I am Katniss, Daughter of Apollo (Percy Jackson/Hunger Games Fanfic)

Chapter 16

Liz's POV

"Ugh. I've never been drunk, but this must be what a hangover feels like."

My eyes snap open, and I am greeted by the slim figure of Nico di Angelo. It's early morning now, still dark out, but I can just make out his features. Any visible skin is badly bruised and swollen from all the bees. His body is also covered in various cuts and gashes, all layered in dried blood. Dark circles fill his lower eyelids. He's half sitting, half laying against the dip in the ground, gazing off into the distance.

"You're awake," Nico observes, shifting his eyes to me.

"Couldn't sleep." I mutter absentmindedly.

"I feel you there." Nico says, resuming his previous gaze into nowhere.

I turn my head and see Annabeth and Clarisse still asleep and covered in the blankets I placed on them the night before, looking much the same as Nico does, with all the bruises, gashes and blood.

While trying to think of any possible herbs I could gather from the woods to help with Nico, Annabeth, and Clarisse's wounds, my mind drifts to...whatever that was with the imaginary Katniss last night. Her words haunt me.

You did this to me. You promised. Kill me. Too late anyway, Elizabeth.

"I'm going to go find some herbs for those wounds." I say numbly as I stand up, gesturing to Nico but only half speaking to him, half to myself.

I'm answered by a grunt as Nico stirs, apparently asleep.

I sigh and stand up, groaning and stiff. I look down to see that my skin is nearly identical to that of Nico, Annabeth, and Clarisse. However, I do look a little less bloody thanks to the ambrosia and nectar, and the swelling from the bee stings does seem to have gone down a bit.

As I make my way towards the woods, I see a bird sitting on a low branch of a full grown evergreen tree. A small stream runs along one side of the tree. I look closer and notice a small plant growing in the water. I gasp. The plant is katniss.

I decide to take this as a sign from the gods that Katniss is alive and well. Carefully, I crouch down and pluck some of the katniss from the ground. My gaze shifts back to the bird sitting on the tree branch. Suddenly, a white-hot pain sears behind my temples, and I relive my conversation with Apollo from the other day...

Not many creatures do deserve to die. With this bird you must learn that death is merely a part of the circle of life....This is a tough lesson to learn, but it is vital to your quest....Goodbye, my Elizabeth. And remember this lesson. Remember what I have taught you....

I cry out, squeezing my eyes shut. Why did I have to remember that now? Slowly, I get back to my feet and brush a tear from beneath my eye. I take a deep, shaky breath and enter the forest. It is unnaturally quiet, and I feel like millions of unseen eyes are watching me. I make my way through the woods, disrupting the eerie silence.

Then, out of nowhere, hundreds, no, thousands of wings are beating, flapping above and all around me. They press around me as one bird flies out in front of me, drops dead on the ground and begins to speak in Katniss' voice, saying:

"You said you could save me. You promised! I'm dying and it's all your fault. How could you do this to me? Kill me! Kill me! KILL ME!"

"No!" I sob, reaching out for the bird.

"Too late." the bird cries, and it is still.

During this time, the birds around me had grown thicker, and were flapping faster, faster, faster. Now they began to dive at me. Their beaks flashed bronze before they stabbed me over and over. They shot arrows from their wings at me from every angle. Then I couldn't take it any longer. I collapsed on the ground and screamed.