•Stella Maris•
There was something settling about the screams and growls of tortured creatures that rang through the fiery cavern, maybe the fact that I would join them forever soon enough, figuring that I probably wouldn't live too long on my own and I doubted my soul would ever leave Tarturas. Maybe I would die here and wild harpies would scavenge my human carcass, and my spirit would drift on forever in eternal torture.
I'm thinking bad things again. The hot, moist air of hell was making my head spin and I was completely disoriented. My goal was to find Percy and Annabeth, but I had no sense of direction and no idea where they were in this endless cavern. I was exhausted, scared, and incredibly homesick. I even missed the cold, ominous presence of Nico Di Angelo as we had traveled through the underworld.
I had nowhere to go, no help on the way, no one to help me, I was helpless.
•Connor Stoll•
The lush, green fields of Camp Half-Blood were now dead and gray. Fires burned everywhere and wounded half bloods lay in the crowded big house, some still lay in the grass unable to move. Ambrosia and Nectar were scarce, though we needed enough to make Zeus burn up.
Will Solace from Apollo and Michael from Athena sat in the deserted dining pavilion, discussing battle plans and tactics with the few strong cabin leaders they were able to scrounge up from the rubble of our camp.
We had been no word from the demigods aboard the Argo II or Percy and Annabeth. There had not been from Stella either, and I was worried and nervous. After days of fighting the Romans, we had begun to lose hope. It did not look like we would be receiving any help from anyone, and the Romans would not give up. Dark clouds moved into the sky, and all we could focus on we're battle tactics and the wounded. Burial shrouds for the dead would be burned at the campfire after the Romans would retreat to the other side of the hill to care for their own. But every night, it seemed the Roman camp would get farther up on the hill, squeezing us in like a python. And all among Camp Half-Blood it spread, like the Bubonic Plague, a thought that stuck like super glue settled in everyone's mind. We are slowly dying off, slowly getting weaker, and there is no hope. Everyone is infected now, infected with hopelessness.
•Nico Di Angelo•
After leaving Stella at the entrance to Tarturas, I had originally planned to shadow travel back to the Argo II, but I was incredibly weak and something was blocking me from going. I dragged my thin, homeless self back to the Fields of Asphodel, hoping to seek help from my father, Hades, but I seemed to be a ghost myself, constantly drifting and trying to get to his palace, but never getting any closer.
The events of today flashed through my head, making me regret leaving her at the entrance, alone and scared. I remembered how horrible her experience was with the Styx. She begged me not to go but I wouldn't budge. There was something more than just fear in her eyes, a memory she couldn't quite pull free, only the dread of being dunked into an ominous river against her will. As soon as her toe touched the water I could see her dying, the stubborn, silly girl I had guided into the underworld was sucked away with the current, leaving a scared and broken girl fighting for her life.
When she was completely submerged, she became still and lifeless. I could see her life leaving her, and I panicked. I pulled her out of the river, the only thing reaching my ears were her screams and cries. She sat on the bank, head tucked into her knees, rocking back and forth, sobbing. She had seen something in that river, maybe her own fate, maybe her own destiny. But ever since I pulled Stella out of the Styx she was quiet and anxious. The only thing she said to me was goodbye as I left her.
The sad reality of it all made me tired and scared myself, so I found a small poplar tree and curled up under it to rest, my father's palace looking as far away as it did when I first began to walk. I can't get back to the Argo II, I'm too weak to shadow travel anyway, I can't get to Hades' palace, just like Stella I don't belong. I'm homeless.
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Next update will be soon! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter and Happy Holidays! Good luck on midterms for those taking them!
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The Demigod Diaries
FanfictionA spinoff of Rick Riordan's series: "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "The Heroes of Olympus," this story tells about a young demigod who finds her way to Camp Half-Blood with 'minor' setbacks while the Romans are attacking. Unclaimed and untrai...
