't matter to me in that moment. I force my legs to go faster. I don't care about small branches in my way even if they leave cuts on my skin. They'll heal in no time. So the calf. It'll just take longer. That's why I didn't care about ichor dripping down from it. Nor about the pain. I experienced worse than this for survival.

Meanwhile the light starts to intensify. The more I get closer the better I can see. It's stronger and stronger. In slight shade of purple. Maybe a little red too. Or a little blue? Doesn't matter. It's the only safe spot for me now. I hope.

Luckily it doesn't take me long to get there. I immediately stop running and let out a painful groan. Then I hobble forward, trying to get closer to the source of the light. It takes me a while until my eyes adjust to the bright light coming from some object in front of me. It's a complete opposite of the darkness behind me. This planet is weird. A mystery to me. And when my vision finally clears up I just find myself more confused and shocked. In front of me looms a huge pile of pure crystals sticking in many directions. But the light isn't coming from them in general. Atop is standing a fat crystal in colorful shades. Mostly purple but I can see also red, blue and pink and other colors. It looks really beautiful. It reminds of Piper's eyes a little but the decomposition of colors in them is different. Hers are more blue than purple. And there's some green in them too.